Gift from a Guest!

[Larry339]

We recently received a lovely gift of Chinese art from a guest.

Our hosting experience so far has been a stream of great guests, leaving excellent reviews and five-star ratings, but this is our first gift. It was so unexpected that I wanted to share and wonder how common this is in the Airbnb hosting world? What is the best gift you have received?

[Rowena29]

@Larry339, @Alex-And-Rhea0, @Erica266, @Samantha557 

Very early on in my hosting - as in my second ever guests - i recived my only present to date - a bottle of fine red wine. I don't really drink red wine but nonetheless I was ENORMOUSLY impressed. From from a stay of 7 blokes -one of them 40ish but most of them much older, who were up for a lawn bowls weekend tournament.  I knew they'd be great guests - just playing bowls all day - then drinking beer, then coming back to sleep.  For some reason I couldnt' get to the listing until a couple of days after check out. I was so convinced they'd be no trouble,   I didn't bother sending a friend around to make sure everything was OK, just a driveby to make sure the house was locked etc.

 2- 3 days later I turned up to inspect and clean - did a quick look around - everything was  seemingly fine - slept in beds  with the sheets everywhere and lots and lots of towels inducing beach towels in the laundry tub, were the only evidence they'd stayed.  They'd put the towels in the laundry sink which was considerate but actually a bit irritating as the sink had a slow leak so the were all sopping.  I did briefly wonder when they'd had time to go to the beach..

I was an absolute newbie and desperate for reviews. I reviewed almost immediately. Then decided to tackle the washing. Went down to the laundry scooped up some of the sodden wet towels and at that point realised they were sodden with      URINE.   

 I gagged and hawked for some time - the stench was overwhelming once they were disturbed.  Also a few presents left behind of urine soaked PJ's lying on the floor ( fortunately wooden floors, not carpet)

Can't even look at that wine without beginning to dry retch

[Larry339]

@Rowena29 You are a trooper but I am at a loss for words.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

I was thinking the same thing. Nice gesture.

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Larry339 !

Wow, that's amazing. Would you be able to share a picture of the artwork?

Thanks

Stephanie

[Larry339]

It's on the way!

[Larry339]

[Lizzie]

What a beautiful gift @Larry339.  I can imagine those dragonflies shimmering away. 🙂 

Have you found a nice spot for it in your home? 

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Larry339  We received a postcard-sized hand-painted watercolour landscape of snow and trees here in Hakuba by a lovely and grateful guest. On the reverse, she wrote a glowing thank you note and that kind gesture was worth more than any 5-star review.  It's those little things that count and when you meet nice people it really makes this whole Air Bnb worthwhile. Thank you for sharing and starting this thread, it's really great to hear that people are having positive experiences as hosts.

[Larry339]

@Alex-And-Rhea0 Alex and Rhea, it is great to hear and share the positive hosting experiences!

The bad aspects of Airbnb and hosting are such common threads, but I believe most experiences are positive. But humans are hard-wired to avoid risk, and the negative gets our attention. 

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Larry339 You are such a positive person I admire that. The truth of the matter is that the Air Bnb software is really poorly conceived, and I have to agree not only with you but with some of my poor colleagues who are vexed by recalcitrant guests and their reviews.

Sadly we live in Review Jail I quote @Ute42 -gladly it made me laugh.

I think we all want a more democratic and equitable review system and not have to listen to some of the digressive explanations.

Air Bnb has to take note and take better care of us, we are Air Bnb.

I myself do not use any other platform.

Stay awesome!

[Larry339]

@Alex-And-Rhea0 This is also my only platform and so far so good. But it does make me take notice of the stories shared by hosts. 

The owners in the C suite can lose the perspective of grassroots hosting and get caught up with the growth. I like to think that they are dealing with some of the hosting problems externally and internally to make it a better platform for all, and if not, the competition will address it. You need to look after your hosts and make them feel part of the solution or they will vote with their feet.

[Erica266]

I had a some gifts and they are so apreciated, chinese guests in general leave me postcards or nice letters
A CEOfrom a beauty products company once stayed and left me so much goodies i was so happy! Like body splash and products for the hair, and the skin.
And the nicest couple in the universe stayed with me they had a history with the city, the grandfather of her was the prison guard for many years here, This city was founded cause of the prison and it was very important once uopn a time, and they left me a tea set that they bought in the prison museum it was so nice of them. i love it. 

[Stephanie]

WOW! What luck you've had with your generous guests! I would love to see some pictures of those wonderful memories @Erica266 !

Thanks

[Larry339]

@Erica266  What a beautiful story to share. 

Our first gift was from a guest from China that recently departed. Of course, it was amid the Coronavirus pandemic, but we elected to honour their reservation. We are so glad that we did they were fascinating to share stories with and such courteous guests, and we would have missed an enjoyable experience if we had cancelled.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

That's really nice. We're still quite new to hosting, but we did receive a bottle of Vranac from some guests from Montenegro. It's their local wine and it is sooo tasty. Recently we hosted a Chinese guest for just a short time, but he was nice enough to leave us some Chinese coasters for drinks, which we really appreciated as well. So yes, it's a nice thing when it happens.