How do you effectively communicate with guests during their stay?

[Elisa]

Hello everyone 😊,
I hope you’re having a great week!

Effective communication with guests starts with clarity and warmth. Share the key details before arrival, and once they’ve checked in, keep messages short, friendly, and timely. Staying available, but not intrusive, helps guests feel supported and confident throughout their stay.

How do you effectively communicate with your guests?

I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts!

Warm regards,
Elisa 🌻

[Elisa]

Hi @John5097 😊, 

Thank you for sharing your experience, it’s really interesting to hear how different guests respond to communication styles.

It’s clear you put a lot of care into making their stay special, with the handwritten card and fresh flowers! 😍

Have you noticed if certain types of guests, like international travelers versus local ones, tend to prefer more in-person interaction versus messaging through the app?

[John5097]

Hi @Elisa 😊

I haven't noticed much difference in the communication preferences for domestic or international travelers.

I do have very specific instructions that I require a brief first message and give an example, so everyone just does that, and they all seem to really like it. There is also a place in the listing to include how much communication can be expected from the host. So I think most guest already read that and have very clear understand of boundaries which they like. 

When I first started out one of my first guest was from UK who was also a host did actually knock on my door. We chatted for a quite a bit and he finally asked if they could get the key to their back apartment. They weren't aware it was self check in and there was no need to meet me the host at all. 😉 They were so nice though and they also said good by in person. It was at the very start of covid,  they were going to a wedding in DC. I happened to have some extra hand sanitizer and gave them a parting gift that they were going to smuggle on their flight. lol 

So maybe its changed in the past 6 years as none of the other international guest expected any in person communication, but maybe its different in UK and else where, and guest adapt. The last couple from UK even said the listing was perfect for them. 

I never thought about it before but maybe people from Europe or elsewhere maybe don't always appreciate too much attention or may not always have time to discuss all the many topics strangers might ask? I recently had a young couple from Germany and their town was on the Rhine, and I really wanted to chat with them, as I had been there myself. This is when I was younger and was just traveling for two weeks in Europe, and other travelers would invite me to travel with them, so twice I ended up camping, I didn't have any camping gear and got chilly in late October, but we camped right on the Rhine, as I slept between my new traveling companions and pulled the edges of the sloping bags over me. But now I'm thinking maybe people taveling from abroad don't want to have too long of a conversation, as most travelers want to get out. 

One couple from the Netherlands probably did want more in person meeting, as she messaged a lot, but it still worked out great. They even brought their bikes over and had the best time. I really synched with them and reccomened things for them to do. 

Guest from China I think probably preferred more limited contact. We did happen to cross paths, coming and going at the same time, and that's always fun as it's just very friendly greetings. They did speak some English but some guest might not speak any English so the app translation works great. 

I was even thinking of including offering to take pictures of guest that they could schedule as a way to be more interactive but didn't get around to that and it can be a good bit of work to coordinate. I also had 2-3 different guest every week all year so it really worked best to just have very structured process and with shorter trips guest didn't have a lot of time and most are out and about the entire time. 

[Elisa]

Hi @John5097 😊, 

Your point of view on this is really detailed, thank you for sharing it here!

Do you get more domestic or international travelers?

[John5097]

Hi @Elisa, 

By far more domestic although in the US I'd say the majority aren't from the same region so get a lot of guest from all over.

BTW my last guest just checked out yesterday. There has lot to wind down with business license, tax forms, get new insurance policies, and filing income taxes. 

It was pretty hectic last year with hurricanes, unpredictable guest, and electronics that can fail at the worst times, so host really have to focus more on things that can go wrong, but now that its over its nice to think back on all the wonderful guest I had.

With international guest I like to see them and thank them for staying. There is so much going on right now, they have all been so nice. 

You asked if I noticed a difference between international guest and local guest. Well my last two guest, one was from UK, as mentioned, and one was local, from Georgia. I'd say they were about the same communication wise, although the local guest this was their first trip, only 21, but left the place in perfect condition, although the UK guest at least sent a very thoughtful message after they checked out, but overall were very compatible. 

From the beginning of hosting to the end, there were a lot of things I never would have expected when I started. I thought there would be more communication, for example, and also thought other host would be the best guest, right? But a lot of host say other host can be the worst, and I think that's one of the main reasons why some guest limit their communication. They don't want to be charged some fee, or get blamed for breaking something that had been broken by a previous guest. But like I said I never would have anticipated so many things. I also thought young guest would be the most troublesome but they tended to be the best. 

But that's part of it we all have our quirks. Dealing with that many people also has an influence on host. It's also nice to know I can start another listing, so will just have to wait and see, as everything changes so fast, and if I did I would need to find a way to have more communication and interaction, which would mean promoting the things I like. 😊





 



 

[Elisa]

Hi @John5097 😊, 

Your reflections on international vs. local guests are interesting.

However, it really sounds like you went through a lot this past year! I can imagine how draining that must have been, yet also how nice it feels now to look back on the guests who made it worthwhile.

Thank you for sharing this, it’s lovely to read your experience and see how you’re already thinking about what a future listing might look like. 😍

[John5097]

@Elisa 

Yes I think what I was trying to say is vast majority of guest are very clean and tidy and booked my listing because its a peaceful spot with a lot of wilderness. 

Most host were also great guests. And it really makes sense that some host would expect other listings to be like theirs, as each host has their own approach. Two host reported me because I declined their reservation request because they expected a discount.  I asked them twice to retract their booking request as they should have sent an enquiry instead.  But most host are really great guests. 

So I'd also say all the age groups really were very similar. For long time younger guest were the best but all have a few quirks here and there, and think it had to do more with Airbnb policy. 

I do like thinking back on all the wonderful guests. I think they like mine because it's so connected to nature. That was also my favorite memories when traveling in Europe. I had signed up for a travel package so all my rooms were booked in most of the destinations, as I was going to music events,  but there were about 1/3 of the nights that I had to find accommodations and ended up traveling with other travelers, and camping in a few spots that was pure magic. So think sometimes a place can embrace a traveler as it being a home.  

I always thought all of my guest would appreciate my listing more later on as it was so unique and just a magical spot and everything was perfect.

I think I also just hit a brick wall and just can't rent out a guest apartment anymore. It was always a compromise which I knew from get go. Its was still great progress though as more often having an ideal, for example I always wanted to build another floor, but realized its better to compromise and do something now. The bedroom was tiny 9 feet by 11 feet and not a single guest complained about it, so if I had still stuck to that ideal of building another floor nothing would have happened, as its better to compromise and make some progress than be so idealistic and make no progress.

I was surprised that every guest loved their trip to the area. I never in a million years would have thought so many guest from all over would all love my listing as much as they did. I lost count of the honeymooners, but I got used to always being the first listing on the first page, always featured, so that even the smallest issue seemed really unusual, and going into this I expected way more problems. I even set a budget of 2k a year for damages and in 6 years and 600 stays there was really no damages, with the exception of breaking the latch on the dishwasher but it still worked.    

[Gary1337]

Hello All,

I am a neighbor of an AIR BNB and we share a private road/lane.  It is nice to see the how the communication differs and the effort these hosts put in.  There are a lot of issues with the guests next door and many I feel are communication issues as when I and forced to address something (guest being on my property mainly) it seems they have no idea what they did.  

Thank you all for sharing the experiences of proactive hosting.