@Ann783
Ana, when I decided to short term rent a very wise person said to me...
"Don't put anything out there you are not prepared to lose"! At the time I thought that was a bit of a callous reflection on society because, we in this country are a pretty trusting lot! We don't find a need to carry guns, we don't get heavily involved with security. Sure we have crime, but it doesn't dominate our lives!
The things I have learned from hosting are,
A/......What a lot of wonderful people there are in the world! It is just so easy to make friends. Because guests are such lovely people I am all the time trying to find ways to make what I do a bit better for them.
B/......Whatever you provide, there is going to be someone who will take advantage of it and abuse it. I am constantly having to replace something because it was lost, damaged or broken, either accidentally, thoughtlessly, carelessly, or simply deceitfully!
On one side of the coin, I had a woman come into me one evening and ask for a band-aid strip for a finger she had cut. I told her there were strips in the medicine cabinet on the wall in the bathroom and she said to me..."No, I looked in there and it was empty"! I went out and had to have a look for myself and....she was right, not a thing left in that cabinet, not even the scissors and the needle and thread and safety pins.....everything just gone! I now have a number of deep score marks in the kitchen counter top because a guest used it rather than one of the supplied cutting boards. The massage function in the electric bed is still not running after a guest tried to put the head of the bed up with the massage running and burnt the motor out!
On the other side of the coin.......
A few months back now a guest came to me all apologetic, she had broken the bowl I keep in the fridge with eggs for each guest. I said to her ….”Roxy, don’t worry about it, it was of no value, I have plenty more here to replace it”….but she said she felt bad and wanted to replace it. I once again told her not to bother, it was fine!
A week later, out of the blue, a parcel arrived…….
A new bowl with a $50 note in it. I had a little cry when I saw it, it was so nice but so unexpected.
I could see from the parcel that the postage cost her $15, the bowl must have cost around the same. A bowl that had no value to me, I can’t even remember where it came from and I am sure I could have replaced from the local op shop for a couple of dollars, cost that guest $80.
I felt terrible, I wish the incident had never happened, the last thing I ever want to do is take advantage of someone else.
You can bet the next time Roxy wants to stay here there is no way she will pay my regular listing amount….I have to make it up to her some way!
I guess I could not believe that a guest would be so generous! And I have many more examples like that of how thoughtful and lovely guests can be.
But Ana, no matter how good the guest may have been ....I don't put out there anything I would not be prepared to lose. Return guests will get special treatment in one way or another, maybe a meal, a bottle or two of wine.
But Ana keep those knives, those Bose speakers and that tricky drink maker where you know it is not going to get broken or abused.
Cheers......Rob