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My shower stalls have built-in “shelves” at the right height to put one’s foot up on to wash their feet, shave their legs, etc. No need to bend down. There is also a higher shelf, around chest-level, on which to put soap, shampoo,etc, so no need to bend over or turn around to reach those things either. The shower floor is tiled in 1cm square pool tiles, so it is not at all slippery, even when covered in soapy water.
And there is actually a long metal towel rod right next to the shower entrance that could be grabbed onto when exiting the shower if necessary, and another across from the sink counter right next to the toilet.
As far as advice about what one “should” do, there is advice, which one is free to consider or not, and adopt or reject, and there are dictates, which are what annoy me. Like when someone posts that “You should always use white linens”, or “If you don’t provide breakfast you have no idea what hospitality means and shouldn’t be hosting”. Or says that another host should install something without knowing anything about the host’s house construction or layout. Or assumes that things work the same all over the world.
As in everything else, this is really all about the demographics of the customer base in your area - in addition to the amount of investment and costs. Our area is huge with honeymooners, so I’d trade my three-bedroom for three one-bedroom cottages and make more money. Actually, a nearby villa of six bedrooms (https://cailleblancvilla.com) changed their business model from renting the entire property out at about $3000US a night (but low occupancy) to renting the bedrooms individually (they are stand-alone units) and becoming a boutique hotel. Now they have occupancy around 70-80% and total average nightly revenue of $4000 or more, not including the restaurant.
And one doesn’t necessarily know what the demographics of the area customer base is until you try it. Just because you see that most of the listings in your area have 8-12 guest counts doesn’t mean there aren’t couples who might be thrilled to find a cozy place set up for two.
One of the keys to opening a successful business is to look around and see what hasn’t been done or isn’t available and filling that niche. While most of the people in my touristy town run tourist-related businesses, I looked around, and as someone who has been sewing all my life, and had done some upholstery projects in Canada, saw that there were new houses being built all over, yet there was not one upholsterer here. And all these homes need curtains, cushions, throw pillows, etc. I rented a storefront/workshop blocks from the touristy core, but by a stroke of luck, there was a paint store on one side and a tile store on the other. So people who were building homes would come to look for paint or tiles, poke their head in my door and say, “Oh, you do upholstery? Awesome, I totally need cushions for my built-in concrete benches.” So I was slammed busy right away without even advertising. A few other upholsterers have set up shop over the years, but seemed not to last more than a year or two, so 18 years later, I am still the only one offering this service. Meantime scores of new restaurants and shops open up every season, only to go out of business when the tourist season slows down.
Before I bought my lot and built my house 16 years ago, I rented a little place for 3 years that was suitable for 1 or 2 people. The area used to have a bunch of smaller, older homes that over the years got bought up by investors or people who wanted a vaction home for themselves that they could rent out the rest of the year. All those smaller old homes got torn down, with much bigger homes built on those lots, catering to tourist groups, until that place I lived in is now almost invisible, surrounded by these monstrous new homes.
After I moved out, the owners asked me if I would be interested in property managing for them, which I accepted. They weren’t interested in doing vacation rentals, they wanted responsible, long term tenants. I had a waiting list of people who wanted to rent the place. It was never unoccupied.
Agree 100%. Our neighbors that changed over to the hotel knew there wasn’t a high-end boutique hotel in the neighborhood that appeals to New Yorkers (they brought in a New York City chef to train their own kitchen staff). New Yorkers are a great target because JetBlue flies to St Lucia regularly from the NYC area and the JetBlue prices are usually very affordable.
One time I camped in Canada they had a shower system where you had to use quarters to shower. And you had to be quick. The quarter lasted only a certain amount of time. If you wanted a longer shower you needed to put in another quarter. I have no idea how they built this. It was a private camp, on someone’s land.
If I were you I’d build it to suit my needs. You might want to enjoy it too, as a vacation home and maybe you won’t do Airbnb for the rest of your life.
Also, in my experience at least, people will abuse it.
If anything could go wrong, it will. I know people who are very tight with their money and on vacations, hotels or Airbnbs they really do take long showers. I know because they bragged about it when we went on vacation together.
I recall staying in a campground somewhere decades ago, I can’t recall where, that had the same coin-operated showers. I don’t know that I’d put one in an Airbnb, as it would probably feel like the guests were being nickel and dimed, but I also wouldn’t put in water heater of a size that meant guests in a one bedroom place for two would be able to take half-hour hot showers.
