Hosting tips to delight your guests, support your local community and save the planet!

[Felicity11]

Hosting Tip: How to Delight Your Guests, Support Local Businesses, and Save the Planet 

One of my favourite ways to surprise and delight guests is to share local tips that help them have a great time and do good while they’re here.

A brilliant example is the Too Good To Go app.

If you haven’t come across it before, it’s an easy-to-use platform where cafes, bakeries, restaurants, and even grocery stores sell their surplus food at the end of the day at a fraction of the usual price.

Instead of that delicious food going to waste, guests can grab a “surprise bag” of goodies — it might be pastries from the local bakery, a sushi lunch, or a mixed bag of fresh produce from a nearby grocer.

Why I recommend it to guests:

• It delights them – who doesn’t love a bag of treats at a bargain price?

• It supports local businesses – your guests will discover places they might return to for a full meal.

• It reduces waste – good food stays out of landfill, cutting emissions.

•  

Where you can use it:
Too Good To Go is now available in 19 countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, and many across Europe.

Tip for Hosts:
Include a mention of Too Good To Go in your digital guidebook or compendium, along with a couple of local spots on the app that are guest favourites. Some guests make a game out of seeing what surprise bags they can collect during their stay!

Your turn:
Do you have Too Good To Go where you live — or something similar?
If so, tell us what it’s called, how it works, and whether your guests have commented on it!

This simple suggestion ticks all the boxes:
✅ Guest experience
✅ Local economy
✅ Sustainability

[Clap1]

A win-win all around—guests enjoy savings, local spots gain exposure, and perfectly good food avoids going to waste.

[Felicity11]

So simple and so effective!

[Bhumika]

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post @Felicity11 ! 

How did you come across "Too Good To Go" app?Was it that some one recommended it to you or you usually keep an eye on such eco-friendly platforms? 

[Felicity11]

I was at a event with other creatives who focus on working in the Climate space and this app was mentioned so I checked it out. It is such a great idea as it helps everyone, the retailer, the customer and the environment. 

[Bhumika]

That's great ! @Felicity11 

Do your guests found this addition to your listing both intriguing and useful? I'd love to hear if you've ever received any feedback from guests about it.

[Felicity11]

Thanks for reading this post , @Bhumika   

I have only recently discovered this app and I think its a fantastic idea. I have not yet received any feedback from guests; however, when sharing the news with friends, one commented that she had tried it out and thought it was fantastic, and other friends were keen to get the name and try it out! 

[Bhumika]

Hi @Felicity11 , I am glad to see such positive feedback from your friends! 

I noticed your mention that the app is available in Canada too. I'll have a look and keep you posted 😉

Regards,

[Helen3]

Hi @Felicity11 

Thanks for the tips. 

As an 'advisory board alumni' can you tell give us some tips on how the advisory board is raising issues about two key areas that are leading hosts to leave the platform and causing hosts much distress and anxiety 

A.against their published policy when a guest makes what is often a false accusation against a host , without requiring any evidence or asking the host for their side,  Airbnb is suspending host listing and often refunding guests

common examples are 1) a host asks a guest to leave because they are partying or bringing in visitors not on the booking.  The guest complains to Airbnb and the hosts listing is suspended .

2. a guest complains after staying at the property for the full duration that it wasn't clean or an amenity was damaged or missing 

airbnb refunds the guest automatically without requiring any evidence  or talking to the host even though their policy is the guest should reach out to the host first on check in 

B. When there is a problem guest, for example,  who parties/damages a property  the host reaches out to Airbnb for help. The host is advised by Airbnb customer services ,  if the guest leaves a false retaliatory review it will be removed .

the guest does and with the introduction of AI Airbnb automatically refuses to remove the review . When the host appeals their request is then turned down again automatically and there is no right of appeal 

There is no complaints procedure with Airbnb and we know of no chanels  that we can use to raise these issues with the Board  as hosts chosen by Airbnb to represent us.

does the advisory board do any analysis of key issues being raised on this community?

how does the Board involve the wider host community in its work ?

what key areas is the board currently advising Airbnb on? 

please help .

[Fiona256]

@Felicity11 

We all look forward to your response to @Helen3 's points.

Hosts are very concerned at their bad treatment from Airbnb, and are leaving the platform in droves.

The stress and frustration due to so-called customer support is affecting the mental health and well-being of many. There are no excuses for such treatment, other than Airbnb's greed and lack of care for hosts, its providers.

This is the Host Advisory Board's opportunity to show hard-done-by hosts that some people in Airbnb fairyland do care about hosts, who provide them with their business and who they really ought to be treating fairly rather than exploiting.

We expect a response from you and your colleagues. 

[Felicity11]

Hi @Fiona256 @Helen3 @Bhumika 

Thank you for your comments on this post.  These are not ideal situations for any host to be in and it is not great to hear that hosts are leaving the platform because of the experience they are having with Airbnb.  

When I was a member of the Host Advisory Board, I would listen to the feedback from my own host club and also from other community leaders in the ANZ region, and we would raise issues like this with our Airbnb Community Manager, and we would also raise it on the board.  Often, when we raised these issues with our fellow board members, they would share similar stories of this happening in their own communities.    

Please know that we hear what is happeing in our community groups and we bring this to the attention of the teams at Airbnb.  Please also remember that we only hear the hosts side of the story and there maybe other things going on in the background that we do not know about. 

If you have issues in your community I do suggest you reach out to yoru local host club leader and ask them to raise it with the Airbnb community team. 

@Geoff7   

[Helen3]

I have multiple times and on here absolutely nothing has happened . @Felicity11 

[Felicity11]

Hi @Helen3 

I am not sure what else to suggest other than to keep posting about it here, in your Facebook club and bringing it up with your local host club leader and Airbnb community manager.  We do what we can to take this feedback to Airbnb but we are not Airbnb and we do not make the final decisions.  We try, but we can only do so much. 

[Helen3]

I appreciate that I have raised these issues through the local community groups . @Fiona256 

i also contacted the advisory board on this community but no one responded .

what would be useful to understand is how we can engage with the advisory board and to understand what they do