To greet or not to greet, that is the question

[Inna22]

Up until last December I never greeted my guests. In November we travelled and stayed at an Airbnb. The host greeted as was incredibly nice. A few things went wrong (including roaches) but my husband forbid me to give him a bad review because he really connected with the host. So I have decided to start greeting in hopes to further boost my reviews since it clearly has a profound effect on some people.

This week I had two comments from guests about how intrusive they felt it was to be greeted. One said he booked Airbnb for privacy reasons but still gave five stars. The other one said he was tired after the long drive but was not comfortable saying no to me. I spend about 5-10 minutes with each guest (unless they want to chat) and this one also had a lot of questions about parking so I told him I would help him sort it out when I come over.  He gave four stars and in his comments said it was because of the greeting.

It is a pain in the behind for me to greet guests because it is usually when my kids have activities, during dinner or when I am putting them to bed. If I am loosing just as many stars as I am gaining, perhaps I should go back to not greeting. I understand some hosts need to exchange keys, collect certain forms etc but mine are designed as self-check in. Of course I would always come for any suspicions reservation as I have done before

[Rowena29]

@Inna22, @Gordon,

I've had a similar sort of experience. I can't ALWAYS be there to greet but I try to  be.  I assumed NOT being there was the least desirable and being there to greet was the most desirable. Accordingly I selected "check yourself in with a keypad" as my default position and stated in my listing that most of the time I would be there to meet and greet (of course no one reads that part). I genuinely thought beign there to greet would be an added bonus for the guest.  Selecting the self check in also meant I "join" the work collective

It took me some time after meeting a series of rather recalcitrant guests to realise that there is a breed of guest who doesn't WANT to meet the host. they selected a listing with self check in and resent meeting the host.  I also experienced a substanial number of guests thinking they could turn up 2 - 6 hours later than they stated, because there was self check in.

I decided that the sort of guest who thinks meeting the host is a massive bore  ( or who has chosen self check in thinking they can sneak in an extra 6 guests) is not really the guest that I want. 

I've therefore changed my check in option to "the host will be there to greet you" and changed my listing to say SOMETIMES that wont' be possible.  

I personally think @inna that's where your problem might lie - I think checking in guests is great if you can manage it, but the problem arises if they''ve booked thinking is was self check in.  Hope I"m making sense.

The downside of this is that I am no longer listed in the work collective ( which is STUPID as people CAN self check in if needs be, but airbnb will only let you select one option- check in methods shouldnt be mutually exclusive IMO) However the plus for me is that under my heading instead of now saying "self check in with a keypad" it says " 95% of guests  gave this 5 stars for location" which for my listing at a beach  suburb is more desirable anyway

Cheers

Rowena

[Shaun69]

@Inna22  Hi Inna, I have a policy in place that all guests are greeted but the next line in the conversation is always "would you like me to run you through your lodge and explain how things work". If the guest is tired and just wants to crash out then we leave them in peace straight away but that is very unusual!!!!!!

Regards Shaun

[Jennifer1421]

@Inna22 

I've struggled with this one as well. Although our listing is totally separate from our living space and set up as self checkin, it feels "wrong" to me to not greet guests personally. It's not how I was taught to welcome people to my home. It also goes against my sociable personality - I love people.

When we first began, though, my partner pointed out that if folks are looking for an "entire place" on Airbnb, then they likely prefer to come and go privately. He thought that if people wanted a "personal touch/connection" then they would book a shared space. I couldn't fault his logic and that's what we went with. I contain myself to a personal note left for each guest, and a "hope you're comfy, let me know if you need anything" message.

I have found that you get a feel for when folks want to meet you, just through a message string. This usually happens (I've found) with older travelers, who (like me) simply find it feels wrong to be a guest in someone's home without meeting them.

It's a shame that you're finding beng more personable is working against you. I like Sarah's approach - just ask for a preference. Nothing beats being straight-forward 🙂

[Suzanne302]

@Inna22 

Wow! That's crazy for a guest to complain about you meeting them! I like Sarah's idea of asking their preference. For off-site hosts, I think it makes the guest respect the home a bit more when they can connect a person with the home.

Personal greetings are pretty much a guarantee with in-home hosts, at least at some point. I have self check-in but I do like to greet guests personally upon arrival when I can. An initial greeting makes it less awkward than running into a guest randomly for an introduction when they're coming out of the bathroom or something!

[Ann72]

@Inna22 I host remotely and never greet anyone or leave a personal note or a gift basket.  Occasionally I'm at one of the houses when guests are at another.  Once I went over with a bottle of champagne to greet a couple of honeymooners when they arrived.  They clearly couldn't wait to get rid of me lol.  No one has ever marked me down for not greeting them, not providing snacks, not providing notes or welcome baskets or a personal tour or anything else.  As such, I get the strong feeling that they've chosen the place for independence and privacy.

[Jennifer1421]

To be honest, @Ann72, your listings are so stunning that there really is no need for you to jump through hoops like those of us with more humble spots do 🙂

[Ann72]

@Jennifer1421 That is so, so nice of you to say!  Thank you.  I do a lot of hoop-jumping behind the scenes to maintain them, though.  🙂

[Jennifer1421]

@Ann72Oh, the lengths we go to without anyone ever knowing...

[Ann72]

@Jennifer1421 Like ducks, serene on the surface but paddling madly below.

[Zacharias0]

I always do my best to provide a personal greeting. Even staying up late into the night until they arrive. Sometimes its the only time I will see the guest and it allows them to see who the host is and just creates a sense of welcome into your listing. It also builds a relationship should things go wrong or if they have questions they are more likely to address them sooner to you than later.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Inna22 

we have to meet all of our guests at the arrival or they wouldn't be able to enter the building and the parking .

We spend about 15-20 min with them to explain how things work and to take all of their ID-s for the registration. Almost all of them have additional questions about restaurant recommendations, where the nearest grocery shop is etc.... We don't lose a lot of time on it as we already have everything printed.

About half of them can't wait to be left alone and we understand it but nobody ever complained about it in their review because they are probably aware that self-check in option is simply not possible.

[Inna22]

The guest that downgraded me did have several questions, that's why I found the whole thing strange

[Kelly149]

@Inna22 I tend to make the decision to greet on my preference, not the guests.

1. Have they been communicative, kind and pleasant? Then I will make it clear that I'm available but leave them to decide if they want a hello. My favorite guests are the ones who say "we're here & everything is super & we'd love to say hello if you're available"

2. Have they been not good communicators or made it clear that they're thinking we're a hotel and I know they didnt really read the listing? Then I send husband up to assert the "you're at our house, please behave" vibe at or shortly after arrival.

3. Have they been downright sneaky & difficult? Then I'm waiting to meet them, count cars & check IDs and the door code isn't set until I'm certain that who I have is the actual correct adult person I'm expecting.

And some people are just weird... I wouldn't change your business plan bc of a strange guest feedback.

[Deb125]

I have hosted for over 10 years.. people don't talk much anymore.. all communication is via texting.. do your kids  call you? not much, they text.. 

[Alon1]

@Deb125 @Ann72 @Inna22 

Try being an Airbnb live-in host without personal communication!

Personal Communication is the life-blood to home-sharing.