@p_v Get a lock box or digital lock.
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The thing is that my keys are expensive to copy, they include a remote control key for the garage, and a security key for the elevaror and for my apartment. I had to make copies for next guests, the total costs of 6 keys was 77âŹ, I opened a reclamation. Lets see. Im optimistic.
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Our keys in Barcelona are close to 100⏠because of the security gate key. Luckily the ones the Swedes lost were 50$USD, but still a giant pain. Make sure your invoices are on âofficial company letterheadâ my invoice was bounced back bc Air did not deem it official enough
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LoL. Perhaps you should set the âMinimum Guest IQâ setting on your AirBnB listing to 40 at least; it is set at what now? 20?
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Thanks for the advice but I hate them! They would make me feel my home is not a home. [quote=âK9KarmaCasa, post:62, topic:5000, full:trueâ]
@p_v Get a lock box or digital lock.
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I like that idea. âDesperate Homesharingâ! You could sell it to Hollywood. It could be the millennial comedy about the new sharing economy. A cross between Threeâs Company and Desperate Housewives. With extra online drama.
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If youâre a regular/active host, fatigue is bound to happen especially if you have a full time job or travel often. We work with a lot of hosts that love sharing their home but but prefer to have us handle all the tasks associated with booking their property. Weâre still able to provide the personal service guests are looking for but relieve hosts of the day to day duties.
If youâre thinking of âgiving upâ, take a break and let someone else manage the guest experience.
Good luck!
I resent this. How can you possibly provide the âpersonal service guests are looking forâ if what they want is their host making them a cup of tea in the kitchen and having a chat while they make friends with the family cat? You canât. Not ever.
Is this kind of soliciting ok on here?
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Hello Magwitch,
I was just addressing Natalie post about âguest fatigueâ and giving her some advice on an alternative that will allow her to take a break while still hosting guests. There may be services in here area that she could utilize during her down-time or if she decides to go away on vacation. Hosting is a lot of work and we all need a break once in a while, I just donât want her to give up.
As for the personal service, well we have over 2,000 positive reviews on the properties we manage and I feel the guestsâ reviews are the truest reflection of the type of experience they had.
Keep up the great work as a host and and we appreciate your feedback.
p_v, I think being a SH does attract the wrong kind of people. We were superhosts for the first two years until finally our ratings gradually went down to 79% and we lost SH status. All I can say is our bookings havenât changed a bit, our prices have gone up a bit and the guests have been so much nicer and easier to please!
We did notice a definite difference. And we noticed towards the end of having SH status - say the last 6 months of it - people were getting more demanding than before and were far harder to please. It seems as Airbnb was getting better known and attracting more and more users, that there were more people getting sophisticated enough to use the SH filter and those people apparently are expecting absolute perfection for under $100 a night in New York where a similar quality hotel room would cost them $400 a night!
After losing it, we could relax and actually enjoy hosting again. We were kind of obsessed with keeping it which was making hosting less pleasant. Now weâre really enjoying it again - especially since the loss of SH hasnât affected our bookings or forced us to lower prices.
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@JonYork
We are probably going to get SH status July 1 st. I really donât care either way but Airbnb should let you opt out if you want to. Imo
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Natalieâs problems are fairly typical when it comes to Airbnb hosting. At Pillow Homes we take a lot of this hard work and stress out of the equation. Natalie is obviously a live in host and may not be able to take advantage of our services as we take only vacant properties. That said, we have a lot of experience in accommodating satisfied hosts and the issue you are facing may be one of expectations rather than the actual service. If the service that is delivered doesnât meet the expectations that were developed, there will never be satisfaction.
One of the reasons we at Pillow Homes deliver high occupancy is because we achieve optimal pricing and make sure listings are an accurate depiction of the property, ensuring that guest expectations are met (and then some). This results in happy guests and 5 star reviews.
Our advice to Natalie is to revisit your target clientele, take a look at pricing, and see whether guest expectations can be delivered. Charging less isnât a bad thing if it increases occupancy and gets you more positive reviews. Best of luck.
Soliciting is not allowed in the general forum. Please take your pitch to the vendor section.
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@Natalie I see Iâm late to the party. Let me just say I feel you;) I wrote in another thread about a simple way that Iâm using to minimize the probabilty of a not-so-good public review.
Leave a âcomment bookâ in the apartment on a visible place, with a nice note inviting them to leave their feedback so you can improve.
If, for some reason, you didnât meet their expectations, they can vent their âfrustrationâ there.
People like that. Itâs human psychology.
If you let them vent in your comment book, they wonât feel such an urge to put that online too.
No matter if we are right or wrong(!), we all want to be heard.
This need to vent is especially more prevalent in some societies than others, so yes the Guest Book is a great place to do so. One group I had, led by this pushy woman who I couldnât stand from the first minute she arrived and I ignored like she had leprosy the whole trip, left me the following âreviewâ on the Guest Book:
âThere were only 5 coffee cubs that matched and we were 6 peopleâ. Left no other review. The height of childishness. I tore the page out of the book, but wish to this day I could have stuck it in her suitcase and send it back with her. LoL
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@Mearns Some people are just so tense so they donât notice all the other beautiful things around them (at home or on vacation). Anyway, at least you prevented from the review going online:)
Dayum. Thatâs a whole lot of work. If it were making you truly feel good, consider that you would not be so burnt out. And thatâs not a criticism. Everyone knows for themselves what works for them. Kind of like a relationship - when youâre the giver and they are the taker, it gets very draining. So you have to figure- are they paying enough money for me to provide all of this? Because it all takes time and more importantly energy.
The less I provide the happier they are it seems. I am always looking for ways to make the room look nicer or provide more information at checkout, or make sure Iâm finding that dirt that might be hiding somewhere hahahahahaha. My next step is to add light proof curtains. Maybe a piece of art too. Just mounted the TV in there and yup, as another host said, they donât come out of their room hahahaha. It really helps me to stay sane.
Another host on here suggested coming up with systems to run your business. That host said that hosting should work for you. And I firmly believe that she is right because if the business works for you in a way that you can handle then your customers are going to get better service and better value .
Many people have the idea that running a business is all about the customer . And to a certain extent it is . But at the same time if it a business runs itself ragged trying to offer too much service or too many products pretty soon and that business wonât be around and customers wonât be happy because what they do get wonât meet their expectations . Basically, it has to work both ways, or eventually, it wont work for anyone. Ie it shouldnt burn you out. I forgot what she suggested, but you could try a search and see whatâs up.
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@Natalie I guess, youâre hosting in your own home, right? That is more challenging than renting out the whole apartment (or a room) as a separate unit. Still, have you ever thought of getting outside help for cleaning, making the beds and preparing for the next guests? Many hosts exclude this option right off the bat. I have a lady in her sixties (retired) who works for me this way. Almost every day (or every other day, depending from the bookings) she comes for an hour and a half and cleans the place and prepares for the next guests. She also does the laundry and takes care of the replenishment of the supplies as needed. I charge my guests for cleaning so this cost is neutral to me. Iâm more than happy to pass that money to the cleaning lady, because I focus on making my property attractive, lots of communication with my guests beforehand and of course-meeting them. The rest is taken by the cleaning lady who lives nearby. Just a food for thought.
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Hi @Zytozid,
Please donât spam unrelated threads. If you have something to say, start a new thread.
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