Thank-you Sandy for explaining your experience. I do get it. I started hosting in April and I do generally enjoy hosting. But you do get the odd knock (I just had one), which gets you down, probably way more than it should. Like Siannon was saying when people think your place isn’t clean enough (as they expect). But you know I clean their room and their bathroom, don’t charge a cleaning fee – its my spare room! Not a hotel! The guests get a private bathroom, I mean that’s a perk no? You’d think so, certainly up here where I live!
I initially approached the whole hosting thing with a - I love having guests anyway, and having a bit of extra money is also going to be great. It should be a win-win, and mostly I’d say it is. But unfair criticisms do niggle. Nobody wants to be judged I guess.
The whole burn-out is a concern and now at the end of the season I do feel it. About half way through this experience, I started to feel a burn out. My place was waaaaaay more popular than I thought it would be. I put my price up to try and stem the demand, but it didn’t I just got more money!! Great I thought but I can’t put price up too high as it will really raise expectations. So I started just blocking out at least 2 nights a week in my calander so I had space and downtime has helped.
I’ve been wondering too how quickly this whole thing will implode. With more hosts becoming businesses and more guests wanting and expecting hotel accommodation at knock down price. Professional BnBs with multiple rooms listing on AirBnB its not quite the same platform I thought it was. I’m investigating Homestay – which might fit my place better. But currently there are not many places in the UK listed on it.
My recent knock was from a girl (part of a couple), that booked and we all got on well. We shared our food - combined what they brought with some of our stuff, had good meal that evening, one of my neighbours came over too with his pot of food for the table and it was a good classic airBnB experience, we all got on fine and had a lovely time. I like to hang-out and socialise with guests if they want to. Then a week later she wrote an okay review – no prob with that, but she was then really critical in the private feedback. She told me my place was not clean, was smelly and that my entire home was outdated. 3 stars across the board for everything. I was really a bit taken aback by it. Now you probably need some context here. I live in an almost 200 year old building on a remote hillside in the Scottish Highland. We are almost off grid here. The water comes from a stream and we have a biomass (wood burning) heating system, and solar panels, the pipework is exposed, there is no mobile signal and our internet is a satellite connection. The sewage is a septic tank, and all cleaning products have to be biodegradable and bacteria friendly for that to work. A lot of the house has exposed granite walls, high ceilings with beams. We do however have a hot water and a powerful shower. But it’s not modern and it never will be, we like it this way. So this silly remark should not matter to me, I don’t want to take the odd person’s insensitive remarks about my home and so not open up and welcome the next people that walk through the door or put up barriers to genuine interaction. How, how do we develop a thicker skin and keep open? I don’t think the answer is scrubbing the bathroom more. And yes – you know I do try to set expectations in my listing explaining all that. Perhaps I should have more of an email discussion with people before they book. I wonder if by the time some people get to you, they have completely forgotten what your listing said, or maybe they don’t read it in the first place.
Sandy is right about AirBnB management pushing the hosts to be overly giving and generous, maybe that it spoils the guest? The recent example I’ve just given above was a guest who has done a lot of AirBnB.
I would HATE to get superhost status, so I’m kind of pleased she knocked my star rating a bit. God, superhost – imagine the guests’ expectations then!!! No thank-you.
I have a lot of reflection to do over the winter months. I do think I have a special place that I would like to share with other likeminded people, I just need to work out how to keep away those guests that want a hotel rather than the genuine ‘experience’ of remote highlands living.
Just as I may be in Hawaii. The knock-downs do take you by surprise and sting because after all, they are talking about your personal house.
I wish you the very best with your future guests. The camper sounds like a fantastic idea! You are obviously completely different to us personality wise, given that you like to socialize with your guests, mind you - we have had a studio in our home and had bands staying here for 15 years, and have always socialized and shared meals, kitchen and everything for so long that perhaps it is that the glow has well worn off of this lifestyle for us, more than that we are just grizzled and unsociable. But the separation of guests and privacy would make for a much better experience, especially as time goes on you might find, and the less than positive experiences begin to weigh on you. Lots of people love the more unique types of places. Sounds like a lot of fun.
. I have a theory that I get mostly really great guests because of my dogs. I REALLY stress the “must love dogs” point on my profile. Dog lovers are just nicer people 