SHARE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

[Dee9]

Anyone have a pleasant hosting or guesting circumstance? or helpful tip? (of which ive adopted a few from these forums, thank you)

I would say on an interesting note that i never imagined id have people from Paris or Italy staying in my home -its kinda cool where people are from. I learn a little more about other cultures everytime.

Id be interested in hearing others

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

There are good spirits in wood that may help us! "Touch wood" predates "Knock on wood" but came from the same belief that woodland spirits are benevolent and can ward off evil spirits and bad omens.  But there are other versions to this as well and a similar phrase found in many countries. See Wikipedia about this.... fascinating! Especially see how "knocking" on the wood handle of a rifle shifts the gun powder to make the rifle fire better and hit it's target! Never knew that!

[Robin4]

@Jesse28

Did you really think it would be any other way Jesse! With over 800,000 Airbnb hosts with two million listings the number of problems are completely miniscule....They happen, of course they do, but Jesse, the chance of it happening to you is remote. Just learn from each hosting experience, make sure you have the basics like a contact phone number and the rules of listing on hand.

This is a wonderful thread of @Dee9's because it gives just a few hosts the opportunity to say something positive and encouraging to others.

I will say catagorically that hosting with Airbnb is the best thing I have ever done! If there is a down side it is that some of the guests we have hosted have become our friends, we have regular get togethers and they have returned again and again without involving Airbnb in the hosting equation....and I do feel a bit guilty about that! After all it was Airbnb that introduced us in the first instance. Maybe we have been too good at what we do as far as Airbnb are concerned!

Jesse, you do not know how many beautiful people there are in this world until you invite them into your home. I feel sorry for people who do not have the opportunity to experience what we do.....their life is the poorer for not having it.

Long live Airbnb......

Cheers.....Rob

[Reuben4]

Hello frenz!!! I have been apart of the Air a year now and this has been a new experence for my family and me. My kids have learened alot from meeting these nice people from diffrent cultures.

I love that we can relate to people that live on the other side if the earth. Bless up!!!!

[Lizzie]

This is amazing @Reuben4 and congratulations on your first year of hosting. 🙂

[Heather118]

My husband and I have been hosting since August with Airbnb, we love it. We have only had maybe 2-3 guests that have caused any problem and they've all been pretty minor and easily rectified. 

I think having your expectations laid out clearly in your listing and some reminder notices (no smoking, etc) posted will ensure a positive experience. Happy hosting!

[Paul154]

Today, I saw that my guest had left to spend the day away.

He left the door open and unlocked.

I love that he trusts me, he trusts the roomies and it makes me feel good.

To me, this is the "real" Airbnb experience...comfort.

[Sabine42]

I had a lovely lady visiting last year, a professional wedding photographer who was in town for work. on her profile i saw that she's been to iceland, when she arrived i asked her about it as i was about to go there myself. we ended up talking for hours, turns out she got married in iceland because she loves it so much. she left me a long list of places to visit, which i did, all of them, and they were invalueable tips as i would have never found them on my own. not only that, but she went to the store, bought me a bottle of icelandic vodka as a gift. no hotel stay can compete with connections like this, even if they're quite rare 😉 (and the vodka is top notch!)

[Graham-And-Michelle0]

My partner and I have been hosting now for over two years. We decided to do this after several very excellent experiences as guests while travelling in Europe. One especially excellent stay in Castellamare, just south of Naples with new hosts Pasqualina and her husband who took such great care of us and included us in typical Italian family life , convinced us that airbnb was the way to go.

since then we have had some of the nicest families stay and have enjoyed sharing local haunts and activities with them.  It's really almost impossible to choose just one out of so many but we really enjoy taking people out on our small 35ft yacht on the Auckland harbour . A sunny day spent recent,y with a couple from Germany who travel extensively was so very successful that we later took them to a regatta of classic boats and a even later to aKiwi barbecue with locals.

it seems amazing to be able to so easily share so much good will and positive friendship with complete strangers from many different backgrounds 

[Annette33]

My positive experience concerns younger guests in the 20-30 age bracket: I used to think that I would prefer older folks, like I imagined they would be more respectful of our property, probably quieter, and all around more reliable. After hosting for one year now, based on my experiences with our guests I actually came to the opposite conclusion: it is the young people who are right there with messaging and communicating, they really appreciate our place and hosting style, they go with the flow and are totally non demanding. Hurray for them! One episode sticks out:
Very early in our hosting history, to prepare the kitchen, I had stuck a frying pan into the bottom  drawer of the gas stove, something I had always done with my electric ovens. Well, a few hours later, Wendy (one of the young guests ) is cooking and an incredible burning smell and smoke materializes in the apartment, so they call us for help, Curtis and I are getting down there, more alarmed by the minute trying to find the source of all that smoke (trying not to show it too much...), like what cables are burning right now, will the oven explode the next few minutes, do we need to turn off the gas supply for the whole house - what is happening?? The culprit was the frying pan I had stuck into the bottom drawer: it was too close to the gas flames and had ignited the wooden handle! Wendy and her guest were totally cool about it, didn't get weird or anxious about it - in fact just aired out the apartment and continued cooking - AND left us a great review, never mentioning the incident!
When I compare that attitude with the pickiness I encounter from several "older" folks, like immediately upon entering the apartment instead of enjoying the view and being in awe of it, checking the top of the refrigerator for posssible dust (non there 🙂 , or having to examine the cleanliness of the bed linens (yes they are freshly washed ) - I now say : welcome you cool, younger guests!

