How do you offer/charge add-ons?

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@Kitty_Norris I also provide some extras I don’t mention anywhere in my listing. Not in order to get good reviews, but because it’s either practical or I enjoy it.

I pick most of my guests up at the bus station when they arrive, unless they indicate they are getting an Uber from the airport, or are renting a car. The bus station is a five minute drive from my house, and the alternative is guests shleping down a dirt road with their luggage for 20 minutes or getting a taxi. But my place is hard to find the first time, even for taxi drivers. I’ve spent more time on the phone trying to describe where it is to the dispatcher, walking up to stand on the main road, than it takes to drive to the bus station.

I don’t normally provide food for guests, beyond tea and coffee, cream and sugar, but if my veggie garden is producing, they are more than welcome to have some, same with if I have an overabundance of the bananas and mangos that grow here.

And I also provide free of charge experiences sometimes, in the form of inviting guests to come along to the isolated beaches I prefer, which they could never get to without a car, and as tourists, would never know about. It’s no skin off my nose, I want to go to the beach anyway.

And if I’m going out to dinner with friends, and have a guest I know would fit right in, I’ll invite them along (they pay for their own dinner, of course).

Guests really appreciate all those things (and often leave me a bottle of wine, a bag of coffee, a drawing of my garden, or some other little gift to demonstrate that), so I have a good time and so do they.

One of the coolest things was when I had lovely young female guest from Prague, who had come all this way to take a special course at a retreat center near here. She had booked my place for 3 nights before moving over to the retreat center, where room and board was part of the deal.

While she was at my place, we did a beach day, 2 other of my gal pals joined us, then we all went out for a lively dinner. When the guest’s week-long stay at the retreat came to an end, she called me, saying she had several hours before she had to leave for the airport to fly back to Prague, and did I want to get together for lunch and invite the other two gals as well. We did, she told us all over lunch about this course she had taken, which was pretty fascinating- she was a really articulate and animated conversationalist and we all came away feeling we had been treated to something special.

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@muddy
I love what you do, how and why you do it, we do the same. As far as food, we are delighted to share anything in the garden, orchard and vineyard - there is always more than enough. We take guests fishing in our one-acre pond, it is just too much fun, then we cook and eat together. We’ll do that again soon, when we can safely reopen. We let guests use our theatre passes, and if we are off to town we will always ask if they need anything. They all seem to do the same, spontaneously. It is a 40 minute drive each way for groceries, so we do all we can to make it easy for them to just relax here. Our guests are wonderful people, like yours are. We love to take them on hikes, and do sky shows with the telescope, seeing planets, and our nearest galaxy. This is one of those rare places with no lights at night, and when there is a meteor shower we have mattresses on the porch. We host mushroom walks, garden tours, wildflower walks, and birding for those seeking our avian neighbors. We have a number of trail cams and have “movie night” with what bears and mountain lions are using our ranch roads and trails. We get guests coming here specifically for the off- grid/wilderness/mountaintop living experiences we offer. It is always amazing and always better when shared. That’s why we do it.

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Sounds like your hosting is a lot in the same style as mine. More like hanging out with friends. I started doing Airbnb because I had a guest room that just sat empty most of the time, didn’t want a full-time roommate (I happily block off dates if friends and family are coming to visit), so it was never about making a bunch of money, but more because I thought it would be interesting, and it has been. I’ve had the coolest guests, some of whom I keep in touch with, and will probably meet again.
In fact I had a guest from very close to where I used to live on Vancouver Island, so when I went up there, I gave her a call, she picked me up at the ferry, took me to her place for lunch, and drove me back to the ferry.

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@muddy
Yes, you and I operate much the same way.

I have this attitude that if I’m not having fun I’m not doing it right, and life is far too short to not have a good time of it.

We are available to guests, if they want. If they don’t, then we are completely out of their way. It is their lead. It is very important to me that they feel safe and supported, and that they get all the privacy they want as well.

