Making the most of high season

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

The peak travel season can get hectic, right? More bookings mean more guest questions, more check-ins, more supplies, and tighter cleaning schedules.

Successful hosts have developed a number of clever strategies for handling the rush of seasonal traffic while still creating fantastic guest experiences. That’s why we went straight to the experts to get the best tips on staying organized and efficient during the busiest times of year. Here’s some of the smartest advice offered by hosts in the Community Center.

Stock up on supplies

Before your high season even arrives, stock up on extra cleaning supplies and amenities, and consider investing in extra linens and bath towels. That will be one less thing to worry about as you’re juggling guest needs. Filling your pantry in advance also provides you the opportunity to buy in bulk and save money.

Recycle guest messages

Guests often ask the same questions, so creating standard responses will save you a lot of time. Rather than typing out a new answer to a common question, you can reuse a response that you’ve already provided to a different guest.

To make it even simpler, you can save or edit a message from directly in the messaging stream:

• Click Use a saved message to open a pop-up window.
• Then click Save a new message, which adds the message to your library.
• Click Edit saved messages to browse all of your saved messages.
• Finally, click and edit the message that you want to send.

Sync your calendars

Keeping track of guest arrivals and departures alongside all the other things happening in your life gets even more complicated during busy season, especially if you’re keeping separate calendars. Avoid scheduling mishaps by syncing your Airbnb calendar with any other program that uses the iCalendar format, including Google calendar or the calendar on other home-sharing sites, such as HomeAway or VRBO. Learn how to sync your calendars here.

Create cleaning kits

Keep all of the cleaning supplies you might need for each room in a separate, ready-to-grab bag or bucket. For example, your bathroom cleaning kit might include rags, glass cleaner, and scrubbing powder while your kitchen kit might contain all those things plus dish soap and floor polish. This ensures you have everything you need to clean a room quickly, without having to rummage through a bunch of extra supplies or carry unneeded ones from room to room.

Streamline linen management

Having a few extra sets of linens available is the first step to a speedy turnaround between guest arrivals. A laundry service, if available, is also recommended as a lifesaver by many hosts. Other tricks include marking a corner of each bed linen set to indicate the size, room, or bed so you always know you have the right ones. If you prefer smooth sheets, you can save time on ironing by using a travel steamer while making up the bed or spritzing with linen spray and smoothing with your hands.

Do you have tips to offer other hosts for surviving a busy season?

[James889]

I appreciate the tips, and we are following them, having a bucket with cleaning supplies is handy and efficient, also making the room up immediately after the guest leaves. This makes it easy for last minute bookings. I keep beer and wine in the guest fridge, because of the heat and after a long journey, a cool beer is welcomed. We always ask the guests on arrival if they want breakfast and that we serve before 9:00am, and I usually give breakfast options. We keep a calendar on the fridge for quick checking. 

[Teri9]

I always ask my guests ahead of time what their preferences are such as beer, white or red wine, coffee or tea, milk or other so that I can have all of their favorites when they arrive.  But then also fully stock the fridge with plenty of water and put our a bowel with a variety of nuts and snacks.  Another thing I do, as our washer dryer is in a common area and coin operated,  I supply a nice welcome basket with quarters and packets of detergent.

[Ian397]

For "extra goodies" we supply a bottle of local VQA wine and a couple of local craft beers for our guests to enjoy and experience. We also supply body wash, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, razors, feminine hygiene products, Q-tips, curling iron, make-up remover pads (to save our face cloths), and all the basics for cooking in the kitchen.

[Mario-Armando0]

What a terrific advise “under promise and over deliver”..., any ideas that you can share on goodies other than discounts?

[Gigi62]

I agree!

