A true B&B wants to turn into an Air B&B...Need tips

[Tiana941]

Hi There,  We have owned a B&B and neighboring motel for 33 years.  13 years ago we had to change our B&B breakfast & afternoon service from personal menus to more of a continental hands free breakfast and afternoon tea & cookies (previous was wine/cheese afternoons).  This setup also allows the motel guests to walk-into the B&B for grab and go breakfast. We are thinking about turning it into a true AIR B&B.  We have all the services of a traditional hospitality space: registration desk, private keys, maid service, laundry service, etc (from the motel).  My question is:  How difficult is this going to be?  Do other Air B&B's allow other non-paying guests to access kitchen space (ie. motel guests)?  It just seems we will have to tweak some features, but wanted to know if anyone else has done this?

Thanks so much ~

Tiana

[Laura2592 · Accepted solution]

@Tiana941 I wonder what the advantage would be? I know some hotels advertise here, but if your business is already established, the only thing ABB can offer is just another marketing platform. It might help you fill your rooms, but you will also have to contend with allowing the review system to control your income to an extent. There is no additional protection for you as an ABB host, despite claims of million dollar insurance and host guarantees. And the booking fees take a chunk out of your bottom line. I just don't know why you would bother, unless you were having trouble filling up your space. And then wouldn't Expedia and Hotels.com be better suited to your business?

[Tiana941]

@Laura2592 Thank you for replying. Our main decision is due to low overnight numbers.  We are contracted with Bookings.com and they take enough out of our bottom line.  Just wondering if the switch is worth it?  And it seems I will have to micro manage the property, when we already have a front desk manager that services the motel.  I guess I need to know if someone else has done this and the pros & cons if so.

[Mark116]

@Tiana941  I might take the opposite view and say, what do you have to lose?  You're already in the hospitality industry, you already have the space.  Listing on Airbnb is extremely easy.  Take photos of each room+common areas, write up the listings and voila.  If you find after a few months that you don't like the guests, or the platform or you decide that Airbnb's random, host unfriendly policies aren't worth it, you can delist.  Obviously, you will want to read the TOS very carefully so you understand what you're getting into, but otherwise, I don't see much of a downside in trying it out.

[Tiana941]

@Mark116 Thank you.  You have some good points.  The transition would be seamless, but we are concerned about our other motel guests and the fact that I would need to micro manage the reservation & check-in process when we actually have a manager at the motel who could handle this. I'm trying to find someone (host) who has done this before...

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tiana941 Are you suggesting one building is rented as an Airbnb but other (motel) guests will still have access to its kitchen? I am not sure you could adequately describe this to make it clear what the Airbnb guests get.

[Tiana941]

@Mike-And-Jane0 That too could be a problem, because the AB&B guests expect to have their privacy if they rent the whole house, right?...  But can we rent out just sections of the house? How does that work?  The thing is, right now - if someone wants to rent the whole house - they can, but they are under the impression the other motel guests have access to the grab & go breakfast.

[Mark116]

@Tiana941  Am I understanding this correctly, you have a 'motel' and then you have a house that you rent as a bed & breakfast?  You can list individual rooms on Airbnb, so you would have a listing for each room, and then if you wanted to offer the whole house you would have a listing for that as well. 

You would need to make it very, very clear that it was a shared space and explain whatever access the motel guests would have to the space.  

I would think your biggest challenge would be syncing up the calendars so you didn't get double booked on more than one platform.

[Tiana941]

@Mark116 Yes. We combined the website and management for both properties, so the B&B is actually and Inn with all shared amenities.  After further discussion, I think the biggest issue is going to be the booking process - typically, guests reserve from our website and they can choose which property they want to stay at.  So with AirB&B we might have a conflict in reservations...  This is good having this conversations, makes me think about things I didn't think about before.  Thank you - 

[Colleen253]

@Tiana941  You would list each bedroom separately on Airbnb and describe clearly and accurately which spaces are shared/common. If you also listed the entire place on Airbnb, the booking guest would expect it to be only for them, and you would have to restrict access to the motel guests. 

[Tiana941]

@Colleen253 ok, very true.  Something more to think about.  Thank you 😉