SHARE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Dee9
Level 10
Moriches, NY

SHARE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

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

87 Replies 87

I have been hosting for a little over a year and all I've had are great interesting guests. My seconded guest was a woman from china and her 7 year old son. She was visiting to attend the university in our town. I was caught off guard because our listing said no children, I have no idea if our house is kid safe or not, but there they were travel worn, their first trip to the states. I was amazed that this woman and her little kid just came here without knowing anyone and showed up on my door step. So I set out to help her out, I took her to the store for groceries and you could just tell they were taking in their surroundings. Anyway they were both enrolled in school and had a nice room rented by the end of the week, I was impressed by how fast she pulled this all together. I offered to take them to the park and show them around on the weekend. She was an English teacher and her english was really very good despite having never been to an actual english speaking country. So my husband and I started planning little outings and introduced them to some friends with kids etc. she and I became friends very quickly. And the little boy was just too cute. She spent the semester in our town and we pretty much hung out 1-2 times per month. She went home for a couple months and came back for a month in the summer and rented our air bnb. This time I planned a road trip to the coast with them both and showed them the redwoods and we had a great time. Now she is here again for the 3rd time and is having her baby here, I connected her with a midwife and I'll be her doula. Crazy. I plan on visiting her in china one day. So I made a life long friend and might even host her son as a foreign exchange student when he's older. I'd say that's a positive experience.

Thanks for sharing!

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

What an amazing story @Karen-and-Dale0. It is wonderful to hear that you see each other so often and that you have formed a life long friendship. It sounds like they are both really settling into their new home and you played such an important role into that. 🙂

 

How exciting you might visit her in China, have you picked up any Mandarin along the way? 🙂


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

I have joined airbnb just amonth a go and am just getting into it. I used to live in London England and would love to have mature couples, business people and advanturous travelers from England. Me and my husband are retired and still miss England . We do visit whenever we can as we still have family there. We would love to make new freinds from Britain.

Thanks for sharing! Wow~! The kind of experience you had is the main reason why I decided to become a host. 

That's so cool. I have three Chinese bookings and one of them is from China. 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Dee9 Hi again Diane.....I will try where possible to keep my finger off the exclamation key.

I would find it incredibly hard to single out one particular guest out of those that we have had and say 'this one was stand out memorable'....they all have been.

Tony from Jburg in South Africa had me enthralled all night with his stories of the Aparthied era.

Christine who grew up in a family of wealthy property owners in Ian Smiths Rhodesia who was forced to watch her husband's disintegrating body as it was dragged through a town tied to the towbar of a Toyota ute to the cheers of the local black population under Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, and with each pass less of it remained than there was on the last!...sorry, I just absolutely had to put one in there.

But eighteen months ago I hosted Marianne. When she came up the drive she was of such large proportions that I rushed up the back into my man cave and increased my 'Sharecover' liability insurance because I really thought this hosting just could not take place. My listing was not equiped for someone like this. She was so large that she could not walk un-aided. She had an arm walking stick and the taxi driver on the other arm to help her. She had come to us because she was to attend the wedding of one of her swimming pupils who was getting married near by. The taxi driver left after seeing her and her luggage into the cottage, and I made her as comfortable as possible all the time think....what the hell have I got myself into.

Despite her size she was full of bravado and over the next couple of days filled us with stories of how she was one of Australia's top junior swimming coaches and she told us stories of her triumphs where her coaching was concerned. We sort of felt so sad for her not really believing a word of what she was saying, and wondering how someone could actually let themselves get to this point in life!.....sorry

Saturday afternoon was hot, around 32c and I was sitting under the verandah at the rear of the main house and she came out the cottage door and asked if she could sit for a while. I said, "Can I get you a cup of tea Marianne?" She thanked me an got her frame into one of the outdoor chairs. I made her a cuppa and Ade came out to join us and, she started to cry. Her husband had left her some years previously when she started to put on some weight. He felt it was time to move on to greener pastures! no apology this time. Her family one by one abandoned her until here she was alone in the world just craving a bit of company. We talked for hours, Adrienne I and Marianne and she slowly let her guard down, opened up and really laughed and we had one of the nicest nights I can ever remember. I cooked her a lovely meal and we ate and drank long into the night.

This was her review and my response.....

Marianne.png

Diane this was truly one of my nicest hosting experiences....

