Homeshare Hosts: When will you feel comfortable having guests again?

[Suzanne302]

I've had my calendar blocked since mid-March but as "stay-at-home" restrictions start to loosen up over the next month or two I'm sure future reservation requests may begin to trickle in again. My area has fared well but obviously I'm hesitant to host guests in my home from harder hit areas. I'm fortunate in that I don't depend on the Airbnb income to pay my bills, but it's certainly been a nice "cushion" for me when I am actively hosting.

Short term rentals will be allowed in my area again beginning May 8th. I want to open my home again, but I'm not sure when I'll be ready to do that. I do know when I do, at minimum I'll be implementing stricter cleaning protocols and a minimum of 2 days between guests. Right now my calendar is only blocked through May, but I may extend that depending on what happens in the next two weeks. I'm not worried about requests coming in for future dates as most people aren't planning that far in advance due to the situation we're all in.

For homeshare hosts, what do you think needs to happen before you open your home again and what new procedures might you be utilizing?

[Helen0]

I think it's much too soon to welcome guests into my own home. Even if the UK government does start lifting lockdown restrictions in the next weeks/months, its not about cleaning the interior of my home that bothers me. The problem is not being able to know how careful any guest is being when they are outside my home. Who are they coming into contact with? Are they practising social distancing? Have they just picked up virus particles and them brought them back into my home and forgotten to wash their hands? What if I have contracted the virus in the last few weeks without knowing it (some people are completely asymptomatic) and guests then get it from me and take it back home with them to their family/community? And in any case, there's nothing to come here for at the moment, with all but essential businesses closed and no events taking place. International travel won't resume for some time. The global spread of the virus hasn't even peaked yet, we are nowhere near coming out the other side of this crisis. 

All that being said, however, I would welcome the opportunity to re-open the self-contained property I also manage. I was in discussions with two potential long-term (months-long) guests who had genuine reasons for needing accommodation while caught up in the lockdown, but Airbnb blocked my booking calendar and made it impossible to accept bookings,  without any consultation with me. 70% of my income disappeared overnight and much of it was refunded to guests without even telling me first. I am only even finding out about their decisions after the fact. 

There has been such a stark difference in the way I have been treated by Airbnb than by the other companies I work with as a freelancer/gig worker that I am really wondering whether I will continue to host with them when all this is over. Airbnb is worth $38billion but all the 'support' they have offered to hosts is merely a few crumbs available to very few. Their attitude has been arrogant, greedy and astoundingly uncaring. It's clear that we are just fodder to their money-making machine and all their 'caring' PR is just hot air. 

[Huma0]

@Helen0

I had a similar situation with a local, long-term guest who was temporarily homeless. She contacted me prior to the restrictions but didn't book, hoping that her situation would soon be resolved. However, due to lockdown, it wasn't and, by the time she contacted me again, my calendar had been blocked.

Now, I checked the Government's website and this guest did indeed fall into the exceptions under which we CAN offer them accommodations. However, even though the CS rep I spoke to agreed with me, she was unable to lift the block on my calendar. It was not a great situation as this guest seemed to be in genuine distress. Can you imagine being in that situation right now? It's not like you can just go crash on a friend's sofa!

In answer to @Suzanne302 's question, it's a tricky one. At the moment, UK calendars are blocked until 9th May, which is not that long away, but I suspect this will be extended as it has been a few times already. I don't think we are anywhere near being ready to host travellers. So, for me, right now it's less about when but about whom I host. I was already focusing on long-term stays well before this crisis and will continue to do so, keeping my long minimum stay requirements, but will focus on local guests, like the one above, if they come along.

You still have to be very careful though as guests are sometimes not totally transparent about their situation. I had one request from someone who told me he had been in quarantine for three weeks in the UK. This turned out not to be the case. He had been in lockdown like the rest of us, not quarantine, and only for nine days, prior to which he had been travelling abroad.

I think you have to decide on the type of guest you will be comfortable hosting and ask a lot of questions before accepting a booking. It is too soon to return to 'business as usual'.

[Helen3]

Hi @Huma0 

Can I clarify with you I thought as hosts who share a home we weren't allowed to take guests even key workers and other exceptions in England

From what you are saying as a host with a shared home you have been able to take bookings from key workers etc?

This whole process is so confusing. 

[Huma0]

@Helen3 

Very sorry for the ridiculously late reply but I have been away from the CC for a while. Sadly, I had a family tragedy and also, unfortunately, a lot of friends have been going through really tough times so I have been focusing on them.

Of course, since you asked the question much has changed and now we are officially able to open for business.

What I meant was that no, I was not able to take bookings because the calendar was blocked and the dates it was blocked until were always according to government regulations. HOWEVER, what Airbnb decided to do was to block all bookings for shared homes when actually this was not the government advice.

In the document I found on the Government's website (think I already posted the link), there is a list of exceptions to this rule and that's not just key workers. It really depends on someone's personal circumstances and the guest I mentioned clearly fell within the exceptions. The CS rep I spoke to completely agreed that the guest did indeed qualify as an exception, but she was unable to unblock the calendar because the system was blocking ALL bookings, no exceptions.

I understand why Airbnb did this. In a time when they probably had a huge surge in calls/emails to CS and a reduction in staff, I can't imagine they would have the time to review each booking on a case by case basis, examining evidence for whether or not someone fell within the Government's exceptions. It's so much more straightforward just to say no to everyone, but that is a shame for those who desperately needed a place to stay in such difficult times.

[Ute42]

.

@Suzanne302 

• „For homeshare hosts, what do you think needs to happen
  before you open your home again“

I think what's needed is a vaccine and You as a host has to be vaccinated. This may be in 2 years from now. I see no whay to host guests otherwise in a shared living situation.

