hosting

[Jose37]

Hi - I was wondering if any other 'live-in' hosts are beginning to tire of airbnb?

While the whole ethos and positive idea of airbnb - to go live and share with inhabitants of places all over the world, is a lovely idea,

the reality is actually otherwise.

I have hosted more than 30 groups of people from all over the world - I live in central London.

While the majority of people are fine, it has to be said that within that majority, people are basically using hosts and their homes as a cheap alternative to a hotel. They (the guests) often have little or no interest in their host in terms of their knowledge and experience of living in that place (London in my case), preferring their own privacy, using all your facilities - and occaisionally, almost resentful that you (the host) live there as well !

From over 30 lots of people - I would say there are 4 groups whom I would call friends and have invited me to their countries. Out of the 4 groups - I am in regular contact with One family.

Airbnb community? ...how would you describe it?

[Cari3]

I personally wouldn't be a host if i was offering just a bedroom in my own home.  But fortunately we're able to partition off a part of our house so that guests have their own space with their own entrance.  For the most part I'd agree with you that they have little interest in me or my knowledge of where I live - but as I'm more interested in them nd where they come from, that doesn't bother me.  Fact is, unless I have someone single staying in which case i often invite them to dinner, I hardly ever see my guests....they come and go and are usually out and about, use what I provide which is part of my price and for me personally, it's working well.   

[Jose37]

Hi Cari - thanks for your comments. It does seem that the space you have, lends itself well to the necessary detachment you need from your guests - at the same time as being close by should anyone need you.

I havent had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver, and therefore dont know of the density of people vs space - I imagine central London to be along the lines of central New York - ie an awful lot of people crammed into not much space. I had a friend who lived (with great pride) and paid handsomely for a shoe box in Greenwich village - because, well, it was Greenwich village.

While the space v density of people aspect exists here too, I live in a desirable central location, and offer a large, more like a big reception / sitting room, that has comfortably housed 4 adults before - I would definitely say more than 'just a bedroom'.

While I appreciate your input - I did'nt really put up my post for people to respond with - well I've got lashings of space, its all going great for me and if I were in your shoes I wouldnt rent out my bedroom!  ...what can I say Cari? I'm thrilled for you and wish you well.

[ZenHomes0]

@Jose37 the #1 reason anyone today uses Airbnb is because of price. The branding campaign about belonging anyway is charming, and there are a group of individuals who swear by Airbnb because it truly brings a unique experience that hotels are unable to deliver as well. But the majority of people wouldn't stay in someone else's home if it costs the same as a good hotel. Even Airbnb's success story started off with the strategic targetting of cities where conventions resulted in hotels being fully booked and guests had no other option but to turn to Airbnb - see the very first Airbnb guest story

At the end of it, guests use you for your affordable home, and you use guests to pay the monthly mortgage. The way I see it, everybody wins (except the hotels)!

[Katie16]

I've only starting hosting more recently, and I understand, it can be quite exhausting. I manage two listings - a room in my own home, and a friend's apartment. I've been lucky enough to have great guests in my own home, but only a handful of those have I genuinely enjoyed their company. My thoughts on hosting in the future (for the room in my house) is to really make it suit me. I will only have bookings around one weekend in three or four, and I'll only accept bookings from people who make a genuine, friendly effort in their first message to me (more likely, I figure, that we will really get along). After all, it's my home and I want to be totally comfortable!

[Jose37]

Hey Adam - how long have you been working for Airbnb's PR department?

I found your answer so shiny glossy and vapid, you went straight over just about every point I made !

Anyways, viva la vida and have a nice day !

[Jonathan-And-Britney0]

We've had some really wonderful experiences, and made some new friends that we plan to keep in touch with, exchange visits, etc. And we don't mind when guests just want to keep to themselves. I do really wish there was a better way to know ahead of time if the guest wanted to be alone, really wanted to hang out, or doesn't really have significant expectations either way.

We've also had some really bad experiences with visitors who were very critical, had very poor communication and unrealistic expectations, and gave us no opportunity to understand their needs and please them. I wish that Airbnb would let us remove reviews when they are clearly and objectively nonfactual ("I didn't know I would be in the basement." "I didn't know there would be a shared bathroom." "I didn't know there would be men in the house..." Etc. All things written clearly in the listing, and even mentioned in messages before booking.). We're likely to miss being a super host this time around because of one or two particulary bad reviews from someone who didn't read our posting or messages, and who actually wanted to stay in a hotel. We just were unfortunate to have them stay with us for the first time, and I'll be more careful about who I accept as a guest from now on. 

But as a whole, I've enjoyed the Airbnb experience, and I'm thankful they exist! 🙂 

[Eileen4]

@Jose37 I would take a break if it's getting to you. I've got a self-contained flat so I don't always have a lot to do with my guests, which suits me just fine. That said, I do do a lot to make sure they take full advantage of the neighbourhood.

I've stayed at a number of Airbnbs and at some I've sensed that the hosts are exhausted by the process. I actually asked one about it and was surprised when he admitted that he didn't enjoy it as much as he did at first and was actually thinking of hiring someone to take over while he looked for another property to buy. (He wanted to live separately.) He'd been sharing his home with handfuls of people at a time for several years--he was one of the first people to do Airbnb in his city.

