What tips would you give to a new host?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Here in the Community Center, we are lucky to be surrounded by wonderful experienced hosts. Hosts who have been there, got the t-shirt and have an amazing amount of knowledge which they have picked up along the way.

I am sure, that many of hosts here would agree with me in saying that this experience and knowledge doesn't come over night and that it does take time, effort and lots of learning in the process. Plus, we all continue to learn new things every day!

In light of this, I thought together we could share some of our top tips to hosts who are just starting out, this could be aimed at those who are completely new to hosting or are new to Airbnb. If you are a new host and have some tips you think others would find helpful, please do share as well, we would love to hear it. 🙂

Looking forward to hearing and sharing your tips.

Enjoy!

Lizzie

[Lyndsey2]

I've found that doing exactly the same thing for every guest not only feels stale to the host, the guests feel it too. There's lots of talk on here about little extras you might do for your guest... pickup at the train station, leaving homemade cookies, fresh fruit, a bottle of wine, or a gift certificate to the coffee shop nearby, etc... but I get the best reviews when I do those kinds of things only as I feel inspired to, not as a standard offering with every guest. There are some extras that turned out to be too much work or cost with not enough reward. Those have fallen out of the rotation naturally.

Also, reading this forum and the responses to questions from experienced hosts made me much better prepared when those or similar issued arose in my own listing.

Have a friend stay as a guest the first time. Have them book through Airbnb so you get used to the process of taking a reservation. Make sure it's a friend who will give you good critical feedback on how they felt staying in the space.

[Tim-and-Holly0]

When we started our Airbnb we asked a friend to go through the process and stay in the house. I knew he would provide good, critical feedback. He did- and gave us our first 4 star rating.

[Zacharias0]

Hi @Lyndsey2 do you remember what items fell out of rotation for you? I'm in the process of adding more value to my listing, but some things I've tried in the past were too much work or I didn't really notice a return on keeping up the expense ie breakfast, spa robes and pick up/drop off at airport.

Thanks for your response

[Debby-And-Kevin0]

Hi Zacharia. I'm not Lyndsey, but I am a long-term host with airbnb. You sound like a super-superhost! Picking up guests at the airport seems like a lot of work for little return. We have taken guests to ski with us (if we're going anyway), and have also given guests rides to pick up/drop off their rental vehicle (if it's close by) but this is AFTER we've met them and feel comfortable. I can't imagine taking the time to go to the airport to pick up guests. Also, we've changed our breakfast strategy. We used to provide muffins/bagels, etc., but guests (our main guest demographic is 30-something couples) weren't eating them, so now we just make sure there's instant oatmeal, granola, fresh fruit, coffee, tea and juice. A LOT less waste (which allows us to have a bottle of wine waiting for guests upon arrival). We have a hot tub, so having robes is a huge hit with our guests. We also have a white noise machine on "crickets" when guests arrive, and it immediately sets a relaxed mood.  What you offer is individual to you and your strengths, so do what you feel you would like as a guest.  Happy hosting!                              

[Lyndsey2]

@Zacharias0 Picking up guests at the airport seems unnecessary to me, but every area/host/rental is differrent and you should do what makes the most sense to you. The big thing I've dropped is leaving cupcakes and a bottle of wine or prosecco for guests with a birthday or anniversary. For whatever reason, although we received thank yous for them, those guests either never left us a review or actually gave lesser reviews! It started to become a pattern so we stopped. We haven't had any issues since. 

I've also started offering less at the outset and just offering extras as the mood strikes me. For example, I would not normally offer laundry, but one time I had a lovely couple who had been traveling for weeks and mentioned that they were tired of sitting in laundromats. They were such lovely folks and I had the day off, so I offered to do a load of laundry for them. Another time, a guest mentioned a love of goat cheese, and I happened to have some goat cheese from a local farm in my kitchen, so I offered it to him. Previously, I might have thought it was a good idea to leave the cheese in the guest refrigerator for every guest. But now, I just treat guests like I would my friends and offer what I can when I can as I feel inspired.  It seems to make a bigger impression when you offer something in response to the individual guest rather than making it available to everyone. 

[John-and-Heather0]

Just a few,

1. Underpromise and overperform (warn guest about flaws/quirks of your space, then let them be happy with how awesome it is)

2. Listen to feedback, but don't try to be all things to all people.

3. Don't let guests in early if your home is not yet clean--no matter how much they beg or say they don't care, they DO care. You only get that first chance to make a good impression.

4. Make friends with other hosts in the area. If you are booked or have an emergency, recommend their space. It is short-sighted to view every host as your competition, and bonding with other hosts is good for the whole community. Hosts will return the favor, and your guests will be impressed that you are willing to help when you have no financial incentive to help.

5. If you get feedback from your guests that you have made a mindful, deliberate choice not to adopt or worry about, communicate that in your listing for future guests.

[Julia66]

@John-and-Heather0   Great tips, especially No. 1.  (Under-promise and over-perform)

I never get such good reviews from guests in my two smaller, cheaper rooms, so I've just added the word 'small' to the description (and then they get blown away by the views).  And I had a list of the goodies in my full cooked breakfast; I've now deleted the list and surprise them with their full plates.

