Home stay vs hotel

Home stay vs hotel

We state very clearly in our listing that we are a home stay, that guests stay in rooms in our home. Our European, African, South American and Asian guests have generally been comfortable with the shared space in our quiet, country home. But a small number of our fellow Americans have h the been clearly unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the experience. 

 

Being an Airbnb host is rewarding in that we get to meet interesting people from, well, everywhere. And, as we are former park rangers and still enthusiastic hikers and skiers, we provide our guests with a lot of worthwhile suggestions for getting the most out of their visit to our nearby national park. Also, while ours is a simple house, I think our accomodations area cleaner, more comfortable, and more attractive than a hotel room. 


How often do you all have guests who would be more comfortable in a hotel? What do you do to introduce them to the? What do you do to make them more comfortable? 

4 Replies 4

@Charlie231 often guests don't read the listing fully, or the listing isn't clear that it's a shared space. You don't have a listing attached to your profile, so it's difficult to give you any further advice.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Charlie231  It's just so bizarre that people would book a home-share situation and then be uncomfortable with it. Would they buy a ticket to a rock festival when they hate rock music? Go to a nude beach if they're uncomfortable with nudity? I guess they just book a home-share because it's the most economical option. Or they have no idea what it means. A head-scratcher, for sure.

I also host a private room in my home. The guests have their own ensuite bathroom and a private entrance, so that helps to create a sense of privacy for both them and me. But they do have use of my kitchen and often sit at the table on the outside terrace just off the kitchen (which is the only actual table, altho they hav a desk/counter in their room) to eat, or read, or do their online work. I've been really lucky- although some of my guests were more private and kept to themselves a lot, most are really friendly and open and we end up sitting around having coffee or a bottle of wine together and talking a lot. Even the ones who were more private certainly understood what a home-share entailed. 

I've invited guests to come along to a beach day with friends, join me and friends for dinner, etc. They've always appreciated it and thanked me for including them. My very first guest was a lively, very out-going gal from Denver. She came along to the beach with me and some gal pals and ended up being the life of the party.

I'll take a look at your listing and see if I can see any way you could make it clearer to guests what they should expect when booking your home-share.

@Charlie231 

 

Thanks to home stay it’s possible to establish the closest human contact between a host and a guest. The guest enters someone's private space, in a corner of a town he never set foot. It’s important for him to feel welcome and connected to another human being. If the host is in the house, then all these feelings are even stronger.

 

When you travel in a country that is new and unknown, talking with local people, exchanging views, discussing current events, is a great way of getting to feel at home and of better understanding the people. No hotel with 100 rooms can compete with the comforts of a home, assuring open arms hospitality.

 

The guest will surely see you in a more forgiving light if you two have an understanding. It takes very little, even just a kind word, the important thing is not to treat the guest like any other client of a hotel.

Try to make your guest feel special. Families traveling with children often prefer the comforts of a house because these guests need some space, they prefer a quiet environment with a homely setting to a hotel room: let them find a travel cot for babies, a baby bath, a baby changing table, some board games and DVDs for children.

 

If the guests are planning a trip for their wedding anniversary, astonish them: give them a digital picture frame loaded with your personalized greeting video, if before they come to you they first will stop in Fresno, give them a short piece of advice on what to see and do, if they come to your house with a dog, let them find two bowls, a dog carpet, and some dog food, if they talk about themselves, talk about yourself, just let them know that you are a good man who loves to host other good people.

 

These small details would increase the perceived “value”. They are cheap and will help you to have happy guests and a better review, but be careful you don’t get caught up in the performance anxiety.

If you want to host someone, you have to stop counting the stars, the trophies, the medals. You don't have to move on bigger and better rewards, not in this life or the next if ever it exists.

 

A family run home stay is the pleasure of old days, it tastes like a warm croissant in the cold of winter, it’s a rustic and romantic luxury. Home stay brings on its arms “La Dolce Vita”. That might be the only way I can hope to neatly summarize this imperfect and unique experience in three words or less.

Emily, thanks for the thoughtful reply. Right, we do as much as we can to ensure that people feel welcomed, and we can always to more. Some good suggestions!