How to target the kind of guest you want -- what I did

You’d be screwed in the Arctic circle then. I don’t think it ever sets in summer. Lol

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ha, that made me curious so I looked it up… 21 hours of sun in & around Sweden during Ramadan this past June… time to take a vacation to the southern hemisphere I’d say!

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In the Arctic circle you would have what, only 2 hours to eat for the day? Ouch.

Addendum: Great Idea @MsJTherrien, there is always a way.

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Be really hard for me. I eat little and often throughout the whole day. Struggle to eat large meals. Haha

I screwed up my joke, never mind. Too hard to fix it. :sunglasses:

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I’d rather have someone tout their Christian faith than not, that way I can book or not, as I please. Nothing against Christians but all things being equal I’d rather choose a host where it’s not going to be an issue. The OP didn’t indicate they are discriminating against anyone, they put the ball in the guest’s court.

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Case in point - @cabinhost has a different idea about what is “Christian” than you do - better to be more specific about which values you are particular about, or which strain of the faith you wish to uphold (Midwestern American liberal Protestant Christian?) than assuming it means the same to all people.

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Well, before this thread gets too far off course, I am a fan of hosts ~trying~ to be more specific as to the type of guests that one’s listing is best suited for. I use the following words: “The island is made to order for the self-sufficient and resourceful in nature…” Meaning if you are looking for a catering experience, you are looking at the wrong place.

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I don’t care who stays at mine. Aslong as they don’t damage anything or treat me or others in my house badly.

They can be religious/non religious. Straight/gay. Trans. Black/white/brown. Etc etc. Do not care at all.

Just don’t damage anything!!! Lol

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Best of luck to you, but i’d be wary about making generalizations about hosting based on only six weeks experience.

Edit: actually, i just re-read your post, and while I appreciate that you’re trying to avoid mis-matches with guests, I guess I’m also wondering what you mean by “Christian home”. What do you hope a gay couple understands from such a message?

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In my case Paul, as long as they are not the needy incompetent type, and I don’t have to cross 6 miles of open ocean to address something silly, we will get along famously. Use the furniture for a bonfire at night for all I care. LoL

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Yeah that could get repetitive. Haha

We all have different hosting ‘fears’. :pray:

Gay or straight – I hope they understand that we don’t condone lots of drugging or drinking or bringing home strangers to sleep with. We believe that Jesus died as an atonement for everyone’s sins (mine included - Thank God!) but that if that makes THEM uncomfortable, look elsewhere. I know some people can’t stand Christians (as witnessed by some of the responses here) so I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable if they know they are in a home where people believe the Bible and pray to God. Again, I’m just posting what has worked for me in the last six (yes, short) weeks in hopes that someone else who might be getting mis-matched guests could benefit from what I do. We’ve had wonderful guests and my occupancy rate is around 95%. I’m sure we will have our share of “those” guests but so far, so good. My way is not perfect, I’m just here trying to share a tip like a good forum member.

@hypertokyo, true but if you’re a muslim who smokes MJ and parties you would never put in “would you be comfortable in a muslim home”. If I see any religious mention, I would not book, not because I am against it, I would just assume they are practicing, which am not. So would you be comfortable in a christian home - i have nothing against christians, but I would not book because I’d know this is something that has some kind of presence or importance in their lives, much more than mine.

Now with regards to cooking bacon on Ramadan, I think a fasting muslim guy booking in a western home is likley fully aware that people who aren’t practicing muslims eat during Ramadan, and there is a good chance they might eat bacon. So if he didn’t mention if before coming or ask questions, I would not worry about it and wouldn’t have a problem cooking bacon - they would have otherwise booked a private home, hotel or looked for a host with similar values.

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Hi @vhhorne I think it’s a good idea to try things that narrow down your inquiries to your ideal guests. Good for you! I used to be more of a rabble rouser but now I’m older and boring. I wouldn’t have any hesitation booking with you after reading your description. I think it’s an interesting angle to mention your religion as that does set the tone for your house. It wouldn’t bother me in the least to read (as someone commented below) “this is a Jewish household” or “this is a Muslim household”. I get the gist of it and wouldn’t assume that it was preventing me from having a good time, but would indicate to me that I should take my cocaine fueled sex party to another listing.

