Air BnB hosting - O/T

Does anyone on here use Air BnB to host?

I'm contemplating using my spare room instead of finding another tennant.

Anyone got any advice on potential pitfalls?

(Sorry if there's another thread floating around, had a quick search but couldn't see one on hosting).

My girlfriend and I did this for just under a year, and only stopped as the new place we moved to wasn't suitable.

With regards to guest happiness, your biggest factor will be cleanliness. Also a folder with tourist information, WiFi details etc goes a long way.

With regard to making it an enjoyable experience for yourself we learnt that it was best to have a 2 night minimum stay, and a 5 night maximum. This meant we weren't having to do a deep clean every day (when a guest leaves) and also folks don't get too comfortable in your own space. We had one guest who stayed for two weeks and wanted to treat us as her maid and entertainer, rather than what had essentially become a house share.

Also - we ended up only allowing people to book for themselves rather than other people. We had one person book the room for his friend, and his friend didn't really have an idea how AirBnB worked.

Lastly - be honest with your advert!

Agree with the above- avoid multiple short stays at all costs- it's utterly draining.
Also, don't be too generous with the charges- we found we were able to put our prices up consistently and still had plenty of interest.

Marty McFly said:

My girlfriend and I did this for just under a year, and only stopped as the new place we moved to wasn't suitable.

With regards to guest happiness, your biggest factor will be cleanliness. Also a folder with tourist information, WiFi details etc goes a long way.

With regard to making it an enjoyable experience for yourself we learnt that it was best to have a 2 night minimum stay, and a 5 night maximum. This meant we weren't having to do a deep clean every day (when a guest leaves) and also folks don't get too comfortable in your own space. We had one guest who stayed for two weeks and wanted to treat us as her maid and entertainer, rather than what had essentially become a house share.

Also - we ended up only allowing people to book for themselves rather than other people. We had one person book the room for his friend, and his friend didn't really have an idea how AirBnB worked.

Lastly - be honest with your advert!

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I've heard that too about cleanliness, people are obsessed with it. If you aren't spotless they mark you down. Try to go for min stay if you can, much less work

Wouldn't happen in Germany...

We've been doing this for the past year or so as our house can be split into two flats and we've been letting one out (stopping now as we need the space with baby no. 2 about to arrive).

My wife has largely handled all the admin, but it's been a fair amount of work both cleaning and corresponding with guests. That said, the ONE big thing I learnt when we were setting it up is this: CHECK YOUR HOUSE INSURANCE!

Most normal buildings and contents policies won't cover you for doing Air BnB and it's a pain in the arse to find one that will that is not ridiculously expensive (although they do exist). The problem is this - if your insurer finds you've been doing Air BnB and have not told them they could count this as withholding material information. This means that not only will they refuse to pay out on any Air BnB related claims, but also refuse to pay any claims whatsoever - essentially making your policy null and void, i.e. if you burnt the house down by mistake you would get nothing, even if you had no guests at the time. Also, make sure the policy includes liability insurance in case someone injures themselves in your home and sues.

It struck me that this is something most people don't realise.

Just in case its the sort of thing you were interested in, a friend of my boss has set up a company that manages your air bnb for you in Brighton which seems to be going quite well:

You can find out more about it at http://www.airhostforyou.com

Z