My first 6 month as Host - Some experiences and learnings

[Wolfgang261]

Hi,  Airbnb community, 

I joined being a host now 6 months ago and would like to give a brief overview of my experiences.  

I do have a small 2-3 person apartment in Vienna, pretty cheap and well located. I'm doing all stuff, which means admin, cleaning, and preparation on my own, as professional cleaning would be far too expensive.  Nevertheless, I'm still slightly below break even, but I started doing this with enthusiasm and the wish to give people from abroad a chance to learn about Vienna, which is a wonderful town.

Most people do appreciate the effort, and special little items I put behind this, as I'm not hosting for money but for the fun first line. Those guests do recognize the willingness, empathy, and spirit behind what I'm, we are doing.

Others are the opposite. Some just ignore, they come and go in a way as if nothing would have happened, and some are even complaining about everything. Things like, there was a "strange smell", "some dust",  some stuff left from previous guests etc.  

Well, fair enough. I know some guests have expressively asked to leave used shampoo or such stuff, as it still can be used, some say this is not possible. It will always be difficult to get all under one hat.

But those who come. and pay < 50 € a night for an apartment, well prepared, with some weaknesses, which had been mentioned upfront, should better go to Grand Hotel Sacher, but there they pay 300 € a night and still will not be satisfied. Those guests make me feel to stop the whole exercise. 

My view on Airbnb is so positive; a great organization, all admin stuff is solved in an easy and proper way, and guests are usually very nice!  So the idea is perfect and the Airbnb team is as well !!!! Many thanks to them! 

Maybe it should be more clear to guests that these are private homes in general and not 5-star hotels, but maybe I'm wrong. 

I wish all Airbnb community a Happy new year and a lot of success and nice guests.

Wolfgang

[Bhumika]

Hello @Wolfgang261 ,

Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us! Wishing you a Happy & Successful New Year 🌻

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[Huma0]

@Wolfgang261 

Welcome to hosting and to the community. You have great reviews and sound like a fantastic host. Guests obviously appreciate what you do for them. Of course, you cannot please everyone and will from time to time get guests who expect 5* hotel facilities for budget prices.

If you have already made everything clear on your listing, the only thing I can suggest there is to pay attention not only to the reviews they have received as guests (if they have them), but also the reviews they have left for previous hosts. Sometimes you can spot a picky guest this way and I am sure I have dodged some bullets by doing this!

A tip also about the left over shampoo and stuff. Yes, I also have quite a few guests leave these things, sometimes nearly full bottles... I bought some nice looking matching, unbranded bottles with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel written on them and just decant into those and keep them looking clean and fresh. It looks smart and guests never complain. Quite the opposite. Those that use it appreciate it. I don't have my own photos, but the ones I have look exactly like this and come in black and grey as well:

And, you don't have to spend a lot of money on the bottles. The ones I found are large (500ml) and were £1.50 each, but you can do a DIY job, by finding shampoos etc. that have nicely shaped bottles and pumps and remove the brand labels. Get a waterproof pen and someone with nice handwriting to write on them. That's what I did until I found the bottles I liked with the writing already on them.

As for other toiletries that guests leave behind, I have put a nice looking basket in the bathroom with a note saying, "Please fee free to use or take!" Some guests take things, some don't but, again, no complaints.

[Trude0]

Thanks for sharing - loved reading your post!

I had a look at your listing and reviews, and see that you have fantastic response from most guests! They really seem to appreciate you as a host and the efforts you make, and it shows that you enjoy hosting. Could not find any negative remarks (smell, dust), but maybe these were not mentioned in the actual reviews.

And if one or two just take all the extras and the service for granted, then so be it, good advice from @Huma0 on how to spot demanding/difficult guests.

I wonder, could you maybe increase your prices a bit, and make a profit (if you wanted to)? I don’t know Vienna at all, but it is a nice, spacious apartment, in a popular capital, it seems to be well located, and you offer good service. And you now have lots of great reviews to attract guests. Around € 55-60/night looks like a bargain to me. I’ve heard other hosts say that too low prices may attract less than great guests - not that it seems to have happened to you yet, though. 

I could not find any text describing your listing, do you have one? I found photos, the list of amenities, and a text about the neighbourhood, but nothing about the apartment/no summary, to give potential guests a quick overview.

Good luck going forward, I look forward to hearing more from you!