In all seriousness, I think I’m going to eliminate claw foot tubs from consideration when shopping for STRs. I try to be super careful and I’m pretty spry for my age but I just feel off when getting in and out of them. I don’t want a mishap to ruin my vacation and that one is easily avoided.
It seems that most people don’t need grab bars until after they fall so why get them sooner than you need to?
Teenagers are the demographic that spends the most time on average in the shower, I’d be willing to bet. What they do in there for half an hour twice a day is beyond me, or why anyone’s hair needs to be washed daily, but after having my 18 year old granddaughter stay for 3 weeks in November, and 3 more of my teenage grandkids here for 2 weeks for Xmas, they must have used up more hot water, shampoo and conditioner each in a day than I use in a week or two.
Those must be the guests I had earlier this year. Four people, all took 30-minute showers every day. Our water supply is rainwater and the hot water is solar. Fortunately, we had enough rain to keep from running out of water, but the rain/clouds plus their use of hot water ran us out of hot water. It was mid-stay for the next guests before we had enough sunshine to get them hot water.
All this despite my polite and attractive signs that ask people to not waste water because we’re “off the grid” for water. I guess they decided 30-minute showers weren’t wasteful.
Yeah, I figure they definitely do some of “that”.
The first night a bunch of my family got here for Xmas, they arrived quite late after a long day of travelling and delayed flights and though they had brought a big tent to set up in my yard and sleep in, we just scrambled up sleeping arrangements in my house that night because it was too dark to set up the tent.
I was planning to give my room to my other daughter and family when they arrived the next night, and move into my small guest room, so I gave my 20 year old grandson the guest room bed that night. There were clean sheets on the bed that I didn’t want to have to wash after just one night and my grandson had just showered, so I knew he was clean. I said casually, “Those are clean sheets, and I’m going to be sleeping on them for the next week, so just don’t jerk-off in bed, okay?” He laughed.
I love being a grandma. We can say things to our grandkids that we could never have said to our own kids when they were teenagers without them taking huge offense or being embarrassed or shocked that we were aware of things like that.
Stand alone small house on 12 acres here. We’re 3 years into Airbnbing our nearby house. We sleep 4 max. We love our heat pump water heater, also acts as a dehumidifier in basement while supplying sufficient hot water for our 4 guests while limiting endless supply. We have parking for 2 cars. After trying year round use, we’ve decided to shut down operations Xmas to Easter. In our snowy cold climate ( (Vermont), it’s just not worth the hassle and expense to heat property and deal with snow removal for winter guests. High energy costs and increased liability with slip and falls etc just made year round use unrealistic. We also enjoy the break and use down time for maintenance and touch up.
Yes, I’ve read countless articles about this stuff. My gas stove can’t fill my house with noxious gases because my kitchen has a 6’ wide doorway to the outside, that is always open when I am home, plus 3 more windows. Incomplete combustion is what produces carbon monoxide- if the flame is blue, it’s combusting well, if it’s orange or yellow it’s not.
Also here in Mexico, electric stoves and water heaters are rare. Everyone uses propane.
I’ve been thinking about an induction stove for awhile. I have the worst set up – old gas stove with that useless filter hood and no outside venting. Fortunately the house is even older and drafty as heck.
I put a plug in combo CO/explosive gas detector near the stove and crack the back door open when cooking. Also have a large volume air purifier running nearby that will at least grab the particulate matter. It’s higher end and has an auto feature that detects air quality, and I’ve noticed it does ratchet up the power whenever I cook.
I have induction in my main home and I Love, Love, Love it! All the cooking benefits of gas and the convenience in cleaning up off a glass top with a major improvement of nothing burning on it.
I also wouldn’t be able to live in one of those modern, sealed-up structures. My house in Canada where I raised my kids was an 80 year old wooden house with single pane windows. In the winter, I just had heavy curtains on the windows to help keep the heat in.
It used to crack me up to go into offices that had a no-smoking sign on the door saying “We have a clean air policy”. You walk in and the place reeks of formaldehyde and god knows what other horrible gassing-off chemicals from the new carpets, formica countertops, plastic furniture and polyester fabrics.
Those people you read about who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on vacation in Mexico were staying in modern, sealed up condo units with AC and no open windows.
I love mine although I’m not much of a cook. I also value the smooth, easy to clean top because my kitchen is small and countertop limited. As I’ve said before, I decided against an open flame when I learned of an old teacher of mine catching her sleeve on fire and dying of her burn injuries. This has more to do with my accelerating feeble mindedness and age rather than inherent dangers of gas stoves.
