Hosts should be able to offer Meal-Vouchers eg Lunch

Hosts should be able to offer meal vouchers in my view. And whatever the guest wants and whatever standard of meals the host has the ability to cook or offer? And all bookings for vouchers you can pay for vouchers before or during an existing stay/booking.
So for example say you got to Rome and you like “Italian food”, the host could cook up a delicious dinner for you for $US40-$50 eg an entree a soup, then some mains eg Pizza and some pasts or some Italian seafood, and maybe a piece of cake for desert. Or if you go to Tokyo and like Japanese food same deal, the Host will prepare some suchi and other food for whatever price the voucher is at. It would be good way to make extra money, as many hosts go eat out down the road where there staying if they can’t be bothered cooking, when the Host may have the time to cook up a nice lunch or evening Dinner, and both parties benefit. More money for the host and more pleasant experience for the guest.
I read somewhere Airbnb is trialing something called a “magical service” or some name like that. Not sure if “catering” will be part of it, but it’s something that should be looked at(allowing the host to cater for guests,beyond breakfast, but have it being able to be vouchered so if anything goes wrong there is verifications that a transaction was made for this catering service.

I’d never in the world do that, as a host, but I can’t think of any reason you as an individual couldn’t do it and mention it in your listing. Might attract more guests.

wasn’t there a thread on ‘airbnb for cooks’ or something

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Vouchers I wouldn’t be interested in, either as a guest or a host.

As a host we provide gourmet cooked breakfast as part of the booking fee, and offer other meals prepared on-site if the guest desires, for a fixed fee per meal. But then, I AM a certified Personal Chef and live in a country where thi is possible. Other places other rules. InEngland and Spain it would require all sorts of licensing and other hassles to be able to cook and serve your guests.

Only some places can get away with those “come to a shared dinner” places. Local Health Departments can be a real hassle unless you understand the rules.

That’s my problem @KenH - I was very idealistic when we first started with Airbnb and had the idea of providing home-cooked meat-free meals to guests who requested them. I thought it would be a USP.

But in order to do so, I would have to have a commercial kitchen which was regularly inspected and other such rules. I just have my ordinary domestic kitchen which can’t be made up to code.

There are so many great restaurants around here, plus takeout places that deliver so no guests are ever going to go hungry and can fully experience local cuisine!

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Once again you charging to cook for a fee, is ethnically out of the booking or Airbnb and in principle your forming an agreement with the guest, a different service not under the banner of an Airbnb stay, as your charging private money. That may cause insurance issues if the host gets sick via your cooking, as it wasn’t authorised under Airbnb, it’s a separate agreement with the guest. My suggestion is vouchers that are paid for to Airbnb, so Airbnb will cover the public liability insurance if something goes wrong.

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No one says the guests will go hungry if they want to eat out and not cook, or have home delivery Pizza etc, but it’s more about other ways the Host can make money off the guest. So why not give the host other ways to make money via the Airbnb platform e.g. cooking/tour guide services you can provide. But the point is the Airbnb website is the platform to do it.

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No, the point is that (here anyway) it is ILLEGAL for me to provide cooked food for guests.

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same here and I dont have the time anyway!

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I’m not a trained chef. My cooking is good enough for the family but certainly not restaurant quality! We are surrounded by great restaurants and takeouts. My guests will get far better food from them than they ever would from me :slight_smile:

So is this illegal if you cooked up a big bowl of Pasta, and you offer the guest some spaghetti bologonese for free you cooked up if you have left overs.

Yes, completely illegal. I would have to have a commercial kitchen that’s regularly inspected by the authorities.

not sure how it’s illegal as it’s your home, just as it’s not illegal to invite neighbours over for a cooked lunch or friends. But I could be wrong

It’s absolutely different. Airbnb guests are PAYING to stay here. They are customers, and whether or not a charge is made for the food, it is legally assumed that the price is built in to the price of the stay. Have you ever been in a hotel that offers ‘free’ breakfast to find that it’s all self-service cereals, bagels and fruit and nothing cooked? That’s because they don’t have a commercial kitchen. Neither do I. I can supply food (uncooked and packaged) but not prepare it in any way.

Honestly, most hosts have looked into this!

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This would be a stupid idea

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the benefit with airbnb being involved(if you have a kitchen that can legally cook food for guests) is they are a big party acting as a 3rd party, the referee if disputes arise/and also they cover the public liability insurance stuff in many areas. Yes they get a commission but that is what the guest/and host are paying for as is now with accommodation. A big rich referee who insures both parties(the middle man). Guest/host make a contract with Airbnb not each other. like when you get your housecleaned, the agency sends a cleaner as opposed to a private agreement between you and the cleaner. The middle man. People pay Airbnb to be the middle man/referee in the advent of legal disputes.or trouble happening. In other words like an Insurance company, Airbnb makes it’s money from people’s fears if things go wrong(fear applies to both guest/host). Plenty of people still advertise there home privately and enter into agreements with people for short term letting of there property. And as you know they don’t have to give any commissions cut-profits to a 3rd-party like Airbnb. But often they have less security then. You give Airbnb a commission, basically your paying them to protect you if things go wrong, that’s how they make there money peoples fears of things going wrong. You don’t want to lose a cut on your profits via a commission, take the plunge into the bad world and manage your home by yourself. You pay airbnb coz you trust them to protect you when things go wrong. Fear based selling. Like buying a more expensive car with a seatbelt as opposed to a car with no seat belt, you pay more money coz you scared, if a car has a crash you want the seat belt car. Or you buy a motor bike helmet based on fear if you have an accident and no helmet.

Illegal for me, too.

I completely agree and what VRBO did it to me is unspeakable. One guest cancelled the day of checkin in and then lied that the house wa snot ready for him and they refunded him money. Now i disputed it, will see what will happens but i dont have big hopes

Hi cabinhost. Love your thinking on feeling safer when guests are renting directly from you sans the middle man. Would love more information. I have a ton of questions actually :slight_smile: I frequently get guests that are doing a last minute type of thing, for instance, today, I got a reservation request for next weekend. I would not, if this woman was not going through airbnb, have the chance to send her a contract (If she had no printer for instance) and have her mail it back with her check before the weekend. How would you handle that kind of situation? Any type of online payment received by me (paypal, square, for example), could in theory be contested by the payee and reimbursed back to them. Plus, I’m really scared to go to my insurance company and ask for extra insurance, as I feel it will be cost-prohibitive, I’ve been doing this on a wing and a prayer here :slight_smile: