My tips and Gripes list

[Anne-Marie79]

Looking at what people are offering here, my experience as a host is this:

1. I try to greet my guests in person, but post-COVID that is not sensible any more. Instead I leave a detailed Guest Manual in the property as well as emailing them a copy in advance. Some people will read one but not the other  so this covers both bases.

2. I always set a loaf of fresh bread on arrival day to be ready at their arrival time, even if it just one person for one night. It is always appreciated, everyone loves the smell, and on the odd occasion it doesn’t get eaten the local bird life have a good feed.

3. I always have the chalkboard with their name on to welcome them.

4. Always use the big shampoo/conditioner/shower gel bottles as they do get nicked otherwise. I leave one or two sanitary pads in the bathroom drawer as we are on a farm and 15 minutes from the nearest shop!

5. At Christmas, a tree and a plate of home-made mince pies are nice, and as we live in a fruit-growing region of Australia I usually pop a bowl of fresh fruit in the fridge.

6. Hugely popular is a drop of local port - I usually decant enough for a glass each plus a bit extra. I’m still working with local wineries to get a good deal on this…!

7. I do have to go out to reiterate rules all the time - pool rules (parents just leave their children despite strict rules they are to be supervised as this is s FARM); respect (I can’t tell you how often my fruit trees have been stripped, or my newly-planted flower beds completely picked out); late cancellations (such as a 2-week booking cancelled the day before, so Airbnb charged them 50% which is my arrangement, then the visitors phoning me 20 times demanding their money back as they had changed their minds).
For that last one, I managed to re-book one night, offered them $500 off a future booking of over 10 days, which they accepted, then they moaned because the price had gone up as they now wanted Easter and school holiday dates!!

Well, that’s my tips and gripes!

A

[Huma0]

@Anne-Marie79 

Thanks for the tips. I do quite a few of the things you do, but not all. 

- Most guests LOVE seeing their name written on the welcome chalkboards, so that is something I would definitely recommend.

- I also provide full sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the bathrooms (as well as hand soap) but have found nice looking bottles that match the decor to decant them into, which makes the look much smarter than the mismatched branded ones.

- I stopped providing fruit as I found most of it went to waste. Some guests thought the fruit bowl was just for decoration!

- I have a Christmas tree and give guests cards (presents for the longer term ones) but stopped with festive treats such as mince pies and tipples because most guests did not touch it nor thank me so it seemed wasteful. European and American guests like it but those who come from a culture where Christmas is not celebrated most often don't. 

RE your gripes, do you encourage guests to pick some fruit or flowers? I know it's really rude to then raid them completely, but perhaps it's best not to let them do it at all. I find that most guests do not help themselves to stuff they are not supposed to, but the ones that do really go to town! I guess it's just their mentality and that's difficult to change.

RE the cancellations, I think you handled it well and were more than generous, but some people will never be satisfied. I stick to my guns. I will offer to refund for nights I get rebooked, but make it clear that there is no guarantee of that. Most guests accept that but occasionally one will pester me, in which case I just tell them I will of course let them know if the nights get booked, but they can check for themselves on the calendar on the listing. 

One of my biggest current gripes is guests wasting energy, i.e. leaving lights on when they go out or putting tiny loads of laundry on long washes, even though they are asked not to. This has always annoyed me, but even more so now with the current energy crisis. Again though, it's hard to change people's mentality about these things. Some people simply don't care if they are not paying the bills. 

[Anne-Marie79]

Re picking things from the garden, I would have thought that the rule stating "please do not pick any fruit or flowers from the garden" would have been enough. That is in the House Rules, they also receive a copy by email 2 days before arrival, and there is a printed copy in the house on the hall table! I don't know how else to stop this one.

Ooh yes I know what you mean about wasting power. I don't worry about it mid-summer as we have solar panels and generate a lot of spare electricity for 5-6 months, but in winter people go out for the day and ignore the "Before you go out" list pinned on each door asking for turning off lights, towel warmer, split system heaters. I am however very strict on water usage as we are on tank water only, so I mention this in every correspondence - when the water is gone it is gone! That usually makes them reduce their wastage quite well. Lol - I also point out that although I don't expect visitors to do the same, we stick to 3-minute showers, and turning off the water when you are shampooing hair or cleaning your teeth can make a massive difference to water usage. It's not that we can't buy in a tankerful of water, it's just the availability of it. Incidentally we do live on a rural farm, so I feel I can say these things to people.

