Well, if you do produce that (whether you publish or not) I would think that THAT would be the problem, NOT the presence of the disclosed camera.
The most important thing is to ensure we are complying with the laws in our own jurisdictions.
In many jurisdictions, audio recording is prohibited by law regardless of disclosure of cameras. In other places, it is illegal to place cameras where a person sleeps or gets undressed and this would in some home include the living spaces. In some places, the video surveillance may be illegal because it is not properly disclosed with required signage according to governing law.
It is important for the host to be certain their video monitors comply with applicable law because violations of surveillance laws are usually criminal matters, not to mention the potential civil liability.
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Count the cutlery BEFORE you throw out the garbage.
More often than not when you’re short a fork or a spoon it is in the trash. Just found a spoon in there after having counted and found I was one short.
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My guests prefer the self check-in, as do I. I have many guests arriving in Alaska after 9pm who have been flying all day, and if I have an early start the next day I am not going to stay up to greet them. Not everyone needs or wants to run their STR the way you do.
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Well, I guess nobody could argue with that.
However, in my case, there are many neighbours who might be disturbed by guests who don’t know how to behave themselves, and personally welcoming guests makes this much less likely. Also, many guests tend to steal personal belongings when left on their own.
So, if you are in an isolated spot without any close neighbours, and don’t mind if guests nick your stuff, you are absolutely fine to do self check-in.
And yet…
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I read the makeup issues as a new host and recommendations for dark washcloths. I bought a new baby wipe warmer, a big box of “adult wipes” that are dry (no product in them), added facial wash to cloths and plug in. Guests love it. Warm facial wipes? Luxury. No stinky bleach needed. Yes, I expect to hear “wasteful, disposable” here in response to this, but for ladies and teens using benzyl peroxide products, the dark washcloths get faded.
I’m one of those who hates waste and tries to be environmentally responsible. But there are things that we have to do as a host that are different than what we might do in our own home. I said I’d never get a Keurig but I did. And now I have to decide if I’m going to buy regular pods or supply reusable ones with ground coffee. Given my price point and turnover I’ll probably stick with traditional pods.
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Hosting is pretty wasteful no matter what you do. That’s the nature of tourism.
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Definitely. All of our garbage has to be taken to the dump by my family “staff”. It’s $3 a bag for non-recyclables. When we are there, we throw some of our fresh vegetable and fruit waste in the yard for the deer. If we were there full time, we would compost. When I am there, I keep certain “trash” items to repurpose or papers for fire-starting. I try to avoid putting things in the trash and instead put them in the shed if they might be re-purposed in the future. I want guests doing none of these things.
I do ask them to sort the recyclables and provide them a pretty, stainless steel, 3-compartment sorting container with stickers for each material type. Do they? About half the time, I’m told. If they don’t sort it, it doesn’t get sorted/recycled. I’m not going to be uptight about this, I just have it in our house manual that we “may” charge them our dump charges for “excess/unreasonable” amounts of trash and that they may not dump any trash there that was not generated there.
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This is a thing I struggle with. Our municipality wants the trash in bags, not loose in the garbage bins. If there is a bunch of loose trash in the bins, the trash guys leave it.
My bins are outside in the summer, on the side of my house. If guests are able to see them, they will empty the loose garbage in their cars accumulated during their travels into the trash bins.
Before I can haul the bins to the curb on trash day, I have to go through them and bag up all the stuff guests have thrown in there. On top of that, they don’t think a thing of tossing a half eaten DQ Blizzard or Wendy’s Frosty, or a half drunk Big Gulp into the bin. This means the bags of trash are wet and sticky, and have to be taken out so I can rinse out the inch of slop at the bottom of the bin.
I’ve sort of solved this problem by placing the trash bins where guests cannot spy them, but it’s a less than ideal solution in terms of convenience for us.
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Thanks for providing a check list of what works for you in terms of your hosting set up.
I think one of the key things we learn as hosts when we first start out is not everyone hosts in the same way, so we don’t need to be prescriptive. What works for one host doesn’t necessarily work for another host
It appears you have yours set up to minimise interaction with your guests. Whereas for many hosts, interacting with guests is one of the key reasons they get into doing Airbnb and other STRs.
So for me.
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I do write a personal note to every guest that books and this helps me pick up on booking questions they may not have answered such as purpose of their trip. It takes me only a minute or two and can save lots of time and trouble further down the road.
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I review guests once I have checked my listings.
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I don’t need to automate everything as I am a resident host
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I don’t mind early check in’s or late check out’s if they work for me.
My experience of hosting for nearly four years and having had hundreds of guests is that a little flexibility can go a long way and that for me vetting is king.
It has meant apart from my first horrible guest, I haven’t had a bad guest in nearly four years and have never had to submit a claim for damages or ask a guest to leave.
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Maybe signs (yes, those dreaded signs) stating no loose trash, all trash must be placed in sealed plastic trash bags?
We were hesitant to switch our listing to business travel as it required self check-in.
But ultimately it was the best decision for us.
Quick response and clear communication is the key.
We live on site so are aware of when our guests come and go. Our interaction with our guests is determined by their preferences.
The business Traveler has been a boon to our household.
We remain as passionate as ever about hosting.
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Great list…except for the recommendation go automate everything. One thing I’d add is to be sure and monitor your pricing. Make sure weekends are higher-priced. If there are special events taking place in your city, raise your prices. It an lead to a lot more income and guests don’t seem to notice.
Not only did I get black face cloths for make up removal, but Amazon sells them embroidered with the word “Make-Up.” They’re great!
Pls advice on what blankets are used for guest??? Do u get a a certain blanket for bnbs or what type shud I get??