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Just wondering if anyone knows what the definition of parking is as an amenity?
Can I only tick the box if I can offer parking on my property?
We live on a very quiet residential street and there is always space on the street right outside our house. It’s incredibly safe, free and legal. There are no time restrictions. The distance from where they can park on the street is just 2 metres further to the front door than if they were on our driveway.
Unfortunately we don’t have space for them to park on the driveway.
With the ‘parking’ box unticked I think a lot of people assume there is nowhere to park and it puts them off booking
I would really only add it if it is a guarnteed parking spot, such as a private parking garage with a reserved space, just because complaints can arise should a spot not be available. I think what youre mentioning is just free on-street parking so maybe worth adding it in the description just wouldnt qualify it as an amenity in my opinion.
You can’t tick the parking box unless it’s your own personal parking. On street parking is for anyone and you can’t guarantee the space. However you can mention it on your listing.
Thanks for the clarification.
I may tick the box and Park one of our cars on the street when we have a guest to guarantee them a spot on the driveway. I just searched a random date with and without the filter. There were 127 showing up without the filter applied and 99 with, so we could well be losing out at the moment
I guess it depends on your area and how your guests normally arrive.
I have free on street parking, but also four buses across the road including two night buses and a train station four minutes walk, so having a car isn’t necessary.
Even guests who arrive by car rarely use it while here.
I haven’t had a problem getting the bookings I want, so for me it’s not an issue.
A car is pretty much essential here. No public transport and the towns are so spread out. Our next nearest is an hour away. We live in a low density semi-rural area so parking has never/will never be an issue but our guests wouldn’t know that before arriving.
It was the recent thread about search ranking that got me think about my amenities. And then I realised that parking is an issue in a lot of places, so why wouldn’t people search for it specifically. I used to live in an inner city apartment in the uk and if you didn’t have your own designated spot (luckily I did) you’d be out of luck. You’d have to park literally miles away, which obviously you wouldn’t want to be worrying about on holiday. People coming from areas like that might think our place is similar.
I think I’m just going to be really really clear that it’s on street and not a problem (but not tick it)
We offer parking for one car on our drive way. If necessary we park on the street.
We’ve had a couple of guests have two cars ?? but we always say they have to park the second vehicle on the street. “Behind our vehicle, also on the street.” They always raise the concern if it is safe… obviously I can’t 100% guarantee the safety of their vehicles wherever they are parked.
Hi @Gardenhost sounds similar to where I live, if it’s an inner city area you don’t tend to need a car . The difference between where you lived and where I live is that there is plenty of on road parking.
I do see your dilemma in terms of your listing. I would suggest you put up front in your description about how easy it is to park.
I am willing to “give” up one spot in my tandem driveway for people who drive to our home. None of them use their car while staying here. They can park on the street for up to 48 hours per week with a permit. But, then we have to remember to get the permit back from them. It is easier to just put one of our cars on the street. After all, we hardly use either of them these days. People seem to appreciate being off the street.
I do check this box even though I only offer permitted street parking (I provide them with a free permit). Many visitors to Chicago are driving into the city and since parking can range from impossible, or with limited time periods, or cost up to $35/day, these guests are almost certainly going to use "parking on premises’ as a filter. I don’t want to drop out of these searches since free parking is always available with a permit on my street, and 98% of my guests park right in front of their door.
The way I approach this is if I were a guest driving into the city (or renting a car), would I consider this a convenient and free parking arrangement? None of my guests have ever actually sought out garaged parking.
We do not have a driveway – we have a garage for our cars in the back of our home that’s accessed through an alley. So parking right in front of the house means parking on the street. I’ve never had a single complaint or even a question about whether there was a different parking arrangement. It probably helps that many of my reviews say that parking was free and that they usually parked right in front of the apt.
If I were a guest, I’d want to see all my AIR options where I could conveniently park my car for free since units with garages are not the norm here. I lived in Chicago as a salaried professional for over 12 years before I had a garaged or covered parking spot.
The current parking filter on AIR is just too narrow – they need to have a garaged/covered/locked parking option and another for “free and available parking” and another for “free street parking that mat take some time to find a spot”.
Compared to the Sheraton and Hilton per day parking, I’m sure free easy close parking on the street outside my house is a plus. There’s always room so I tick it off as an amenity.
Thank you, I have decided to just go for it and see. If somebody does mention it when they arrive they can have my spot on the driveway. I have made it very clear though that it is on street
There are over 3000 listings within a 10 mile radius of me. If I did what others suggested (to not check the box but state in the listing that free street parking is readily available) then I’m expecting guests to NOT use the filter and simply read through hundreds of listings (more than half of which don’t have any parking available at all) so they can hunt out units with available street parking. That’s completely impractical from the guest’s side. As a guest myself, when I have a car and I’m visiting an urban area, I don’t care if the rental car is being garaged or not – I just need free and convenient parking.
For people in areas where one can routinely drive around for 15 minutes looking for a spot within 3 blocks, I would not check the box. (I remember having to stalk people in my car when I lived in SF and LA & I often wouldn’t be the only one). I would not expect visitors unfamiliar with the area (and with street parking protocols) to go through that every time they took the car out.
For people who have easy street parking in areas where this is not a given, I would check the box and then explain in the listing that it’s street parking and plentiful.
I have never really thought about this. I live in a suburban neighborhood on large lots and small driveways. I.e. I don’t have a double driveway. There is plenty of parking and people get a little upset if you DON’T park on the street in front of your house, but rather in front of your neighbor’s house. So, I will continue to tick the free parking on premises because it’s right in front of my house and nobody parks in front of my house except guests.
Another factor that guests seem to appreciate is space for an extra vehicle. We don’t allow more than two people to stay in our apartment but sometimes we have guests who are visiting family in the area and like them to come round for coffee or a meal or to pick them up to take them somewhere. We allow this during daylight hours only.
The guests have a designated parking place right outside our building but sometimes ask if there’s somewhere their daughter/ son/ friend can park for a short time. Luckily we can offer this.
I do the same thing. It seems more honest to me to say that I have free parking in the unassigned (but plentiful) street, than to infer that I don’t. I’m very close to downtown, too, so I know it’d be easy to assume that parking in a garage for $20/night is the default, unless I specifically mention it’s free.
. The difference between where you lived and where I live is that there is plenty of on road parking.