Cheers....Rob

How generous of you to share this story

@Robin4  I'm headed to New Zealand and Melbourne in just a few days, mother and daughter trip..........not sure how far Barker is from there as I haven't gotten a chance to look it up yet. But with all of the amazing friends, Airbnb hosts and former guests (who's become friends) that we are visiting but I'll be sure to share my Positive GUESTS experience as this will be my 3rd travels through Airbnb. My FIRST Airbnb foreign country experience since the first two were in Hawaii and California.  Should I return the favor and leave a Hawaiian hula girl pen in the room? haha - I already packed the delicious Hawaiian coffee most of them asked for.  

 

This will be my 34th country stamped into my Passport as New Zealand is going to be new to me. (bucket list)

 Already been to Sydney 1990. Hope everyone in your family is well.

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook


Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Momi0 Would you believe, I once had a little plastic gyrating Hula girl in grass skirt on the dash in one of my cars...Every time I went over a bump the hips would wiggle and the grass skirt shimmy, and whenever I looked at it, it reminded me of the wonderful month I had in Hawaii with my daughter Kate in 2008. That little doll has now swapped cars and sits on the dash of my daughters camper van......and it still wiggles when she goes over a bump!

You will find in your travels Momi, all things Hawaiian, including Hula girl pens are not just accepted, they are loved and appreciated. It sounds like a lovely gesture to leave that pen and I know would be welcomed by any host.....me included!

Mt Barker is about an hour away from Melbourne by plane and about 7 hours by car....so you and your daughter are definitely in our part of the world Momi.....well, compared to Europe!

 

Have a wonderful holiday, I can't say 'the land of the long white cloud' is any better than Hawaii....but then again, I don't think it's any worse....good luck ol' friend.

 

Cheers.....Rob

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Aww this lovely @Momi0. I hope you had a fantastic time. I went to New Zealand a couple of years ago and it was amazing, wonderful scenery. Where abouts are you going to? 

 

I can't wait for you to share your experience here with us. 🙂


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

 MY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE as a Superhost traveling as an Airbnb guest. (along with my teen daughter).  This was my 5th Airbnb trip, but my first one to another country outside of the USA.  

 

Aloha Everyone, 

 

I recently came back from celebrating my 51st birthday in TWO countries....New Zealand and Australia.  I turned 51 in New Zealand first and then flew to Australia and landed there on my 51st birthday too.  How cool is that!?!  Never had 2 cakes in one day and 2 parties, but there it was....greeted at the airport with CHAMPANGE and a big Birthday sign held by friends.  Then off to a party with an entire Rugbyb team that I was so excited to meet....So much fun over the course of 15 days......not much sleep. lol

 

I was specifically asked by Lizzie (Community Center Manager) to share my story about my Airbnb trip because it truly was a FABULOUS trip visiting the very Superhost "ROZ" that I had met here on the Community Center site as well as staying with my former Airbnb guests who stayed with me in Hawaii in 2016.  Everywhere I went, it was one celebration after another with many memories made for a lifetime.

 

Its always been my dream to visit New Zealand and after meeting this amazing woman @Roz from Auckland New Zealand on the CC, and receiving an invite to visit  her, I opened my wallet and bought my ticket to NZ! Yep, I literally called her and said....Can I book your beautiful studio for next week?  She thought I was kidding.  HAHA. I wasn't.  I booked her place and started to count the 6 days until I flew out.

 

Roz was everything and more.  She is the epitome of a SUPERHOST. Her Airbnb Studio and own home is beautiful, her family absolutely so much fun, and I was treated like a celebrity.  This woman, who is a busy mother to 3 kids, took time out to plan something so special for my birthday and had an unreal surprise waiting for me.  After I arrived, she picked me up, (Best Hug Ever) and took me to her Airbnb home.  The next day, there on the dining room table were birthday presents for me!!!  What a great Superhost she is.  And the good times continued to come.....for my birthday, she and I travelled in the cutest red Mini Cooper to a beach town hours away where she had booked this quiet gorgeous house (from a friend) for a girls weekend getaway.  WHAT AN ABSOLUTE AMAZING SURPRISE.  It even had its own Zip Line and outdoor fire place.  We had so much fun being 10 year old girls again taking turns on the zip lines....(yes videos were made for future laughs).   She then surrpised me even more by taking me to an outdoor HOT SPRINGS (never seen that before), where we enjoyed drinks and food. Later, we enjoyed dinner at a really cool place named FLOCK, biggest mussels I had ever eaten.....I couldn't stop laughing because the holiday house (aka BATCH house), that's what KIWI's call it, was on a street called LAYCOCKK....and Roz lives nearby a town called COCKLE BAY....sensing a theme yet?  LOL  - This joke will never run its course now that I am back home because I use it all the time with my husband.  And of course, making Roz laugh is a mission I will always be on.

