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

[Robin4]

@Alon1 

Mate. I think it's a lot harder for you than it is for us over here.

In the entire Adelaide Hills area where I am situated I am struggling to find 250 listings....not just on Airbnb but other platforms combined. When I say Adelaide Hills, this area takes in some of the finest wine regions in the world....The Barossa Valley, the McLaren Vales and it also takes in one of the worlds best open plains zoos, the national motor museum with literally thousands of vehicles and also one of the worlds best steam rail preservation society's with 10 restored locomotives and many rolling stock items, all of which do weekly trips around the countryside.

There is a serious amount of character appeal here in my area Alon, but very little competition. In my town of Mt Barker with it's 32,000 inhabitants there is no hotel/motel accommodation, just a caravan park with 10 cabins. We with Airbnb virtually have the area to ourselves.

We have no restrictions on the amount of time we can host....and we seem to have a never ending supply of guests.

This is a hosting paradise.....it is no wonder that my calendar fills up each month. Any goose could make a success of hosting here.

For that reason I find it hard to comprehend the struggles you guys have to go through to maintain some sort of an equitable hosting formula. 

I wish Alon that you could experience the laid back way that bookings come to us over here. Every day there is another one! I don't offer the Ritz, just a humble converted garage in, (what on the world stage is) the backblocks of nowhere.....but we seem to pack em in!!

Cheers......Rob

[Susan17]

@Alon @Robin4 

Hello, boys! 😉

Firstly, apologies for not being able to respond to either of your PMs! As always, I'm having tech issues. 

While it's great to see Gerry and Rashid back, I suspect that it may be just a supplementary measure to fill up the remaining gaps in their calendar. With only two weekends showing as available in the next 4 months, I'd imagine they're doing pretty much ok, and more power to them! 🙂

I was browsing a thread the other night where you two were shooting the breeze about music. At the time, I was listening to Nina Simone's "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and having a little chuckle to myself thinking, "I'd love to get Al and Rob over here to Ireland and show them a proper night out on the town, in the secret little places with all the best tunes!"

Who knows? Maybe one day, buddies! Stranger things have happened in Airbnb-world! 😉

[Susan17]

@Alon @Robin 

A little gift for you... 😉🌷

https://youtu.be/9ckv6-yhnIY

[Susan17]

P.S. 

Please don't think for one moment though, that this means I'm not gonna fight like cat and dog with either of you in the future, if the topic demands it! :bomb:💥🗯👿

[Robin4]

@Susan17 

Just when I thought we had reached a level of understanding!

Cheers......Rob

[Susan17]

Lol! Ah I think we reached that level of understanding long ago though Rob! We may be polar opposites in many things, but that doesn't mean we each don't get and respect where the other is coming from. 🙂

And it sure doesn't mean we wouldn't still have a hell of a good night out on the town together - the old-time polished and professional performers may be no more, but still plenty of diamonds in the rough to be found in the late night backstreet speakeasys! 

[Robin4]

@Susan17 

Ok, it's on my Bucket List!

Never let it be said that I let a good night pass me by!

Cheers........Rob

[Robin4]

@Susan17  @Susan  @Alon

Hey Susan, (Susan from Ireland that is) you have some big shoes to fill......I have shared a drink sitting around an Ivory grand at 'The Gov' with Jimmy Webb....MacCarthur Park, Didn't we, Wichita Lineman, By the time I get to Pheonix,  and with Jose Felliciano......Light my Fire, California Dreaming, Windmills of your mind. My God, that man is like a fine wine, he just gets better with age! Every time I see him perform he is more polished and professional than he was the time before.

When The Beatles toured here in 1964, the girl I was going out with at the time entered a competition to meet The Beatles, and she was one of the winners.

We had tickets to one of The Beatles performances in Centennial Hall and as the show drew to a close all us successful winners were ushered over to one of the stage doors and we got to meet The Beatles....well three quarters of them! Ringo Starr did not get to Adelaide and we had a stand in drummer by the name of Jimmy Nicoll. But Susan we got to shake their hands and talk to them and the thing that struck me was....they were just regular guys, same age as us and could have easily been our friends......just lovely down to earth guys. 

That was a different era Susan....we got to do things you would not dream of doing today.

I have a poster here that I am rather proud of. It is packed away but I will dig it out and take a picture of it to post here.

In early 2000's Burt Bacharach toured Australia with Carole Bayer Sager and a couple of other artists whose names escape me now. As part of that concert tour he performed at the oudoor sound shell at Lake Crackenback Resort in the Snowy Mountains.

This poster features a very washed out facial image of Burt and the only words scrolled across it are.....'Bacharach at Crackenback'  with the tour dates! .....

