A few times a year, I stay in Airbnbs. When my daughter comes to visit and she wants to spend time with her friends in the Seattle area, it’s a way to save money over staying in hotels. I live about an hour’s drive from Seattle.
However, there are things that come up again and again in these Airbnb rentals, so I’d like Airbnb hosts to do the following:
1. Provide adequate heating. Many of the Airbnbs I’ve stayed in are daylight basement or basement apartments. Since the thermostat is usually upstairs, it can be cold. Often, space heaters are provided, but, then, there are the worries about using one through the night.
2. Offer accurate information about recycling, composting, and containers. What local government will take for recycling changes, so information for Airbnb costumers needs to be accurate and updated. In addition, we need to know what goes in which containers and where the containers are located. Also, the correct kinds of bags need to be provided for composting.
3. Try to do a minimum amount of yard work. It’s not unusual in the Airbnbs that I’ve stayed in to see rotten leaves from last fall, lots of weeds in lawns and beds, and needles from pine and fir trees everywhere. At one Airbnb that had trees with long needles, there was about 3 inches of needles on the porch when we arrived. I found a broom and swept the porch and sidewalks for safety reasons, putting most of the needles in the compost bin. I left a small pile of the needles at the side of the door. When landlord came over for another issue, he took the boom and swept them into the yard rather than putting them in the compost bin. I know it’s difficult to keep up two yards – I did it when my dad passed away – but make an attempt to do the basics.
4. Provide a kitchen sink and a stove. In the last Airbnb we stayed in, we washed the dishes in the bathroom sink. Although it had an air fryer, a small crockpot, a small microwave, and a Kroger coffee maker, restaurant prices are so high these days so people who stay in airbnbs want to save money by making their own meals.
5. Don’t use toxic air fresheners, especially the plug in kind. Most of the airbnbs I’ve stayed in haven’t used these, which would be a problem for me as I have respiratory issues.
6. Make sure the WiFi works well. This is essential. Also, provide clear instructions on how to use it.
7. Don’t get up early and make a lot of noise. When you’re in the daylight basement or basement, those footsteps wake you up. If you’re on vacation, you’re not getting up at 6 a.m.
8. Make an attempt to have nice decorations. One Airbnb we stayed in had a small Christmas tree, leftover Easter decorations, and a large metal pumpkin.
9. Describe your property accurately. Sometimes the photos look better than the actual apartment or home.
10. Label things that are important. At a recent Airbnb that we stayed in, the host had several laminated pages about not sitting on the end of the sofa bed when it was pulled out. I saw the notices when I looked through the instruction book on the last day. The host should put them on the sofa.
These are my suggestions. What are yours?
