Business Travel Requirements

1

I don’t tend to grumble but I’m a bit surprised by these business travel requirements.

As I’m near the heart of the city & near the major hospitals, particularly this new super hospital and It’s easy to get to all 3 airports. I’ve been getting a few guests who are on business.

I already have the requirements as things like smoke/CO detectors are a legal requirement. However, I’m not particularly willing to run the 24 hour access service.
Firstly I, like most people work so can’t actually do this.
Secondly I’d think that having people wandering in & out and basically being up at all hours would probably bother the neighbors eventually.

Shampoo - Why? I’ve been in many hotels that don’t even offer soap, it’s a relic of the days of when hotels used to go above & beyond. There is always soap and guests usually leave shower gel, etc. I and I’m sure others take their own toiletries wherever I go. Also what if a guest has a bad reaction to your soap, who covers that.

Coat hangers? Okaaaay. I need to supply coathangers (which I do cos’ it’s a furnished flat) no mention of a cupboard or drawers to put your cloths or these hangers in.

Iron? Yep, got one of those also, I also have an ironing board (kinda needed) no mention of that.

Hair Dryer? Who even uses these, most of the women I know pack some 3 billion watt supernova gun because the hotel ones are rubbish.

Laptop friendly workspace? Isn’t this your lap or anywhere you can sit it. Please elaborate on comfortable to work in. I work on my laptop slumped across my couch , feet up, laptop on my belly.

I offer more useful things like kitchen & utensils, cups & facilities for your business teas & coffee, a washing machine & soaps, Crazy fast fibre internet, An actual bed (again doesn’t seem to be on the list)

So, at the end of this gripe I suppose I should ask, does anyone know if no suitcase means no business and shouldn’t Air be considering a bit more of a sensible approach rather than vague gimics and shampoo.

2

I have all of those things, actually, but we have an office on the same level so therefore are not eligible for business class…very sad. We’d be perfect for business people - a little taste of home, kids to chat with if desired, good places for walking, an a yummy breakfast.

3

I have had briefcases on my listings since the option was first made available. It hasn’t brought me one single business booking, and we’re now going into three months of the ‘business badge’.

I think the list of criteria is someone’s idea of what amenities are found in a normal hotel that might cater to the business crowd. In the US it might be something like a Red Roof for budget business travelers and maybe a W Hotel for high end business travelers.

In the hotels, there’s usually some hangers to hang up a sports coat or suit, maybe important for someone who’s in town for client meetings. An iron for the same reason, maybe to press a shirt. The desk/laptop friendly workspace I think is important because I know when I’m traveling for business I need to have my laptop, my phone charging next to me, possibly an external hard drive, a pad of paper, etc. I definitely do use my ample belly for the laptop when it’s just chilling and catching up on personal stuff, but when it’s work time I do prefer to sit at a desk. I actually find that most of my guests don’t bring a hairdryer, as it’s always about precious space. The few business travelers that I have had tend to pack the smallest bag possible in order to use only carry on luggage, so they’ve appreciated a good quality hair dryer rather then a tiny portable one that they may have been able to squeeze into their bag.

The checkin/out thing isn’t an issue for me as it doesn’t have any impact on my strict no-earlier-then-4pm check-in, but I’m not a live-in host so they are free to check in any time after 4pm, and to come and go as they wish. That’s how I interpret the 24 hour check-in, so I just clicked Yes on that amenity.

4

It doesn’t seem particularly important yet. If they are indeed planning to set up a specific section for booking business trips, that may change in the future. For now, though, it doesn’t seem all that significant. We have been booked pretty consistently since the fall by a collection of businesses for weekdays. One company even offered to overpay to get guaranteed space even if they weren’t going to place someone there.

It seems this is mostly going to be covered by people who have electronic access, and likely a private entrance for guests. If the neighbors are bothered by when they come and go, they’re probably already bothered by the fact that you host at all.

It’s a matter of convenience. Some of these folks are showing up for a meeting and a night’s rest before returning. Some don’t even stay the night, but use the rooms to freshen up. They often arrive with only a laptop case and a suit in the dry cleaning wrap. You can either get the bulk pump bottles from a warehouse store, or, I’ve seen surplus stores selling the travel-sized portions for 25 cents a bottle. Disclaim it in your house rules if your guests are petty enough to sue you over a free soap/shampoo they failed to research. Most people don’t use it anyway, so the maintenance cost is low. They do tend to use the packaged soap bars and the packaged travel toothbrushes.

