Women hosting women

[Anne226]

Women hosting women−it’s catching on.

Two years ago, I visited a dear friend who is a single mother living with her daughter in a two-bedroom, one bath apartment in downtown Boston. She offered her second bedroom on Airbnb for women-only and hosted female guests throughout the year. The substantial extra income helped make ends meet.

I often travel solo and take girls' trips with my mother and friends. I've stayed in B&Bs and hostels since the early '80s to gain a local perspective from friendly hosts and meet other travelers. There were not as many women traveling alone back then. I wondered if female travelers would want to share my home with my dog and me? 

Mothers and daughters, sisters, cousins, BFFs, partners, solo travelers, businesswomen, out-of-town wedding guests, and neighbor’s overflow guests. I listed it and they came. In my first summer, I hosted 20 trips and met terrific ladies from all over the globe. My first-floor accommodations include a single room with twin beds and an adjacent private bath with shower and grab bar and stool. I share my living room, kitchen, dining room and outdoor spaces. Guest ages ranged from college students to 87-year-old ladies with limited mobility traveling with their daughters. Several guests expressed how at ease they felt in my home and comfortable lounging around in their PJs with morning coffee. I treasured our conversations and enjoyed sharing my home and beautiful surroundings with my guests. I’m excited to host again this summer!

Several guests asked how they could find other women hosts who rent exclusively to women. I too would like to know as I’m planning to travel solo across the US and prefer to stay with female hosts. Airbnb currently does not offer such a filter or keyword search option.

Airbnb for Women on Instagram

“Airbnb for Women” is a new Instagram page I created as a possible workaround and way to find women who host to women. Airbnb hosts are turning to Instagram as a way to share photos highlighting guest experiences, connect with their communities, and link viewers back to their Airbnb listing.

If you are a woman hosting to women, join us! Create an Instagram page and include the URL to your Airbnb listing in your profile. For those already on Instagram, you can follow @airbnbforwomen at https://www.instagram.com/airbnbforwomen. I’d love to hear from you and welcome ideas and opportunities for collaboration!

Happy hosting!

Anne

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Anne226 

good idea .

Now men should organize Airbnbformen too 🙂

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

We do! It's called MisterBnB

[Kati18]

Love this idea!  Thanks for sharing the IG page. Didn't even think about using that platform to promote my listing, but I've now created an account and followed your page as well.  🙂

[Rajeswari1]

It's interesting reading your notes after I listed our property in Chennai,  India exclusively for women as I know how tough it's in a foreign country...Rajeswri 

[Helen3]

Broken link given 😞

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Hi @Anne226,

I have a question about this.  Can you tell me if there is anything under the non-discrimination policy regarding renting to one gender only?  To be clear, this makes perfect sense to me, from a safety perspective, especially for women who share their own personal spaces.  I just would be interested to know.

Thanks!

Hilary

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Hilary-And-Ed0

If you are sharing your space then there is no issue in specifying gender under Airbnb policies.

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Thanks!

[Anne226]

Hi, @Hilary-And-Ed0, @Gerry-And-Rashid0, @Helen3, @Rajeswari1, and @Kati18! This idea has received positive feedback and interest. However, I disabled the page after the valid point was raised about safety since the IG page would offer direct links to Airbnb women hosts' street addresses. This could make hosts and their female guests vulnerable.

"Wanderful" is a paid membership group of women travelers with growing chapters in the US and abroad. They vet their members and only disclose women host listings to paid members. https://www.sheswanderful.com/. Not a member, I do not know if women Airbnb hosts are part of their community.

Airbnb hosts on IG seem very supportive and follow others, regardless of who they serve. I include #airbnbforwomen as a tag on my posts as do a few other women hosts.

I'm glad to see more discussion on this. What are your thoughts and ideas on how to link to safely connect with women travelers?

[Maiia1]

Hi There! I'm not sure if you can help me, but I saw your post and it seemed promising. I am a student at Frankfurt School in Frankfurt, Germany, and for my entrepreneurship course we have to create a product or service idea and present a project based on this idea. It is not a real product that we have to make or sell in anyway. However, as part of this project we have to do "market research" and find out if the type of customer we forsee being interested in the product is actualy real and actually interested in the product. The idea centeres around a keyless entry for your home, and one of the ideal customers for this product would be an unmarried female within the 30-60 age range who hosts on air bnb. Someone who travels often and wants a way to ensure their home is secure, and doesnt want their travel/job to be hampered by having to meet guests and give them the keys to the property. 

Without going into more detail about the product, would you by any chance be able to put me in touch with anyone in your host community that you may know that fits this criteria. As I said before, its not an actual product, and there wouldnt be any involvement needed from the "customer" beyond answering a few questions. I am just trying to find out if this type of customer does indeed exist and if they actually have a need for a product like this. 

Any assitance you could provide would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you in advance for your time.