Are we really all this unhappy?

[Robin4]

I have had just one review in the last 50 that wasn't 5 star, I have had a wonderful collection of guests stay in our listing cottage over the past few months. One guest couple even walked up the driveway with a bunch of flowers for Ade, a bottle of wine for me and a packet of Schmako's for Betts, before they even set foot in the cottage!

For me hosting has been the grandest of experiences and I hope that new hosts here can gain some strength from that and not be disillusioned by all the problem posts we see here!

Other things that makes me happy just now, we are in Autumn, a season I love. Each day I go out on the bike to keep the Kgs down and offset the red wine consumption, and I cycle 20-25 Kms a day and doing this makes me realise the beauty of where I live.

This is a bit of the cycle path I do every day......

Some days I have the energy and I cycle up to our local Botanic gardens.....

The other thing is, Ade and I have hit 50 years of marriage (to each other) and this month the whole family are getting together in an Airbnb farmstay (with the owners blessing) to celebrate this milestone. The grandies can ride horses, feed Alpacas and pat chickens, while our girls tell us everything we did wrong in bringing them up.....in jest!

I bring all this up because, life is pretty good.......I bit*h on about a lot of things here that I feel need fixing but the reality is, Airbnb are helping give me a great lifestyle. I think I have learned to use Airbnb to my advantage, I expect nothing and I am prepared to accept what they offer.....and it works!

Are we all really that unhappy......no, I am not, each month I am loving where I am, and I hope other hosts are too. In reality, I do have a bit to thank Airbnb for!  

Cheers........Rob

[Robin4]

@Suzanne302 

Suzanne, I have always believed we get out of life what we put into it but, I think Ade's disease made me grow a backbone, it made me realise that when you take on a responsibility in life you have a duty to see it through. That has not only made her life better, it has mine too! Now we are being rewarded....

 

My two girls and the Grandies

We are going to have a lovely few days, we are proud of what we have achieved!

Cheers.......Rob

@Flavia202 

[Flavia202]

Thanks for this refreshing post @Robin4 . Happy 50th anniversary to you and the Mrs.! Lovely pics - Mother Nature at her best. 

[Angela1056]

@Robin4 and @Ute42 : Just two different ways of view! 

Im not really all this unhappy: I’m happy!

For all the reasons mentioned above by Ute to which I would add “health” for me. But the only one I could thank for all this is ...God!

Congratulations for your 50th anniversary (we had ours in 2017, we are a few years older than you) and best wishes for a wonderful family reunion.

[Ann72]

@Robin4  You are a love and I'm thrilled for your trip.

Airbnb wasn't put on this earth to make me happy or unhappy.  That's my job.  

Sometimes I think too much about stains.  That's not Airbnb's fault.  I made the choice to open my homes to guests and the result is - I have to think about stains.

Tonight I met Audrey and Dell when they checked in to my guest house.  Dell wrote me a few months ago that he almost lost Audrey in December and wanted to surprise her for her birthday.  We had the most marvelous hour together, and then I went out to pick up Tinder Hearth pizza for them (I'm looking at you, @Emilia42).  That drive to Tinder Hearth and back is always beautiful, but wouldn't you know that after an hour in their presence, their love of life and each other made the sun shine brighter and the grass sparkle like emeralds and the sky become bluer than it had ever been?  All because a young man in Oklahoma almost lost the wife he loved and decided the only way to celebrate was to come to a cottage in Maine for a few days. 

Go figure.

[Robin4]

@Ann72 

Ann that is so beautiful and wonderfully written. And you are right, life takes on a new richness when we experience something nice.

Being a hands on host I have had dozens of these experiences, you can't plan them or orchestrate them, they just come out of nowhere and, if we were not hosts we would never get to have them.

You don't realise how many beautiful people there are in the world until you host! 

Cheers........Rob

[Rich-and-Yan0]

I really like your positive mindset, Rob. That's the kind of thinking that we try to adopt as well, in hosting and in life--but thanks for the thoughtful reminder.

Your area looks stunning. I can't wait till the day when international travel is going again and I can take my wife to Australia. (I've been but she hasn't as yet.)

Congrats to you and Ade on your 50 years of happy marriage. 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Robin4 Happy anniversary! 50 years is a long time to be committed and I congratulate you. 

No, I'm not unhappy. And I have had wonderful guests who I enjoy immensely. 

Being critical about something specific, such as the way Airbnb runs its ship, isn't the same as being an unhappy person.

