To not put a tv in an Airbnb?

[PutTheCakeDOWN]

Pondering going find the Airbnb route. There’s no tv in the place we’d do it and it would be a right faff putting one in. I don’t watch loads of tv, and I know lots of people watch on tablets etc anyway.

For context, it’s a couples/single adult space in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

YANBU - tv not needed
YABU - get a tv you cheapskate

YANBU
We like booking landmark trusts for short breaks. They surveyed users who said to carry on without TVs in their properties. If it was there, I’d watch it and find it relaxing to go screen free for a couple of days and take in the sights / company I’m in.
Most other places have them - just make it really obvious yours doesn’t by choice and go for the digital detox angle. If you’re not getting bookings you could get one later.

Rain, tired or injured and stuck at home, no wifi, evening.. its nice to have a tv and watch the evening or morning news. Reading, quietness and going for walks can coexist with a tv. It does turn off and has a volume control, you know!

What do you do in the evening?
Play with kids/reading books. Kids to bed. Make supper. Chat with husband. Gardening. Do my crafty stuff. Generally, potter. Read. Have a bath. Phone friends. Walk dog. Work. Have friends round

DD is a student. DH and I both WFH and are with each other 24/7. I don’t garden in someone else’s garden, what kind of pottering would I do in an Airbnb? I do read, and I enjoy a bath. I don’t have a dog. I wouldn’t be working if I was staying in an Airbnb on holiday and I wouldn’t be having friends around.

DH and I enjoy walking. We would happily spend all day walking and exploring, then would enjoy a bottle of wine, a good meal and an evening relaxing watching a good crime drama.

Your morally superior view about TV watching will reduce your Airbnb appeal quite considerably IMO. It isn’t commercial sense to be so snooty about the fact that many people enjoy watching TV. Just buy a TV, install an aerial and let your guests decide for themselves whether they want to watch TV. You aren’t any better than I am because you find more “worthy” pursuits to do in the evening.

TBH I really dislike the snobbery around the fact that some of us actually enjoy watching TV and your air of “intellectual superiority" says a lot about you, and the fact that 84% of mumsnetters agree with me must tell you something.

I wouldn't book anywhere without good WiFi, and a TV for that matter. But the important thing is to be upfront about it. I booked somewhere once where I emailed the owner about the importance of a good WiFi connection cos work. He assured me it was all super. When we arrived he dug a router out of a tin in the shed and told me to put it back when I'd finished with it as it was shared between 4 houses. There was no mobile signal either. I was fit to murder him!

@Acovic

I like to sit and knit in front of the TV in the evening.

I also really appreciate an airbnb with a smart TV so I can log into my netflix account....

A woman after my own heart.

See my user name.

I wouldn’t book if there wasn’t a tv, unless there was no other suitable accommodation available.

If I’m staying somewhere beautiful with lots of walking then by the time we’ve been out all day, come back and had dinner and some wine, I’d probably be knackered and just want to collapse in front of a film for a couple of hours. I know when I’m tired out like that, I can’t always be bothered to play cards or read.

Also what about days it’s pissing it down with rain.

I’d be less bothered about a tv if I was staying in a city centre as I’d be out in the evening then.

I have a very similar dilemma currently.

At a minimum though, I think you need a TV screen and a device for connecting phone or iPad to the screen. There's too many wet days on the typical British holiday to not cater for a week stuck indoors.

[quote sunflowersandbuttercups]**@sunflowersandbuttercups good for them, I don't want to. Give me otters, seals etc any day. Tv can't compete

Great, but there's no need to have such a superior attitude. You're not a better person just because you like to watch seals out of the window instead of on TV with David Attenborough [/quote]
How is saying what I like to do a superior attitude? I am not interested in watching tv and rarely do it at home let alone on holiday.

I wasn't aware that one had to have approved interests to post on MN.

YABU, The Bill ended in 2010

@Bumberlee

Rain, tired or injured and stuck at home, no wifi, evening.. its nice to have a tv and watch the evening or morning news. Reading, quietness and going for walks can coexist with a tv. It does turn off and has a volume control, you know!

