Where to Advertise for Long-Term Live-In B&B Host (Downtown Toronto)

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Hi fellow hosts,

We’re looking for advice on the best places to advertise a live-in manager position for our well-established bed and breakfast, located just outside downtown Toronto—within easy reach of transit, parks, and major attractions. We’re hoping someone in the Airhosts community might have experience with this type of arrangement or know where best to post about it. And of course, if you or someone you know is interested, we’d love to hear from you directly too!

About the B&B

We’ve been operating for just over a year with top ratings on Airbnb, Booking, and our own direct-booking website. The house has three guest suites, and we maintain an 80%+ occupancy rate throughout the year.

Our setup is designed to be seamless and efficient, with:

  • A channel manager connecting all platforms
  • Automated guest messaging and response templates
  • Clear systems for daily routines and check-in/out
  • Breakfast systems fully outlined
  • Cleaning and laundry responsibilities for guest rooms and common areas—well-organized with checklists to keep things running smoothly

Why We’re Looking

We’re planning to travel in Europe for at least a year (possibly longer), and we’re seeking a mature, reliable individual or couple to live on-site and take care of day-to-day operations while we’re away. We’ve worked hard to create a warm, welcoming guest experience—and we’re hoping to find someone who will maintain that atmosphere.

What’s Included

We offer free living accommodations in a bright and private basement apartment, including:

  • Furnished bedroom and full bathroom
  • Use of the main floor (kitchen, dining room, breakfast area, living room with 65” TV)
  • Garage parking
  • High-speed Wi-Fi
  • Access to all manuals, systems, and appliances
  • (Note: guests may use the kitchen for tea or the microwave, but not for cooking)

There’s also potential for profit-sharing or a modest stipend, depending on your experience, skills, and availability.

Role & Responsibilities

The house is already set up for ease and consistency. This role would best suit someone who enjoys hosting, is practical, and feels confident welcoming guests from around the world.

Daily tasks include:

  • Greet guests in the morning (and when possible, at arrival)
  • Prepare and serve cold buffet breakfast (8:00–9:30 a.m.):
    • Load bread machine at night (takes <10 minutes)
    • Slice fresh fruit in the morning
    • Serve homemade granola and kefir (easy to prepare: granola every few months; kefir every 3 days, takes 2 minutes)
  • Keep common areas tidy
  • Clean guest rooms only upon check-out
  • Second-floor shared bathroom should be tidied a couple of times per day
  • Third-floor ensuite cleaned only when guests depart

Ongoing tasks include:

  • Monitoring automated guest communications
  • Responding to occasional manual messages via the channel manager (most templates are ready)
  • Offering tourist suggestions if asked
  • Light seasonal maintenance:
    • Change air filters (provided)
    • Spray down outdoor A/C unit once in spring
    • Water outdoor plants if weather is very dry

What We’re Looking For

We’re hoping to find:

  • A warm, personable, and highly reliable individual (or couple)
  • Someone comfortable living in a shared but clearly divided space
  • A person who enjoys light hospitality work and keeping a tidy, welcoming environment
  • Previous hosting or B&B experience is a plus, but not required—personality and commitment are most important

Your Advice?

We’d really appreciate your recommendations on where to post this kind of opportunity. Whether it’s:

  • A specific job board or hospitality site
  • A property manager network
  • Or maybe even you or someone in this group might be the right fit!

If you’ve ever hired someone to live in and run your B&B, we’d love to hear how it worked out, where you found them, and what you’d do differently.

Thanks in advance for any insights or referrals!

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Expecting someone to clean all common areas (which would need to be kept clean all the time), plus 3 bedrooms, and bathrooms, plus doing all the laundry, as well as all the other stuff you mention sure sounds like a full-time job to me. As such, I don’t think it’s very realistic to expect to find someone who is reliable, trustworthy, a stellar cleaner and good with guests, all of which will affect your business and reviews, in exchange for a basement bedroom/bathroom, and “potential” for a modest stipend and possible profit sharing.

The average cost of a one bedroom basement apartment in Toronto, which would normally include its own kitchen and living area is $2000CAN/month. You are only offering a bedroom and bathroom, with all other spaces shared with strangers (your guests). So even being generous, that is worth maybe $1500/month. That’s certainly not a fair trade for someone you expect to run your business for you on a full time basis for a year.

You seem to be expecting someone to be a cleaner, gardener, breakfast preparer, maintenance person, guest greeter, guest information supplier, deal with online communication, and on hand to handle any issues, for not that much in return.

I would say you would have to come up with a much more attractive compensation package before publishing your request anywhere, in order to attract the type of responsible multitasker, who cares about maintaining your business well, that you are looking for.

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Agree with Muddy on this - for a full time live in onsite manager and housekeeper, the live in accommodation is a given not a perk and should not even figure in the wage you are offering. I would look at the salaries offered for equivalent posts in your area (hotels might be the closest) and go from there. You don’t want someone with a fulltime job just doing this on the side or you might not have a business to come back to.

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I would try ads in trade platforms specialising in hospitality/ carehomes / catering etc. and make a good offer because at 80% occupancy it sounds like it’ll be a 7 day a week commitment.

It’s not always so, but there’s a certain amount of truth in “you’ll get what you pay for” and as we’re in the age of Khali, any shabbiness on the wages front could lead to feelings of being exploited followed by grievances, resentment, communication breakdown, misunderstandings, polarisation and then war… maybe just stay at home :smile:

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A full-time job wouldn’t even be possible in this scenario. If the co-host has to prepare and serve breakfast from 8-9:30, and then cleanup, and greet guests at what is a normal check-in time of 3-4, plus likely clean and turn over a room and bathroom after breakfast, they would have no ability to have a full-time, or even a part-time job.

The only people I can think of who would be able to earn money aside from the co-hosting would be someone who works online from home with flexible hours, or produces some sort of product at home that they sell. And many people who work online for someone else, as opposed to self-employed, need to do that work during normal business hours, just as if they were going into the office. They can’t be leaving their work station for 20 minutes to greet guests whenever they arrive, or to spend a couple of hours cleaning.

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Tricky, isn’t it? Even if such a person can be found, they still have to be experienced despite the OP saying (in bold for some reason):

I’d suggest that previous experience is definitely required, preferably recent experience (not 10 years ago) with Airbnb or a similar STR advertising source.

Hosts who have previously run B&Bs, worked in hotel housekeeping, or in an only vaguely related job or is just a nice, friendly person will have too much to learn.

I speak with feeling. :slight_smile:

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And even if someone has experience running an Airbnb, it doesn’t necessarily mean they would be adept at all the tasks the OP lists, because a large number of hosts use hired cleaners, call in maintenance people, have gardeners to water plants, do not prepare breakfasts for their guests, or have self-check-in and never greet or even meet the guests.

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Try visiting refugeehousing dot ca and other similar platforms (you can discover them by using various AI-powered apps). It could be an opportunity to find an educated, hard-working Ukrainian woman interested in getting involved.