I hope anyone reading
this blog who is traveling somewhere looks into using AirBnB for
accommodations. The AirBnB model is something I enjoyed when Nick and I were
traveling in Belgium and now, as a host, I truly see the hard work many people
put into providing these accommodations at a low rate. If you missed last
week's post, check out our Financial AirBnB Breakdown.
When breaking down our AirBnB
experience, Nick and I came up with the good, the bad, and- because this is the
frugal optimist and not some negative Nancy blog- the fabulous.
Good
·
Hearing about our visitors experiences. We got some really nice thank you letters, and one family even
left us a picture of them at the Washington Monument. Nick and I took a hand's
off approach with the AirBnB and gave people their space, but you could tell
that some guests would have preferred to meet us, so in the future perhaps when
we are in town we will try to swing by and say hello.
·
New sheets, towels, and a lamp shade. In order to host we needed to get a few new
things to spruce up the place. It was nice to come home to a few new towels and
an extra set of bed sheets. These items even come in handy when we have family visiting.
It was a great excuse to add a few new pieces to our linen closet and get a
much needed lamp shade.
·
AirBnB offers a free photography service to hosts. They hire a
local photographer to come to your apartment or home and take photos. These
photos are then added to your host page and make
your space look incredible. Nick and I are pretty sure this service was one of
the main reasons we had success booking so many reservations!
Bad
·
On Vacation, you're not fully on vacation. Nick and I had to keep our phones with us just
in case there was a problem. We got called twice by the front desk to go
pick-up delivered food from the lobby. We quickly realized that we needed to
add a note in the welcome letter indicating the food delivery policy for our
building :)
·
Cleaning the Apartment. This makes having a BnB a job!! By the end of
the process, Nick and I were not interested in having any one-night guest, and
two nights was pushing it. Our favorite guests were those with 4-5 nights
:) Cleaning an apartment you are not using gets to be tedious and
frustrating.
·
Use of items, not met for Guest use. Nick and I unfortunately left out some wine and expensive beers
during our most recent AirBnB stay and our guests decided that met it was for
them. So, we did lose a few good beers, so that sucked, but it is only stuff. This experience has put us on high alert to
make sure anything we don't want touched is put away.
Fabulous
·
Making money on an apartment not in use. This was a great way to use a space that we
were already paying for and make it work for us. We have also learned that
the rent we paid for the apartment during the days it was used can be a tax
deduction. I am not sure how this works yet, but I will let you know!
·
A Clean Apartment!! Even when we came back to the house, most guests
left the apartment in great shape. We only had two guests that left it a bit of
a mess, but at the end of a month and a half our apartment was still just as
clean as we had left it and it felt great to come home to a clean clutter free
environment.
·
An opportunity to travel
and usually close to free lodging. It has made weekend getaways not only doable now, but enjoyable. We have
gone out of town a few times and been able to use the money made on AirBnB to
cover our AirBnB stay.
That sums up our
experience with AirBnB in a tiny nut shell. We have kept our apartment up on
the market and added days of availability as opportunities to duck out of town come
up. We have been very fortunate to book almost all of our available days!
To all those looking to
travel check-out AirBnB for a more frugal accommodation option, to all the
AirBnB hosts reading- happy cleaning :)
**Sorry for the lack of photos **
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