[Huma0]

@Anne-Marie79 

Well, if you are specifically telling them not to pick the fruit and flowers, mmm, I am not sure what else you can do. Unless you decide to sell these products as an 'add on'. I know it sounds crazy and it might not work, and I am not sure exactly how you would word this, but if the guests think they have to pay extra for that, it might deter them!

[Huma0]

PS, and what I mean is, not to present it as a penalty, but rather an optional add on that they would be added onto their bill, much in the way that you get a price list with the mini bar at a hotel. It's available for you, but you don't get it for free!

[Sudsrung0]

@Anne-Marie79 

I think everybody want to be the best host on airbnb so you tend to go out of your way in the beginning, Do things you would like as a guest, We have all been there,

In my experience hardly anyone mentions the extra things you do,

We used to do it, Bowl of fruit it would just get wasted we also used to put in the fridge milk, bread and butter, jam, eggs, fruit juice, it was just getting wasted so we stopped,

We used even put a few beers in the fridge, I dont do that no more, now only water and soft drinks.

Some years ago we did a special offer on our villas, "Book 7 days and get a Free Boat trip" it was a nice day out to one of the other islands hardly anyone even said thanks, or even mention it in their review.

We used to also include a Luxury minivan service pickup from the airport as we are 50km from the airport I thought it was a nice touch as all they had to do was walk out from the airport and the driver would be there waiting for them, straight to the property no messing around at the airport.

When you think about it, the guest is the one who loses out, 

When they were getting a great experience and hospitality a little appreciation would go a long way,

[Anne-Marie79]

I never put beers or juice in the fridge for visitors, and the fruit is off the trees in my orchard areas, so isn't wasted if they don't use it as I have far more than I need.

However, I have had a family who asked for a late check-out when I had an oncology appointment, so of course I said yes. When I came home they had stripped my lemon tree and taken about 100 lemons with them, and I never had another ripe one for about 4 months after that! Now I have to ask them not to pick anything.

Love your idea of a free boat or trail - I have considered that as we are on the 'Ned Kelly Trail' here as well as the Silo Art Trail, but it actually felt like too much extra work, so I leave them information out to find their own way!!

[Fred13]

One good rule of thumb to follow in hosting: If something is going to waste, remove it and if anything requires too much 'hall monitoring' - drop it. Nothing needs to be, when you really think about it.

[Sudsrung0]

@Fred13 

You have to stop the waste in any business, that cost money going down the drain

[Anne-Marie79]

I've found that different things work well with different people. Every single person (bar one, about 4 years ago) have eaten the whole home-baked loaf and usually comment on it in the Visitors Book. So I know I have that one right.

I put eggs in if the people booking seem like the people who are likely to use them - I don't advertise that I do this, so there's no problem if they are people stopping for a quick overnight between Sydney and Melbourne for instance, who are likely to grab breakfast on the run rather than cook.

I always leave butter, jam and marmalade to go with the bread - sometimes these are used (always the butter), but at the same sort of rate as teabags, coffee pods, etc.

[Quincy]

Hi @Anne-Marie79! Thank you for sharing all these useful tips! I love the part where you write the names of your guests on a chalkboard!

[Fred13]

No idea what @Anne-Marie79 uses, but we use a white plastic attractive board and with a grease color pen write a personalized 'welcome' message - always goes over well.

[Anne-Marie79]

I use a pretty little chalkboard and a packet of coloured chalks. If I'm feeling keen I'll draw flowers all over it too!! Lol

[Anne-Marie79]

I just chalk up "Welcome to .....(name of venue)....., .....(hirer)'s group/family. Most people comment on it as it's personal.

[Rick4645]

When I used to AirBNB before taking a break, I'd leave a breakfast basket, bottled waters, snacks, etc. Guests would mention their appreciation in their reviews and very rarely would they not partake of the goodies.

Since I've come back, more often than not, people leave the food behind and the ones that actually consume or take the food say nothing.

So I no longer do these extras.

I personally don't think leaving alcohol is a good idea. If you have someone in recovery, it could be enough of a temptation to undo their sobriety.