Laura’s Letter: What I learned staying with private-room hosts

[Laura_C]

May 20, 2019

Hi everyone,

Congratulations to all of you who achieved or maintained your Superhost status in the April assessment! The longer I’ve worked at Airbnb, the more I realize what an incredible accomplishment being a Superhost is. Thanks to all of you for providing wonderful experiences for guests around the world, and for setting the standard for hospitality for Airbnb.

As many of you know, my role at Airbnb is to look after the team that builds products, community, and resources for home hosts like you. When I joined Airbnb last July, one of my top priorities was to quickly immerse myself in the world of hosts and hosting—in particular, to learn more from some of our amazing hosts (and Superhosts!), gather some great tips from them, and bring those back to our host community (and our teams here at Airbnb). There’s nothing quite like firsthand experience, so as part of my journey, I decided to stay in a private room once a week. I have three small children at home, so it was a pretty big commitment, but it ended up being such a delightful experience in some fun and unexpected ways. I’m excited to tell you about what I’ve learned over the past few months.

Getting to meet Superhosts like you was one of the highlights of my recent adventures staying in private rooms. There are more than 161,000 Superhosts who share private rooms on Airbnb— that’s 29% of all Superhosts. And private-room listings are popular with guests, too. In 2018, tens of millions of bookings were in private rooms, which was a significant share of all bookings on Airbnb. Private-room hosts and listings are a really important part of our community.

I had 3 goals for my private-room stays

1. Experience variety (staying at listings with different price points, and different types of hosts: new, Plus, Superhosts, etc.)
2. Have personal interactions (I reached out to hosts ahead of time and invited them to chat with me more about their experiences, and share thoughts on how we can help them more)
3. Gather learnings (What was my experience as a guest? How can we support hosts more? What is the host doing brilliantly that other hosts can learn from?)

So, what did I learn? Well, the first big takeaway was that we need to do more to help you better set guest expectations (which can help with better reviews). This is something that’s really important for all hosts but absolutely crucial for private-room hosts, many of whom share a bathroom or kitchen with their guests. On our end, I think that starts with categorization. How can we better differentiate different types of listings on Airbnb (need a room in a castle, anyone?), especially as we begin to welcome more bed-and-breakfasts and boutique hotels alongside homes and rooms? How can we help you make it clear to guests that there are cats in the listing? (I am much more of a dog person than a cat person, but I have to admit that I made friends with many cats during my stays!)

Next, I learned many things about what can make a stay great from a guest’s perspective. I appreciated a lot of different things—clarity on where I could go and what I could use (shampoo? fridge space? through that random unmarked door?) was a big deal. Having some information from the host on who else was going to be in the house was also hugely reassuring. Knowing the hours of the other people in the household was also great so that I could be a respectful guest (I get up early, and always wanted to be thoughtful of not waking up everyone else in the house!).

In fact, many of you have already shared some wonderful tips for hosting a private-room listing here in the Community Center. (This thread really impressed me, and I enjoyed the comments on this article, too). I’d love to continue to hear from you on this subject, and I’d love to learn more about what we can do to help you as private-room hosts succeed. Please tell me your suggestions in the comments, below.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, I was reminded again of what an incredible community of hosts we have. I met one host who started hosting so that she could have more flexibility to support her children with special needs, and another who took a big pay cut to follow their heart and work in the non-profit sector … hosting helped them have the financial flexibility they needed to make that move. I met one host who has developed extraordinary relationships with her guests (many of whom come back often to visit) and another who started hosting so that she could afford to keep her family’s home while her children went to college. I love that Airbnb is helping people around the world build wonderful connections and support their goals and passions in life.

Congratulations again to those of you who are Superhosts, whether you’re sharing the spare wing of a castle, an entire home, or an extra bedroom in your apartment. I hope to meet you on my next outing. Until then…

… Happy hosting!
Laura

[Michele147]

Although I live in Los Angeles, I'm from London.  What's usual for most Europeans is a bottom sheet and duvet with removable duvet cover.  Removable duvet covers weren't easy to find in the US until the last few years but they make everything super easy.  Wash the sheets, pillow cases, duvet cover after every guest.  Also get the duvet, any blankets and any other bed covers cleaned periodically and you're all good 🙂

[Donna617]

Hi, the over the top sheet/under the duvet is a pet peave of mine. I swear it’s a millennial thing as all my kids do that too and they were always taught to sleep under the top sheet and now they don’t. What I do to try and minimize this problem is i fold the top sheet over the duvet where you would climb into bed. It has definitely helped but has not stopped that habit completely. 

[Lyn68]

Hi Sheryl,

Maybe try old-fashioned 'turn down' for guest arrival that used to be done in hotels many years ago when I trained in Hotel Management in 60's.As chambermaid as part of my training, it has stuck with me, Many an evening shift I did Turn-down duty which everyone loathed but I never minded it.  I do it now when re- make bed for next arrival.  Turn down' by taking the  already folded-back upper part of upper sheet  together with blankets/duvet on top it and fold it all back neatly from the edge of bed at a 90 degree angle to pillows,about 1 foot from the edge of the mattress, on both sides if double. I sometimes place a chocolate or special small soap on the exposed lower sheet, it implants idea of sleeping between sheets. In some cultures they dont. In 1980's  hosted overseas students for 10 years so there's nothing I've not seen that we think is abnormal----- once came home to 2 girls, I won't say where from,  sitting on kitchen floor preparing dinner by cutting raw chicken and vegetables cross-legged on floor with no chopping board. They hadn't ever seen a kitchen, only a dirt floor to cook on.  But they loved the cooking lessons I gave them! All part of Life's rich tapestry.