(already planning our next trip to New Zealand to visit Roz and her family with my entire family this time)....CAN"T WAIT!

 

I will never forget the moment Roz told people back in New Zealand how she met me, that I was the one who gave out great advice on the CC that she found to be very useful and how much I helped her become a Superhost.  What she doesnt' know, is that she gave me so much more in return....her trust, love, and Friendship.  We will forever be grateful to Airbnb for bringing us together.  We are even planning to vacation together with our families to FIJI in 2018. 

 

After spending a fantastic week with Roz, watching her work as a Superhost too, (meeting her Airbnb guests) I went onto Australia whereas I visited with my former 5 Star guests from Melbourne. This family of 5 hosted both me and my daughter during this trip at their Melbourne home and their holiday home in RoseBud.  Their 2 lovely teen daughters will always be lifelong friends to my sweet 13 year old daughter....and it was AMAZING to see them again as well.  I hope one day this lovely woman would like to become an Airbnb host because she truly knows how to host guests in her home and made us feel just as welcomed as we did for them in Hawaii back in Oct 2016. 

 

Of course, my trip as a 5 Star Guests would not be complete without showing my gratitude....passing out Hawaiian gifts to everyone.  Everyone loved the 100% Hawaiian coffee, hula skirts to the Roz girls, lots and lots of chocolate macadamia nuts, beautifully hand crafted Hawaiian Turtles for their homes, dresses/hats for Roz daughters, gifts to Roz neighbors who became my new friends....my point in sharing this part of my trip is to remind those that even if we are Airbnb hosts visiting other Airbnb hosts, as traveling guests, we should always show our hosts and friends how much we appreciate them for allowing us to stay in their Airbnb home.  And its always wonderful when my own Airbnb guests bring a gift from their country, and/or surpise us by leaving something in our Airbnb private room.  (We have received some very thoughtful gifts like my husbands' fav beer, money, coffee, gift cards, wine, champagne, tequila, chocolates, trinkets, jewelry, and of course the traditional pen from Australia and so many other wonderful things.)

And Roz was no different.....after returning to New Zealand for 32 hours to catch our return flight back to Honolulu, I was given some very special gifts by her that put a HUGE smile on my face....(she knows me so well).  haha  - 

 

Thanks for allowing me to share my story and Thank you @Roz for writing that I was the PERFECT GUEST....I might've earned that title from her for making breakfast for her entire family and the neighbors one morning.... LOL.  I hope that many many other hosts get to meet this amazing woman....who thinks of EVERYTHING! 

 

As I currently write this post, our own Airbnb guests (Canadian doctor)  has just brought home a beautiful HAWAIIAN chocolate cake after discovereing that our family was craving cake....seems he overheard a conversation last night while we all played a board game....too funny! What a sweet surprise.....pun intended.  

 

With that being said.....I'm off to enjoy my own piece before its all gone.  🙂

 

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook


Roz4
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

@Momi0

I was sooo glad you had such a good time. Having you stay was the highlight of my Airbnb hosting experiences. The best part was having a good excuse to take you places I'd never usually have an excuse to go to- what husband could deny his wife 2 days off to show her Hawaiian friend the best of NZ locally. 

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Aww @Momi0 and @Roz4, this made me smile so much, whilst reading this, that my facing is hurting. It has actually made me slightly emotional reading it, it is just such an amazing thing that you both met in the CC and now you have met in person and had, what sounds like, the most fantastic time. I am so pleased you had such a great time Momi and lovely birthday. 

 

Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂

 

I absolutely loved New Zealand when I visited 2 years ago. 

 

Roz, you will have to pop over to Hawaii now! I hear Momi's breakfast is renowned there! hehe 🙂

 


--------------------


Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.