Thank you.

[Noel26]

your "underpromise" note, warn guest about flaws/quirks of your space, this is something as a new host I am nervous about. I listed a cottage that was built in the 1940s and is in the woods on the water, and no matter how much i clean and stage there are going to be some "flaws" and imperfections. So i have new bookings but they don't start until May 12 in a couple weeks. And i mention this in the listing to prevent anyone being critical in a review, having unrealistic expectations. I know I may just be obsessing but I know how picky people can be. Have you run into that? and if so, how do you deal with it? ty

[Susie5]

@Noel26, I have a space with some quirks e.g. steep stairs, spiral staircase etc.  They are hard for some people to navigate, especially if elderly, bad knees etc.  I have it in CAPITAL LETTERS in my description (the main description, the one with a short word limit!) as in the past, one set of guests gave a negative review about these aspects coming as a "Complete surprise"  even though it was in the description whcih they clearly had not read - I have screamed it at them in CAPS now!  Also when I get any hint in the request that there  might be an issue, I request that they read the description carefully to make sure it will suit them. Recently I had a RQ of people coming to town for surgery... turns out it was for DOUBLE KNEE replacement!  I talked them out of booking, given that someone with two bad knees will really struggle here.

My advice: don't use instant booking, ask them in your initial correspondence to confirm that they have read your description carefully, highlight any particular quirks in a prominent way,  and make sure they will be happy in your space, and turn them down if there is any hint that they will not be happy.

[Roz4]

Getting the balance between underselling and not putting people off is hard! I would hope that the photos of your place would go a long way to getting the right guest, because if you like ultra modern/new/central heating accomodation then you'd know a cottage on the lake wasn't for you! 

Id be inclined to highlight the flaws in a positive way with euphemisms like "a certain amount of rustic charm". We rented our own personal home once and I was conscious that our renovation was only 95% complete. We still had quite a bit of painting to do. The new doors only had an undercoat. Some of the door frames were still raw timber etc. But everything else was perfect and brand new. I said in my listing "We've just completed a big renovation and to us the place looks amazing, but if some unfinished pairing puts you off then this isn't the listing for you". I had this one last ask me to send photos of the unfinished paint and also ask if she could come view the house first before she booked. I said no of course and when I got to the bottom of her concerns she thought the house might be very dusty! So it's hard to get the description just right!!

[Anjan0]

Many valuable tips are already given. I would only like to add a few:

1. If your listing is located in a complex where there are several neighbours close by, take each of them into confidence in advance, before starting to host. Assure them that it would be a nice experience for them also, and would not affect their peace and privacy. I have seen many cases where neighbours have objected about hosting simply because they were not informed in advance, which hurt their ego. A guest surrounded by hostile neighbours won't be a pleasant experience for the guest.

2. Be very responsive and proactive in communicating with guests, specially before they book. Provide information which you think they should have, even if they do not ask for it. Particularly, talk about negative aspects of the listing with suggestions about how to best overcome those (e.g. difficulties in locating the place). Thus the guests will have no surprises in store.

3. Many guests may not be familiar with the Airbnb concept and may expect all services and facilities of a star hotel. Make it clear in the listing what type of services are not included. If still someone insists or intimidates, react politely but firmly. 

4. If you are not staying in the listed place, be there personally when they arrive, to greet them and show them around.

5. Be finicky about keeping the place thoroughly clean, including the remotest corners and niches. Possibly, many guests may not even notice it. But still make it a standard habit.

[Barb6]

For the new people, don't be real fast in reviewing a guest. That happened to me. In my zealous state about how great I thought they were..  I left a wondeful glowing review. Only after i started cleaning, i found out they weren't as great as i thought. Now, I always wait till i clean at the very least and usually wait 1 whole day before I review my guests. That way i have time to think about them and see how they left the space. 

[Randi4]

Dear members of the community center.

I am a very new host and I have my first guest at the moment. I haven´t added a pay out method. Which metod should I choose?

[Annette33]

@Randi4, relating to the top question here, what is good advice for new hosts? It is to educate yourself about all the rules and regulations Airbnb has in place, such as how payments  to the hosts are set up and processed. I am surprised you haven't done that, don't you want to get paid?

Airbnb cannot pay you until you have  set up your payment method of choice. So you need to do that immediately! study and read up on how that works, then pick the scenario you like best. Especially being in a foreign country, it might take a little while to get it established.

My payments go directly into my bank account, and as is Airbnb's method, they are released by them one day after the guests check in, and the $$ are in my account about 3 days later. Never had a problem with it. good luck!

[Roz4]

I started 6 weeks ago and was in the same boat. I found setting up pay pal really tested all my patience and intellect! It was probably finally set to go a week after my first guest. Don't worry, the money will sit there waiting for you, it doesn't disappear! Once pay pal was set up I just added my bank details in to transfer it into. I do wonder already though if I should have a purpose business account, instead of using just my regular everyday account.