Your strategy reminds me of Chip Conley’s Hospitality rule of three message, but he suggests telling prospective guests three things guests love about your listing, and three things that previous guests have commented on (so maybe three kind of negative things but not using the word “negative” in your description). That might be another way to achieve the same thing, and might be interesting to compare the two initiatives to see which yields a better guest match.

Have to agree with @Rolf[quote=“Rolf, post:10, topic:7229, full:true”]

Justa slight correction - the USA was not founded on any religion, there is no mention of any religion in the constitution, and the only mention of religion in the constitution is the first amendment that says in part “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”
[/quote]

In any case, I think it’s perfectly fine that you put the importance of your faith out there to rule out persons who may not be of the same faith, or who may find themselves usually ostracized by that faith.
I prefer not to have bigots, homophobics, trump-ists, or racists in my home as guests, which is why I had one of my photos of the outside of my home showing my Bernie Sanders sign prominently. I mean, how would such a guest feel when my gay ethnic friends show up to pick me up to go to dinner?
I wouldn’t book with you, because I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a home with hosts who tout their Christian faith.
And like it or not, while you may not fit the stereotype, Christians today do have a reputation for being non-tolerant of diversity, and to some people, that’s important.
Just as folks who have a Bernie sign on their lawn have a certain reputation, or stereotype, one I fit completely :).

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That’s exactly why I would never book with the OP.

I am a woman married to a man, I don’t sleep around, don’t party, don’t do drugs and am not a drinker. I would not care about a dinner party ending at 10pm, either. But quite frankly your “in your face” opening statement would be a massive turnoff to me. It’s confrontational bordering on rude and screams intolerance of the LGBTQ community. I don’t book those places on principle - I don’t feel that kind of discrimination is ok for me to support financially.

No I am not American, but you do realise that all kinds of cultures and nationalities might look at your listing? To your credit you did make it clear in this thread that you’re not going to reject gay couples, but it sure seems like you don’t want them when you start off by waving “Christian” about before someone even books. Not your fault, but to the public it means “anti-gay”.

You say you’re happy that your message is vetting your guests but what it’s doing is turning some off. If you have so many enquiries that this doesn’t matter to you (ie, you’re booked out anyway), then your price is too low. (And six weeks is too soon to tell, most likely… but you know this.)

IMO, do yourself a favour and stop with the interrogation before your guests have even booked. If you’re determined to give them a headsup, I’d just thank them for their enquiry and perhaps note that it’s a conservative, family home and that you expect guests to respect this. This will achieve exactly what you’re after - your swingers and partiers will know instantly it’s not the place they can get away with the behaviour you dislike (they will 99/100 be looking for a place that advertises itself as being fun).

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I think you are on the right track. The last line of my profile states, “Our faith is important to who we are and we hope it shows through how we treat our guests.” I never, in any way meant it to deter ANYONE from booking with us. We would treat them with the most gracious hospitality. The only reason I put it in my profile is because it literally is who we are and that is what a profile is all about. Perhaps it has deterred some from booking. All I can say is we are literally batting a thousand is wonderful guests who rave about our hospitality. I can’t name ONE who has booked in our home I wouldn’t want back in a heart beat.

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I like your wording because it shows faith is important and the motivation on how you treat guests without mentioning a specific faith (I’m evangelical Christian BTW), sometimes people who mention their faith use it to stop certain people from coming, not as a welcome. But you mention faith, not a set of beliefs that some may have bad history with, much more welcoming. I think it’s especially important if people are in your home and you’re interacting regularly.

I have a wrought iron cross visible in my living area pic, I have a Bible on the bookshelf, and there’s a cross up in the bedroom (also visible in pics), but I don’t mention anything specifically as it’s a separate unit on-site and since it’s not connected to my home I am fine with any responsible adult/s staying. If it were a listing in my home I don’t care if you’re married, single, dating, whatever, only individuals would be staying, lol.

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