[Mindy58]

Absolutely under promise and over deliver.  My house is huge and really old - it is actually two houses that were stuck together around 1906 - so I explain that I've got a 1000-item punch list and I'll be dead before I finish it.  Besides, there's always work to do on big old rehabbed properties and people understand that.  I tell folks it's like coming to stay at Grandma's house but without the old lady.  If children are coming, I tell their folks to let the kids know it will be like 'Night at the Museum'.  I leave a binder full of all the 'before' rehab photos for those who like that sort of thing.  Folks really appreciate the effort it took to save the place, and it is a HUGE difference from how I found the property 20 years ago.  I always meet my guests for a quick walk-through just because the place is so big and meandering, and I take a moment to explain a bit of its history, and show where the houses were connected. And, in addition to having on hand coffee, tea, sugar, breakfast bars and cereal, I always have sweet tea, lemonade,  milk, oj, muffins, a variety of yogurts, and a veggie tray in the refrigerator for weary travelers.  I just try to anticipate my guests' needs, and they are always so grateful! 

[Huma0]

@Mindy0

I'm in a similar situation. My house is even older (somewhere between 150 and 200 years) and was in a shocking state when I bought it just under ten years ago. There is still such a long list of things to do and, like you say, there is always going to be work to do to maintain the place. You fix one thing, tick it off your list, and then a new problem crops up, especially leaks as I have four flat roofs here.

It's therefore annoying when guests say in their review that there were some renovations being done (I'm talking about small things, not major building works) because there will ALWAYS be renovations being done. That is the nature of a big old house.

Sometimes I have to remind myself of all the work I have already done, and looking at the 'before' pictures is really helpful for this. I love your idea of a folder with the pre-rehab photos! I might also steal some of your ideas about how to describe my house so that I hopefully don't get the comments about renovations any more!

[Huma0]

@Mindy0

By the way, you have done an amazing job with your house. It's gorgeous! And what a big job it was. Your house is exactly twice the size of mine (if you are referencing the interior only and not the land) and mine is 2.5 times the size of the average UK home.

The only thing I would criticise is to say that I'm sure the photos of the bedrooms, while they are not bad, don't do the rooms justice as they are not as sharp or well lit as the photos of the rest of the house, which are great. I would consider taking some new ones of the bedrooms if you can. 

[Carolina1337]

I live in Germany and find really sweet when Americans refer to 100 year old houses as really old 😊

[Michael257]

Messaging with guests from pre-reservation through the last communication should be immediate, thorough,  and most sincere  with anticipation of needs, probelms, concerns or just to say hello. It is most time conserving to use my library for most of my communications modifying to personalize for each guest as the situation demands. Not only have I a saved communication for most every response need, but I continually improve these saved messages to better convey my thoughts in most professional manner - always improving as I go along. I am repeatedly told that my communication is superlative and so much appreciated. People need and reward the great communication which personalizes each exchange. This standard response option/function is most valuable to me - every day! Try it; you'll like it!

[Linda_Jerry0]

Once your booking is confirmed, you have access to your guest’s phone number. I will usually contact them & ask if they prefer to text message rather than use Airbnb to communicate. It has been 100% easier this way.

[Jennifer311]

Experienced hosts advise caution with this in case there's an issue down the road. Air BnB can't see your record of communication with texts this way the way they can on their platform to (hopefully) support a host in a hard situation with a guest.

They say at least copy and paste what you're texting into your official message thread with summary of their response.

[Shirra0]

I did the same thing, text and greet them right away once I accept them as my guest.

Shirra, Jakarta- Indonesia

[Susan1028]

I've done both with good results. My concern is if there ever was a problem, would ABB be as supportive if we had to rely on texts to support cliams?

[Betty165]

Totally agree.. with those whom put communication as a prime factor when hosting, its very important to me when im hosting.. regardless sometimes of the stressful cleanliness you always make sure for your next guests, its your greeting and meeting (communication skills) that makes that difference your guests appreciate, its the first impression which  pays off, when your guests leave their super reviews of you, which make us the superhosts we are.  All due to the gift of AIRBNB☺.