Dee9
Level 10
Moriches, NY

SHARE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Anyone have a pleasant hosting or guesting circumstance? or helpful tip? (of which ive adopted a few from these forums, thank you)

I would say on an interesting note that i never imagined id have people from Paris or Italy staying in my home -its kinda cool where people are from. I learn a little more about other cultures everytime.

Id be interested in hearing others

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

This is wonderful to hear @Mark-and-Fab0, thanks so much for sharing. Your listing sounds fascinating, was it quite hard to renovate an older building? Do you guests love to hear about how you have transformed your home? 🙂 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


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Joanna85
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

The main reason I decided to rent out our extra space on Airbnb is that I wanted my children to see that there are some amazing people in the world.  There is a giant world out there and while we are all human and all basically the same deep down...it is so super cool to see it in action up close.  My kids had this idea to put up a map so we could pin where our guests came from.  If my daughter is awake when a guest arrives, she will greet them with me.  My oldest son finds it awesome that young people from all over the world take time out and just travel around, exploring.  We have guests who can barely put a few words in English together and yet they travel all over the U.S....it's courageous and inspiring.  Everyone is friendly and kind and generally wanting to do the right thing and while people from other countries may have different customs, the one thing remains constant:  the feeling of 'home' is highly regarded, which is probably why many people want to stay with someone in their home.  I agree with Zac that people come and go so quickly that I haven't had a particular instance to share, but overall it's the feeling my family has had since we began this adventure of hosting.

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

This is wonderful to hear @Joanna85 and so fantastic that your kids are enjoying being little Airbnb hosts too. 🙂 

 

As you have had guests from all over the world, I wonder have your kids learnt little snippets of different languages? 

 

I love the map idea, another host mentioned they do this too, I think it is a great think as not only do you have a little memory of all your guests, I am sure it is also a great talking point? 

 

Thanks so much for sharing and a very warm welcome to the Community Center. 

 

Lizzie


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Nutth0
Host Advisory Board Member
Chiang Mai, Thailand

I start my listing on January 2017 , My first guest is by instant book. I still remember the sound from my phone and how exciting it was when we got our first guest. Lucky he was a great guest. We go out have a dinner together and a long nice talk. After that I never miss a lunch or dinner with my guests. I think Airbnb creat a filling like you travel again but in you home town.

 

Now a day, I have a chance to become super host in next month. For me I may hosting them a place but on the other hand guests also hosting our believe and that make a great experience.     

Jason242
Level 1
Queen Creek, AZ

I have used a couple different sites, many times over the past six years as we traveled all over the US. This was my first time to use airbnb. What a horrible experience with this website!!! It is the first and last time I will ever book something through them. EVER! I gave up, but the only reason I continued to get the home booked was because we really wanted to rent this one home in the location we were going. This website was a nightmare compared to any other home we have ever booked. I will not only never book again, but I will not even return to the website to look at any homes.  

Jason that is sad to hear. Could you perhaps be more specific about the problems you encountered.

I do hope your planned stay goes well and delivers all that you expect.

As a long time guest and now host I am aware that there can be hiccups and hurdles at times.

I'm certain most can be resolved if communication is available.

cheers

Michelle

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Jason242

Jason, what can I say!

I could say sorry you have had difficulty with Airbnb!

I could say there are a lot of hoops you have to jump through to become an Airbnb guest!

I could say there are some unscrupulous hosts on Airbnb just as there are on any travel booking platform!

 

But I 'will' tell you that, as an Airbnb host, I have met a lot of wonderful people from around the world.....some of whom have become my friends. I, like every other host here go out of our way to make the experiences of our guests, just like you, special!

 

When I initially joined Airbnb as a guest, like you I thought it was just not worth it....all the bulls*it I had to go through with verifications, credit card details, references....a never ending amount of stupid detail, just to get a room for a couple of days....talk about cross 'T's and dot 'I's!!!

But it was worth it! The first (and only)  listing I stayed in was a great experience and I thought...."I want a piece of that"! 

I had a cottage in my rear garden just sitting there and I went through all those hoops again just to put a page up to try and attract guests. One hundred and ten + hostings later I have to tell you it is one of the best things I have ever done. And it is that way because of all that 'nightmare' that you go through to be accepted as an Airbnb guest or host.

