Reds under Beds!

[Robin4]

Contrary to many hosts I find I am becoming more relaxed about simply accepting guests because they are guests. I can’t remember the last time I actually looked at a guests profile on booking and I have only declined a couple of times over the past year and a half because I felt uncomfortable about the wording of the request. The quality of my guests has been so good that it has possibly lulled me into a false sense of security where I have let my guard down and now just don’t expect or look for problems. In the past two years I have only had one guest who shook my faith in the system, but I quickly dismissed her from my mind and I concentrate my memory on all those good ones.

I think I know what to look for in a problem guest, but I am just not getting any!

I understand a lot of hosts are becoming increasingly concerned about the company’s promotion of guest privacy before a guest books, and although these concerns are quite legitimate, maybe a lot of us are getting a bit carried away and looking for ‘reds under beds’!! Many hosts here are talking about giving hosting away because of this guest secrecy!

The way I look at it, if I was placed in a room with 500 random people there would be 300 I would never want to see or meet again! I would have nothing in common with them and I would have no level of appreciation with them. But put me in a room with 500 guests and I would have a level of compatibility with just about all of them….we would all share a common interest, a meeting ground where there is some level of respect!

And we have Airbnb to be thankful for that, sure, the platform is not perfect but it does bring two people with a common goal together, and that is not all bad.

I hope that by posting this I can take some of the steam out of the paranoia about prospective guests privacy, it is the same on other platforms! I don’t get to see my guest’s photos on Homeaway/Stayz, but I can ask them to detail themselves if I want to.

I am allowing Airbnb to do their job and, by and large, I think they are doing it OK!

Cheers…….Rob

[Sarah977]

Nice, positive post, @Robin4 .

I also get lovely guests, I have never declined a request in 2 and a half years of hosting, never had an issue with a guest that couldn't be resolved in the moment, without involving Airbnb.

However, I think it has much more to do with how hosts present their listings, what they offer, the reviews your guests have left you (which will attract a certain type of guest), and the host's ability to discourage bookings from those they feel are not a good fit (I'm so sorry, but I don't offer that, best of luck on finding a place that better suits your needs) than anything the company is doing, right or wrong. In other words, I think we're having good guest experiences in spite of the company policies, not because of them.

[Gordon0]

Overnight a couple of bookings came in along with two associated messages from the guests. Both very sweet and friendly. Being on IB, I didn't get to sweat about whether I'd find them handsome/pretty or not, and whether I'd be able to do a reverse lookup with their photos (however it is you do that) only to find they were mass murderers. 

For the most, the guests who come in to my house are decent. Some I wouldn't welcome back, but I'm not in this game to make friends. As for returning guests, the guy who is here now is on his eighteenth stay, and the lovely German couple who arrive next week (undoubtedly with a tasty vollkornbrot for me) on their sixth.

Without Airbnb I'd be suffering a long-term 'roomate' scenario which, from previous (pre-Airbnb) days, I'm keen not to repeat.

It's not all bad in this game.   

[Ann72]

@Robin4 Your post is so timely - I was just thinking the same thing this morning!  I haven't clicked through a guest's profile since I got rid of my paranoid boyfriend last year, who was always looking for "red flags."  I get everything I need from the tone of the message exchange.  As a remote host it's possibly a little easier to think everyone's lovely, because I don't have to witness their personal habits.  But the vast majority of them have been polite, respectful of the property, and enthusiastic in their reviews.  I'm grateful they spend the time searching, choosing my place, and spending money to stay there.  And while someday I might try the whole website/direct booking thing, for the time being, Airbnb makes the whole experience so easy I'm fine with them, warts and all.

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4 I agree with you. I've watched all of these threads about people upset about the lack of profile photo, and I have to say that I don't really get the concern over it. I've never declined a guest based on photo. I also very seldom decline guests, and most people are great. None of my less ideal guests' photos told me they would be an issue, or would have been screened due to their photos.

I have also used other booking platforms where there are no photos or guest info at all, like Booking, HomeAway, etc.

If Airbnb has taught me anything, it's that most people are generally pretty decent, and quite a lot of them are quite lovely people. They take care of my property, and leave me with kind words and sometimes even gifts. It's mostly a pretty good deal with pretty great people.

