Has anybody purchased this master training class for hosts?
No, this forum has been my master training class. Seriously I have avoided so many mistakes.
RR
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Generally speaking, anyone selling “training” for hosts should be avoided like the plague. So much is just common sense and the rest you can probably find on here.
JF
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More than once I’ve seen stuff here first and then seen it elsewhere later. I can think of two examples off the top of my head.
There’s a host who shared his explanation of the rating system that he leaves for the guests. It was meant to be light hearted and humorous but still get the point across.
3 years later I’ve seen a version of it on signs that are sold on Etsy. Maybe they stole it from here, maybe he stole it from someone else. These days stuff gets passed around on the internet and it’s hard to find up who the OP was.
Yesterday Airbnb Host News sent a tip that said “test your wifi speed here with our tool then post it on your listing.” I saw that advice here 5 or 6 years ago? I posted about the same tip almost 4 years ago
Point is, you can get all the info you want here free. The catch is if you sign up for a course and pay for it they will be super nice to you and tolerate all your questions no matter how many times the answers are covered in the course.
Here many people are seen as “unwelcoming” because we aren’t as tolerant. Maybe that has something to do with us working for free. But if you are patient and don’t have a chip on your shoulder the information you get here is worth the price of admission.
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You say that like common sense is actually common.
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It reminds me of all those infommercials like buying a house with no money. I think that sometimes, hands on is the best learning experience along with this forum which has been very educational. To have the benefits of experienced hosts is so valuable. Don’t waste your money on a master training class.
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Thank you all very much for your words of wisdom.
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One of the problems with those sorts of courses, video, books, etc, is that it is the point of view of the person who wrote it. They’ll say things like “Always use white linens and towels, because otherwise guests don’t perceive them as clean” and other dogmatic nonsense.
Every host does things a little differently, has different demographics of guests and have different types of places. What works for one host doesn’t necessarily work for another.
On the forum, you get different viewpoints and can take a little from everyone and adapt to suit you, your guests, and your rental.
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Take the money you saved from skipping that course and invest it in your Airbnb. Perhaps purchase nice quilt sets, sheets and towels.
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Chances are that their “training” will teach you how to cheat landlords and arbitrage rented condos, or how to convince condo owners to let you co-host. And if they mention what a great “opportunity” AirBnB is, run, don’t walk, in the opposite direction.
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Go and stay in a few.
This will be the biggest learning curve.
Then you can figure out what you want to offer.
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Yes i too agree avoid such training stuffs
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I disagree - this might not be right for you, but some people do want mentorship and support from a person who has done it before. In lots of these free forums, the newbies get shamed or mocked for asking innocent (yet uninformed) questions. So paying an ethical coach is a viable alternative.
Let people choose a paid training if they want to. I don’t know anything about the training offered above but my advice before spending any money on a course or resource is to do the due diligence and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But there are plenty of tranings and resources that are created by people with integrity and an honest desire to help others along the way.
Charging money for your time and experience isn’t a problem if the transaction is clear and open and both parties are “consenting”.
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Actually Airbnb Community is a free resource with a dedicated forum for new hosts and tutorials and guides @Tracey_Northcott
There is also the Airbnb Help website with FAQs on all aspects of running your STR on Airbnb.
As someone charging hosts to get started on Airbnb, you would say that, wouldn’t you…
JF
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It’s actually more like they perceive it as being shamed or mocked, when, in fact, it’s just tough love.
If a new host can’t handle that, there are going to be a lot of things about hosting they can’t handle, either, because it can be a tough business. Some guests are going to say or write a lot more hurtful stuff than other hosts will on the forums, they are going to find out that being “nice” to nasty guests will not be productive, that all the nice touches they were advised to provide by the mentor they have paid for advice aren’t at all appreciated by many guests and all those quality sheets and towels they were advised to buy are left wadded up on the floor covered in hair dye and vomit.
Which is going to be much more distressing than another host on the forum telling them they are really naive and they need to be realistic.
I’d say that dealing with responses from a bevy of hosts, whose personality and
communication style may range from kind and patient, to unvarnished blunt , to sarcastic or tactless, is pretty good training for dealing with the general public as one does when hosting, where you will be dealing with all those types, and more.
What she said. If they’re that much of a wimp, they will be run over by guests time after time. One of the requirements for hosting is to have a backbone.
I kind of agree with Tracey, sensitive people should pay others to be nice to them. I think the “life coach” business is based on that model. If you want to get a wide diversity of viewpoints and some hard truth with no sugarcoating at a price that can’t be beat, a forum like this might be for you.
As I said, some “trainer and mentor” Airbnb blogs take stuff from here and put it on their own site loaded with ads and crap. They offer free tips and try to upsell their other services. Fine with me, I taught my whole life on a model close to that in the public schools. 
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If someone is getting started, this is almost certainly a good idea. For many of us, there can easily be value here. The real bottom line is if this can help us to increase occupancy by 10%+, there is an easy ROI. A no brainer for any business owner or investor.
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Sure, one can spend countless hours reading posts on various forums. Or, “trying this or that”, “learning things the hard way”, etc. All that almost certainly costs one far more in lost revenue than this course - or a similar one.
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What is your time worth, to “theoretically organically learn everything” vs organized training by someone who seems to have a very long solid track record. What is the opportunity cost of those hours? What is the cost of lost bookings at only 30 - 50% occupancy, rather than 80%+?
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The real question is “is this the right one” and how much is it? If it is solid and comprehensive, it is absolutely worth it and should have an ROI of 1-3 months. Any business owner or investor would jump on it.
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