[Ange2]

@Dee9  I have had many positve experiences. The one that stands out is two prospective guests who despite cancelling went way above and so far beyond what I ever imagined or expected.  A young couple from Argentina made a reservation, a few days before arriving  they wrote and said they didn't know I lived here, they didn't speak english so hadn't understood the description - a friend had just translated it for them, they asked if I would I cancel because this was their honeymoon!  This was way before airbnb penalized hosts and made this type of situation a nightmare to deal with. Anyway, I called the guests, spoke to them and agreed to cancel.  A week or so later there was a knock at the door and a couple stood there flowers and chocolates in hand. They said they wanted to thank me in person. It was such a gracious and charming gesture I will never forget it.

[Louise0]

Oh my, where to start .....

My first guests, Ken and Gerry from Melbourne,  who stayed with me for over a month and were just a joy to have around and left me a gorgeous hand-knitted toy for my cats and a wonderful array of desserts beautifully presented on a platter with a glass dome.  I've kept in touch and even used Gerry's amazing knitting skills to craft a beautiful scarf as a present for a friend.  

Followed swiftly by a Belgian academic, Jelle, who only stayed 2 nights but with whom I've enjoyed some lovely meals and we continue to be friends. I also remember with great amusement (and fondness) spending a Sunday morning on the sofa downstairs watching 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' with Jelle and a young Canadian surgeon, Ryan (also a dream guest), sipping coffee in my PJ's and speculating about the logical inconsistencies in the film.  

And then there's Claire from Ireland and her fabulous mum Sue and her beautiful boy Luka.  They stayed with me for 17 days and I'll think we'll be (at least Facebook) friends for life.  And then there's Sarah from Singapore, and her family and how my psycho cat Denny took such a shine to her that he slept under the bed.  I could go on and on....

I perhaps come across as a bit of a 'bitch', but when guests are respectful and just downright 'nice', it's an absolute joy to host and really highlights what Airbnb is all about.

[Lisa36]

Just had three girls stay for the Adele concert and they were the most appreciative guests ever.  They were delayed by bad weather and arrived in late afternoon instead of morning.  They immediately sent me a photo thanking me for providing Timtams as they needed chocolate after their ordeal!  Then when they left I found a bottle sparkling wine and some chocolates on the table!  And a lovely thank you card.  It's guest like this that make the hosting life extra special!

[Trish44]

I just started hosting about a month ago and have had about half a dozen guests so far! I was hosting a couple this weekend for the NCAA tournament, downtown Indianapolis. This was their first Airbnb trip and I wanted it to go smoothly for them! Well, we woke up to loud, screeching fire alarms going off in my apartment building at 4AM, AHH. They were able to get out quickly and safely, but I have two cats so I had to get them out. I was having a difficult time finding them and was panicking. Found cat 1, ran downstairs and asked my guest if she could hold him. Ran back upstairs to get the second cat! They were so SWEET, understanding and helpful. We sat in their warm car till the situation was handled by the fire department. Thankfully it wasn't serious and nobody was hurt!

[Huaai0]

I have hosted since November 2016, and except that a couple used my brandnew bathtowel to wipe their suitcase and left stains hard to remove, nearly all my experiences have been positive. 

One beautiful lady from Switzerland who could pass as Hollywood star gave me a Swiss army knife and Swiss chocolate as a gift upon check-in. The first night after she had checked in, we had a power outage due to snow storm, and I felt so bad. I apologized and brought her a candle with a beautiful classical Baroque style brass candle holder. Guess what? She said it was beautiful and romantic thanks to the power outage!

After she returned to Switzerland, we were still in touch, and she invited me to visit her and offered her house for me to stay for free!  I have long aspired to visit Switzerland and will consider the offer seriously.

Other positve experiences include a mother and daughter group from China who cleaned the bathroom and kitchen very nicely, a Chinese guy who would invite me to dinner to reward my hospitality (which I have politely declined), a Canadian guy who left gratuity, an Indian guy who shared with me experiences of reciting/chanting Sanskrit mantra...

Tomorrow the Chinese mother and daughter and the Chinese guy will check out on the same day. I guess I will have a hard time again facing the empty and quiet house... But soon I will be able to get over it when I meet and greet new guests... God bless. 

[Kim-and-Jen0]

Hi all 🙂
We have been hosting since last year July, it has been a wonderful experience, we received many gifts from our guests, we never expected to have many thoughtful guests. We are very happy to host people from different countries and get so many tips for our next trips. Some of them become our friends and offered us to stay with them if we ever visited their city!

😄