These tend to accumulate over time anyway if you have frequent business guests. They pick up the suit at the cleaners and then leave behind the extra hanger in your closet.

Most people may not use them, but the people who want them really want them. If the goal is to fulfill the same role that hotels did in the past, you need to be willing to match their features. This is another small expense.

Ultimately, they’re things people have grown to expect when they’re on the road for business. They’re pretty cheap to provide. I’m sure they did their fair bit of market research to determine what items needed to be on the list, both for safety/liability purposes and convenience. There’s no point in fighting it. If you would like the designation, a trip to a department store can fulfill it. Even without it, you’ll still end up with self-funded business travelers, independent contractors, etc.

5

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve got most of these things anyway.

It’s more of the vague description some of these items require. Having read many posts on this forum and seeing what people do or do not do. While at the same time seeing posts about unfair reviews, unrealistic expectations of guests, etc, etc.

You’ve got to ask if you’ve ticked the laptop box for instance and you’ve got a coffee table & couch (as actually pictured in the business travel page) but the guest expects a adjustable office chair & desk. Who makes the call on that? it seems to be waiting to cause problems.

To throw a curve ball on this one. My place as a set of record shelves that used to house my decks, mixer, laptop, where I’d easily spend a few hours mixing. New research says you should stand while working as it’s better for you!

Felixcat, the neighbors aren’t to fussed, it doesn’t impact on them. Guests so far have kept to the rules and everyone’s happy. However, if you started getting woken up at night with the sounds of luggage, doors, loud voices, taxis on a regular basis, I’m sure it would begin to grate.
I’ve investigated keyless systems and would maybe go down that route. If I had one or two clients who wanted in or out at out of hours, I could look to arrange something. I’m sure we all would for nice guests. Why make it mandatory?

Personally, I really like Airbnb. However, I also really liked Ebay but now it’s treating someone who want’s to clear out their own room like the multinational manufacturers. Not a level playing field.

Airbnb seems to be say what you have available and charge for it. These new changes are a little bit too much “if you don’t do what we say you don’t get on” but you still need to be cheaper than a hotel.

As has been mentioned time will tell.

6

My first guests were business travellers, that was before the BTR label appeared on Airbnb, but indeed they needed a table not far from power outlets for their laptops, they used the hairdryer (though they were young men with short hair) and checked-in late in the evening.

As a side note, here in France if you want to get your listing approved as a vacation rental by the ministry of tourism, all these amenities are mandatory (approval itself is not mandatory, but you get tax savings in return).

Seriously, besides 24/7 check-in I would expect all these amenities to be present at any Airbnb or hotel. I don’t see where is the problem here.

Shampoo, hangers, iron, hairdryer, a table and a chair with appropriate lighting, all these amenities are needed for the comfort of any guest, business or not, and they’re cheap (8 good quality wooden hangers, 5$ at Ikea, a good hairdryer is 20$ on Amazon, Airbnb gives away carbon monoxide detectors).

It is true that hairdryers in hotels must be selected by bald men :smile: , I put a 2000w hairdryer for my listing and it gets a lot of use by guests.

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7

I wish I knew they gave away CO detectors, could have saved some money. In Scotland, I’m sure the UK in general the safety stuff is required by law.

In regards to power outlets they could just move the table near the socket? I don’t have this problem. Being big into my tech, there are probably more sockets than necessary in my flat.

And again as I’ve mentioned it’s a full flat as many of Airs hosts offer, so most or all of this stuff is there anyway. I just think the requirements are a bit ropey & open to interpretation. you can have hangers but no cupboard, maybe just a hook on the door!

As for the guest use electricals all appliances have to be PAT tested in the UK for safety (You will see stickers in hotels), don’t know if that’s the case in other courntries.

On the point of 24/7 check in does anyone know of a keyless/smartlock that works on a double glazed door?

8

Just my two cents… but being in a CBD and having had a mix of business and leisure travellers and more than 300 guests in total over three properties, I will move heaven and earth to attract more of the business ones and my listing even aims at them. None of them has ever caused damage, they read the house rules, their communication is good and they are reliable, polite and stay longer, producing fewer gap days for me (which in my case outweighs getting the cleaning fees from shorter stays). So even though I think it’s stupid to need a CO2 detector in an apartment without gas or wood burner, I put them in to achieve that little badge.

