Month-long stays with no cooking facilities – possible?

I’d like to continue my AirBNB hosting, but am moving to a city which only allows stays of one-month minimum. Not wanting to share my kitchen, do you think anyone would be interested in staying a month but unable to cook?
I’ll be walking distance to a diverse selection of restaurants.
Do other hosts have insurance allowing a microwave, at least, in their large bedroom, private bathroom accommodation?
I doubt insurance would allow for a hotplate and toaster oven in a bedroom?

I’ll be most appreciative to hear of your ideas/experiences, no matter how negative.

Thank you so much!

As a home share host myself, I do share my kitchen with guests, and all have been respectful. But I know not all host’s experiences are like that. I do think, however, that you can discuss those sorts of things with guests before deciding whether to accept a booking (I wouldn’t use IB as a homeshare host) , i.e. make your expectations clear re cleaning up after oneself in the kitchen, and so on.

However, it sounds like you are averse to sharing your kitchen, which is fine, not everyone is okay with that. In that case, I would just write up your listing info to market towards the type of guests who don’t cook. A little kitchenette- microwave, electric kettle, coffee maker, and mini fridge should be adequate for those who don’t cook (A small counter with a sink would be ideal if possible, otherwise you are looking at giving them a tote to put dirty dishes in and you retrieving it daily and washing their dishes, or being environmentally unsound and providing disposables).

Even though my guests have full use of my kitchen, (my guest room really has no space whatsoever for any sort of kitchen stuff) I’ve found that only maybe half the guests actually cook. There are plenty of places to eat in my town or get take-out. But my max stay is 2 weeks- a month may make a difference, so make sure to market towards non-cooks.

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I’ve been doing Airbnb since early 2016 with no kitchen. There’s a fridge and microwave, kettle and a recently added toaster oven. Problem is, I don’t like long stays and have my settings such that almost no one asks. The two I’ve had of a month long were direct bookings.

However, I don’t see the harm in trying. Lots of people aren’t that interested in cooking and at the right price they may book. I’ve only had one guest who thought they got an entire apartment with kitchen (or at least that’s what they claimed). They were Italian so it may have been a lost in translation issue.

Also, welcome back! I changed my name on the forum slightly but I’m still here.

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I wouldn’t use Airbnb for month or more stays, because they don’t offer any of the safeguards landlords usually use for tenants.

And you might also think outside the box for ways to earn money from an extra room, aside from guest rentals. When I lived in Canada and had a 4 bedroom house, as my 3 daughters grew up and moved out and I had spare rooms, I took in high school students for the school year who lived on a nearby island where the school only went up to 10th grade. The schoolboard paid a boarding allowance and the parents topped it up. We all ate together and took turns cooking and doing dishes, they were like part of the family. Not saying that would be feasible or desirable for you, just that it was a different way to make use of the space and earn some money.

Or you could rent it out as an office space, or to a counselor who might see several clients every day. They wouldn’t require a kitchen, just a tea and coffee station.

You can only try and see. @astralita12

I’m a homeshare host and all my long term guests use my kitchen quite extensively. ( I live a few minutes walk from a multitude of cafes, food shops, takeaway and restaurants).

  1. My large kitchen/dining room with a large range cooker, lots of kitchen gadgets from Italian coffee maker, food processor to garlic press, mixing bowls and baking tins, over 100 cook books and access to fresh herbs from the garden is a key selling point for guests.

  2. it would be very expensive for them to eat out all the time. And not very healthy .

I think it depends on your target market.

If the bedroom is large enough for a fridge /combined microwave/oven and sink then you could consider not offering kitchen access for longer stays, if you aim at say contractors who are put on site all day.

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I haven’t heard of this, is this a US thing?

I once stayed at an Airbnb in Australia for 7 weeks, it was great, and the host was very happy to:
a) secure such a long booking, and
b) have such great guests!

Sorry about this, I haven’t figured out how to edit my spelling mistakes yet.

In most jurisdictions in the US, guests get tenant rights and are covered by landlord-tenant laws for stays over 28 or 30 days In some jurisdictions it can take months to remove someone who has gained tenant rights, which is why landlords prefer contracts or leases with specific ending dates that comply with the law.

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My homeshare unit has a small fridge, microwave and a coffee maker. I have had one wonderful long term guest who was working full time so he generally ate out and brought his supper home each night. We have had unpleasant experiences with giving people full access to our kitchen including needing to repaint the kitchen ceiling. We have found that tiny fridges make inadequate ice so we keep a bag of ice in our freezer for guests to access.

@bobsburgers – Didn’t realize you were not a US host. I wondered about your remark about insurance not allowing a hotplate or whatever. That’s usually not a problem here in the States, but more than 30 day stays are…

I would put in room a small fridge, microwave and a coffee maker plus a portable cooktop perhaps- the Ones that plug in and are cool to touch. I would require that garbage be placed outside of room daily and require a weekly cleaning

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Could you look on Airbnb in your future city and see if there are month long room only listings? If there are a few people doing it, and they seem successful, then it sounds like there may be a market.

Thank you so much to everyone for your helpful responses!