Hi everyone,
Whether you're newer to hosting or cleaned your listing for the 800th time, we don't have scratch our heads for too long to recall a great and memorable story from our hospitality career. Over my 3+ years here on the Community Center you've made me laugh, cry, gasp and sometimes, just close the lid on my laptop.
I'd love to hear you all spin a yarn once more! Share your most memorable hosting story!
I'll be tagging some of those Hosts who's stories I know would make a wonderful edition to this anthological thread, but please do all share your amazing experiences.
Thanks,
Stephanie
This topic has come up before and I have over the years related these 3 stories but as you have asked Steph, I will trot them out again.....
1/.......In January 2016 we hosted Rosemary (not her real name) from New South Wales.
She booked a 4 night stay and when she booked she said she was regarded as Australia's leading junior swimming coach and she was coming as an invited guest at one of her swimming pupils wedding which was being held at a nearby venue. She said...."He has told me, I can't possibly get married unless Rosemary attends"!
I thought, this is going to be great and I told her where all the swimming facilities were in the area so she could keep her fitness in tune!
January in Australia is our hottest month with temperatures consistently in the mid to high 30's (90's f) and the day Rosemary's stay was to start was no exception.
An access van pulled up out the front of our listing, the driver helped this most enormously rotund woman out of the van. She was quite the largest person I have ever seen that was still actually mobile.
I just stared in disbelief.....this surely wasn't the guest I was hosting. We shook hands and she introduced herself and I thought, 'My God, this has got disaster written all over it, I am not equipped to handle a guest like this!"
With a crutch under one arm and the driver helping under the other we managed to get her inside the cottage and on the bed, she was sweating profusely and the van driver left.......'What the hell do I do now'?
As fast as I could I got onto Airbnb CS and explained the situation and the rep asked if I wanted to cancel the stay. I told him...."She is already here, I can't turn her out now but, I wanted you to be aware that this stay could have issues, this is not the guest I thought I would be hosting and I want it on file that I am really concerned and may need Airbnb's help"!
I left Rosemary to it that afternoon and evening and she seemed to get on ok. The next afternoon, the eve of the wedding, I was sitting outside under the shade and she came out of the cottage, came over and we started to talk. She started telling me about her swimming successes and my reaction, just to myself was, 'For goodness sake, stop trying to insult me, you would empty a swimming pool, not fill one!'
I asked her if she would like a cup of tea which she accepted, Ade came out and we started to talk and all of a sudden she teared up! She told us how her condition had taken over her life, robbed her of her career, her family had largely abandoned her and she had ended up all alone in a country town in NSW with little else but her memories. From that point she had hit rock bottom and she became great company, she was funny and witty and we exchanged stories and had a nice couple of hours.
Next morning the day of the wedding and the bridegroom and his best man arrived to escort Rosemary to the wedding. He walked up our driveway, he put his arm around Rosemary's shoulder. It looked so comical, all 6ft 4 of him to Rosemary's 5ft 2. He was indeed one of Australia's greatest swimmers with many medals to his name. He looked me in the eye and he said to me......
"I couldn't have done it without this woman"!
I thought, 'Well, there you go, you never judge a book by its cover'!
Here was Rosemary's review.......
2/......In 2018 a couple from Mt Macedon in Victoria booked to stay for one night.
They were part of a world wide service club ('Kiwanis' I think) and as part of a cultural exchange they had a 67 year old Japanese woman staying with them.
They decided to take this visitor to the Flinders Ranges in our state of South Australia to show her the Australian outback, and booked to stay here as the half way point in their trip back home to Mt Macedon.
It was a lovely warm still afternoon and I was sitting with the guests at one of our outdoor settings and the conversation got around to the fact that I had a piano in my man cave. Now it's not an actual strings and hammers piano, being at altitude with the variation in climate you can't keep a traditional piano in tune. But this piano of mine is the very best of digital pianos. It has the exact sound, touch and feel as a concert grand.
The guest who booked said this Japanese visitor of theirs played the piano and she asked if she could see the piano so, we migrated into the mancave.....
This 67 year old woman sat down at that keyboard and she was, absolutely, the best jazz pianist I have ever heard! She played all the old great jazz classics, we got a heap on Indian take away and ate, drank and listened to her for an hour or two. I regard myself as a reasonable pianist but I felt like a kindergarten kid alongside her.......it was a night I will always remember!
3/.........Also back in 2016, Nick and Hannah from London booked to stay here for a week. When he booked Nick said his only concern was, Hannah had been bitten by a dog as a child and had developed a life long canine fear, and us having a dog could possibly present an issue for her.
I told Nick I had a daughter living a couple of kilometers from here and if it were to be a problem I could take the dog over there for the week they were here. They didn't want to turn our routine around unduly so we agreed to see how the issue evolved.
Our Betts is our burglar alarm and when anybody comes here she lets out a welcoming bark and wants to exchange pleasantries with the visitors.
When Nick and Hannah arrived Betts just seemed to sense that she should keep her distance and for the first two days all went smoothly. On the third afternoon we were (as we sometimes do) talking with the guests, having a drink and a nibble plate of food. Betts came up and just sat between Hannah and Ade and after a while Hannah pushed a biscuit across the table and off the side which Betts promptly ate. That was it, nothing further but next afternoon Hannah asked if she could come out and watch while Betts went through her afternoon ball retrieving process.....she just loves to chase a tennis ball and return it to my feet. After a while Hannah asked if she could have a go with the plastic ball thrower and a bond was definitely starting to form. Betts obediently brought the ball back to Hannah's feet ready for another throw.
On Sunday at the conclusion of their stay when it was time for them to leave Hannah had to give the dog her personal goodbye and it was so heartwarming to see.
This was Nick's review.......
You can't manufacture these experiences or even predict them, they just come out of nowhere and we do have many of them. They are what makes hosting such a pleasure and something that really enriches our lives.
Cheers.........Rob