He owned a six bedroom home and he and his girlfriend occupied only a small part of the property. He also worked from home, which put him around his guests all the time. I think I would have a very hard time keeping my life separate if I did that, so I could really see why he was feeling exhausted. He was polite to a fault, but was having a hard time hiding his exhaustion. I urged to him to consider hiring someone since I don't think anyone should burn out doing this. 

That said, I just stayed at a lovely place with a couple that I felt wanted to extend a lot of hospitality to me. I felt bad because I also felt I was letting them down a bit. I really did just want to keep to myself because I was visiting relatives and found that that was taxing enough. I do think that working in a bit of downtime around your capacity to cope is fair. I'm fairly introverted so could never do the in-house Airbnb. I'm not surprised that anyone would feel the way you're feeling. 

[Jose37]

I'd like to say a big thank you to all of your replies - and at the same time let you know that I've spent about 4 hours writing/reponding to each of you, both from my mobile and my computer - every single message has failed to be sent and all content is immediately lost/wiped.

I have no idea why this is happening and have found the process so frustrating and disappointing that I'm signing out. My thanks again to you all - for the many sympathetic, kind and helpful comments you've made.

[Lucy-and-Loic0]

Hi Jose, 

I think you're right to question how things seem to be evolving with your personal experience.  You have asked me to describe it.  I am just beginning in this process and I love to have guests, but as someone who is a bit of an introvert myself I also know what it feels like to have to make a big effort when I just want to have a good, cosy safe place to stay.  And with Airbnb it's one that's going to have human prices and maybe be attached to real people.  So in my experience as a host I am kind of catering to that.  If I look at who my real friends are, they're people with whom I shared formative experiences.  So 5 days in my house beginning as a stranger after which I am going to be graded with a star system is never going to evolve to a life-long friendship, unless there's some kind of extenuating circumstance that brings us together.  I will extend my hospitality and remember that the traveller is blessed.  Hoping you find some comfort with that, and hoping that you find the connections you need.  

Kind regards,

Lucy

[ZenHomes0]

@Jose37 Hah that's just me describing how I see it, not how others should see it and certainly has nothing to do with Airbnb.

I suppose my view applies more to renting an entire home because we don't sit down with guests and have tea. All of my guests so far look like they just want to settle down without being too chatty with me. I started off talking about the neighborhood and being chatty, asking them about their travels, but as my listing accommodates a large group most of them just want to chill by themselves. Fine by me, I just think that if you see it as a means to earn some money, you wouldn't be disappointed, you'd only have pleasant surprises!

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

People book because of the price - there is no getting away from that. 

Some people are happy with additional interaction and some just want to do their thing while here - in the early days we went all out to 'befriend' people. Now we just try figure out what works for them and if that is very limited contact, so be it. 

Can't say anyone so far has been resentful....but who knows what they say behind closed doors!

[David126]

I know a few other people who host using AirBnB, but none I know do it for company, prime reason is money and if ABB was not here we would do it through another service.

In fact everybody I personally know is not 100% reliant on ABB, and judging from a Questionnaire I was sent yesterday by ABB they assume hosts use other services as well.

I started on ABB because of a recommendation from somebody who had been doing it for a long time and it was an easy way to get going with no start up fees or fixed costs.

Some people want the full experiance, others just want a room. If everybody wanted full interaction it would take all my time.

I do not treat ABB guest different to anybody else who might stay, and there is a different profile but not as far as interataction is concerned.

[Amaris0]

Hi, 

I appreciate Jose has signed out, however as this is a community forum of sort and it is an issue I can relate to partially, well the part about it being tiring, I thought I’d comment as well.

It does get a bit tiring hosting one guest after the other especially if you are fully booked. However the way I see it is, I have a few options to limit my availability or totally cancel my listing therefore it is my choice if I decide to continue to host and in doing so I have a responsibility to be a good host and not let any of my guest sense when I might feel a bit tired or just want some space.

Bar one guest, I have got on well with all my guest, some have been more friendly than others but it makes no difference to me really as I accept that most people use airbnb because it is a cheaper deal than a hotel, not because they are here to make new friends or engage in conversations with me; ultimately, we both get something out of each, a place to stay in return for a fee.

From a guests point of view, when I have used airbnb in other countries, I do engage a bit with the host more to be polite than anything else although I have made a couple of good friends but at the end of the day, I didn’t travel there to visit or make friends with the host, I travelled with a plan which sometimes also means at the end of the day, I’m too tired to spend time chatting with the host.

I guess we are all different and perhaps stating in your listing description if you would specifically like guests to engage with you would weed out those who just wish to be left to get on with their visit and keep it as a business deal, which is what is really.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Ama

[Julie103]

Agree 100% with everything Ama said.  I have been a host for 3 years and rent two rooms in my home; in that time I've had nearly 70 stays.  I don't need the money from these rentals, and in fact I am an Airbnb host who just does it for the company and enjoyment of meeting other people.  That said, I'm not expecting these people to become my friends.  If they want to be sociable, great, and if not,  they are welcome to hang out in their room or in other parts of the house.  I am the kind of person who enjoys talking to people, so I always try to engage people in conversation, but if they don't want to be chatty then I am not offended.

If you get tired of hosting, then you are always able to block dates on your calendar.  I travel a lot myself, and also have plenty of times when I don't want to host for one reason or another, so those dates get blocked as soon as I know about them.  I think this has kept me from burning out as a host.  It would get exhausting to have back-to-back guests constantly.