What experiences have you shared with your guest?

[Quincy]

Hello everyone!

For many of you, spending time with your guests is part of your daily routine. Check-in, check-out, giving a hand here and friendly advice there, but I am curious: have you also shared quality time with them?

Maybe you all went for a meal at that lovely pizzeria on the corner, or the guests decided to cook a delicious exotic meal for you? Tell us what you have done together to mark the start of a good friendship!

I look forward to hearing your stories.

Quincy

[Ana1136]

@Quincy I ussualy give my guests privacy but we sometimes have a glass of wine and discuss the traditions in our countries, I love listening about other places and how people live there. I wait and see if they want to spend time with us or they have buisy schedules since most guests come here for a couple of days and they are in a rush to see everything. We had this lovely Dutch couple, he was a chef there and she was an artist. Their way of thinkig and how open they were to thing in life greatly affected the way I see things. And me and my brother are going to Netherlands to visit them this fall 🙂 

[Quincy]

Hey @Ana1136,

Someone told me that Macedonia is also very popular for its wine! Is that true?

Wow, it's so nice to hear that you've created some sort of friendship! I'm sure you'll enjoy Amsterdam but just be sure to bring an umbrella + raincoat as it may rain a lot! 

[Ana1136]

@Quincy exactly, we have some of the best wine here. Macedonia is so small and it has 28 big world-renowed wineries and a lot of the people make their own wine in small quantities. We give our guests homemade wine and they all love it. Imported wine is so hard to find here, I think all of the restaurants in Ohrid offer only local wine. But there are so many options it isn't even necessary. We are looking forward to our trip, it is always nice to experience a city with the locals.

[Victoria567]

Hi @Quincy

I’ve shared lots if experiences with my guests.

Making raspberry jam from my homegrown organic berries, with a delightful Dutch lady, two years ago.

Ive made a flower wreath with a talented American lady who was a horticultural specialist in her home state, two years ago.

My husband and I cracked open a bottle of Talisker and shared it with 2 great guests from Georgia in the Deep South along with loads of laughter, two years ago.

Ive shared a MacAllan Whisky tour this May during their grand opening of their new facility with a lovely Australian girl, this year including a homemade lunch.

Ive shared my car free of charge picking up a lovely Australian girl from the train station, this year.

Ive shared a delightful traditional home baked Scottish Afternoon Tea with a great German couple, this year

Ive shared a delightful traditional home baked Scottish Afternoon Tea with a lovely Italian couple, this year.

Ive shared the harvesting of my homegrown organic red currants with a delightful couple from Canada, last year.

Ive shared opening up and inspecting my beehives with a lovely Canadian girl this year.

Ive shared the experience of a ceilidh with a lovely couple of Dutch kids, last year.

Ive shared a trip to Tomintoul Distillery last year,  giving a great pair of South African cyclists a lift to Tomintoul.

Ive shared my home with a fabulous American chap last year as my husband accompanied him to a great grouse moor nearby, to take photos of the glorious Heather in bloom.

I shared my car with 2 lovely hilarious German lads who during this years annual Spirit of Speyside Whisky festival in May, after they fell in the river Spey whilst canoeing and were like 2 drowned rats so I picked them up and took them home.

I shared many great breakfast chats with various Dutch guests this year.

I shared my friends love of farming and wool production with a great American couple who embraced our Scottish warmth and hospitality as my friend invited them up to her Croft.

I shared loads of laughter with all of my German guests this year and last year.

These are the guests many of whom I correspond with still, by email despite the new breed of entitled guests that invaded my home this August....was it a full moon?

Anymore tea anyone?

[Kimberly54]

Hello @Quincy, and all,

I recently had a Chinese couple--ohmigoodness, so delightful!  We had such a great time!  One of the reasons to visit San Diego was to see a REAL PANDA BEAR!

... so I drew this image on their bathroom mirror before their arrival:  (I hope it flips correctly--supposed to be vertical.)

be vertical)

[Quincy]

Haha, very thoughtful @Kimberly54! 

