How long have you been a Superhost?

Barry-and-Lera0
Level 10
Sarasota, FL

How long have you been a Superhost?

The April evaluations have just passed. What has been your longest run of quarters (evaluations) with keeping your Superhost status? I'm sure there are a few hosts here that have crested the 20 straight quarters mark. Our goal right now is 25 quarters so roughly another 3 years of work to hit that goal. We reached 14 quarters with this past evaluation so fingers crossed for the additional 11.     

65 Replies 65

Awesome @Robin4 !  After our first run of bad guests due to what in all likelyhood was newbie naivety and making some adjustments as a result, we have had good guests.  I'm hoping we've gotten through the hardest part of the learning curve and will continue to get these types of guests.  I've learned a lot and have taken a lot of the advice from this community, you being one of the major contributors.  Our space isn't quite what we want it to be yet, however we are continuously making improvements. 

 

We do tend to be more 'hands-off' hosts, although we do make a point of introducing ourselves shortly after their arrival, let them know we live upstairs and to let us know if they need anything.  I would love to be more hands-on, however with both of us working, it's kinda hard to make the time.  Perhaps when we retire we can do more of that. 🙂

 

I do worry about running into some of the horror stories I've read on this forum and hope that we don't end up with any guests such as those that have been described.  I do think it helps that we live here, so can address issues we detect early on.

@Robin4: 99.9% of the time its me posting...Barry.

 

Since we don't have to meet our guests when they arrive we generally give people 24hrs to get settled and adjusted. If I see them sitting outside the guesthouse or by the pool I will go out and say hi, ask if everything is good and some small chit chat. You can usually tell pretty quickly if they are outgoing conversationalists (aka...fun people) or people that only speak when thrown a question (aka...not as much fun people).

 

We have a large outdoor movie theater that we use during "special occasions". Big sporting events, movie releases or something like this weekend. The battle on Game of Thrones. We always invite our guests to watch and the ones that take us up on the offer seem to really enjoy watching movies floating in the pool.

 

Every guest is different so we adjust based on them. We don't always get a lot of information when people book but the ones that do get more of a specialized stay.

outside movie.jpg

@Barry-and-Lera0 

Well how about that!.....Barry, all I can offer them is a seat under the market umbrella! That set-up of yours looks spectacular.

But we each have our strong points and I do have a few 'aces up my sleeve' that guests really do like.

We play to our strengths Barry.....I don't have an endless swimmer, or a manacured 18 hole golf course through a gate in the back fence....but we keep on getting our 5 star reviews, and that is what matters!

Good on you mate, great stuff!

 

Cheers.....Rob 

@Robin4Agree. You have to play to the strengths of your rental, location and your own personality. We are in a place that has year round tourism but we are not on the beach like so many others. We have to make a city experience "near the beach" more appealing than that beach house at the same price. Aces up the sleeve shows that you care about your guests having a great experience as opposed to just watching money get added to your bank account.

 

We had a guest that loved to do laps in our pool. Always made me laugh. Our pool is not very big (15ft from one end to the other) so watching a guy do laps made me chuckle. He would have loved and endless swimming pool!

 

 

 

 

@Barry-and-Lera0 

I would love an endless swimmer Barry but for a couple of reasons I can't!

1/.....It's use would be quite limited here because, unlike you, we are at altitude and night time temps can drop to 0c (32f) quite often!

The cost of gas to heat an endless swimmer would be prohibitive because every guest would expect to have the right to jump into a nice steamy pool on a 2-5c evening!

 

2/.....I just don't have anywhere I can put one! Our guests love our garden and so do we and I simply don't have the space to put in a swimmer and the surrounds that it requires!

I am sure a plunge pool of sorts would do Ade's legs the world of good, get some of that stiffness back out of them and I would love to do it for her but, I think the consequences of putting one in would ruin us!!

 

Cheers......Rob

Where did you see this lovely graphic @Robin4 ?  I got an email that said "congrats you've been a Superhost 4 times in a row"  which concerned me because we've actually been superhosts 17 times in a row.  

@Alice-and-Jeff0 

Hi Alice how are you getting on there in that lovely part of the east coast?

 

I get that email each anniversary of the attainment of my  superhost status, and along with it comes a coupon for $140.00 AU for me to spend on a listing somewhere. I first achieved it in October 2016 and have been fortunate to hang onto it ever since.

Maybe the email has passed you by, after all we try to take as little notice of Airbnb promo emails as possible,  don't we?

Although we have assessments 4 times a year we only get that email that I posted once a year.

Look out for it on the next Superhost anniversary Alice !

 

Cheers......Rob 

Now that's what Airbnb at its best is meant to be.  Thanks for sharing, Robin.  I always apreciate your posts as well.

 

Jim

Michelle-And-Michael0
Level 10
Wollongong, Australia

@Barry-and-Lera0  We are 7 from 7..... No goals as such, but just appreciative for every positive review we get. It implies that we must be doing something right....

@Robin4 I really admire your hands on hosting. It must bring a whole new level of satisfaction and fun to what you do. 