I also like my own choice of shampoo/soap/bodywash when I travel, but apparently, most men don’t care, because they use the cheap stuff I provide while women tend to leave their fancy bought ones behind. It takes me all of five minutes to refill them perhaps once a month at most (pump packs - it limits waste really well).

AirBnB sort of indicate that the 24hour check-in thing is about buzzers/intercoms or keyless entry, not about people being willing to open the door at a pre-arranged time of 3am. My properties haven’t got options for installing keyless entries either, so I solve it by leaving the key in a digital locker at the shopping centre, and texting them the locker code. Or the airport service desk if they prefer. I never keep early arriving guests waiting anymore and they never keep me waiting for three hours because they felt like having dinner and a movie on the way. Maybe something like this would work for you?

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9

I can´t check the 24x7 Check-in because it is lazy explained on the website to guests.
Let me give you a more graphical example of how this could lead to future problems

Say your CHECK- IN is 2pm
Say your CHECK-OUT is 10am
Say you have 24 Hour Check-in Checked

THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM
The guests is a business traveller and wants to arrive at 3am on Monday so he booked for Monday as his first night. That was a wrong assumption because despite he is allowed to check-in at 3am he should booked since Sunday because your “night” starts 2pm. And lets imagine that you have guests leaving on Monday (they booked the Sunday night) then you will have big problems as you will not be able to accomodate this new guest that wants to come at 3am. He will blame you, you will blame him but actually the fault is on the Airbnb side that didn´t take enough time to explain better what it means a “24 Hour Check-in”. As for now the guest reads “Someone will be available at anytime”. I can only see future problems awaiting you with this option checked.

10

I wholeheartedly agree! All of the business travelers that we’ve had have never caused any issues and they’ve been willing to pay a premium during weekdays which are otherwise hard to book! You don’t need to move heaven and earth to attract more business travelers. You just need to do one simple thing and that’s encourage AirBnB for business to offer a loyalty program for business travelers!!! Every major hotel that caters to business offers a loyalty program to attract lucrative weekday stays. As a host I have no problem if a small cut of the rate (10-20%) goes to attracting business travelers willing to pay 50-75% more (since it’s their company’s money)!

11

I’m a little surprised by a few of them, but the one thing I’m most surprised by is the complete lack of a loyalty/points/cashback program. It’s the cornerstone of what attracts business travelers so the little briefcase won’t do anything until AirBnB offers it! Giving the customer 10-20% back is nothing when they’re willing to pay 2X as much on a weeknight!

12

The new economy requires a new mindset. Marking up prices to give a sale or discount is outdated…

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13

My problem with the business travel requirements is needing a 5 star rating over 60% of the time. There are people who just will not give 5 stars because “nothing is perfect.” The only one I have over 60% is accuracy, but a full third of my guests have given me 4 stars for accuracy. I literally can not see what’s missing/incorrect from my listing… it makes me not even want to bother improving the other two because I doubt I’ll ever get 5-star in such an old house.

14

Ask the guests. They should be able to provide some guidance on the reason for their ratings.

15

So - what’s the verdict on this brief-case badge; anyone for it?

We are going to add a wall and a door (well, actually, tear out and re-do an entire bedroom in conjunction) to make it an ‘entire apartment’. This will give my family freer use of a playroom/office, remove awkward times when we go down to access the shared fridge and someone is sitting in their kitchen in their jammies, and allow me to list it as 2 bedrooms, which it is. I’ll also get that badge.

Has the badge been a boon to anyone?

16

It’s hard to tell. I get quite a few business guests but whether that’s because of the badge or not is hard to determine.

Our city has a conference centre and many of the business guests are going there - it’s only a couple of miles away - and because we’re also a tourist place they often bring a partner so that they can combine business with pleasure :wink:

18

I realise this is an older topic, but we’ve just discovered that hosting Business Travellers generally isn’t working for us.

We have two AirBNB rooms in the home we live in.
It seems most of our Business Travellers end up “working from home” rather than staying here to go to work.

A summary of our experiences:

  • wanting us to be quiet all day long because they are working
  • holding overseas phone conversations in the middle of the night and walking around the house on the phone
  • higher utility bills because they are here all day
  • dirtier kitchen from their meal preparation
  • definitely dirtier rooms

We really prefer tourists because they tend to head out for the day, eat out and give us plenty of personal space. Just saying … LOL

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19

Haha! That was my exact experience of one of my business travelers!
It’s not really worth it to offer 24- hour checkin and state you have no pets to host the occasional guest like that.