How did they find your Panda drawing? 

(p.s. I flipped your photo to the correct position—hope you don't mind)

[Kimberly54]

@Quincy, how did they find it?  They found it in the bathroom!  And where else would a panda be blowing bubbles?

*)

They were blown away!  (I should be shot or hanged for all of these puns!)

Glad I took a picture... just ink on mirror... it's gone now. :-((

Best,

[Quincy]

Hi @Victoria567,

Thank you so much for sharing all of these experiences as it sounds like you've had some lovely guests!

Ooh, I love the Scottish distilleries as I went for a Whisky trail a few years ago. I have a Whisky passport with stamps of some distilleries I've visited :-). I'm so sorry to hear about the guests you've hosted in August and let's hope it was just the full moon. 

I would love to visit the Scottish Highlands again as it has been too long now!

Are you expecting more guests? 

[Rebecca181]

We let guests know we are always happy to meet them around one of the two fire-pits for wine and dessert. We've shown more than one guest how to make 'cowboy potatos' in the fire-pit, as well as how to make s'mores. We've also been invited to take a sunset walk on the beach with one group of guests from Canada.

Several of our Airbnb guests have turned into personal friends. We have received thank you cards, gifts, and just this week I received a painting of my horse from one guest who is a folk artist in Mexico (she knew what he meant to me and asked for his photo and surprised me with a wonderful rendering of him - It arrived in the mail this week and I was not expecting it at all!) This is what I most enjoy about hosting for Airbnb - The connections we make with certain guests. 

Painting of my horse Blue by an Airbnb Guest

[Quincy]

That's a wonderful painting and a lovely surprise from your guest @Rebecca181! I once did a barbeque with one of my guests. I agree with you that it is indeed a great experience having some sort of a connection.

Have you had the chance to visit any of your new friends :-)?

[Rebecca181]

@Quincy0, we cannot travel due to the compromised condition of my horse Blue (featured there in the painting) - It has taken nearly two years to bring him back from a catastrophic four-footed founder and he is insulin resistant with Cushings disease and we need to personally manage all his care. Mercifully, he has nearly fully recovered AND I made a new friend who sold her horse ranch and offered to help care for my horses so there is hope we may one day be able to visit some of our Airbnb guests turned friends. We have invitations to stay in Paris, Mexico, Alaska, Canada, and many other places. I've yet to use my Super Host travel credit but hope I can before it expires, even if it is just to stay at a nearby coastal Airbnb!

[Quincy]

Oh no, I hope Blue gets well soon @Rebecca181! 

Your friends are lovely by offering to help you with taking care of your horses. It seems like you've got quite some places to visit with all those invitations :-). 

[Huma0]

My short-term guests are usually out and about most of the time seeing London, so I don't spend vast amounts of time with them, but if they are home during the evenings and are sociable, we're most likely sitting around the kitchen table sharing stories and sometimes sharing some food or wine. Last weekend, a lovely Romanian couple joined me and my friends for my birthday drinks.

My long-term guests are another story. We will often hang out together. My first long-term guest became a friend. We had a tradition of 'Poldark Sundays' in front of the TV. I cooked him a traditional Christmas dinner. He came back to visit a few months later and stayed as a non paying guest.

My next long-termer is also a friend. We had a tradition of 'cocktail of the month', which we'd make and drink together. He came back to stay a few days this Summer, again as a friend, not as a paying guest, and I even through a barbeque in his honour as it's something we didn't get round to while he was staying.

This week I will be meeting up with another former long-term guest who has also become a friend.

A lot of hosts are wary of long-termers, but they've all been my favourite hosting experiences to date.

[Quincy]

I totally agree with you @Huma0! It's usually the long-term guest I get to hang around with more often. 

I've shared dinner a couple of times although I noticed that a bigger percentage of my guests are out for the day exploring the city. 'Cocktail of the month' sounds like an amazing tradition haha! 

Any more traditions :-)?