Looking back over 2018 what have been your hosting joys?

[Lizzie]

Happy New Year to you all

Hello everyone,

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, we wish you all a fantastic 2019! 

This time of year can be a very busy time for all of us, it’s is easy to run from one year to the next, in a blink of an eye. With this in mind, I will ask you to take five minutes, (possibly ten minutes) to put your feet up, grab a festive drink and look back over the past year.

I think it’s good to take a moment to reflect and see what went well and what could go a little better next year. Thinking on the positives, what have been your hosting  (and non-hosting) joys this year? 

Thanks to you all for a wonderful 2018 here in the CC. You all make the Community Center what it is and I think this year has been the best yet. Thanks for everything you do to make the CC a welcoming and enjoyable place to be.

Here's to 2019! 

Lizzie and Quincy

[Helen3]

Hi @Lizzie

Happy New Year to you and the team who do such a great job managing these forums.

I would say my main hosting joy this year has been buying my new home which I spent the summer restoring before listing it in November. It is a Victorian house, in Bristol, England, with many original features including a fireplace in the bathroom : )

I have put in new flooring and carpets, welsh slate copper floor tiles in the garden, repainted and plastered throughout, put the smallest toilet under the stairs and painted the outside of the house a lovely Wedgewood blue (It's a tradition in Bristol to paint the front of your house in bright colours).

I was delighted to get bookings straight away even though we are in the low season and am celebrating having my tenth set of guests stay tonight.

I was a little nervous starting to host again in a new place after a four month break, but my guests have all been lovely. I have been cooked Spanish food by two young guests who have moved to the city to live, had guests attending a wedding bring me back some wedding cake and shared a glass of wine with a couple coming to visit their son. 

Happy New Year to all.

My listing is below if you would like to take a look.

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/29980982?

[Lisa1122]

Congratulations Helen!!! Your place looks charming! 

[Helen3]

Ah thanks @Lisa1122 much appreciated.

[Christine615]

Okay - hosting joy:

I have met the most fun people on this journey and on this community board. One was a stay-at-home husband whose wife was in the same profession as my husband. He wanted to chat about the joys and tribulations of raising children. We just hosted a family for the second time in 3 months and she wrote about how much joy it was to be able to celebrate Christmas under one roof (son couldn't get home so the family came to him, complete with tree, stockings and presents.) I had a family whose child was undergoing serious surgery and the mom felt like her husband would feel more comfortable in a home rather than a hotel. Another had a daughter in a nearby college and wrote about doing laundry while sitting at the dining room table playing board games with her daughter's college friends. So Airbnb feels like "extended" family on most days (not including the difficult customers who should stay at a hotel). Also, the process has me rethinking my own space. The apartment we use for Airbnb is so peaceful and well put together and my own home is undergoing rehab and kind of a mess now that I'm an empty nester. So I redecorated both of my daughter's bedrooms (they're out on their own now) as if the bedrooms would be occupied by an Airbnb guest - and wow! What a difference. Even I want to sleep in those rooms now 🙂

My non-hosting joy - I write for children full time and every now and then I wonder if I'm making a difference. The travel to conventions and conferences becomes a strain.  But shortly before Christmas I finished an elementary school visit in a rural area. Every class of students came prepare (even the kindergartners) to talk about writing and ask well thought out questions. The teachers had me laughing. At the end of five class presentations I stayed for lunch. A subset of students had won the right to have pizza with me (got points for reading books, etc.). I think I hugged almost every kid in that school as they filed out with their classes. Got a cold as a result - but it was worth it.  Before I left the district superintendent rushed over and said he'd found one of my books on his daughter's shelf and would I sign it. I opened to the title page and I already had. We couldn't figure out when or where I would have met her - likely at a literary festival. But it was validation of my career that after all those years the young girl had kept a book I wrote on her shelf. I love what I do.

Wishing everyone a happy and fulfilling 2019 (and beyond!)

[Emily352]

The joy of being in this community.

[Lizzie]

Aww this is really sweet @Emily352. We really enjoy having you part of it (you have a wonderful ways of telling stories/experiences)

[Airbnv0]

21

[Helen427]

@Lizzie@Emily352@Christine615@Helen3@Quincy wishing you all the very best for 2019,

2018 was the year we were all blessed to be part of the World Wide Airbnb community  & a part of Austria celebrating the 200th year anniversary of the Christmas Carol Silent Night, Holy Night.

