Need Advice for First Long Term Stay

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Colleen349
Level 3
Philadelphia, PA

Need Advice for First Long Term Stay

Hi All, 

I've been a host for about 1.5 years but most have been stays of just a few days. I'm about to host my first one month stay and I'd like to know what the standard of service should be. Should I be providing weekly cleaning or trash removal for the guests? Should I be providing breakfast food the entire month? I won't be living at the listing while they're there so I'm also a little nervous about monitoring the stay. Is it okay for me to stop by weekly to "see if they need anything"? What is best practice? Thanks for any advice you can provide. 

1 Best Answer

@Colleen349    I have an attorney approved contract for stays that are more than 2 weeks that is also in line with the NC Vacation Rental Act. The contract explicitly states that mid-rental cleaning and maintenance will be conducted during their stay.  I also include language in my acceptance email to the guest informing them of this provision.

 

I send the contract to the booked guest via email or attached to the message app as soon as they book, so they can read it and cancel the booking if they do not like the contract.  Many guests will print out, sign and scan the contract and email it back to me.  These are usually older guests used to seeing rental agreements.  Not millennials.

 

Yes, the contract does include a damage waiver as well as waivers for certain amenities like the use of the hot tub and firepit.  I used to rely on a damage deposit, but most OTAs have done away with deposits.  I have really good  (read expensive) STR insurance now.

 

One OTA that I use allows the posting of the contract on their website so that the guest can view it prior to booking.  I am not aware of that capability through AirBnB.

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14 Replies 14
Mary996
Level 10
Swansea, United Kingdom

These are great questions @Colleen349 . I've had longer term Guests and really enjoyed it but I offer a homeshare. I asked the Guest what attention they would like and said that I'd like to go in and hoover by arrangement with them. It was appreciated so I'm sure your tactful approach will work also giving you the opportunity to intervene if there are any problems. Leaving clean towels and offering to change bedding was welcomed by my guests. Hope that helps. Is there anything in particular that's worrying you?

Colleen349
Level 3
Philadelphia, PA

Thank you, @Mary996 . I thought of reaching out to them but wanted an idea of what is reasonable and appropriate. They haven’t given me any reason to worry (so far) and I think it’s their first time doing a long stay, too. I’ll try your approach. 

Mary996
Level 10
Swansea, United Kingdom

Great stuff @Colleen349  and good luck with it. I'm sure you will judge this wisely. Just like a friend looking after her precious ones! Colleen feel free to come back and also learn some more about helping out here at the Community Centre. You have a great attitude and we'd love to show you the ropes and how to get involved should you wish to.

@Colleen349  Is this monthlong booking for the listing attached to your profile?

 

I see that this listing features Breakfast as an inclusive amenity. Unless it's explicitly stated otherwise, that means that you provide some form of breakfast food for the entire duration of the stay. Of course you don't have to go to the house every morning and make an omelette - a well-stocked pantry would fulfill that obligation just as well. For the sake of avoiding food wastage, I'd suggest offering the guest a couple of options for what they might like in the larder; it may turn out that they weren't expecting breakfast supply, or would prefer stuff like pasta and rice.

 

For what it's worth, breakfast is not commonly offered at Entire Home listings, so if you chose to delete it from your amenities list, your listing would still be just as appealing.

 

As for the weekly cleaning, it is something a lot of hosts like to do for the added benefit of monitoring the home. However, it should be disclosed in the listing so that guests can make an informed decision about whether they can handle that. Some people would welcome the service as a luxury; others would find it an intrusion into their privacy (as a guest, I fall into the latter group - I wouldn't book a home if the host intended to enter the private space during my stay). If you don't know your guests' stance on this, that's another thing worth discussing with them before the check-in date. If the home has cleaning products, a washing machine, and the means for guests to handle their own trash removal, it's probably not necessary for you to show up. But if there's any reason it's practical for you to drop by and check on the house, just be sure to give plenty of notice that you'll be coming. 

