Salut!
I actually like my 1 night minimum. We charge for cleaning per visit, and we know how to turn a room around pretty quickly.
Equal parts gin, Compari and red sweet vermouth. If you like bitter flavors it will become one of your favorite cocktails. Weāre not fearless enough to do the flamed orange peel.
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Thanks! Ellen, Iām going to send you a PMā¦
I know too:) but still its a lot of work to do it after one night stay. Also one nighters block one day on a weekend and then the rest stays open. That was my experience anyway.
Oh, I see. Is this something special about LA? Iām not heard of this in other places. In swimming pools, yes. In tap water no.
Interesting. I was thinking of something like that. Can you offer details?
I have a private storage that we also use for storing the cleaning supplies and the bikes that I offer for free to my guests. In my case the storage is located right next to the apartment (next doors). But it can also be a basement, or a small shed in the backyard. Anything that allows the guests to access it later on.
This comes handy when
- guests are arriving much earlier than the checkin time (2 PM in my case),
- they have a late flight on the checkout day (it happens a lot),
- they would simply like to spend a few extra hours in the city even after the standard checkout time.
In my experience, guests who ask about the early checkin/later checkout donāt really have the intention to stay in your place. But itās a relief for them to be able to at least store their luggage temporarily for a couple of hours before the standard checkin time or after the checkout time. This way they can head out to the city without the hassle of finding locker rooms or having to carry the luggage around. Instead of flat out declining early checkin/checkout requests Iām able to YES to such reauests. Itās a pleasant surprise for most because they expect a no (which they usually get). I can tell you, it does reflect in great reviews and it didnāt cost me anything.
As I donāt live at the property and to make this work I had to install a key box right with the keys next to the storage. If you live at the property, then this is even easier as youāre constantly there.
Hi @MarkP,
I was thinking of something like a luggage locker. We could put it at the entrance of the building where the watchmen sit. It would have to be large enough that nobody would walk off with it, and, of course, large enough to accommodate two personās luggage.
One issue is how to handle access. I was thinking of installing an electronic look, and assigning key codes to any guest that needed to access it. However, this doesnāt sound like what you are doing. What do you do? Whatever arrangement it is, it needs to be reliable and preferably automated. If something goes wrong, you know who theyāll blame.
To be clear, we want returning guests to access luggage without any further action on our part. If not, it defeats the purpose of having such an arrangement. We do live at the property, but donāt want to deal with guests returning to pick up their luggage.
Oh, and I certainly agree with you about the usefulness of such an arrangement. Though I do have some concerns about dealing with strangersā luggage, even indirectly. Have you ever had anything go wrong with your arrangement?
@faheem [quote=āfaheem, post:109, topic:8133ā]
To be clear, we want returning guests to access luggage without any further action on our part.
[/quote]
Yes, that is what I meant and that is how it works for me.
Before I answer your question, let me know this:
- is your property in the apartment building (you mentioned the watchmen) or in your house where you also live?
Luggage locker is another good idea, if you have the space to install it. But it will have to be pretty big, I guess.
Electronic lock may be an overkill if you ask me. I use ordinary keys. I have installed a very robust key box (unbreakable, NOT made of plastics) with a mechanical access code to store the keys. I change the code every now and then (every couple of months). After all, the storage is IN the building, so itās not like is somewhere completely public.
My listing is http://towerroom.net (also in my profile). Weāre on the second floor of an old two-storey building - the apt/flat is the entire second floor. We rent out a room on the second floor of an adjacent building (the two buildings are connected by a bridge). Yes, itās a curious arrangement.
Interesting. That sounds like a possible way to go, but not particularly secure. Iād prefer to change the code for every guest. So, the guest accesses the key box, takes out the key, opens the storage unit, and then returns the key? What about if they donāt return the key?
@faheem As I said, I didnāt use electronic lock with fancy codes. Itās just nuisance. Use the ordinary keys to unlock the storage space and put them in the key box. There are plenty of key boxes available on Amazon, but after careful screening of the market I opted for the one of the british manufacturer which is the only one approved by the police. Not made of plastics. Hard steel. I use Supra C500 mounted on the wall. They have other versions too. https://keysafe.co.uk/code-a-keysafe
Ok, but in that case, it seems to me that guests not returning the key could be an issue.
Really, an old-fashioned combination lock might be an acceptable substitute for a smart lock, and possibly more reliable. But setting the codes might be more hassle.
@faheem[quote=āfaheem, post:111, topic:8133ā]
That sounds like a possible way to go, but not particularly secure. Iād prefer to change the code for every guest.
[/quote]
Well, think of it this way. At any moment in time, only one guest will be storing the luggage there. Sure, if you donāt change the code constantly all the previous guests would know the code. In my opinion, this is a neglegible risk. Myabe I was lucky, but all of my guests were honest people. If they wanted to steal something from me, they have more than enough of things to steal from the apartment itself.
Yes, exactly. It never happened to me that they didnāt return the key. In case this happens, well, then you have the extra spare keys with you. Not a big deal. When youāre giving your guests the instructions, make sure you remind them to take care to return the keys. Again, I might have just been incredibly lucky, but all of my guests respected my instructions. They know that I went extra mile to make their stay as pleasant as possible, including storing their luggage. So they act with due care. If you want to be on the safe side regarding the safety per-se, you can let them know in the instructions that you are not responsible for their belongings outside of the apartment. I dontāt do that because the storage room is as safe as the apartment itself.
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Hi @MarkP,
Well, it sounds like you have been lucky with responsible guests. Do you get a lot of international ones? Thanks for taking the time to explain your arrangements. And one more thing - do you charge for this arrangement?
Actually, in this hypothetical case, theyād be stealing the property of another guest.
@faheem Youāre welcome. All of my guests are international, from 54 countries up to now. I donāt charge for this and thereās a good reason: 1) very few properties offer this kind of flexibility (which is pretty simple to set up) 2) Usually hosts decline most of the early checkin late checkout requests. I donāt. Instead, I offer them to store their luggage and this makes them happy. It reflects in the reviews.
Iām generally flexible about these to the extent possible, but of course there is a limit to how flexible I can be. But I think I would charge for it, at least till I got my money back on the locker. It wonāt be cheap, and I donāt charge that much. Would you care to share your listing url? If you want you can PM me. Just curious.
@faheem [quote=āfaheem, post:115, topic:8133ā]
Actually, in this hypothetical case, theyād be stealing the property of another guest.
[/quote]
Yes, in a hypothetical case. Then again, it comes to what kind of guests youāre having. My guests are all international. They have spent thousand of dollars to get to our city. After they arrive they spend money for the apartment, eat, drink, visit attractionsā¦ so stealing someone elseās luggage doesnāt seem very likely. Furthermore, only 1 in 5 of my guests actually need this service. So in reality, the risk is very low. Lastly, I only accept guests who have a verified ID on file with Airbnb.
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@faheem Sure. Here it is: http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13118120
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That looks pretty nice, but somehow I had got the impression you were English.
Oh, and once upon a time (in Cambridge), I had a classmate from Ljubljana, I think. His name was Tomas. He was an odd duck.
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