And I will be happier when I can get to see my daughters and grandkids, which Covid has made pretty impossible. 

[Robin4]

@Sarah977 

I feel for you Sarah, this pandemic has isolated so many families and love ones. Even here we are on tenderhooks. A mystery case showed up in the community yesterday in Sydney in NSW and the greater Sydney area immediately became a yellow travel zone with certain restrictions implemented.

Whenever we book something interstate we are never certain that it will actually go ahead, we always live with that fear in the back of our minds that am outbreak will occur.

But God we are lucky compared to the rest of the world, and Sarah, I will think of you when I give those grandkids of ours a hug in a couple of weeks.

Cheers........Rob

[Nick]

Happy 50th anniversary to you and Ade, @Robin4 

I hope you had some wonderful time with the family. 

[Robin4]

@Nick 

Thanks Nick, two weeks to go.....our 50th anniversary is on 27th May, we are all excited about it, our girls are in touch with us daily telling us what they are going to do!

There is a reasonable grand piano on the farmstay property we have booked in the NSW southern highlands so, I have been practicing a song I am going to play and sing for the occasion.

You can rest assured Nick, we are going to have a lovely time!

Cheers........Rob

[Anna9908]

I just want to say - thank you for your post. I think it was a much needed break from the day to day drain of hosting.  I am generally not unhappy using Airbnb. Instead, I am overall thankful for airbnb. However, there are many times where I find lack of Airbnb support for bad guests and I have not seen continual issues on this forum from hosts being addressed. I take bad guest stays very personally (as I think most hosts do) and here is why:

As I reflect, I think the issue is my home is personal. You are not renting a house, you are renting a home. I know that there are a few big property firm's on here utilizing the service too, but for me I am extending a large part of myself with my listings and booking. I make money from airbnb, as airbnb also makes from me.

Every good guest reminds me of why I do use this service. Honestly, it is not about making money. I give people the opportunity to stay at an otherwise private retreat. If I do not list it, I feel like I am selfishly keeping a beautiful place to myself in a very unfair way. So I share my place because I believe it is special, and I want to give other people the opportunity to expierence it. I want guests to watch storms over the mountains, see stars with little light pollution, and expierence real seclusion while being insanely comfortable. 

Now image how wonderful I feel about sharing my place with the world, only to be stricken with a guest who damages my property, misrepresents themselves, or leaves retaliation reviews when approached with issues. Often it feels like Airbnb support forgets how personal it is offering your space to someone. We do not necessarily get support or a voice for our issues. We live in fear of "bad reviews" and tell each other, "well you should just expect damages". Why? Why is that good enough? We ask for improvements to review policies and features, but we don't really get them. I do not think the review process was intended for hosts to live in fear, but we do! Also, Airbnb has information on guests that they don't share with hosts - which also is not fair. For example, I would like to know if a past guest had a damage dispute with another host. Wouldn't everyone? 

So am I unhappy with airbnb? Overall, I am thankful for Airbnb and I am thankful for many wonderful guests who show appreciation. However, on the other hand, I think a lot of hosts feel frustrate, disappointed, and at times violated. There are things we think Airbnb should help with and I know a number of people use this as an opportunity to express that. Maybe, we just need some more communication and accountability? For example, I just read an article that said they would give us the feature to see more information about guest history (I assume this means things like damage disputes). It was written in 2018, and updated in March of 2020. So when is this feature coming? 

[Robin4]

@Anna9908 

Hi Anna, a very well written post and you do echo the sentiments of a lot of us here.

There is a current thread going in the 'Help' board dealing with reviews which you might like to read. I think you will have a strong interest in the content of that thread.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Confusing-Review-all-5-stars-except-the-overall-rating-that...

Cheers.......Rob

[Sandra856]

@Robin4 Congratulations to you and Ade ❤️🌿

[Robin129]

I am so happy for you both! So many couples do not reach that milestone these days.  Take care!

[J-Renato0]

@Robin4 

It was a good idea of yours to write this post, @Robin4 

It seems to me that, sometimes some host has nothing to do in the life and come to the community to to curse Airbnb.

I also have my listings with tons of five star reviews. (Knocking on the wood) 🙂

I have had great guests! The great majority of my guest are great ones!

I am happy with Airbnb on the whole.

And Happy 50th anniversary to you and Ade !!!!

Sorry for being late in this topic!

Cheers!

Jose Renato