Remote hosts-- do you enjoy your space yourselves?

[Laura2592]

We have some guests who are checking out right before we get a nice relaxing weekend at our cottage to ourselves. Its snowing, Dry January is in the rearview, and my husband and I are looking forward to enjoying our space with a bottle of wine, dog in tow. Of course, there are some maintenance things to take care of too, and spending regular time at our cottage helps us to keep it in good shape. 

We purchased this house with the intent of someday not having to use it as a short term rental, and we typically average about one weekend a month where we stay there and just enjoy it. Sometimes we don't block off time fast enough and our weekends book! We also use our stays to explore the area and update any recommendations as things change locally. Remote hosts, do you do the same sort of thing? How often do you get to use your space yourselves?

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Even as a home-share host, rather than remote one, this is still a pertinent question. 

My upstairs, accessed by an outdoor staircase, has the guest room, my bedroom and a bathroom in between them. When I have guests in residence, I lock off the bathroom door that leads into my bedroom and that bathroom is exclusively for the guest. I then use the downstairs bathroom. 

So when I don't have guests, I enjoy using that upstairs bathroom right next to my bedroom, rather than having to put on a robe in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning to traipse downstairs. Or showering up there at night without having to get somewhat dressed again before climbing into bed.

And I've actually been sleeping in the guest room since the summer, as I've been closed to bookings since March due to COVID, and needed to do some renos in my room. I quite love staying in the guest room.

[Debra300]

@Laura2592,

Our spaces are connected to our homes, but we have stayed in the apartments a couple of times, and it always feels like we are on vacation even though we're only 25 ft. / 7.6 mts. from our primary residence.  This weekend we plan to stay in one of the newly renovated guest suite studios to access the experience by using the new amenities (bbq, kitchenette, and laundry).  

I am pretty sure that it will feel like we are in a different space, and not just the top floor of our house.

[Anonymous]

@Debra300 This lockdown period is the first time in my life that I've found myself wishing I had an extra space to go to, even if it was just down the street. 

But actually it's the perfect time to spend in one of the rental properties, because the current circumstances really force us to make sure we have everything in the house that a person might need. I've mentioned before how non-residential Airbnbs never have a sharp knife (bane of my existence, - I'm a chef, but being a brown guy with a beard makes it really hard to travel with my own knives). But also, I remember being in a sublet flat in a Colombian town that was prone to power outages, and because it was usually someone's home, I just intuitively knew there would be a flashlight and matches in a cupboard near the front door. I've never found that kind of comfort in an STR-only place.

[Debra300]

@Anonymous,

I agree, that it is mentally refreshing to be in a different space.  When I go back to Atlanta, I plan to use my ABB coupon to stay in a local tiny house.  In addition to  having a getaway, I want to see how small of a space that Keep Cool and I can live in comfortably, and also gain some tips for our small studios. 

Whenever possible, we pack a travel set of knives in our checked bags, because I have stayed in spaces where there were no knives at all.  Power outages happen frequently enough in both of my home bases that we provide portable LED lanterns in all of our rental spaces.

[Lenore22]

By all means!!! ☺️

We aim to visit monthly. We live about 5 hours away by car, so we will often stay for 5+ days: work-from-home while the kids have distance learning (thank goodness for our rock-solid Wi-Fi). We just had a crazy storm come through, so we're glad we were here to shovel & keep an eye out for damage. But we got in a few ski/snowboard days to take full advantage. ⛷️🏂❄️

It's strangely liberating for a control-freak like me to come and find dishes & amenities in different places. Many of the changes people (or our cleaners) make, I see as an improvement. This time, we found the area rugs in different locations and my husband said, "it makes more sense that way, you know..." 😅

I count myself so fortunate to be able to visit regularly and even more fortunate to be able to share it with others!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Laura2592 

Our situation is similar to @Sarah977  since our listing is also a private room in our apartment. Considering all the time we spend cooped up at home, the extra room has been great for a nap or when Henry and I both had to work from home.

Henry is used to working from home and our shared home office was more his than mine since I rarely worked from home pre-covid. Having the guest room available for me to use as my work space and taking over the guest bath as my own definitely helped us stay sane when we were stuck in the same apartment 24/7 last spring~summer. 

The empty closets and drawers in the guest bedroom are also being used as temporary storage for items we use more often (compared to when we hosted) to have easy access and Henry's new toys that he splurged on the past year. 

[Heather1086]

We try to go up for a weekend almost every month (except when we are completely booked in high season).  Everytime we come I bring things to restock and replace broken items... plus when we are there I find little things that would be a good upgrade. We also do any repairs when we are there so the house has no issues.  We have brought friends with us too and get their feedback on what the house is missing.  I think this is reflected in our reviews, the house is well outfitted and everything is in good condition. I LOVE visiting our house, I feel like I can breathe there... even when I am working remote.  Our goal is to retire there eventually.