This won't matter to the OP who I suspect doesn't want to put a TV in because she doesn't want to pay for one, or to install an ariel, or to pay the tv license.

How is saying what I like to do a superior attitude? I am not interested in watching tv and rarely do it at home let alone on holiday.

Because it does come across as superior. I don't always watch TV, but I don't post on social media saying so. Besides, where can you watch otters and seals on a dark, miserable night in inland UK?

I don’t watch much tv at home as so busy but on holiday I like to watch a bit of tv / watch the news/ watch a cheesy film

YABU and make sure it's a smart TV so I can cast whatever I want, unless you want to also pay for a Netflix account

Op i don't think you're cut out for hospitality. Maybe rethink your cashcow.

This won't matter to the OP who I suspect doesn't want to put a TV in because she doesn't want to pay for one, or to install an ariel, or to pay the tv license.

Nail on head! 👍

And this thread has confirmed it for me. So here’s how it will go:

‘Here’s what I’ve got to offer. Like it? Please book! Don’t like it? Please book somewhere else that you will like!’

Everyone happy (except certain posters on this thread who will pounce on this reply to pick it to pieces. Bovved)

Yanbu. But then I haven't had a TV since 1995

I wasn't aware that one had to have approved interests to post on MN.

You’ve not been here long then eh? 😂

How is saying what I like to do a superior attitude? I am not interested in watching tv and rarely do it at home let alone on holiday.

It was just the way you came across, like watching otters and seals outside your window is so much more wholesome than watching the TV.

I mean, you can look out of the window and have a TV in the same room. It's not like they're mutually exclusive activities!

In all seriousness OP I think you could market yourself as a digital detox location. So people are prepared before they come that there is cruddy internet and no tv. Wouldn't bother me in the slightest as I'd bring chess, board games, books, crafts etc.
Could you provide board games, a decent selection of books (both fiction and non fiction including books on local area) and maybe a piano ? I'd be in heaven

@Fourstonesmash

You’ll get soooo many complaints from people who haven’t read the listing or the follow up warning email properly, I reckon it will affect your ratings

I agree tbh. I booked an Airbnb in York and it didn't have a tv. I never even thought to check the listing because it just seems like a standard item. I'd be actively looking for, say, a dishwasher maybe or a parking spot but I'd just assume that everywhere has a tv.

It didn't really matter in this case because it was for one night and we were in the middle of a city. But if I'd booked a week in a remote beauty spot, I'd be seriously pissed off, even if it was really down to me to double check the listing. That's just the way it is. If OP does go ahead with this, no tv and shitty wi-fi needs to be in BIG letters.

@PutTheCakeDOWN

No the internet is shit.

Not the responses I was hoping for 😂😂 thank you though, very helpful!

It’s quite a remote area, popular for walking and it’s lakeside so very picturesque. I think it would be a shame to sit in and watch The Bill but horses got courses!

I could always try it and see if people mention it...? As long as it’s super clear on the description?

I love The Bill

misses the point of the thread

It was just the way you came across, like watching otters and seals outside your window is so much more wholesome than watching the TV.

I would love to see otters and seals outside of my window, and would find it far more interesting than watching the TV, but in reality all I would see is a couple of trains an hour going past. IMO watching the TV is far more interesting. I might even see some otters and seals on it

Sadly, DH loathes board games, so while an air bnb without a TV is fine - I can happily spend the evening reading or doing crosswords/sudoku puzzles, if I was given a choice between one with a TV and one without I would go for the TV option.

I don’t have a TV at home, but I have good wifi for streaming on my laptop. If the wifi was bad, I’d definitely want a TV.

My PIL often go to AirBnBs and similar for walking holidays, and they don’t have tablets or smartphones, so they like to watch the news and weather on the TV.

Not sure why I’m bothering to post this though since you seem to have posted for people’s opinions just to argue with them?

and they don’t have tablets or smartphones, so they like to watch the news and weather on the TV.

Siepie raises a good point. If you live in a walking area, surely from a health and safety point of view you would want your guests to be able to source weather and walking conditions information. If you aren't prepared to provide good Wi-Fi or a TV how will your guests find out? Will you provide a radio?