Something for nothing for newbies

Don't know how I missed this but Airbnb is offering a free night's stay to first-time Airbnb users when you stay more than 2 nights.  Hurry, you need to book by Jan. 17 and travel my March 31!

Hotels try to cope with rival Airbnb and other news

Is Airbnb really a rival of the hotel industry?  In the past I would have said no.  That was until a conversation I had at a holiday party.  The conversation was with a woman who is a well known (in the industry), well reviewed, legit B&B owner.  We'd spoken about Airbnb a year and a half ago, shortly after I started hosting.

This time when we spoke she asked if August had been slow for me.  No, actually, it was one of my busiest months ever. She went on to say that her business was very slow with few bookings.  Things were so bad for conventional lodgings that she even had some local hotels calling to see if she was as slow as they were.

I'd always guessed that my guests were people who only stayed in Philly because Airbnb made it affordable. Wrong.  Looks like Airbnb is starting to siphon business off the hotels.  That could spell big trouble.

Airbnb takes a bite out of the hotel market
A Boston University study finds that low-end hotels are especially vulnerable to being replaced by Airbnb accommodations, while hotels that cater to business and luxury travelers have less to worry about.

Hotels 'disadvantaged’ by web rivals, claims IHG boss

Richard Solomons says startups such as Airbnb should be regulated in the same way as traditional firms

The Hotelier’s Invisible Enemy
Many hoteliers assume that only backpackers or very budget-conscious consumers will consider using these sites, but they would be incorrect. 

In other news

Top 5 Ways to Protect Yourself When Renting Your Home to Airbnb Users

As Airbnb scales, the traveler experience needs work
Now that Airbnb has grown up, has a huge valuation, and is causing fear in the hotel lobby in cities across the world, can the traveler experience get a little better, please?

To Airbnb or not Airbnb?
In the end, it comes down to cost. Going "off-piste" is cheaper. But, sometimes, you get what you pay for. Hotels are predictable. Reliable. Certain.

First guests from Turkey!

I had my first guests from Turkey, a really nice group of four economic students who were here for a conference.

A few months ago, we hosted a couple of Russian anthropologists.  Next up, a group from Iceland in town for a soccer coach's convention.


How else other than Airbnb would you have a chance to meet such a wide range of people?

Hosting burnout

Happy new year and all that.

The new year finds me suffering from the remnants of a cold and ENT infection and a serious case of hosting burnout.  Maybe the two are related.

Just before I got really sick I downloaded the .csv of my hosting data from Airbnb. Holy c***!  I thought I was busy this year and the data confirms it.  No wonder I'm so worn down!

The symptoms of burnout hit before the cold virus. A string of problematic guests in November was the last straw and I dealt with it in the following ways: I increased my minimum stay to 3 nights and now require at least one positive review from another host before a guest can stay.  Reservations had already become slow (as widely reported on Airbnb's Hosting 911 group) so I also slashed my prices hoping to compensate for my new requirements.  The result?  Only one new reservation during the past month.  And you know what?  It's okay, because I can really do with the break.

Next week I'll post some numbers and analysis from my hosting data. In the meantime, I'll catch up on some rest.

Retiring sheets and towels

Got stained or worn out sheets and towels that need to be retired?  Don't throw them away!  Instead, wash and donate to your local animal shelter.  That goes for blankets, comforters and rugs too.  Most animal shelters desperately need these things and will be glad to take them off your hands.

Of course, if you're not so keen on pets, have a bit of time on your hands and are crafty you can crochet some rugs.

What NOT to do as an Airbnb guest

1. Show up 4 hours before check-in time

My check-in time is 2 p.m. Check-out time is 11 a.m. The guests who just left had agreed by email to check-in at 2 but arrived at 10:30 am (all 5 of them) expecting to check-in.  They let themselves in just as the last guest was walking out the door. Not good.

2. Call with false complaints

10 hours later I got a panicked call and email from these same guests saying the heater wasn't working and the apartment was cold.  The weather outside was extremely cold so I was immediately concerned. I asked them to go to the thermostat and tell me what the temperature read.  70F (20C). This is a case where my programmable thermostat saved me.

3.  Call at 11 pm the night before check-out and ask if they could stay until 6 pm the next day

Well, at least they asked.  The answer was 'no.'

Kids are people too*? Maybe, says Airbnb

A while ago I had these 2 guests stay.  Well, at least that's what they booked the apartment for.  Then they showed up with their 2 young kids.  Now, I'm not opposed to letting young children stay for free if extra beds aren't needed.  But I do like to know who's staying.

So I asked Airbnb about it. Here's the transcript of our chat:

me: I had a recent guest reserve the apartment for 2 people. He and his wife arrived with 2 children, one an infant and the other a toddler of about 4. Are children not people? Usually, I have no problem letting people with children stay without extra charges but they always ask me about it first. This couple just showed up with the kids. What is airbnb's policy about this?


Lindsay W: Is your place listed as family friendly?

me: Yes (Turns out I was incorrect. It was NOT listed as family friendly)

Lindsay W: Airbnb doesn't have an official policy about this. It's up to the host. But since you've listed as Family Friendly, I'd just suggest that you write something in your listing's description that guests need to book for everyone, babies included

me: Does airbnb have a suggestion box? I'd like to suggest they have a separate drop down for people to list the number of children and change the People dropdown to Adults
Also, its not up to the host when the host doesn't know about it.

Lindsay W: We do! airbnb.com/feedback
Dialogue with our users is a core part of what makes Airbnb great. We value your feedback and it is important our our community
And yes, good point



My take-away from that conversation? It's the host's responsibility to tell guests they need to count their children. Which means, by default, that kids are NOT people too.

And I'm sticking by my suggestion which I did submit to them: that the booking form have fields for guests to report number of adults and number of children and their ages, just like what you're expected to do for hotels.

*You have to be an American of a certain age to have seen Kids Are People Too.