Hosting a private room – what are your tips?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

We’re looking for tips from hosts who list private-rooms. Many of you host guests in your home and hosting a shared space has its own set of challenges and things to think about, but there are also many rewards!

What are your top tips for hosting a private-room listing? Do provide certain items in your guest room? Perhaps you add extra information on what your guest can expect to your listing description?

We'd love to hear your input for an upcoming article. Thank you!

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Helen427]

well said @Suzanne0!

[Helen427]

Remember to include that when Hosting a Private Room, guests must be mindful that it's one's home where they are sharing.

Some spaces like bathrooms and toilets are shared with hosts and others so please be considerate with how long one spends in the bathroom and not to long in the shower, suggest saying "In xyz country, we have 5-10 minutes, in the shower either once or twice a day, be firm about bathroom times and how there are others who also have a life. It's helpful if its spelt out that water costs money and is in many places a scarce resource even when its pouring with rain outside & flooding.

[Helen427]

Ask the potential guest to disclose if they are requiring the kitchen to cook, not just prepare meals, prior to making a booking as you may need to arrange times they can use the kitchen, Airbnb is bed and breakfast not cooked at home lunches and dinners and spending all day inside watching there internet and playing on phones...

For some hosts and guests it can cause friction and disruption to day to day living if one is not made aware prior to a booking been received the purpose of ones stay.

It's polite and good manners to at least disclose if one plans to stay inside ones house all day & not go out during there stay.

As an example a recent guest booked but did not disclose until she arrived she had a day off work on one of those days, another was a business man who was new to Airbnb & spent most of his time on his laptop at home when my home is not suitable for his activities - he Instant booked and as I was trying to msg him to offer to cancel the booking he rang me & declined to cancel - Guests must be reminded to use the msg systems prior to booking AND read listings thoroughly PRIOR to hitting book.

A little education to Guests to ensure they read listings and abide by the Terms of Service of Airbnb would be very much appreciated

[Paul1380]

We have found that despite making it clear in the listing, our brochure and repeating on arrival that we do not give access to the kitchen (other than for dishing up takeaway or a bbq chicken and salad) we have guests who just go through cupboards for supplies and use 3 or 4 pans to cook full meals. One couple even cooked separately every night with a record of him deciding to rustle up sausages, eggs and bacon at 10:30pm!  All have been young European people to date so we are thinking maybe there is a cultural expectation as otherwise we would just think it is rude and arrogant and I’m hoping that’s not the case.

[Sarah977]

@Paul1380   Your listing description actually states the exact opposite- you have Kitchen listed under amenities, and under kitchen it says "place where guests can cook their own meals".

There is absolutely nothing in your ad which says that kitchen access is limited or only for preparing light meals.

I'm not surprised guests arrive assuming they can cook, because that's exactly what you say.

Remove Kitchen from Amenities and under "Guest access" state what you allow guest to use the kitchen for, and also make it clear under "Other things to note".

[Helen427]

@Sarah977@Paul  removing access to kitchen to prepare meals under Amenitie is a tricky one.

Some guests respect the fact the kitchen is simply to make a sandwich, cup of tea, coffee etc, others assume it's a given right to go through one's cupboards, fridge, cook 3 course meals in the oven that one rarely uses and churns through electricity, have there guests over etc.

It would be helpful if Airbnb addressed this issue so we can incorporate a comment under "Amenities" as there are times when it would be unreasonable not to allow some access to the kitchen, yet may not want guest to cook as aforementioned..

@Paul you may like to cover your bases as I've tried to do in my listing to abate the issue arising in the first place..

All the best

[Paul1380]

This is so frustarating as I have removed the tick in the kitchen box in amenities multiple times and then saved and for some reason it keeps popping back up. I go from having 11 amenities listed to 13 and I cannot seem to fix it permanently. Based on the fact that you are seeing kitchen as available I think I will need to speak to airbnb about it as other than continuing to correct it I cannot work out how else to deal with it.

[Saff0]

@Paul1380 

Hi Paul,

I thought long and hard about kitchen use and decided it's my 'haven' as I love to cook.

In my listing I have clearly said "there is no cooking as such" but have said that a guest is welcome to help themselves to tea (3 types), coffee, hot chocolate and hot black current (I think this last one is a British thing !) and that they are welcome to use milk in the fridge for a hot drink.

