Covid-19.....lets help each other

[Robin4]

Reading many of the posts on this hosting board almost all correspondents are critical of the way Airbnb have handled this current pandemic situation.

What disturbs me is, some are trying to whip up hysteria by creating scenarios of their own which is not helping.

One host here  @Sheila22 has claimed she as a guest has double dipped on her travel insurance and also got a refund from Airbnb and then goes on to talk about price slashing, guests cancelling and rebooking at cheaper rates and even looting!! She then backtracks and says she is a host and just trying to put different ideas in the mix!

Sheila, I appreciate that you are simply trying to play the part of 'Devils Advocate' with your comments, but this is seriously not the time to be doing it! 

The hosting community are going through hell at the moment......as it stands this will cost me $20,000 this year if there is no short term remedy to the current pandemic. And all 3+ million of us hosts are going through the same thing.

I am also concerned that this pandemic could spell the end of Airbnb! To suddenly lose $94m in invest-able funds is not something a service company with few tangible assets can handle. Airbnb depend on cashflow and, that cashflow has stopped. The company may quite possibly not recover from this.

We are a community of hosts who collectively have a mass of experience and ideas to draw on. This is the time to be constructive and support each other and think of alternate ideas that may help us get our hosting wagons back on the tracks again once the worlds medical brains get on top of this. 

Please folks, can we be creative, not destructive!

Cheers........Rob

[Lawrene0]

Thanks, @Robin4 . I had a small panic attack while cleaning between guests who would not cancel. I simmered down, kept calm and cleaned on, but now I have fewer worries as more and more are listening and cancelling. Just two sets of guests left for this month, and then some more after that who are waiting and seeing. I expect them to come to their senses. If not, I'll keep sterilizing. 

Yup, hating to lose the income, but on board with the full refunds. Glad I'm not running the company.

Good grief you lot have been through it in Australia with the fires then this! 

[Robin4]

@Lawrene0 

Maybe when this blows over we may get back to being a great country again Lawrene.

First we had the droughts, much of Australia didn't see any rain for more than 3 years.....

https://youtu.be/X3tvmq3Rb3Y?t=48

Then we had the bushfires.......

Then we had the floods........

https://youtu.be/oVnO5DNvemQ?t=28

And now we have  Covid-19.

Lawrene this will pass and I am constantly reminded why, despite the challenges, I love this country.

I have been to most countries on earth but nowhere are the stars as bright as they are in Australia. I have a feeling this is because the view of the night sky from Australia is towards the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, and the concentration of stars is greater than it is in the northern hemisphere. I have driven a car with a failed alternator on an outback dirt road with nothing other than starlight to guide me. I have taken pictures on my phone at 11.00pm at night that look like they were taken at 5.00pm on a cloudy afternoon.

The first time you go into the outback and look up at a cloudless sky, it’s almost frightening and in a way it feels oppressive…..it feels like the sky is closing in on you!

This shot is taken with an Oppo R9s mobile phone without time lapse and is not far off true correct visual perspective………Its what the eye will see!

It was taken at a small country town in South Australia's Flinders Ranges called Blinman at about 1.15am. 

To sit a mile out of Blinman on that night you could quite clearly read a book by starlight!

And that's something you can only do in Australia!

Cheers…….Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Lawrene0  if you are afraid to host you can now cancel easily and penalty-free all bookings until April 14 and maybe it will be stretched for a month or two later. Maybe you would feel safer to rent on a monthly basis, like long term for a while.

Or just keep your property empty until this mess is over if you can afford it

[Lawrene0]

Thanks, @Branka-and-Silvia0 . Good advice. I have looked into the options. My reservations are not marked as eligible for cancellation by me. Slowly more and more guests are going for it, though. Had another one cancel last night. Keeping the property empty is best. With no electricity or plumbing, I don't want a long-term renter here, and no one wants to be a long-term renter here! 

Were you able to go with a long-term renter yourself?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Lawrene0  I could rent it on a monthly basis, no problem because it's in the city center but I am still not sure if I want to. I'll think about it for a while and then decide.

[Lawrene0]

True, @Robin4 . No light pollution here at my place, and the milky way is in full view on clear nights, and yet it all pales compared to that. 

Keep looking up!

[Kath9]

Oh @Robin4, thank you for such a sweet post in the midst of all the hysteria. And you're absolutely right, we do need to band together and think of creative ways to get through this. Long-term rentals might be one way, although I kind of don't want to share my house with anyone at the moment! I feel relatively safe because I work from home anyway, so bringing in someone else who doesnt might also bring in The Virus. It's all a bit like a movie, isn't it?

[Robin4]

@Kath9 

Thanks Kath, as you know I am also active on Homeaway/Stayz and along with my Airbnb reservations I am also giving my reservations on that platform a chance to defer their stay.

Homeaway Stayz are much more supportive to the host and do firstly allow us hosts to make the decision as to how upcoming reservations are handled. It's a much more adult way of handling the situation than Airbnb's and hopefully ABB  (if they survive) will learn something from it!

This is the message I am sending to my reservations......

Most of them are choosing to defer and that is fine.....it's just nice to have the option.

Cheers......Rob

@Lawrene0 

[Kath9]

@Robin4, great message. I posted somewhere else that it would be good if somehow guests could be offered a credit instead like many airlines are doing. That way, hosts could still be paid. However, that doesn't change the fact that not many people are going to be booking accommodation anyway for the next few months (except possibly those who need to isolate somewhere). Maybe that's what hosts can do! Offer special 2-week quarantine deals! I might have to post that.. 

[Robin4]

@Kath9 

That's a great suggestion Kath. 

Unfortunately I cannot offer that alternative! Because  Ade's MS medication (Betaferon) suppresses the immune system, she is very susceptible to viral infections so hosting possibly infectious guests is not an option for us.

But for those hosts who have farm-stay type accommodation where close contact is not relevant, this could be a fine option to promote.

Good on you Kath, these are the ideas we need to air!

Cheers.......Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

OMG @Kath9 you don't want guests to self-quarantine at your place, believe me.  Disinfection of your property after an infected guest would cost you your own health and more time, money and nerves than it is worth it. Bad idea.

[Kath9]

@Branka-and-Silvia0, no, I'm not suggesting they would stay at my place, especially given everything is shared! And definitely not an option for @Robin4 and Ade. I just thought that it might be an option for hosts with separate units who are upset about their current lack of income. I like it, the 2-week quarantine special deal!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kath9  we are off-site hosts but this is not an option. Someone has to clean after infected guest and it is dangerous without protective suits and equipment. Of course, it would be too expensive to hire professionals.

The main problem with corona is its high infectiousness, people around the world underestimate this virus.

It is interesting to see how many hosts will freak out if someone is smoking inside their unit or even in the garden in front of it. They will call professionals to ozone the entire house, will pay hundreds of dollars for it... but on the same time they think they can disinfect the unit after corona patient with just a pair of rubber gloves and detergent 😮

[Lawrene0]

Same, @Branka-and-Silvia0 . I have no illusions that my cleaning routine is hospital clean no matter how hard I am trying. And, boy, am I trying! I had no illusions it was sparkling clean, even though nice guests keep ticking that box. As to the freaking out bit, I'm laughing at myself today. The guests who just checked out smoked cannabis in the treehouse (non-stop for their two days by the smell of it) and I was so intent on sterilization that I barely cared. Least of my worries!