Why I don't provide breakfast anymore

I believe that most hotels in the world would be VERY happy to have a yearly average occupancy of 70%. But OK…
If you think that your not-100%-occupancy-rate is the fault of other hosts on AirBnB, why don’t you use other methods to sell your product?
Use other platforms: Wimdu, MisterBnB, Booking, etc. …
Make your own website and don’t pay any platform costs anymore.

I’ve just had a guy who was not shy about taking fruit. I appreciated it since I always have fruit on hand. Many times, I make a fruit salad for breakfast, depending on what else I’m making it, and everybody always eats that.

I don’t understand why there are pages of posts that have nothing to do with the topic of providing breakfast. Why don’t you start new topics for other complaints or suggestions. I don’t want to wade through it all looking for the on-topi posts, which might be helpful.

I think you’re going to have to get used to threads wandering off-topic on here and go with the flow. In my opinion, it’s one of the things that makes this such a fantastic forum - no rigid draconian rules, just fair and careful moderation.

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Apologies. I think I’m one of the worst people here for doing that. :slight_smile:

No need to apologise to me, I love the meandering. It’s ChrisC that has the problem. Chris, I don’t use the search function on here much but I’m sure you’ll find other threads about providing breakfast if you try it.

edit: here’s a big one (thread, that is). Be warned, though, it probably wanders off into discussions about curtains or salad or the latest movie or something.

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It may well be that some forum members are annoyed more about questions that already have extensive topics than those who are irritated by people going off-topic. :slight_smile:

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Yes, that’s another thing! It’s inevitable though. Every forum has the same issue no matter what the core interest, the same issues keep coming up. Yet someone always comes up with some new take on it, whether it’s useful or so ridiculous that regulars can have a grand old time shredding it to pieces :wink:

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Well I am not aware of any forums where people don’t go off topic. But this forum is very liberal. I can understand it can be frustrating if you are specifically only wanting to hear responses regarding the original question. The original topic usually comes back full circle though.

For example: You just made a post that asked why there are so many posts that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. You didn’t create a new thread to ask that question. So it’s another post the rest of us have to wade through that has nothing to do with not providing breakfast. This is the same reason why it might be kind of awkward to start an entire thread when just asking a question that is “related.”

So now the thread has moved from “breakfast” to “off topic posters”…and it’s ALL GOOD :smile:

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Yep! I’ve always thought that websites - and forums in particular - are organic, in that they grow naturally in the direction that the majority of users want. (I started my first forum in 1996 and users wanted a gardening section. What? But it proved to be incredibly popular).

Although we go off-topic, I find that it’s a great way to make friends and get to know people. That’s so cool. If I was travelling to certain areas I know exactly which Airbnbs I’d stay at because I ‘know’ the hosts from this forum. That is lovely as far as I’m concerned.

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Indeed the good ones do. It’s only when you have a dictatorial rigid moderator(s) that things go wrong and it all dies an unseemly death. Somebody mentioned on here about some airbnb Facebook groups that went that way. At the risk of sounding a complete suck-up, I’d like to give a round of applause for all you mods :clap: :clap: Thanks for keeping this such a great place. (And that’s coming from someone who’s been spanked a few times lol! )

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I have had different experiences in motels than you have.

We stayed at a Motel 6 in Palm Springs. There were loud drug deals going on all night in the walkway next to our room.
We stayed at a Motel 6 in the Bay Area in Northern California. The desk clerk gave us a key card and told us the room number. We walked in on a couple having sex. The desk clerk was unperturbed when we told him of his error.
I have never found tourist information in my room at a Motel. Usually there are brochures from tourist friendly restaurants in the lobby.
We stayed at a motel in Costa Rica where the ceiling was covered with cockroaches. We turned on the bedroom light and turned off the bathroom light so that the cockroaches would stay in the bathroom. We had to wear shoes to go to the bathroom.
We were on our way to check in to a motel in Italy. We saw someone shooting up in the hallway. We left.
We stayed in a motel in Paris and paid extra for a room with a shower. The shower didn’t drain for the entire nine days we were there.
We stayed at a hotel in the rain forest in Costa Rica where a guest found a scorpion in his shoe. My husband insisted on leaving. I wanted to stay. There were spiders and bats everywhere there.

Every time I’ve stayed in a motel I’ve experienced low water pressure in the shower and fluctuations in the water temperature. Every time I’ve stayed at a motel I’ve woken up with a backache from the low quality of the mattress. My guests love our shower and our mattresses.

My view is that if you pay very little you can expect a grungy experience. I know that many people here expect that their standards of cleanliness and hospitality are universal, but my experience proves otherwise. That’s why I think it’s a good idea to read the listing carefully including the reviews. My guests have told me that they like to see that guests have given a lot of detail in their reviews. In their eyes that indicates that the guest really enjoyed their stay; it’s not a gratuitous nice review.

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@dcmooney @EllenN With respect and love for you guys, you really do sound like the highly critical hosts-are-the-worst-guests type :frowning: Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes cleanliness. Cobwebs? Whatever. They’re just things made by spiders, they’re not going to kill you. Uncleaned microwaves and dodgy tea towels are my bugbears. Those things have truly nasty germs. And cat litter trays in the kitchen, that’s kind of off-putting. It’s not all about price either. Give me a friendly welcoming place with a thoughtful host and some cobwebs over a cold sanitised air-freshened (aka poisonous) place any day.

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For starters, you have zero “respect and love” for me. I don’t expect or require respect and/or love. I appreciate honesty.

Um, when did I say that I would be put off by cobwebs? You must have misunderstood because the fact is that I forbid my husband to kill spiders in our house. I am not @dcmooney, so unless you can point to something highly critical that I said, I assume that you just want to get in a dig at me. In fact, I said the same thing you said, that cleanliness standards are subjective and cultural.

Bloody hell, ok I retract the love and respect for sure. In hindsight, you’re right that my post was primarily aimed at the very likeable dcmooney who doesn’t go into a spin when someone has an opposing opinion. I have no desire to get in a dig at you at all. I do, however, wish you could cultivate a sense of humour.

So what did I say that characterizes me as a highly critical host who is the worst type of guest?

Ellen, I’m sorry that my post was taken so badly. I’m sad to see when hosts are very quick to judge their peers harshly, particularly publicly. Reading back, I see your comments are primarily about motels not other airhosts so I apologise.

I still don’t think you get it. The only one of those motels I left was the one where someone was shooting up. My point was that as a budget traveler, I expect budget surroundings. I was talking solely (not primarily) about motels. I’ve never stayed at an Airbnb.

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Ah ok, sorry about that. I vaguely remembered from other posts that you were a seasoned traveller and assumed that you used Airbnb. Is there any particular reason that you don’t use Air when you travel, if you don’t mind me asking? Is it because you’re not guaranteed breakfast? (Just joking! Trying to keep on topic, ha ha)

On topic?!?! Good luck with that :wink:

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