I block off dates for friends and family too. Many of our guests check in with us, especially with storms and fires, and to tell us of events in their lives. It is good, and the world is better for all our connections, I’m sure.

I have family on Vancouver Island, also in Steveston, and all over the mainland. My father is from Canada. There are lots of very dear cousins there. How cool that you and your guest connected and reconnected. Where is your home there?

We stayed with two hosts in Taiwan and they have stayed with us here. It is really wonderful to be able to do this sharing and cultural exchange.

Some day we will all meet up somewhere. Wouldn’t that be a treat?

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That would be fun to all meet up. My fantasy choice would be a listing in Belize run by a host named Fred who posts quite often on the Airbnb CC- he has a private atoll (clothing optional) he boats guests over to! He says he’s usually booked two years in advance.

I lived in Courtenay for 25 years, but sold that house in 2010. It was a cool old house and the people who bought it appreciated it for what it was and have done lovely upgrades. My youngest daughter lives in Merville, just north of Courtenay. And of course I have tons of good friends up there.

I’ve only been to Steveston once, but it has a great little garden store and one of the best second hand stores, hidden away on a side street, where I found some nice stuff.

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Belize is wonderful, I’ll put that on my list!

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This, 100%.

Over this past year we have had to restrict any interaction with guests to the extent that the only time we have any contact is at check in, from then on we rarely see them.

Even check out is contactless; instructions are now “please leave all windows and internal door open, place apartment and garage remote in the letterbox on the street door and let us know (by message) when you’ve left. Have a safe journey home!”

The contrast to one year ago is marked, our large central patio was a sociable space, interaction between guests from each apartment was common, and of course we too often enjoyed meeting and chatting with our guests. The odd :wine_glass: was shared on many’s an occasion.

That said, some wanted privacy and that was what they got - you get to know pretty quickly what guests want, and the mark of a good host is being able to provide that.

Funnily enough, I was chatting on WhatsApp with some ours yesterday, all gloomy stuff sadly as they are in Italy, but I would be most surprised if we don’t get together again, either here or in Italy. We have quite a folks that started off as guests, but are now considered as friends.

JF

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I’m also someone who doesn’t throw away food. I use it myself, compost it, or even put it in my dog’s food if appropriate. I do still have opened lotion, shaving cream, sunscreen in the Airbnb room. If someone doesn’t want to use it because they think it harbors the virus that’s fine. I’m confident the material in the containers is safe.

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@JohnF
We have been closed to all visitors and fully sheltered in place since late February 2020. We still cannot reopen due to covid regulations. This is appropriate and we are not resentful, just being healthy and safe is paramount. We are finally fully vaccinated, which is life-changing for us, our mood has changed completely. We are grateful, and have walked this past year online in concert with our friends everywhere, many of them started out as guests here. They will all continue being special to us, we are all in this together. One of the things that traveling and hosting has accomplished is making the world smaller and more loving. I’m hoping that the pandemic experience only enhances the understanding that we are intrinsically connected, all humans, and all doing our best, together, in this adventure. This friendly international group is one wonderful microcosm of this. As I sang out when leaving our small town clinic after my 2nd vaccine dose “Live Long and Prosper” (yes, everyone in the line sang out in response!)

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@KKC
Agreed 100%. Thank you!

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I check the sell by dates of food that is left and then put anything worth keeping in a small basket in the (beautifully clean :wink: ) fridge. I explain to the guests that the food is left over from the previous guests. I explain that I hate throwing food away so I’ve left it for them to use if they wish. “If you don’t, please feel free to throw it away”.

I do the same thing with any toiletries that are left by guests. Unless they are really expensive, in which case I liberate them for my own use, they go into a basket in the bathroom and I always tell the guests that these are left and not provided by me.

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I still have a container of hair spray in a pump bottle a guest left. It was almost full. She said she’d be back sometime but hasn’t been; I’m sure the pandemic is involved. I intended to return it to her if she came back. Or if I ever were to need such a thing…

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I think the last time I used hairspray was in junior high school.

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Was to get ink off of a coffee table.

RR

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