encouragement: meet the bike storge needs of guests

[Lee5321]

dear  hosts,  

i am a bicycle commuter traveling to a bicycle summit in washington, dc. via amtrak. am not taking my bike bc i am unable to find secure storage (hosts tell me i can lock on fence or hide in backyard out of site).

dc is a bike-friendly place. and thieves know it, with bike thefts prevalent.

airbnb hosts are missing out on biking guests by offering no safe space or referring to the very expensive bike rentals. 

i encourage hosts to seek storage solutions.

many thanks for listening!

lee b.

[Juliana706]

Gracias por la sugerencia!, es genial...

[Translation added by Community Manager]
Thanks for the suggestion! It's great...

[Lee5321]

juliana706,

by the way!

thank you so much.

**

**[Personal/sensitive information removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Julie5378]

Thanks for sharing Lee.  Guests who book with me have a secure space to store their bikes during their visit.  I also have space for fishermen to park their boat and trailer.  Julie

[Julie5377]

I have safe bike stoage

[Judith891]

I am in a rural area so there is no fear of bikes being stolen here. I have a covered porch for bicycles.

[Kia272]

@Lee5321  This seems a little self-serving. You have a particular need, and you're expecting "hosts" on AirBnB to meet that need? Have you checked with every host in the DC area? When they suggested "very expensive" bike rentals, were they trying to be helpful, or do they profit in some way from bike rentals? I think they're trying to be helpful. 

Could you not simply ask if you could bring your bike inside the property? Bikes are not hard to clean off, and that seems like a good solution (definitely good to ask first!)

I'm a kayaker. I don't expect the hosts at properties I've booked to have safe kayak storage. It would be nice if they did, but I don't expect it, and I'm not going to go on the AirBnB community center to suggest that all hosts do that, and that they are missing out on bookings from kayakers. 

There are a number of bike-share options in DC, which you could surely take advantage of. Several hosts have already responded and indicated that they have bike storage. Perhaps your issue is a non-issue for the public at large, and just an issue for you on this particular trip. 

Good luck.

[Lee5321]

kia272:

You have a particular need, and you're expecting "hosts" on AirBnB to meet that need?

>>yes, i have a particular need.

a more important point: an opportunity has been missed by the airbnb host community to attract biking airbnb’ers to the dc area obviously re-designed to be greener and bike-friendly. am glad to see other hosts provide for bicyclists.

Have you checked with every host in the DC area?

>>online searched for keywords bike, bicycle, bike rental, and so on.

delved deeper by reviewing dozens of individual listings.

contacted 2 hosts and was told no bikes inside, no bike racks, no facilities. pointers to bike rentals in the dc area but nothing specific.

did due diligence by performing extensive online research before and after contact.

calculated bike rental would cost $100 for joining and as much or more over a 7-day period. adding that to train, metro, conference, airbnb busted my allotted retiree budget.

could stay in a hostel. at the price of quality, safety, and privacy. so will airbnb and travel sans bike and will walk or use metro. 

When they suggested "very expensive" bike rentals, were they trying to be helpful, or do they profit in some way from bike rentals? I think they're trying to be helpful.

>>yes they were being generally helpful. i acknowledge that.

Could you not simply ask if you could bring your bike inside the property?

>>did. denied. 

many thanks for considering my suggestion. i will continue to use airbnb, be kind to

hosts, and think highly of you.

[Juan4404]

Hi, sorry  I didn't 

[Juana259]

yes we have a storage that you can park your bike

[Julie5377]

Yes