What is the best piece of advice to give to your fellow hosts?

Delphine348
Host Advisory Board Member
Achères-la-Forêt, France

What is the best piece of advice to give to your fellow hosts?

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Hello everyone,

 

The strength of the Community Centre lies in the hosts sharing their knowledge, advice, and experiences in a spirit of caring and caring. Together we are stronger! And we feel less alone.

 

Although many tips and tutorials are already present on this forum, I really like to discover new ones during a more fun general discussion.

 

What better advice could you give to your fellow hosts in our community? And why? Do not deprive yourself of making us laugh by sharing your experiences!

 

My advice: communicate!

On every occasion: request for information, booking, before arrival, at the reception, etc. show the traveller interest. I’m almost able to tell you about every group that came home.

 

My funny experience: a massage! 😂

the organiser of a group that came home for a Zen weekend, offered me a massage on a chair to thank me for the good time spent at home. I came to start laundry and I enjoyed 20 minutes of relaxation in the sun!

Delphine

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52 Replies 52
Felicity11
Host Advisory Board Member
Manly, Australia

I love you great advice Rob.  It is great sensible practical down to earth advice in how to make people feel welcome and how to also treat this as a business. 
 

I always tell hosts not to put any thing in there listing that you can not replace or will be concerned if it gets broken. Its a fine line between wanting your place to look amazing but also be practical. Yes the green velvet couch looks great but how easy is it to clean up the  red wine spills in between back to back bookings..  and if you do "lend' your children's toys to guests be prepared for them to not come back in the same state you leant them in.. 

 

Small thoughtful gifts left for guests create such a lovely feeling of being welcomed and wanted and of a thoughtful host.  I think a personal touch like this also helps guest feel more appreciated and not like a number.

 

I wish my supermarket had a Robs box this sounds fantastic! ..  great for guests but also a great way to keep food out of the landfill. 

 

 I am really enjoying reading this thread. Its great to hear what others around the world do. 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Felicity11 

 

Hi Felicity, hope you are not too waterlogged over there in Manly. My eldest daughter is in Pt Kembla and she says they have had 1.3 metres of rain so far this year! That is 50 inches of rain for the year.

 

Felicity I am a great scrounger, I have negotiated deals with a number of services and suppliers in our local area.

I do most of my shopping in one particular supermarket and set up this 'Robs box'  idea with the store manageress. The idea first came to me 4 years ago towards the end of January. I was walking past the dumpster as staff were about to throw about 20 Christmas leg hams out with the rest of the rubbish. There was nothing wrong with them, they had been under constant refrigeration but, as far as the store was concerned they were just taking up refrigeration space and there's about as much chance of striking the lottery as selling a leg ham once Christmas has been and gone.

I was appalled at the apparent wastage but the manageress said food hygiene and handling laws are so strict, the risk of being closed down as a result of food poisoning was ever present and they were much better off just dumping the stuff. So I took 10 of them, gave most away to family,  friends and neighbours and kept one for myself.

The manageress volunteered...."Anything that get close to the use by date gets the same treatment", so I came up with this Robs box thing for which I virtually take any of this 'in date' legal stuff off their hands!

 

I supply a lot Felicity but I never spend more than $7.50 per guest night and the guests love it! One guest sent me this after the stay.........

 

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And this was the plate that was in the fridge for them......

 

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Maybe this is not a good thing to do, give away my trade secrets, but my hosting strategy works so, if it can help others......why not!

 

Cheers.........Rob

 

@Delphine348  @Laurelle3  @Huma0  

Felicity11
Host Advisory Board Member
Manly, Australia

Hi @Robin4 

 

Great to hear more from you.  Thank you for asking about the rain. We have been very fortunate to have not been affected by the rain but so many people in Sydney have been affected - it was a lot of rain very quickly.