The best promotional poster I have ever seen.

Cheers......Rob

[Alon1]

@Susan 

I sent a PM to G&R to inquire about their 'other platforms' as per their farewell message.

They replied that they exclusively rely on Booking.com, though did not wish to put 'all our eggs in one basket.  So release very limited days for Airbnb .' 

So you 'suspect' correctly.

My initial browse at Booking.com did not obviously bring up individual rooms. Only entire flat and hotels. So I will check again. 

[Judith408]

Hi, I am so pleased I found these posts. I am in Australia & used airbnb as a guest for the first time. The unit was lovely & we used it as a base to travel around the area for a few days. I wrote a glowing review, so I was totally shocked when my host posted that I damaged her cooktop - which we never used.  I asked for a photo, & thankfully it clearly showed damage by cleaning which I was able to convince her of.  The sad part is the poor review remains & I feel my good name is at stake.  I can't do anything about it even though I got a private message saying "so sorry for the misunderstanding".  Very, very disheartened.

[Robin4]

@Judith408 

Hello Judith, that is so disappointing that you have got caught up in a damage insinuation. Most hosts are pretty good and know the state of their listing at any time. I service mine after every guest and I attend to details but, every now and then something slips by.

I recently had a guest ask for a band-aid for a cut finger. I told her she would find band-aids in the medicine cabinet on the wall in the bathroom. She said she had first looked there but it was empty!! I could not belive it but went and had a look, and sure enough not a trace of the $80 worth of first aid things that it is stocked with. A previous guest had decided to clean it out and, I had not checked it.

All I can say Judith is, when you do the 'cooks tour' on entry, if you see something that is not as it should be take a photo and immediately send it to the hosts phone. If the host realises you have only just checked in they are not likely to consider you to be the perpetrator.

Last year I did a bathroom upgrade and the second guest after the upgrade dropped the flexible shower head and cracked the shower screen. I will replace it in time but for the time being I point out to every guest that I know it has a crack in it, just to relieve their mind and make them confident  I am not going to come at them for a new screen!

Cheers......Rob

[Judith408]

thanks for your reply Rob. We received very good, detailed instructions but as the unit was

totally stand alone we got the key from a lockbox & let ourselves in.  My husband said he noticed a few scratches on the hob when we arrived, but not enough to even comment on.

The unit was beautifully presented, although we were out most of the time exploring.  I pride myself on being very considerate & we even showered the night before departure so no-one

had to clean a wet shower.  When I asked for a photo of the damaged hob to show my husband he immediately said the white powdery marks were not there before (I definitely would have noticed that!) I was able to tell her it was definitely from cleaning as I had been a cleaner for 30 years.  I did no cleaning as we paid a $75.00 cleaning fee - still could never leave a place untidy or dirty, and we took our small rubbish bag to the outside bin.  

Prior to this we rented the same holiday home for 28 years & the owners used to laugh & say they never brought the cleaner in after us.  

I  could never walk away if I knew we had ever caused any damage, I would much rather have a discussion. I was even able to tell this lady how to repair her hob!

I was very interested to read a lot of people feel uncomfortable if a guest doesnt have their

photo up - the reason I don't is because I am not very tech savvy!!  I'm just disappointed my bad review remains -still, thats life I guess.  All the best, Judy

[Sandra126]

@Judith408, best of luck with the next booking, I would read your response to the review and understand. Your next review will be brilliant.

My cooktop is also scratched but I think of it as wear and tear. Certainly didn't write about it in a review. Disappointing when someone put steel wool to it but things do wear faster when you have a steady stream of guests in a home instead of one person living there.

As to not having a photo, yes hosts do like to see one but if you can't, at the very least guests can write something in their profiles to give a more personal impression.

[Judith408]

Hi Sandra,

Thanks for taking the time to write to me. I totally understand your comment re wear & tear, but as we never used the cooktop & I had in my working life cleaned high end houses for 30 years, I certainly know how to clean a cooktop!! I understand a host doesnt know this, but

perhaps a walk through after the previous guest, and as in this case, a walk through with the

cleaner to explain how to clean a new hob would be a good idea.  

I will now put up more information about myself - never having done this before, always used

hotels.  I can see this from the hosts perspective.

My real disappointment now is even though I received a personal message of 'sorry for the

misunderstanding', the comment has not been edited.

[Sandra126]

@Judith408, I realise you never used the cooktop, I was talking in general, and more specifically about my attitude as host so you realise not all hosts will be like this last one. Can't tell you how many DVD players I have gone through as they break over the years, for instance. Not something I would say to the guest, it is just what happens when you have accommodation.