City activities and suggestions for guests

[Lucy1071]

Hi are you guys often asked questions about things to do around the city from guests? And if so how much time do you find yourself spending on this?

[Kitty-and-Creek0 · Accepted solution]

@Lucy1071 

Hi Lucy -

This is a great question, and we can guess that this is a current issue for you.

We encourage our guests to ask us these questions. For us, the essence of hospitality is assisting our guests in having the best possible experience. With this in mind, we spend as much time as is necessary in a sincere attempt to make all their surprises  good ones. 

We preview the restaurants and destinations that we recommend. We keep abreast of local events - plus weather and road conditions - as well, so that we can respond with good information. The platform provides space for a local guidebook, as well as the getting around section of the listing. This for us is a space for this information, and we do our best to keep it updated. In addition, we have information in the space that shows more information on our favorite recommendations, in case guests have not done this planning already, prior to arrival. We love the smiles, when our guests had a terrific time.

Have fun with this!

[Lucy1071]

Thank you so much @Kitty-and-Creek0! This has been very helpful!

[Paula]

Hi @Lucy1071, I'm glad to see you found our Hosts' suggestions useful. I've tagged them in your replies so they get a notification of your message.

To tag someone, simply use the @ symbol and then select the user from the dropdown menu.

I hope this helps, and we look forward to reading more of your contributions in our community 🌻

[Helen3]

Hi @Lucy1071 

From your profile you aren't a host so it would be useful to understand your interest in this area?

Many hosts provide guests with a visitor books and local area guides.

[Lucy1071]

Hi @Helen3 

Thank for your response. I began co-hosting with my friend, and we are now overseeing 21 properties through her

management company (this is my personal profile). I am in charge of responding to all guests' questions. I want to find the most efficient way to help guests with city recommendations, as this is a frequent request. I want to determine how much time I should spend on this as a co-host.  Our Airbnbs are in a fast-paced city and attract a younger crowd and they seem to be overlooking the guidebook. Don't want to mess up our reply rate so I want to make sure we are as efficient as possible. If I come up with any more ideas I will return and share. I think what Kitty and Creek suggested above with the platforms local guidebook will be very helpful for the younger crowds.

[Bob297]

@Lucy1071 

I do this in two ways:

1. I ask the guests if they would like to provide their email address and if they are reachable via WhatsApp.
2. I have a standard PDF with hyperlinks that I send to the guests in advance.

Additionally, I have several folders on my laptop containing tourist information and photos. I send this information to their phone via WhatsApp for Windows. I also use this WhatsApp method to provide up-to-date information.

[Lucy1071]

Hey @Bob297 ,

Thank you for the reply I have been using WhatsApp for my foreign clients and doing something similar through providing them links to events websites. Right now its slow season where I am located so I haven't had much stress but a few months back I caught myself needing to keep up with city events etc.

Did you see what @Karen114 replied?  That might be a big time saver. I have to look into it since it'll be an extra expense but seems like it can help us all save some time. 

[Sandra6857]

guides and ideas of events in the area make a clients stay more fun 

[Sandra6857]

I host my own BnB, although new this spring  it has been very enjoyable

[Karen114]

@Lucy1071  I use Touchstay guest guides.  They are really easy to create and not only can you make recommendations for local attractions there are also many areas that you can provide info about your space such as how to operate thermostat, wifi etc.

It is a subscritpion plan for each guide.  Most guests really appreciate the guides.  Many do not bother to read the guides unfortunately. 

[Lucy1071]

Hi Karen,

Thank you for this! I think this is a game changer! I will look into it!

[Karen114]

Thank you @Lucy1071  Yes I love it.  It did take some time to get it set up but they make it easy as you can put in a website address or they have a google search in there so if you want to recommend Harry's Hot Dogs just put that in the google search and it brings up the website as well as driving directions and a thumbnail pic.  

Also what I forgot to mention is these guides can be updated in real time which is nice if a place goes out of business, you want to add a new place or you need to add another instruction about your space, it updates in real time. This is better than having a printed guide in the unit that will probably become obsolete rather quickly.

I find for myself, whatever new question a guests asks me, I just add it to the guide. 

Lastly you can also get a QR code for the guide and put it somewhere the guest will see it and can download from there. 

[Lucy1071]

What a neat idea! This has been very helpful thank you @Karen114. I was looking for something like this but was not sure it existed! 

[Bob297]

@Karen114 
What do you consider to be the advantages of Touchstay guest guides compared to a PDF with hyperlinks?