How much weather information do you provide your guests?

[Deb18]

Many guests are surprised to learn that it acutally snows here in New Mexico, and many are not prepared for the conditions.  Our two AirBnB houses are located on a dirt road, 1/3 of a mile from a main road.  If a major snow storm comes in, our 1/3-mile road can be difficult to navigate without a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  This can be the case even if the main road is clear.  In major snow storms, we always inform our guests when conditions like this arise, and we suggest they have a four-wheel vehicle.  

We recently issued multiple refunds to guests due to three snow storms that hit our area.  None of these guests where aware of the weather conditions, and one guest insisted on driving here from Colorado, even after I gave him multiple warnings.  He ended up turning around when he encountered road closrues by the state.  

These storms were not the norm, but I'm still stuggling with this question - How much weather information should we provide to guests in the winter months?

We have tried the "more information versus less information approach" and ask guests to monitor weather conditions.  We do this upon their booking, even if their stay is two or three weeks out in the winter months.  In this case, we've had a few guests just cancel right after booking, even after I've explained to them that the forecasts are good for their booking dates, and we anticipate the road being clear.  So, now we are trying the "wait and see" approach.   If a snow storm hits us, we deal with each guests in the immediate booking window.  

It's my opinion that guests have a certain responsibility to monitor weather conditions in the places they are traveling to and adjust accordingly.  

How have other hosts managed this situation in the winter months?

[Robin4]

@Deb18

Guests are always advised a few days before their stay to take a note of local weather conditions and in most instances I will make some mention of how hot/pleasant/chilly it might be!

I also provide for every guest a current 7 day forecast which sits in a sleve inside the cover of the house rules book.........

In addition to this I have a full weather station in the cottage so guests can see current indoor/outdoor temps and humidity readings....

When people are on holiday weather information is one of the most important things that will govern their activity while here so I make sure they are as well informed as possible.

Cheers.....Rob

[Rachel0]

@Deb18 People often think that the British talk about little else but the weather, however I am always suprised when I get guests who have clearly done no research at all.  I recently had some lovely guests from the Far East who were amazed that we have four seasons which are relatively clearly defined.  I always suggest that guests bring umbrellas as if they don't need them when they arrive they will need them before they go and if we are expecting snow, or some weather which may delay a flight, I always mention it to them in a message before arrival.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Deb18

I don't provide that info , we have snow maybe 1 or 2x per year but if someone asks me about the average temperature for the period he booked then  I tell him

But, I went to Greece in July and to Canada in february and I wish someone told me how hot / cold the weather will be. OMG,  I was unpleasantly surprised and didn't have appropriate clothes  ( I was young and It was before internet era)

@Rachel0

we have few umbrellas for our guests. We bought 2 but then some guests forgot theirs at our place so now we have 6 🙂

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Deb18

I host a lot of exchange students that stay anywhere from 1 to 4 months. Korea also has 4 distinct seasons so a spring semester student coming end of Feb when average temps are about 1~4°C (and windy!)  will probably leave end of June when average temps are 20~24°C (right before rainy season starts) meaning they will be wearing winter clothes on arrival, but summer clothes their last month and will need a variety of everything - from thermal clothing, boots to shorts and flip flops! I also check the weather forecast a day or two prior to arrival/check in to give guests a heads up (in case of rain or a sudden change in temps (drop down to subzero all day or unexpected heatwave). 

We have several "guest" umbrellas, different sizes and shapes, that are available so we usually tell guests they don't need to bring one. Also in Korea, sizes of clothes and shoes as well as styles are not as wide and various as the U.S and Europe so we let guests know the type of shoes/clothes they will be able to purchase as opposed to things it might be hard (or really expensive) to buy.

[Leo192]

HI @Deb18  - thanks for this posting.  Sorry that the snow day affected your bookings and had to give out refunds.  Now you got me thinking about proactively sending a screenshots of the weather forecast to my guests (via text) 3-5 days before my guests arrvied just so they can expect what the conditions will be in our area.  Lately we've been getting lots of rain here (South Carolina) and I now provide heavyduty unbrellas for guest just in case.

I also just checked out your listings.  Wow, really nice!  Great job!

[Sarah977]

It certainly doesn't snow where I live, but people who've never been to Mexico seem to assume that it's just hot here all the time and that there are no distinct seasons, which couldn't be farther from the truth. All they've seen are photos of tourists relaxing on the beach under palm trees, in a bathing suit, sipping margueritas. But it does get cold here in the area I live in the winter at night- not relative to places where it gets really cold- it can go down to 50° F. In places with cold winters, this doesn't sound cold, but no one here has heat- when it's 50° in wintery places, people usually have their heat on in the house. So thick down duvets do get used here in the winter, at least for a few months. Some areas of Mexico it does snow, and gets super cold. Some places are arid, others are humid.

So I always let a guest know what the weather is like a week before they arrive, what kind of clothes to pack.

And the summers here are sweltering hot with pounding thunderstorms and super high humidity, even when it's not raining. I had some house sitters once- they'd been travelling around Mexico for a year, housesitting. I just assumed they'd researched what the weather was like here in the summer. They hadn't. I was gone for 2 months and when I got back, to hear them talk, you'd think they'd just survived a near-death experience in the depths of the Amazon jungle. The woman even told me they'd almost split up over it- her husband wanted to leave, but luckily she was responsible and felt they had an obligation to stay until I got back, which was the arrangement.