Does your listing contain any water features?

[Stephanie]

Hi everyone,

Having some sort of water feature in your garden can be a wonderful addition for any home. When it comes to hosting though, I’ve read a lot of different thoughts and advice on weighing up whether they can be more trouble than they are worth. 

With hosting and water-based amenities, there’s an extra facet of cleaning, regulation and safety. Whether it’s a pond, a fountain or a beautiful pool in the sun, water amenities come with their own set of considerations.

Do you have a water feature in your listing? Any tips you can share about hosting with it?

I hope I don’t make waves with this topic but you know I’m one to cause a splash. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Colleen253]

@Stephanie "I hope I don’t make waves with this topic but you know I’m one to cause a splash". I see what you did there, lol. And yes, you know you will be making waves with this topic!

I have no garden water feature, but I do have a hot tub which is a HUGE draw and a very popular amenity. I have to keep my rates high to cover the extra cleaning involved, because many guests ignore the rules of use. Very often, it requires complete draining and refilling because of this, rather than the typical cleaning maintenance. This comes at a cost, and of course, Airbnb won't allow me to collect on the damage deposit to cover the extra cleaning involved, when guest ignore the rules. It's costly and time consuming.

[Debra300]

@Stephanie,

No pools, hot tubs or fountains.  Our water feature is that our place is just a five minute from three different beaches on the Caribbean and Atlantic.  The other water feature is practical, but one that guests seem to appreciate, and often don't know when they're using it.  The pump to our backup water tanks automatically turns when the local water service has an outage.

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Stephanie we have a rooftop water fountain on our Terraza and guests love it. It is cheap and easy to maintain although was very expensive to install on the rooftop initially. We are now installing a pool downstairs and a hot tub on the upper rooftop. We will have to raise prices to maintain them @Colleen253 how much more do you have to charge for the hot tub? If anyone has any insight into a pool that would help us out too. Our property is a bit unique and there are not really any comps in the area with the added amenities.

[Fiona256]

We have the sea right outside our cottage and a river right outside our apartment. No maintenance required for either.

[Stephanie]

@Fiona256 and what water features they must be! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Stephanie We have a new pond in the garden for this year - Lots of safety warnings in the listing and in the property but I guess we will find out the hard way if there is a problem.

We have no choice with respect to the stream at the bottom of the garden so probably not a vast increase in risk but I guess being man-made the liability might be different.

[Cathie19]

Oh @Stephanie, you are very “punny”! Lol...

We have a couple of water bowls in shared spaces, quite separately from the legal requirement of completely fencing in our swimming pool.

We made the pool salt- based chlorination and added a solar run pump/filter which if monsoonal, we can switch over to the original electrical pump. The solar has greatly reduced the $$ bills, but the evaporation rate is high in our Dry season ( which is now), so we are always adding  water after a couple of weeks, or busy usage from guests. We also have a CPR poster on the pool fence and a keep the gate closed sign on the shared garden side. No sign on the gate at the AIrbnb entry.
In the Wet Season, we can have a free flowing small man made water flow course for water run off from driveways and the park nearby, which could be dangerous for babies or the very young: but we have comprehensive house rules regarding supervision and safety. (Of course!)

[Elena87]

@Stephanie 

My listing last spring featured hot 'host's tears' on account of all the cancellations that were arriving on the hour, every hour.

[Laura2592]

We have TWO bathtubs. That's right. Two! Lol. 

[Stephanie]

@Laura2592 

Me too! Though ones in the garden, small and full of birds.

[Helen427]

Photos please @Stephanie @LaTisha8 @Laura2592 @Elena87 @Cathie19 

[Helen427]

@Mike-And-Jane0  photos please, your pond and stream sound very relaxing to be near.

Is there any fish, frogs or particular birds frequent them?

[LaTisha8]

@Stephanie 

We have a Koi Pond in the front courtyard area of our home and a salt pool with rock waterfall in the backyard. The maintenance for the pond run us about $200/mo. and the pool can vary depending on quantity of salt needed, etc but it can run anywhere from $150-$250/mo. I just submitted a money request to a Guest yesterday who did not follow Rules regarding the Rock waterfall and the charge was denied and I was told by airbnb that although the charge is described in my House Rules and I have exterior cameras proving everything they do not cover that type of issue. With the fall being left on excessively and unattended... it drains a good amount of water from the pool and left me with a increased utility bill of $400 last month b/c of Guest negligence. I'm thankful the lower water levels did not ruin the pool equipment... but then again with that at least airbnb would have stepped in then. It is a very difficult situation for a host... the Guests love this feature but not all Guests follow House Rules so I am tempted to eliminate use of the waterfall completely if airbnb will not impose consequences to Guests not upholding the very rules they agree to in order for them to even book the reservation. Overall the waterfall is beautiful and creates an oasis/resort atmosphere but it can be costly.

[Sarah977]

I have the simplest water feature you can imagine. A friend who likes to order cool little things she finds online bought a box of solar water pumps and gave me one.

The solar panel is about 5 inches square, has a little cord that attaches to a tiny water pump. There are 4 interchangeable heads for it to give different water patterns. It's in a pretty flower pot, sort of the shape and size of a large soup tureen, filled with cool rocks and glass marbles. I'll try to remember to take a photo and post it.