[Lyn68]

Sheryl, forgot to add that I wash & iron ALL bed items on basis that is what I would want of a bed when I am a guest but as comments above point out, one can't always be sure re blankets/duvet covers but if there's evidently a set of  IRONED  sheets exposed,  I know I can sleep on those without worry so I want my guests to feel the same.   I travel with a wool pashmina to use for warmth instead of blankets and duvets. Many of my guests remark upon ironed sheets as so many people today don't iron sheets, not even for themselves, it has been a point of conversation with a lot of guests about them not ironing but that doesn't mean I stop doing that, in fact I state it in my listing.

[Helen427]

@Lyn68

I know that trick to from working in Hospitality.

Sometimes it works, others it doesn't.

Great to see you still have ingrained in you that Hotel trade experience & pride.

I do the same because when one has worked in such places one knows all about hygiene, or lack of it.

All the Best

Central To All Home & Location

[Jane627]

Hi Cheryl80

Yes I too learned not all people sleep between the sheets. I gave that a lot of thought, and this is what I have decided to do in the future. [untried at this time]. I asked some guests from foreign countries if they have beds like we do and if they sleep between the sheets. I asked this because the 3 day guests before them were students from the same country, the young lady replied no we dont have beds like this. She explained they just wrap themselves in a blanket and sleep on a mattress which is usually on the floor. I will remove my nice quilted bedspreads and shams, store them in a very large bin I have purchased for that purpose and replace it with alightweight easy to wash bedspread. When I make the bed with fresh linen and the lightweight bedspread, instead off bothering with shams etc. I will open the bedding just like your personal butler would do on a cruise, this way it might help them realize how a bed is used. I never thought about it untill it but it must be strange for young people and hard for them to know how to use the bed when they are not acostomed to it. I wish I knew which countries and cultures have the "wrap yourself in a blanket as their culture". I too would like to know what other hosts do on this subject. I had a young lady smother herself in body cream and then wrap herself in the dry-clean only goldthread  brocade bedspread. Even the dry cleaner hada hard time removing the stains. I do prefer my washable but nicer in quality bedspreads and shams for most guests but how do you know who does not sleep between the sheets.

[Michelle1722]

Hi Sheryl, I use a bottom sheet, then a top sheet, (between which the guest is supposed to sleep) then a doona (continental quilt in a washable cover) then a KS sheet over the top of the doona with the top sheet folded down over the top under the guests chin, if that makes sense. This way, if the guest sleeps under the doona I only have to wash the cover and not the doona itself. I always change all the sheets and pillowslips, even if I am unsure if the guest has used them- my great fear is the guest finding hair or dribble on what they believe to be clean sheets!

cheers, from an ex-pat Kiwi, Michelle

[Rosie114]

I find that turning the top sheet down over the duvet by a good 6 inches makes it very clear to a guest they should sleep between the sheets. It also looks nice. I didn’t do it when I first started hosting but found one guest did this on his own and I realized he was concerned that the duvet cover may not be perfectly clean and was protecting his face. So now I do it every time and it works for both issues. 

[Kathryn125]

These conversations are very interesting as I have also struggled with the 2 sheet issue.  

Prior to running an Airbnb I used to host homestay students studying English in NZ and they had no idea what the top sheet was for. I use the top sheet so that I dont have to wash the duvet cover after every guest (often only one night) and i know that most NZers like a top sheet.  I feel that is part of the excitment of travelling and staying in homes is experiencing how other cultures live so guests should adhear to that.  I always fold the sheet over the duvet but guests just fold it under the pillow.  Often difficult to tell if they have slept between the sheets or not.  I am learning to not have expectations of guests. Not even to expect them to read the house rules.  So if I expect something I need to tell them or just let it go as part of my experience of being a host.

Maybe guests should read these conversations! LOL!

I wonder how theirs would read?  Their reviews never say what they say to me which I find interesting.

[Michelle1722]

Before I had an AirBnB I used to have Asian backpackers in my home every year which I really loved as they were the perfect guests and such lovely young people. However, I learned not to bother with top sheets as they did not know what they were for and would sleep on top of them! 

[Nancy632]

Hi Lauren, My name is Nancy and I have two rooms in our house. Both rooms have their own bathrooms. So come to Tasmania for a visit Rooms in Rose Bay (Tasmania) Rose Bay Rooms 

[Jenny433]

I agree that some guests are accustom to sharing and just fit right in. Others struggle to know how to share a kitchen as it involves observing and timing so each has access when they need it. It is difficult to write that down for guests and so far a walk through at the beginning and checking in with conversations seems to work most of the time but I look forward to hearing any other ideas that suit our home. 

[Helen150]

Hi Lauren!

That is so good that you are putting yourself out there to experience the product that you are promoting!

I am sure that some of your female hosts would have expressed the concern that we are unable to see the details or reviews of prospective guests until we accept them. I am sure that you realise that AirBnB does have a duty of care to especially single female hosts who open their homes to others. At the moment we can't mae a judgement until we accept and then we are penalised if we cancel the booking later.

It would be great if you could look into this.

Thanks

Helen

[Helga-And-Peter0]

I agree very much with this post as I often host alone when my husband is away. I hardly ever accept men travelling alone if my husband is not home and sometimes am worried even about couples. Some guests have very little written in their profile, no reviews - both of which I  can and do read before accepting by the way - and now we don't even seem able to get a profile picture until we've accepted the booking. It would really help if guests were made to complete a full profile when they register which can be shared with the host before acceptance.

[Diane452]

I agree with Helga. I do not like not having the profile pictures of my guests...I did get burned by one guest who posted a photo of someone that was definitely not her, plus NO reviews. I figured everyone has to be a first-time guest somewhere, so I took a chance. Regretable decision.