Silly ratings

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

Silly ratings

Some aspects of guests rating of host are necessary and relevant....some are not!

I have a few 4 stars lately based on Value and Location.

Now forget all about location, neither I, ABB or God can do anything about that, and all that one tells us is what an a*s the guest is.

But Value, now to me, that stings a bit.

I charge $85 pr night with no cleaning fee, no security deposit, for 2 people using one bed.

If the guest had to puchase and supply what I supply as 'freebies' it would cost them at least.....

costs.png

This is not even considering soap, face wipes, tissues, toilet paper, refuse bags!

So, before the guest has put a foot in the cottage, $55.00 has already been supplied.

That's not what it costs me......... but it is what the guest would pay if they purchased these things

That means they get to sleep on a nice bed, use hot water, heating, cooking utensils, unlimited high speed WiFi, TV and this in a clean environment for $30.00 per night....and they give me a 4 star for value!!

What exactly am I supposed to do...... give it to them gratis or even hand them a dollar bill or two for the priviledge of having them stay here??

Put in those terms Value is about as silly as Location for something to be rated on.

Just another rant I needed to make!

Cheers.....Rob

54 Replies 54
David126
Level 10
Como, CO

How are you able to buy your freebies so much cheaper than a guest could?

David
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@David126

Hi again David, you have to be a canny shopper!

As I have said in other posts I have an agreement with the manageress of the local Woolworths supermarket! When cheese get within 3-4 days of the use-by date she does not want to know about them any more. Particularly if the wrappers look like they have been picked over in the cheese/dairy cabinet, so, I get an unlimitted supply of good quality cheeses for no more than $1 per cheese! I can turn on a $30 cheese plate for less than $3....no guest can do that!

I bought online a carton of 144 boxed cakes of Dove moisturising soap for $27! That equates to 19c per cake of soap.

I buy the largest pack of cereals that I can find and have two serve plastic containers that I fill from these large boxes which means the contents cost a fraction of what a guest would pay for individual boxed serves.

I buy a carton of beer when there is a two for one offer going, I but nuts and crackers in bulk!

David I have made a thing of providing a good spread for guests, so I have made liasons that enable me to fulfill what I do at a cost that no guest could come remotely close too! But the guest does not know that....and does not have to know it, it just happens!

Where two guests are involved I never spend more than $5.00 per guest night! I can do it David, a guest can't!

Cheers....Rob

Hi Robin:

Would you be able to provide on-line link for the "144 boxed cakes of Dove moisturising soap?" 

Thank you.

J Joseph

 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Joe125 @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Monika64 @Rachael26

Hi @Joe125, It was part of a liquidation sell-up, I bought that carton on Gumtree...an offshoot here in Australia of EBay.

I would love to buy another carton but, that's it!

Still that carton will keep me going for a few years! More than half my guests use the Dove liquid soap that I also provide as an alternative.

The only time I ever got dudded was by a Christian couple who stayed here for the dedication of a new church in the area. They got into the restock cupboard and took four cakes of said soap with them along with a few chocolates, two books out of the library and a couple of other things!

I guess, it is said 'The lord helps those who help themselves' so these two, being close to God, thought they should take him at his word!!!

It is not an ongoing deal Joseph and the only reason I offer it is because I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. But I am always on the lookout for special deals that will help with my hosting.

 

I have an excellent wine cellar Joseph, around 300 bottles! I know the wines I like and most of them run out at more than $50 per bottle! I belong to an online wine auction site called Langton's and I am in around 80 wine auctions a day. But I set a ceiling price of $15 per bottle, and at that price wins are few and far between. I will go for months without scoring a single bottle!

But, all of a sudden, one night about 11.45pm a boss will have taken the secretary away for a naughty weekend, the wife has found out and said...."Your wine cellar mate is history" and I will pick up 50-70 bottles of great wine for $15 per bottle!!!

It's a case of being in the right place at the right time!

Cheers.....Rob

Rhonda34
Level 4
Western Australia, Australia

I have only had one lot rate me a 4 for value, but its early days yet.  They were also a religious couple , so not sure what value for money means to people.  Maybe if I was closer to heaven? 

I think your right, we do the best we can, but you can`t please em all.  I think of myself as an innkeeper, and from what I hear from people in the hospitality industry be it pubs, or caravan parks or what ever, human nature is what it is.  So I just take the positive stuff I get back, and shrug of the other lot.  Those other lot are with us no matter what we do, lucky they are the slim manority but they tend to sting us at times. 

Love the way you are street wise!

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Maria971

Well Maria, you have to be 'street wise'! 

We are running a business....not that I depend on the income as some hosts do, but nevertheless I am not going to be a hotelier at this stage of life for nothing!!

I am not in a major tourist area, I am not in a large city, I need to be able to offer something that will attract guests to my property...and we do. My occupancy is running at about double the average for the area. I am averaging around 11-12 hostings a month of which Airbnb has the lions share.

I think one of the main reasons we are getting that custom is because of what we offer to guests and in order to do that you do have to be streetwise and search for bargains as they become available.

Many hosts will say....'why bother, you just set yourself up for failure because prospective guests start to feel entitled'! But Maria I am not finding that, I am finding it really rewarding.

Cheers.....Rob

I do agree with you Rob and like your wit too!!! Any red wine in the cellar?:)

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Maria971

The cellar is entirely red wine Maria. I leave the bubbles and the Pino Gris and the Sav Blancs to Ade.

I do run the cellar down at times now though and sometimes I don't buy for the best part of a year because human nature is a strange beast! Every time I would go there to pick out a bottle, I would search for the worst bottle in the rack.....grab something and think "Oh no, that's a bit good" put it back and search for something else. The end result of this is. by the time I got to the really top stuff.....it had gone off, not drinkable!

So these days I drink my way down, not up...does that make sense??

Cheers.....Rob 

I am guessing that many of these items are not "1 use" items. As such, she gets the benefit of greater value for her purchase. The tenant buys....say a 4 pack of butter to use part of a stick. See???😀

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Chris470

Yeah you are right, you buy in bulk but you don't pass it on in bulk! As I said I never spend more than $5 per guest night on what I offer.

Lots of hosts here say, 'why bother'..... but I enjoy offering that bit extra and guests do appreciate it.

It's not for everyone but it works for me.

Cheers.....Rob

@David126. Try restaurant supply.com...but even cheaper, buy a bottle of body wash ($1) and keep refilling it...no bar soap crud all over the place. 

I dont serve chees because I dont eat chees, but I do leave Trader Joes yoghurt as well as beer and wine.  Almost nobody touches any of it but I get high marks!

Just curious, what do you do with bar of soap when the guest has only stayed a night or two? I use liquid soap because seems more sanitary and can use with multiple guests.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Yaniv3

Just throw it away Yaniv, no way I would ever leave it for another guest!!

Sure it seems wasteful but whether it goes into landfill in a solid lump or goes into water waste as used soap, is irellevant! And as these cakes have only cost me 19c each, which is less than what some of the small packaged hotel soaps cost, why would I skimp!

But Yaniv, it makes a statement...What would you like to receive when you walk into accommodation? 

Would you prefer some refilled pump pack, or would like a boxed great quality soap? It looks like I care, which I do, but it also does make the guest feel appreciated.....It's me putting on my best hosting face!

Cheers.....Rob