 

Thankyou for sharing this with us. I hate seeing and hearing about food going to waste. I have noticed that our local Harris Farm is offering some great meal ideas made from fruit and vegies that are getting past being sold and there are also some cheeses and meats.  The prices are still no where near what you can get and it is fantastic to hear that your local supermarket provides this for you.   And helps them cut down on food waste.   

 

I am inspired by your words and will ask my local supermarket what they do with there food that is about to expire.   

 

I know as a guest if I arrived to a platter like that I would feel so welcome and looked after.  It is a lovely thing to do. 

 

Delphine348
Host Advisory Board Member
Achères-la-Forêt, France

Hello @Robin4 ,

 

You are very experienced and your advices and tips are wise! Thank you for sharing!

 

1/When we decided to buy and do a renovate work on the house, I took time to think about the furnitures. As it soon became a hosting project, I chose everything in a practictal purpose, meaning easy to clean, not a big deal to replace, good looking. I am prepared to loose everything :)) and the house is comfy.

 

2/Nice welcome message, I began with writing one by one messages to my guests and was happy to discover quick and programmed messages last year. I have spare a lot of time while being very welcoming and communicative host. It is indeed precious to communicate and know the guests plan for their stay.

 

3/I always let something for the guest at check in. Either bottles of our local beer and organic juices, a French bread, flowers, Easter eggs, Christmas chocolate...I try to think as a guest. The Robs box is awesome! 

 

4/ Exactly! Do your maths, keep an eye on your profit and losses, plan maintenance costs. And always avoid "discount" guests.

 

5/ You are so right, be responsible for your activity is key. Very often at the beginning of hosting, people tend to rely only on Airbnb, forgetting that they need to set their hosting standards, take an STR dedicated insurance and choose their guests wisely.

 

Thank you again for sharing!

 

 

 

 

Delphine

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Yvonne735
Level 4
Kinlochleven, United Kingdom

Advice, learn fast. Do not be trusting of guests. There are professional scammers out there. Remain friendly but professional.  Its 2022 and we still have to be aware of protecting ourselves. If someone asks to view the premises prior to booking, tell them no. The images are a true reflection. Do not put yourself at risk . 

Delphine348
Host Advisory Board Member
Achères-la-Forêt, France

Hello @Yvonne735 ,

 

Friendly and professional is a good advice, many hosts start thinking that guests will also be friendly and respectful and forget to write their rules for instance!

Delphine

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Michael-O-Reilly0
Host Advisory Board Alumni
Meenderry, Ireland

We have been hosting now for about 15 years, and hosting on Airbnb since 2016, since then each and every guest that has stayed with us  has enriched us as hosts and everyday is a learning day, i would recommend to fellow hosts the importance of sending a thank you message to your guests, thanking them for booking your place,  its a big market out there, and showing a little bit of appreciation to your guest goes a along way and its nice for the guests to read this..Make sure communication and directions to your listing are clear and defined, nothing worse than a guest having difficulties finding your place, first impressions last..Providing a room/listing  that is clean, cosy and welcoming. As a host enjoy the benefits of hosting and the cultural, social and financial benefits that it brings..

Delphine348
Host Advisory Board Member
Achères-la-Forêt, France

Hello @Michael-O-Reilly0 ,

 

You are very experienced as an host! Yes communication is key! And guests are entitled to receive gratitude when they chose our place amongst so many listings.

And for that I really appreciate automatic messages, I have written several and combined with the scheduled messages, I am better in communicating with my guests.

About directions to my listing , I had guests this weekend who had difficulty with AIrbnb App. The husband refused to load it on his phone, his wife had to look on Google to find the place! Lucky for him, I have also a spot on Google map. The husband didn’t listen to his wife’s indication anyway...

Finally, the wife and friends arrived first, thanks to Google, while the husband was wandering in the village with his motorbike friends!

Good for me that his wife was used to this and laugh with their friends! Hope it won’t cost me a 3 in notation...

Delphine

(Sauf indication contraire, mes contributions sont issues de mon expérience en tant qu'hôte)