We find that most guests really just like to have privacy and don't expect or want a lot of interaction. However, every once and a while a few come along that obviously want to chat, and so in some cases, we have invited them to join us for a drink.... which often leads into hours of chatting and quite a few drinks!! Lol 

We've made a few new friends along the way, and just this weekend, we've been invited over to a couples house that stayed with us over the Christmas break. How lovely is that! 

 

@Michelle-And-Michael0 

I think it stems back to the point that I am a really social person, I love company, talking to people and I find that being social brings out the best in you! It teaches you to be diplomatic, it makes you be your best. I always like to have the funniest story, come out with the most outrageous thing.

 

God only knows I have a lot of failings Michelle, the main one being concentration, I rarely ever finish something off. I am all the time looking forward to the next challenge rather than crossing T's and dotting I's on the one I am on. That is not a good trait but I am conscious of where I am in life, there are still so many things I want to do and yet that window of opportunity is closing on me!

 

My guests are my lifeblood, I wish you could see some of the great nights we have had here....you couldn't have this much fun if you went out and paid to do it!

And I said earlier on, I think it's a joint thing, most guests arrive here looking to make it work, looking to have a nice experience and that makes the whole thing so much easier....we have a common goal of enjoying ourselves.

I am not a lock-box and key-code host, I am a hands on host. I just wish I had come across hosting earlier in life....but like they say, it's never too late!

 

Cheers.....Rob

 

PS: Tonight is restocking the cellar. I had my latest wine auction win last week (first in 5 months) and it all arrived today. I have another 418 bottles to drool over and contemplate.......yeeeesssss!!

The absolute best 2 dozen are in a controlled fridge, but this is the good rack which I have spent the last hour stacking.......

DSCN2044.JPG

 

And this the licorice allsorts rack....

Picture from Sydney 25-28.11.06 001.jpg

 

and there is still another ten boxes to stack!

 

 

@Robin4: That is quite the collection. This is probably our favorite wine. Del Fin Del Mundo Special Blenddel fin.JPG

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Robin

 

As a teetotalar, just wondering what you're offering?

 

Freshly squeezed juices?

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Alon1 

Drinking wine is not obligatory Alon, I saw what it did to my father so my life doesn't revolve around having alcohol. But my nicest experiences with other people in life have involved a glass in the background somewhere. 

To me a drink can involve, 'Lemon/Lime and Bitters', any one of the great nonalcoholic beers or alcohol removed wines we have available here, or there is always a good selection of pure fruit juices available if that is a path someone wishes to go down.

 

Alon, it's the symbolism that is important! By offering a cheese and wine plate I am offering friendship to people.......not trying to get them drunk! I buy my wines cheaply through online auction and as I have said in other posts I never spend more than 50c- 30p on a cheese. And in  almost all instances the guest will insist on providing something as well.

 

You and I, we have different ways of hosting Alon, we are possibly looking for different things out of our hosting. I won't say I couldn't care about the money, it's nice but, we don't need it! To me, the hosting is a part of my life, not an impediment, or a necessity to it!

 

Cheers.....Rob

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Robin4 

 

Yes, I well see and understand that for you hosting is a vocation of sorts, while for many it is an economic necessity. 

 

   I am one of those for whom it is a necessity, though in my case, there was still an element of choice given the options I was confronted with by a draconian UK Inheritance Tax.law -: sell your beloved family home immediately, or pay in annual installments over 10 years + % interest.

   With very high property values in London and more so in my postcode, I could have sold up and moved to a smaller place and further bank a tidy sum that would at least ensure I didn't have to consider rentals of any kind for a considerable time.

   Alternatively, I could have kept the home, renting it via an agency for the period it required to pay off IHT, in the meantime renting out a smaller place for myself.

 

In view of my choice(s) to remain living in my beloved home, Airbnb provided a wonderful immediate and viable option. (That's why I'm not on the front benches with some of it's harshest critics on CC. It would be most disengenuous of me if I was.... I rather adapt with the evolution of the company, eg. No IB, as I much prefer to continue to screen guests) 

 

However, as a live-in-host, I also don't have to walk across the yard to engage with my Guests or feel the need to entertain them. In part it bespeaks of a very different nature of clientel as I hardly get tourist types. The vast majority who lodge with me do so for practical reasons of jobs, courses, housing issues.  -- Moreover, quite a few extend beyond the initial booking and go about their daily business. They also share all my amenties, bathroom & toilet, and kitchen. In short, I'm at the coal-face of this 'home-sharing' enterprise from its genesis.

   All this means that hosting proves to be an organic process. I can easily be cooking or eating with my guests or talking to them when they are taking care of themselves. Alternatively, I can leave them be.

  In sum, I don't need to go out of my way or make a special effort with the vast majority of the Guests. It's a tiny fraction who create an 'impediment', and they are out of here in quick time anyway. 

 

 

 

 

@Robin0, you are killing me. I'm guessing you have had a recent visit to Urban Cellars?