So far, this has worked well and my guest has respectfully asked (only once) if he could warm up a microwave meal. I'm happy with this arrangement and he saw it as an added bonus ....... Win win ! 

[Sarah977]

@Saff0  I'm glad that the kitchen use has worked out for you so far. I allow full kitchen use, and have never had a guest disrespect the space, and all clean up thoroughly after themselves. The majority don't cook at all, but might keep some breakfast food in the fridge, or make themselves coffee or tea. And unlike you, cooking bores me to death, although I do cook, so it's not like it's my "haven", nor do I spend much time preparing elaborate meals.

I would just be cautious about the wording of "there is no cooking as such". Most hosts experience that if you're not very specific about what is allowed or not, eventually some guests will interpret vague wording in very different ways than you do. Some guests will get it, some may take it to mean that just because they didn't prepare a 5 course meal, they could still spread out their take-out food, or make a giant salad (after all, it's not cooked), hogging the kitchen for an hour and making a big mess.  Or come home with armloads of groceries that don't require cooking, jamming up your fridge so you can't get to your own stuff.

You haven't had any problems so far, and neither have I, but it's something to be aware of, not leaving things open to interpretation.

[Saff0]

@Sarah977 

Thanks for your thoughts and advice Sarah, I will definitely think about how to re-phrase this.

Best Wishes, Saff

[Helen427]

Saff@

Hot Blackcurrant, yum we had Hot Ribena juice which is blackcurrant growing up.

Did you know they used to plant Blackcurrants on the Alpine slopes so people could have something to eat whilst touring/ travelling as tourists, tourists, been local and international people?

[Saff0]

@Helen427 

Hi Helen,

how did you manage the etiquette regarding the guest who stayed in your home during the day (without disclosing it first) ?

I'm new to hosting on ABB and I would be greatful for any tips - I assumed that guests would be out all day after breakfast time !

Thanks, Saff

[Helen427]

@Saff0 

Hi Saff

Welcome to ABB & CC

We sat down and I walked him through the ins & outs of ABB including to read carefully through Terms of Service where he would find valuable information.

We both gave each other "Private feedback" & he appreciated my help .

I compared it with a child learning to walk as he was a family man he could relate to that.

I didn't get a 5 star rating from him however didn't expect of & didn't give him one back as there is room for improvement.

You are welcome to read through my Profile & reviews to see what I wrote & have included in my review of him.

- Hint he snores 😊

It pays to ask your guests of the purpose of there stay, as recommended by ABB as it helps in advance with understanding each other.

I have Guests sometimes with Medical treatment needs who let me know in advance they will be home during the day.

All the best

Central to All Home & Location

[Saff0]

@Helen427 

Thanks Helen, your answer is really helpful. The guest did say on the original booking the purpose of his stay but when he checked in.

However, he admitted he had come to stay for a completely different reason and so would be in my home all day - don’t really know what to do about it.

& Yes, I provide hot Ribena, it’s one of those very British tastes we have from childhood 😂 ! 

Thanks for all your advice 

[Paul1380]

I love all the suggestions on here and we are doing many if hheee things, fresh flowers, hairdryer, first aid kit etc.

a couple of things we do that guests really like are the Nespresso machine with coffee pods in each room (we rent out two rooms in our four bedroom house). We include a selection of tea bags as well as little packs of biscuits.

we also have a large selection of DVD’s so to supplement the tv (local free to air channels only) we leave a printed list if dvds in the room so guests can select a movie.

as we are a five minutes drive from

yge nearest shop we also have an honesty box of snacks like nuts, chips, mints and chocolate bars for $2 per item. We buy a selection when they are in sale for $1 and present them in a clear Perspex box with a lid.

we are also in a beach resort town so we have a trendy beach bag and two beach towels hanging in the cupboard for guest use, this has been very popular.

we have just bought a separate small fridge so that guests can put food in there as we were surprised at how many people turned up with fridge bags and shopping bags full of their own food expecting to find room

in our fridge and freezer.

We also bought a ‘tefal toast and egg’ which is a toaster with an attachement for boiling up to four eggs. We have been amazed at how popular it has been with almost every guest having a boiled egg and toast (cost to us less than a dollar) along with the cereal, fruit, yoghurt and juice we also provide.

I hope these ideas might work for others too as it is true that it is about the little touches that make the difference.