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No, I thought you made a good point! I realized that I am a bit more picky, because of what I offer - it affects what I expect.
I stayed in a listing in 2015 that was much cheaper than the hotels (in Richmond for a convention) It was my second airbnb listing, on an airbed, I was as happy as could be. A year later I stayed, and the guy had gotten a ‘real bed’ but it was horrible, the sheets looked like something he got from his grandma’s maiden aunt’s bedroom, no mattress pad. The bed was so uncomfortable. I felt like I was at summer camp. He gave me just one worn towel. I was still cognizant of the price savings, but was not happy. So yeah, I had become more picky over the year that I started hosting. It’s true!!
Nuclear cobwebs, LOL! I agree that the bed is the most important thing in this business. It doesn’t matter if you provide chocolates or home-made cookies or the place is sanitised like a hospital, if the bed and the sheets are crappy then guests are not going to be happy. My place is old and will never look pristine. Kind people call it ‘quirky’ and they mostly like it’s ramshackle half-renovated appearance (!) and don’t mind the rather shabby bathroom. But my mattresses are very good and all the bedlinen is 100% cotton and the towels, although not hugely fluffy, are good quality. And the bathroom is cleaned every day. A couple of superhosts instant booked the other day and I’m dreading it. I’m going to be on cobweb alert every day until they get here!
That’s well said, @dcmooney. Of course, Motel 6 etc is an company. Airbnb is just a web site, with some questionable customer service backing it up. So it’s not standardized at all. That’s intrinsic to the aggregator model. And it’s unlikely to change. Airbnb could only change things by putting it significant extra effort and resources into an intrinsically difficult area - human interaction, but these are people who can’t even run a web site property.
I think the only way it will change is fair and honest reviews. Which isn’t going to happen. Over time, perhaps, the filthy places will lose stars. But as my sister-in-law did, most people don’t bother reviewing the bad ones.
Which is why I will always pick an airbnb with more reviews over one with fewer reviews, all else being equal. It doesn’t guarantee anything, it just improves the odds.
We put out a fruit bowl too! My husband is a fruit-eating fool (me, not so much) so it never goes to waste. As commented earlier, some people eat it all, many don’t.
Stack Exchange is fairly good about staying on topic. But they’re a question/answer forum. And they have elaborate mechanisms designed to force people to stay on topic.
I have to say that I am one of those people who are nervous of pitbulls, mainly due to a scary experience when I was younger and subsequently fed by the horror stories of babies being savaged (funny how the papers never mention when a labrador does it, though). An extended family member has a very sweet lovable pitbull, however, and that has helped me get over it. I still get a cold sweat, though, when she gets over-excited or when the toddler playfights with her. I love my docile dozy cat to bits but will never trust him around young children, you just never know.
And back on topic, my cat loves breakfast But he won’t share it with guests.
If ever you want to stay in South Florida, look me up! We are dog-friendly and leave feeding bowls, dog treats, a dog bed and so on. We provide several throws so that guests can let their pets go onto the furniture with no damage. One guest brought four little dogs!
I also have no objection to pit bulls.
Our rental is a separate apartment (small) with me onsite so not exactly Motel 6 prices but I’m happy to extend a good discount to other members of the Air Hosts Forum.
Thank you! We pit bull owners are used to ourselves and our dogs being stereotyped. I speak for pit bull owners as a group when I say that we appreciate people who welcome us and our dogs.
I used to provide breakfast, but as the kitchen shared with guests is also my main kitchen, often guests thought they could help themselves to other food as well…and not only at breakfast time!. Or backpacker type travellers would eat 3 meals of breakfast a day instread of buying their own food. I gave up on providing breakfast as well…it was costing me too much.
Yeah I am familiar with that problem. That’s when I changed my listing to breakfast between certain times of the day : (08.30 to 11.00) and I lay it out myself. I even pour the juice into glasses as on one occasion the whole carton was demolished in one sitting
I think your perception of the competition is off. There are more than 100 million households in the u.s. alone.
I would be surprised if there are more than a few million hosts worldwide. The city I live in, Phoenix, has less than 2000 hosts. Out of over 2 million residences. That’s under 1% of people doing air.
Now. When you have a small pool of people, and a percentage of them suck, even if it’s a small percentage, it’s easy for an outside group of observers to think “they all suck” so they’re to be avoided. Much like someone else’s example of used car salesmen.
If everyone was doing Airbnb, then there would be no issues finding places all the time. Too few people are offering their places up.
I’m looking for a place starting the 14th and only 3 places fit my need, in a big city (Denver, actually)
I had similar experience and it was my first guests with Air.They ate all day breakfast items, and our food.
also ,now i have 3 rooms for rent ( finished garage). So, now there are 3 sets of guests. 2 rooms are very close to the kitchen. All of them have different sleeping patterns. One is pocker player, sleeps days , works nights. One is vacationer, waks up at 6 am, one is working but doesnt go to work until 10 am. If all of them went through the kitchen with all the noise at different times, there would be no sleep for anyone.
It surely looks like it but you are right, not everyone by far will offer their home to strangers. When i tell people what i do, most look at me like i am a crazy person, and always say: how do you do that?, we cant imagine to not have our own space.
Its not that easy to find good Airbnb, i agree. I just booked one in Lisbon for 2 nights for 14$ a night which is so great, and it has good reviews, but i went through quite a lot to find this one, as most places had reviews with description of noise and far from center.
I am just wondering why my room stays empty for days with 85 excellent reviews and impossibly low price? SOmetimes when its empty i think, there is not one person in a world who needs my room tonigt? Also i am in excellent central location and on IB
But he won’t share it with guests.
