(photo-cartouche-ChaosduGouet-CG-A.Lamoureux)
This topic is part of the CC Hospitality Festival.
The original was posted on the French-speaking Community Center by @Caroline1857 and we have translated it below.
My beginning on Airbnb: how I went from 10 years of rental with agencies to Airbnb and what benefits this brings me in 2021...
I have been renting my villa all year round since 2011 through multiple agencies. After 10 years and non-transparency on the agencies' part linked to the crazy amount of commissions taken and zero services in return, I launched into the Airbnb world.
After the initial concerns raised by my immediate family ("No, it's crazy, you're not going to rent via Airbnb, are you? Aren't you worried?"), I started creating my first listing by choosing photos from here and there that I had accumulated. I clicked the List button in 2019 😊. In 2020, I rented very well but via agencies again.
February 2021, first reservation in the middle of winter, yoohooo! And a good experience: a family very satisfied with their stay, leaving me a really nice comment. And then in May came a 15-day reservation for the month of August, and in June a second reservation for a week in August - perfect!
And I was learning every day...
By participating in the Community Center, which lets you discuss specific questions when starting out. Thanks also to @Emilie for cheering up and motivating the troops 😊
- I also admit that I learnt a lot by looking at the listings of experienced hosts, their beautiful pictures and their house rules, for example. It gave me a lot of ideas, and my listing metamorphosed in 1 year.
- I spent 15 days in the villa this summer, and I put myself in the shoes of a traveller: what I like about the accommodation, its strengths, and I tried to show this through my listing.
- I especially want to welcome families as I am a mother of 5 young children and they love to spend time in the villa, so I know it is suitable for young children. In this post, you will find what I have highlighted to make the villa more attractive for families, and so far, it has worked well, 3 reservations = 3 families 😊
- I am pretty positive and trusting by nature, so I try to tailor my listing and bring out a caring rather than an overly procedural character, especially in the house rules. Maybe because I haven't had any unpleasant surprises as yet, but it's just in my nature 😊
Pros and cons…
In 4 weeks of reservations in 2021 (and the year is not yet over), I made the same income as in 6-8 weeks via agencies with far fewer short stays and household expenses. I am looking for quality rather than quantity, so after securing 3 weeks in summer, I blocked out the other weeks to avoid too many tight stays and to be able to enjoy the visits with my small family too.
For next year...
I wonder if I'll block out every other week to have time to handle the stays smoothly, but it also cuts me off from 15-day reservations. Or I could try the 15-day minimum reservation and block the week before and after as soon as 15 days are secured, then release at 7 days minimum, if I see that it hasn't been reserved, we'll see 😊 But I like having that flexibility and freedom to manage my calendar myself and not depend on anyone to accept or decline a request
This is my short and positive Airbnb experience, so far so good (crossing my fingers tightly) 😊
Enjoy the summer!
Caroline