The main reason that breakfast is listed as an amenity is because the Air BnB site forced that issue -- as it forces many others. I didn't have it in the listing but I left good coffee and simple breakfast foods available for guests. Then I started getting messages from the site: Guests have noted that you have this [fill in the blank: dishwasher, breakfast, etc.] please check this box if you do. So I caved in and checked the box. As you note, it probably shouldn't be there because I'm not in the house cooking for them or anything like that. I will reach out to the guests and find out what level of contact, if any, they want to have with me. The one reason I would have to visit briefly, once a week, is to water the plants in the rear of the house. They could easily take the trash out themselves or do their laundry without my help. Thank you for the suggestions!

 

@Colleen349   i would recommend that you converse with your guest and let them know that you will be coming in to water the plants.  You can also offer to conduct trash removal or a quick cleaning of the bathroom in order to check on the condition of your property.  

 

I do not have long term guests any more, but when I did, I had it in the contract that cleaning and maintenance would occur during the rental.   This allowed my housekeeper to check on the property and maintenance for grass cutting and hot tub servicing.  If a guest did not want to agree to the cleaning, they could go elsewhere.  

 

As Andrew noted, delete any mention of amenities that you do not offer from your listing.  I also have been "nagged" by messages about things guests say that I have, but it is up to me to decide if I want to list those items or not.  Ignore the "nags".

@Lorna170  Thanks. What contract do you mean? Did you have them sign something separate from the site agreement? Did it include any kind of damage waiver? 

@Colleen349    I have an attorney approved contract for stays that are more than 2 weeks that is also in line with the NC Vacation Rental Act. The contract explicitly states that mid-rental cleaning and maintenance will be conducted during their stay.  I also include language in my acceptance email to the guest informing them of this provision.

 

I send the contract to the booked guest via email or attached to the message app as soon as they book, so they can read it and cancel the booking if they do not like the contract.  Many guests will print out, sign and scan the contract and email it back to me.  These are usually older guests used to seeing rental agreements.  Not millennials.

 

Yes, the contract does include a damage waiver as well as waivers for certain amenities like the use of the hot tub and firepit.  I used to rely on a damage deposit, but most OTAs have done away with deposits.  I have really good  (read expensive) STR insurance now.

 

One OTA that I use allows the posting of the contract on their website so that the guest can view it prior to booking.  I am not aware of that capability through AirBnB.

@Lorna170 This is very helpful. I hadn't thought about it because I didn't expect to get that request for a long stay as soon as I reopened my listing. I had it closed for six months because I really didn't want visitors from COVID hotspots coming to my home and they seemed to be the only people looking for stays. I appreciate your assistance. And yes, millennials .... 😔

@Colleen349  I think they eventually changed it, but for years it was the case that every time Airbnb sent a Reservation Reminder email, it included a Host Checklist with a reminder to "fill the fridge with bagels and OJ."  This was wrong on so many levels:

 

1. Breakfast is an optional amenity not offered by most hosts

2. Bagels aren't very common outside of North America

3. Who puts bagels in the fridge, anyway?

 

Anyway, I agree with @Lorna170  - ignore the nags. And while you are allowed to require a separate rental agreement, the terms have to be disclosed prior to booking.

Yeah, bagels in the fridge would not be an amenity by any definition I know! 😆

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Colleen349 "Guests have noted that you have this [fill in the blank: dishwasher, breakfast, etc.] please check this box if you do. So I caved in and checked the box".

 

I don't understand. Why would you check an amenity you don't provide and don't wish to?  Where is the pressure that would make you think you had to provide breakfast? The wording is "check it if you do". If you don't, why check it?

@Sarah977 Perhaps I didn't explain that clearly enough. From the start I  WAS stocking coffee, cereal and a bowl of fruit on the table for guests but I didn't state that in my listing. Some guests mentioned that they liked these items in their reviews and then Air BnB started sending me prompts saying, "Do you offer this amenity?" I did offer it, I just didn't think of it as something to include in the listing. But after getting that prompt ten or twenty times I just figured it was easier to check Yes and be done with it. 

 

@Colleen349 Ah, now I understand. Yes, a lot of hosts provide little extras they don't mention in the listing (promising less and providing more usually helps get good reviews).

 

So it's nice but can be troublesome if guests mention these in their reviews. I offer to pick my guests up at the bus station, a 5 minute drive, but don't advertise that because I don't want to be obligated to do so- maybe my car's in the repair shop, or I'm too busy to do so.