What have you learned from other Hosts that you implemented?

[Rebecca]

Hey everyone! 👋

As Hosts, you're constantly learning and growing in your hosting journey and the Community Center is a great space to share, connect and inspire, and other Hosts sharing their journeys are what make this happen! Maybe they've given unique hints, tips or even strategies and guides that have made a real difference for you and your listing. 📚 So I’ve got a question for you:

What valuable tips have you learned from other Hosts that you've actually implemented in your hosting practices? 

A couple of examples might be:
✨Making your space warm and inviting
✨Flexible check in and check out times

We love to see the valuable exchange of information and experience that you all share with new and experienced Hosts alike. Leave your comments below! 👇

[Dan20087]

We've learned so much from other hosts that has helped us immensely since we started hosting last year. 

Before starting as hosts, we were guests for years. This gave us a great opportunity to take note of the amenities, furnishings, and hosts we loved as guests, and allowed us to hit the ground running with a great foundation for our new property!

After we started hosting, we were absolutely amazed at the local community of Airbnb hosts. We're on a small, remote island in the Caribbean and have many unique challenges to navigate here. There has been a nonstop flow of hosts reaching out to help us, not only with tips and recommendations for our listings and property, but also to help us in times of need.

We recently had a transformer blow near our property and lost power during a major holiday weekend.  Within an hour there was a group of hosts calling each other working to help us find housing for our guests, as well as offering generators and reaching out to local contacts with the power company for us. 

It's truly an amazing community to be a part of, and we're looking forward to many more years hosting!!

[Dennis-and-Ruth0]

We started out cold. Never stayed in AIRBNB but our daughter had. We met one person who had started up AIRBNB with some success but never visited because it was not our model. Later found that they had discontinued their operation.

Most of what we have learned has been from previous experience in a variety of businesses and management. What we have learned from our experience with staying with other AIRBNB hosts is what not to do, if that makes any sense. One thing that I have found helpful is the details in the listing and the house manual that I am working on. 

[Alex1485]

How to best communicate with a guest when there is an “issue”.

We updated our responses on our 2 key areas: stained sheets and guest cancellation.  

We use and modify as needed.   Great to have these in our back pocket, as keeps the emotion out of the equation. 

Stained sheets

"Hi, thanks again for staying with us!  It looks like there are some stains on the sheets, and for everyone's health and safety, stained sheets need to be disposed of.  Luckily, Airbnb's security deposit system makes it easy to add the replacement cost to your booking after we provide documentation.  We've had this happen a few times, and guests are always gracious in handling it.  If you'll approve the security deposit charges when we submit them, we'll be all set.  Thanks again, and all the best!"

Guest cancellation statement: 

Dear guests - I so sorry that you had to leave early. When you leave you will need to cancel your reservation and you will then automatically get refunded according to the agreed to cancellation policy. It all happens automatically as the Airbnb system is set up to refund / per the cancellation policy. When you cancel - the calendar will reopen so new guests will be able to book.

If your guests won’t get a refund - because they are not entitled to one per the cancellation policy I would write :  And should any of the days rebook I will gladly refund you those days. I wish you well and hope to see you another time.