2019 is the 100 year anniversary for the end of World War 1 and the start of World Peace Commemerations

Let's all plant flowers of each others countries in our Public Domains/ Parks and home Gardens and embrace the world as one people and continue to unite together in harmony  and spread goodwill.

All the best

[Lisa1122]

Hi there!

2018 was the year my husband  and I decided to start our Airbnb.  We’d recently bought our first home and as we don’t have any children yet, we have rooms to spare! So we decided to list the 2 extra bedrooms, bathroom, and lounge area on Airbnb to see if anyone would book (in May 2018). We’ve been astounded at the response we’ve received! (top 10 favorite memories below.)

*****Here’s our listing in case you want to see the space behind the story: 

https://abnb.me/hVeAZyfedT

 10 favorite memories from 2018:

1) decorating our upstairs and buying some new things for the space

2) putting up our listing and wondering if/when someone would book!

3) getting to talk with people from all around the United States and world, and local folks too, I guess 😉 jk

4) making some great connections!

-a couple inviting us to dinner (someone wanted to hang out with us?! 😉

5) ppl saying that if we visit their area of the world that they would show us around or even host us — truly amazing!

6) laughing with a couple who spoke a language we barely know, as we made mistakes and had to use our phones to translate for us

7) someone bringing us cookies home from a store we recommend to them (that they went to both nights of their stay)

😎 looking back on how anxious I was to host our first guests and realizing how nice it actually is

9) friends always asking about our Airbnb and having some funny stories to tell friends (ie items ppl have left 🙂

10) receiving so many 5-star reviews, sweet comments and notes, and becoming a Superhost!

I love being an Airbnb host! I hope y’all are loving your experience as well! And have a fabulous 2019!

Best,

Lisa

[Jim467]

A lot of good people and new emotions. Thanks you.

[Jon338]

Hello all! 

My joy of hosting has been sending people on amazing trips to South Lake Tahoe. As it's my first year as a SuperHost I've enjoyed learning the process and all the features that Airbnb is constantly improving/adding to make our lives easier.  Great job everybody on Airbnb dev  teams, and cheers to all the hosts out there making great vacations/getaways come true.  So excited to be hosting my first full year in 2019!

So much joy from hearing reviews of couples on honeymoons and everyone celebrating or just adventuring.  Loving being a host! 

Jon Legnitto

[Ruth-Liliana0]

Gracias a AIRBNB por este premio de Superhost porque esto va ser que mis servicios mejoren dia a dia , a la vez estoy feliz de ser anfitrion y conocer gente linda  y hacer amigos de todas partes del mundo y se que este 2019 sera realmente maravillo.

[Anne-And-Brad0]

We had had a rough beginning to 2018 before we joined Airbnb and turned our woes into joy. We live across the street from a college and have rented our little apartment to college students for nine years. Last New Years when we were visiting my 90-year-old dad in Florida during a deeply cold time period in Vermont, we got a call from our tenant saying that she was cold and was leaving the apartment for the night. I called my colleague who lives in our town, and she went to the apartment to find the thermostat was broken and the place frozen up solid. We jumped into our car and drove over NYE and got home early New Years day to face -21 degrees and frozen pipes and water in two sinks, the toilet, and the bathtub. 

Fast forward to this NYE, and we now up and running with our transformed little apartment as an Airbnb. Since we opened in October, we have had the most wonderful assortment of guests who have helped us to make incremental improvements to our little space that makes their stay more comfortable. Last night for the first time since last year our temperatures dropped below zero. I am so happy to say that our apartment is so toasty warm the young couple who are our guests from last night have yet to emerge. Last night they said that they would be gone early to go skiing. This morning I just know they are having trouble getting out of that comfortable bed and out from under their snuggly down comforter. Hehehe. Brings us such joy!

[Ann72]

My joy of hosting in 2018 was hiring a new housekeeper who is a true partner in my remote hosting.  Patty lives just a mile from my houses in Maine, while I live in New York, and she is a wonderful communicator.  She even goes on Airbnb after guests check out to see if they gave 5 stars for cleanliness!  She loves the houses and is committed to making every guest's experience wonderful.  I can't stress enough how much joy this brings me, because although people might think that remote hosts don't care as much as those on-site, we really do and always wish we could do more for our guests.  Patty has made my life as an Airbnb host 100% better.  Her Christmas bonus reflected my gratitude, but I honestly think that although the money we've made together has been nice, we are equally gratified by success.  She's a rare person.

Here are my three listings so you can see how many reviews mention how clean everything was.  🙂

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5353490?s=51

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23646613?s=51

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5371021?s=51