 

You are special Jason, and don't write off Airbnb! Over the past decade it has become by far the most successfull booking platform, and it is that way because Airbnb makes sure that you as a guest will get a deal you cannot get anywhere else, and as a host you will be provided with a class of guest you would not get on any other platform....I know because I have been there, I have hosted elsewhere!

Don't write us off Jason, we have a lot to offer!

Cheers.....Rob

Tony159
Level 3
Los Angeles, CA

My wife and I are new hosts and thus far we have enjoyed hostings guests from the following places:

Russia (now living in New York and Las Vegas).

Sweden: A delighful family whom we visited with every night they were here with us.

The Netherlands: A fun group of three women traveling with a 2 year old child. 

Tulsa, OK: My wife shares the same career passion/calling as our Guest and they went to a training class together.

Chicago, IL: A group of young women who were in town to celebrate a wedding.

 

We consider that our lives are being enriched by the interaction and communication we have with people who are choosing to stay with us. In a city like LA, it seems to be hard for even neighbors to make a connection. So, we are providing a home to Guests and it is a mutually beneficial exchange that enriches our lives in many ways. I still fail to see why Airbnb generates so much controversy?

 

So...all of our experiences with guests thus far have been good ones.

We will continue doing our part to ensure that those good experiences continue.

 

 

@Tony159 I think mostly now...as time has gone on, people are forgetting what the basis of Airbnb is--it is just like what you have said, an exchange of different people that enriches our lives.  Now with property investors buying up homes to rent out and list on sites like Airbnb--neighborhoods like mine are going nuts because they see Airbnb as a way for people to make money and 'ruin' our neighborhoods. There are about twice as many entire homes for rent on sites like Airbnb than just regular rentals available for folks in my neighborhood--this causes all sorts of other types of issues we won't get into here.  My one neighbor calls all Airbnb 'party rentals'.  That's not at all how I see Airbnb.  I drive through my neighborhood and see 'Don't Motel My Neighborhood' all over because these property investors saw huge profit potential, not using Airbnb like how we are or you are or a lot of folks on here are.  It's lost it's true essence.  Additionally, many guests see it as a cheap way to travel, they are not interested in any sort of exchange, they are in it to save money on a hotel, so that causes a bit of conflict.  Guy the other day was REaLLY upset with me becuse the bathroom did not have a double showerhead or a roman tub...I don't know many guest bathrooms in a home that do, and no hotel does for what I charged him for one night...so people have strayed from the inital idea of Airbnb.  He could have read the ad and looked at the pics BEFORE he showed up, but you know....he wanted to be within a certain price range and this is what he ended up with last minute...lol.  No double shower head or lady fanning the grapeleaf over his bubble bath for what he could afford was available that day....lol

I feel like as time goes on we are going to have to fight to keep Airbnb pure how we are using Airbnb...it's morphing and straying a bit from the original idea. Overall, we've had great times and super fabulous people.  I"ve had about a two week stretch of unpleasant guests, but that's how it goes in the hospitality business, right?! Overall, I can't complain.

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Joanna!

 

I know that is simply a matter of time before we get that unreasonable complaint from an unhappy Guest.

We want to enjoy our honeymoon period with Airbnb for as long as possible!

We are coming up on one month and so far, so good.

 

I also see a lot that does not make sense to me in the real estate market in So. Cal.

People are paying more money now, at higher prices, than ever before.

It seems to me that at least a good number of those may be factoring airbnb into their buying decisions.

We live in an area that people are willing to pay to visit and it is veyr expensive to live here.

Airbnb makes it possible for people to continue to live here.

I have seen what hotels are charging and it is ludicrous to pay so much for a cold, sterile, lifeless experience.

That is why I believe that it is important for us to continue factoring our "human touch" into this equation.

We are offering a home and an experience that are quite unique for a Guest who chooses to stay with us.

 

Thanks for the support and feedback, Joanna!

 

 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Tony159 @Joanna85

It is unfortunate, but a fact of life, people take their affordability pre-conceptions with them wherever they go!

Every hosts wants, and requires, some sort of return on his property....his investment.

Here in Australia, thanks to the power of union movements this is an expensive society....It doesn't affect us because we live in it! Unions push for higher wages and business pushes up the price of everything to accommodate them. The 'average' wage in Australia now is around $65,000US with few professional people earning (or being paid) less than $100,000 annually!