[Sandra126]

@Robin4, you sure know how to write a grabbing headline! Agree with all, I don't have the time to look people up but I  don't host in my home, and not long term. I imagine long term in house bookings would want greater compatibility than I seek. I just want happy guests, whoever they are. I will be happy as long as they are. So I only decline those who seek to book for too many people and other obvious no-nos.

Guests almost never bring me vollkornbrot or any other kind of bread, my reward is getting reviews like this one which rolled in this morning to put a gold edge on my day:

[Robin4]

@Sarah977  @Gordon0  @Ann72  @Alexandra316  @Sandra126 

Fear breeds fear, and with all the concerned posts over Airbnb's rules changes, guest secrecy and other subtle changes that are creeping into the platform, I am concerned that more and more hosts who come here will begin to doubt what they do.

I do think what Airbnb are doing is counter-productive but that is not the issue! Our quality of guests hasn't suddenly taken a dive, they are mostly still the same lovely people I have been getting for a few years now and, I think every now and then we need a nice thread to re-assure ourselves of that.

We have a great gift in what we do, we bring happiness to a lot of people....just look at @Sandra126,s review.

I would be heartbroken if I had to close down my listing tomorrow.....this is a nice part of my life and I want to thank you guys for agreeing with me.

Cheers........Rob 

[Beth80]

@Robin4  Once again you have brought forth words of wisdom. Thank you! Being able to see a picture or not has not changed the quality of guests that we receive. Having the pictures removed without any fore knowledge was startling and sent a number of us into shock. But it's time to move on and do what we do, host!

[Emilia42]

@Robin4, after my first couple months of hosting I thought to myself "wow, I am so lucky to have such great guests." But now, coming up on my 2-year anniversary, I don't think that it is luck anymore. We don't give ourselves enough credit that maybe we have great guests because we are great hosts. I've learned quickly in this business that you have to be flexible and trusting, and some things (a lot of things) you cannot take too personal. 

[Robin4]

@Emilia42 

As long as I am in this business I will never hear a better statement than that Emilia. That totally sums up what we do.....just a bummer that you came out with it and not me!!!

Do you know Emilia, every day is a struggle for Ade, she cannot walk the length of a bed unaided! For her life is a continual series of compromises.

I have lost count of the nights we have both spent a few lovely hours up under the market umbrella in the garden with guests over a wine or two exchanging stories and bringing our worlds together.  Most people in Ade's situation would consider any strangers intrusion into their lives to be unacceptable....simply too hard. But Emilia, the experience is so good that she looks forward to the next, just as I do!

You and I, we don't look for problems Emilia, we just look forward to the next guest!

Cheers......Rob

[Emilia42]

@Robin4, I am truly sorry to hear about Ade. I always follow the short stories you tell about your life together. I feel like I know you both 🙂

[Robin4]

@Emilia42 

Don't be sorry Emilia, Ade and I have had a great life....and we still do. She has just spent 5 days with 4 of her friends staying in a holiday house down the coast. Five blessed nights for me not being continually told what to do! :-))

We make the most of each day because we have been given the chance to. The MS has been good for us in that it gave both of us a sense of purpose, a reason to say....'we are in this together'. Without the MS we may have possibly drifted apart like so many other couples we know, but, her having this disease made me grow a backbone and realise that there are some things in life you can't walk away from!

Every second day since friday 17th June 1994 Ade injects herself with Betaferon....her skin looks like a pin cushion and she doesn't know whether it does her any good or not! But she says...."If I don't do it I can't say I have given this disease my best shot"!

That's her attitude, and that is why we have a great life Emilia......we give it our best shot! 

Cheers......Rob 

[Sonia706]

Me preocupa el no poder siquiera ver la foto de la persona con la que voy a compartir mi casa antes que confirme. A veces por el nombre  no puedo identificar si es hombre o mujer. 

[Robin4]

@Sonia706 

Sonia, no estás sola, muchos anfitriones están preocupados por no ver la foto de los invitados. Para mí, no es importante, muchas veces la foto no es la del invitado de todos modos, es de un gato, una planta de jardín o solo una letra. Lo que estoy diciendo, Sonia, no me resulta difícil que mis huéspedes se queden aquí, todos son tan buenos que ahora no me gustaría ver su foto de todos modos ... Estoy feliz de que se queden.

Aclamaciones........Rob

[Yulianna0]

@Sonia0, no creo que muchos estarán ofendidos si haces preguntas:) De verdad manera de conversación dice mucho más que una foto