[Emilia42]

@Ute42 If it's anything like the yearly flu vaccine, good luck!

[Suzanne302]

@Emilia42  Exactly! I've never had a flu shot and I'm pretty sure I will not get a coronavirus shot when one becomes available. Measles, mumps, polio, etc. vaccines work. The flu vaccine is hit or miss. That being said I'm generally healthy and not in an at-risk group, so if I weren't I might feel differently.

[Emilia42]

@Suzanne302 Agreed with everything you've said! 🙂

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Suzanne302 ,  I need to start out with a disclaimer of sorts, I truly believe Melodie and I have had this virus already in Feb at least a month before any testing was being done or even considered in the USA.  What we had was pretty much exactly as described as classic Covid 19 Symptoms and awful overall, Melodie tested negative for the flu, her Doc told her she had a severe viral respiratory infection and didn't prescribe anything for it but rest and Tylenol.   The down and out symptoms lasted 4 or 5 days and the nagging cough for a few weeks.  I do understand surviving it is not proven to be absolutely effective at preventing recurrence,  nor of any stats about possible effects length of protection.  I feel its promising that actual proven Re-infections in the million or so cases seem to be as rare as hens teeth, most have turned out to false readings due to bits of dead virus that are still in survivors systems.  I'm waiting for the Antiviral test to become available for a reasonable price, right now its prohibitively expensive and not very available.   

I know this is going to sound crazy but we've never closed down other than a few weeks on the downstairs suite so I could gut and revitalize the entry room (a formal dining room that we rarely use).  We had a plan to open this business 15 years ago when we bought our giant old home so I was able to recreate some of the floor plan to make our 2 homestead suites nearly 100% isolated from host living spaces (No recirculated air ducts and dedicated entrances for all).  Thats been awesome because we have been able to host a few guests here and there and keep things very safe at the same time.  We have had a couple days between every booking since the poo hit the fan so we give the spaces a day to die off now after a chat I had with @Sarah977 in another thread about the vitality of the virus on surfaces and then go in gloved and masked with cleaners and disinfectants just a blazing. 

Im excited cause one of my tasks this weekend is to finish un-mothballing our 3 seasons Glamper across the road from its winter sleep for a guest arriving the 10th.  I have to hook the well/ pump and filters and give it an epic cleaning.  we opened it last summer and it actually booked very well, I ebven had one fellow stay in it for 2 months.  I think its going to be a huge draw this year cause its a completely isolated home on its own parcel (we have less neighbors per mile than I have fingers and toes), you cant get more private than that.   

I think if I owned and lived in a more traditional home-share/ hostel with common spaces, I would be rethinking my plan or keeping it off line until an actual inoculation is available.  Many of the founding hosts here and through the ages have been empty nesters with both extra time and space on their hands and the need or urge to make a little extra Cha-ching to help pay to live in the place they call home, (often a place they raised their children and maybe even a multi generational homestead).  Unfortunately, they are also likely the ones at highest risk of death if they catch this thing, its a double whammy thats going to hurt them more than youngins in great health that can possibly pick up other work to fill in the gaps for now.   Just my 2 cents for what its worth in this day and age, stray well, JR 

[Fred13]

@Melodie-And-John0  In all my years on this Earth I have never heard of " as rare as hens teeth". Where you did you learned this one? The rest of my life, inevitably, I will look at chickens in a new light and with more curiosity to see any have teeth. 

My problem is a bit difference, I got bookings from folks from NA & Europe throughout summer that are 'dying' to come and take a break from the intense social onslaught of the last two months. I hate to tell them that there are no international flights till July 1st, another two months.  Do I welcome guests again, by then yes, before July 1st no; it has been a respite that was timely. Since my reality is to get them in a boat, drop them off on their own in a breezy island and not see them for 4+ days I doubt any 'Coronas' will survive that outdoor test.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Fred13 , one redneck/ bumpkin  polite way instead of saying useless as _____ on a ____.  There are many different useless or non-existant pairing that fit nicely in those blanks but most aren't anything I would say in front of Mom (that's my rural publicly acceptable rating system)!

Seems like you should be able to drop them off and pick them up from the island without much more exposure than sun which seems not to be the viruses friend. 

Heres a bit of advice if your a hand shaker, probably should take a country boys bit of advice, a nod is just as acceptable as a hand shake and allot more sanitary.  I found that out  when I was farm help as a young lad, I wouldn't eat with those hands without a good washing first, I klnow where they have been, thats why Farmers Nod instead of shaking hands!  I'm probably preaching to the choir on that one though cause I know you've rendered and returned your share of salutes in your life and recognize both the respect and sanitary positives that come from that instead of touching allot of people for no good purpose,  I digress, stay well Fred, JR.  

[Fred13]

Btw, When I said the 'Coronas' wouldn't survive their stay on the island, I meant both types, the beers or the virus. 

Btw #2, The British have the funniest colloquialisms I ever heard, it really adds much flavor to the delightful way they speak the English language.

[Helen427]

@Fred13 

 I'm somewhat surprised you hadn't heard of as rare as hens teeth, however it shows one is never too much of an Antique Child to learn something new ...

[Stephanie]

#2 @Fred13 

Let me share a few of my favourite British sayings I've used too much over the last month:

"All mouth and no trousers"

"The proof is in the pudding"

"You need to pull your socks up"

"I've been waiting donkeys years"

"Well, that's put a bit of a spanner in the works"

Let me know if you want some explanations or more from my trove of colloquialisms!

[Suzanne302]

@Melodie-And-John0  I learned something new! I've actually heard the phrase "rare as hens teeth" but the whole farmer nod thing is fascinating to me! I never thought about it but it makes total sense now. 🙂