You need to go well into the outskirts of Sydney, into newer dormitory suburbs to find a residential free standing property to purchase for less than $1m.

What rents for $150 pr night in Sydney would rent for $65 pr night in Indonesia or in the Phillipines.

 

We have to work a lot harder here to convince an overseas guest that we are providing 'value for money' for them. They all travel with a concept that, that meal, that beer, that taxi ride costs a lot less back home!

You make mention of a 'human touch' Tony....and you are right, I can't halve the cost of our society but I can go out of my way to make my guests feel super special to offset it. That is why I offer every guest a nice cheese plate, lots of goodies in the fridge, quite often with stays over 2 nights we do a nice meal, share a few good wines, and do all those litle touches that the hotel industry cannot do, and that is what, to me, this is all about! We are not the hotel industry....we're Airbnb!

Cheers.....Rob

Ken28
Level 10
Newburgh, IN

My very first booking was by far my best experience yet. I had a doctor from New York request to stay at my house for a couple months while he got acquainted with the area. Even before he arrived, I knew it was going to be an excellent experience -- he kept cracking jokes, which can be difficult to deliver through text messages, but every time they were just what I needed to brighten the day.

 

During his stay, we became great 'buds'. We both cooked, and shared meals, and jabbed at each other - he made fun of me for still being single and kept trying to hook me up, and I kept on him about his diet of kimchi, sriracha, and what appeared to be a fancy ramen noodle packet. We did all sorts of fun stuff during his stay.. went to fresh markets, went shopping, and did a lot of Netflix binging.

 

Soon after, he moved into a rental house, and I got to meet his wife and two kids. We now get together at least once a month and cook out, watch movies, and enjoy each other's company.

 

 

 

Soon after, I had another guest. This one was an optometry student that had an externship nearby. He and I got along great - just like the former doctor. He was a very kind individual, and we bonded over shared meals. I made him my infamous chimchangas, and he introduced me to the world of homemade guacamole - which he made about once a week. Fifteen weeks flew by with that gentleman.

 

And when THAT guy left, he recommended me to another student in the same program. That student was also a great guy. A little more reserved, but all together a fun guy to hang out with.

 

So... my best three experiences I'm now noticing were all doctors (or doctors in training...).  Concindence?

Huaai0
Level 10
British Columbia, Canada

@Ken28

 

It is always wonderful to have a guest that turns into a friend, and I guess you were just being lucky to have those guest-turned-friends, but I have to warn you, based on my experience, that keeping a professional boundary will protect you from getting bitten.

 

A few months ago I took an Airbnb guest to a dinner party to show my hospitality. When we were just about to eat, he turned so pale, and said he was not feeling well. He left the dinner all of a sudden and before I reached for my cell phone, he had already disappeared. 

 

We called him again and again but no anwer. We texted me 36 messgags, and no reply. We went to the parkade and found his rental car was still there. Two hours later, he answered my phone, saying he was at the emgergency of a hospital. He had called an ambulance. Later, we found out it was just a panic attack, nothing serious. 

 

What if he had claimed it was food poisoning? Since then I have not done anything like that. 

 

 

Rebecca256
Level 1
Sandwich, MA

Just hosted our first family in our cape cod home(-: they were pleasant about getting in touch when our fridge wasn't working so well and even left us a thank you card! They left the house spotless and it made me want every guest to be as courteous 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I had a lovely Japanese lady stay with me for 10 days around Christmas time. She didn't speak great English and I don't speak any Japanese, but we managed to have lots of long chats about many different things over a glass of wine (or two).

 

When she saw me 'upcycling' dolls house furniture Japanese style as a present for my seven-year-old niece, she gave me the cutest little beret as a present for this little girl she had never met. Little did she know that my niece is totally obsessed with Japan (she has a Japanese poster in her room, Japanese dolls, Japanese books). Together, my niece and I made a thank you card with a little paper pop up fashion doll (my guest worked in fashion), where my niece talked about how much she would like to visit my guest in Japan. We also took a photo of her wearing the beret to show my guest.

 

My guest was so touched by the card and so pleased with the photo, she almost cried. I doubt it will ever happen, but I love the idea of my little niece growing up and going to vist my lovely guest in Japan. They have so much in common and would have loads to talk about!