New potential host... few questions

[Jennifer2219]

I am thinking of starting off by listing our family home on Airbnb to offset travel costs. Does anyone else who does this find that the over personalisation of the space causes negative reactions with guests?

i stayed in an Airbnb in the US recently that was obviously being run as a business and it was very bland apart from the jar of sauce and frozen meal in the freezer. I thought it was fun to leave my packs of tea in their coffee cupboard for the next visitors and I really appreciated being able to do my laundry but other than that it was stripped down to only the essentials. I figured I would lock our most personal items away in the smallest room in the event we did rent the place out but it still wouldn’t be as anonymous as the apartment I stayed in.

what do other hosts do?!

thank you!

[Lilian20]

Hosts who keep a lot of stuff in their airbnb put their items at risk but the benefit is you do not have to remind your guest that they don't own the place.  

[Yadira22]

Hi @Jennifer2219 

this is in an interesting topic.

i think one of the beauty of Airbnb is the shear volume of homes and design. Given the type of listing you are hoping to advertise I would focus on something which is homely and inline with your own current personal space- despite being a guest space it is still very much part of your home.

From a host side, I am hesitant to have too many valuable things as people often are not as careful as they would be in a hotel, as Airbnb do not take a physical deposit. Not everyone, of course but some guests and others respect it and treat it with so much love. 

I try not to keep things too cluttered as to avoid things being lost of misplaced and despite loving floral/colourful linens I only really use white as it’s easier to get rid of stains. 

So, best is for you to do you! 

Good luck 🙂

[Evelien5]

Hello @Jennifer2219,

We have two kind of listings on Airbnb:

1: a private room (guest room) in our house with a shared bathroom.

2: our whole house (where we live) when we go on vacation/are away for the weekend.

When we rent out our whole house, I put the following private belongings away:

- clothing/shoes in the bedroom (this is hanging on two clothing racks)

- Grooming products in the bedroom

- Stuff that's lying on the bed side tables

- Grooming products in the bathroom (except for the products that are for the use of our guests)

- all of our pet related belongings (beds, toys etc.)

- Laptops etc.

- We hardly have any photographs, so no need to put these away

- Coats and shoes in the hallway

- I empty out the refrigerator

We have one room (a small office space) that's off limits for our guests and a small attic, where we put our belongings.

[Matt682]

@Jennifer2219 

Since a significant portion of Airbnb is rooms in people’s homes, I doubt over-personalisation is a big concern for the majority of travellers.

In fact, I’d be willing to wager that you’ll probably get the opposite reaction, where personalisation makes the home feel warmer and more cosy when compared to the more clinical hotels / apartment lets.

[Laura2592]

@Jennifer2219 if you take a moment check out our listing. It's our weekend cottage and thus is our getaway first and foremost. But when we made it an Airbnb we removed anything we thought would be tempting for a guest to take away. We did the following:

Replaced our tufted Chesterfield sofa with long vintage leather Harrods sofa (bought second hand) for easy clean 

Replaced out antique bedsteads with metal platform beds for a similar feel

Bought all new mattresses and bedding based on reviews of comfort

Replaced our coffee tables and shelves with durable, inexpensive rustic look items

Took down my paintings and paintings we had collected for the space and replaced with a bunch of mass market canvas prints and art from local thrift stores

Took down any pics of family 

Pared down our food stores and left only non perishable items for guests

Bought new pots and pans and took away any expensive cookware

Replaced an expensive wool area rug with an inexpensive stain resistant one 

Purchased all new towel but when.we replace those we will get quick dry ones as these thick towels take forever to dry.

It's less about your personal stuff than about having items that last, photograph well.and are not so valuable you will miss them if they walk off. 

[Helen350]

@Jennifer2219  I agree with @Matt682 ! Personally, I have had only 3 or 4 guests in over 300 make negative comments, in person or in reviews, that my house is lived in, cluttered, & full of personal things. A couple of Asian bookings marked me down for being 'old', not modern... (I refused to submit to the modern day taste for grey decor & furnishings!) Airbnb is not 'proper' B&B, it's a spare space in someone's home; at least the cheaper ones are. So long as your space is clean & accurately described, - & priced accordingly, you can offer any type of accommodation.  Good luck!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jennifer2219 

we are off-site hosts. When we furnished and decorated our apartments we have chosen cheaper furniture and decorations which we can easily replace.

We framed some of the photos we shot with motives of our town and printed some other cool pictures, we have a few real and a few artificial plants,  books about Zagreb, city guides, Silvia likes to decorate our black walls with her chalk-drawn illustrations.  We also leave tea, coffee, condiments, cereals etc... to our guests.

We tried to create a "homy" feeling and according to our reviews, it seems we succeeded 🙂

But we have no religions signs like a cross, Jesus or Budha... our personal stuff or too feminine or masculine decorations like paintings of naked women or calendar with sexy firefighters 😄 😄

I wouldn't like to stay somewhere without any decoration, just furniture but also I wouldn't feel comfortable in the room filled with hosts' personal stuff.

[David3267]

It's your home and up to you to do what you like in terms of decor, homeliness etc etc. As long as the pictures and descriptions are fair representations then your guests can choose if they like what you are offering or not. Go for it, I say !