Would you put your spare room on air bnb?

[EachandEveryone]

We are twenty minutes from Central London. My friend and I are sick of looking for flatmates and would quite like a break from living with other people! What do you think to letting out the spare bedroom?

Trays make things easy for guests as they know what they can help themselves to! Although one guest went in the fridge and had a bowl of DS's yoghurt which I didn't mind but I thought was a bit odd.
I don't charge much for the room so I don't do a fancy breakfast. Loads of people stay one night for weddings or visiting family so they tend to go out for breakfast/brunch and just end up having tea and coffee. I figure toast with sweet and savoury toppings suits most people and some bring their own yogurts etc. I don't offer cereal because neither DS nor I eat it so it would go stale before it got eaten.

I'm staying at a Premier Inn next week. I think some of those miniatures will be coming home with me

Eagle - that's so helpful, thank you!
I'm lucky in that I have a small area outside my spareroom with space for a little table, 2 chairs, microwave, counter top fridge etc. Means guests don't use my kitchen.
I provide milk, juice, tea, coffee, cereal, yoghurt & fruit.

Does it have to be fresh coffee?

I offer fresh coffee. I'd be disappointed to stay somewhere and find only instant

You offer whatever you like! As long as guests know what they're going to get from reading your listing, they can't be disappointed.

I have instant coffee in the rooms and fresh coffee offered as part of breakfast. Am quite surprised by how few people drink it though usually the Italians

One of the nice things about hosting is I've been able to build up an arsenal of little portions of things - milk, coffee, preserves etc - I quite like going to the cash and carry to buy them

I don't like instant myself but at the end of the day I'm out of the flat at 6 am for work and not home til nine thst night. I couldn't possibly start grinding beans on top of that. I don't know if my shifts will work really. Having said that, I only do three a week.

You won't be letting in someone every day, and:

Some people arrive late eve
Some will stay for several days
You have your neighbour
You can block dates where letting someone in could be troublesome

Get a nespresso machine!

Grinding beans sounds a bit unnecessary! A cafetière and a pot of ground coffee is fine

I could get a small cafeteire. I don't want the out lay to be too much. I can't stop looking at Sheriden bedding!!!

OMG got two bookings already one for a month!!!! Any tips?

Well done!
Go through settings on the desktop site and set it so that guests have to verify with ID before they book.
Be friendly but led by them in terms of how chatty you are.
Make a printout with things like wifi password, local bus connection, places to eat, any quirks of the house to know about, how to use the TV, if you need the bathroom at any particular time in the morning.

That's fantastic! Have you accepted them? My first booking was for a whole month - discounted it by about 50% on the nightly rate but it was still a lot of money.

We're staying in a hotel tonight - bit of a treat after months of non-stop hosting (2 nights, then camping for rest of week). It feels a bit strange - am scrutinising the accommodation in a way I never would have before Airbnb. Checked the dado rail for dust and looked to see which brand of biscuits were on the tea tray

It's a suite in a castle though, so a little more fancy than our loft room...

Thanks that's so helpful. I bloody forgot to set the price for the extra person. I will kno for next time. What's your cancellation policy?

Mine is flexible but am ready to make it stricter now as recently had someone cancel a 2 week booking at very short notice.

Argh - just been slightly stung by a review! Had a couple to stay who were verified but hadn't used airbnb before. After lots of questions about the listing they eventually booked and then asked me to write to the home office to provide evidence of their accom in the UK, which was a bit of a pain. Then answered various questions from them about other aspects of their stay in UK not related to the booking.

When they arrived, they seemed a bit puzzled but happy with the accom (I fear they thought they were getting the entire house!) and because they were there the whole week and the woman was pregnant I let them have all-day access to the kitchen, something I don't normally do. There was also some quibbling over the walking distance to the city centre - I have timed it myself but they started claiming it was much further!

It was a tough week - DP abroad and DD suddenly sleeping terribly, so really hard to keep on top of things. Anyway, they've just written a review and described my house as 'messy' which really stings! Problem is, they probably wouldn't have described the house as messy if I hadn't let them have the extra access to family areas.

I need to stop being so sensitive - we generally get very good feedback (and their review was otherwise positive) but that 'messy' word is now there on the review permanently. Unfortunately, I had a feeling it would end this way - some guests don't really understand Airbnb and think they're getting a hotel room rather than a homestay-type thing and you will never be able to meet their expectations. Those who ask for the most will criticise the most!

How do you know if they are verified. One of my bookings is a first timer so I'm abit worried. I hope no one is disappointed I've been totatally honest it is a flat on a main london road. Should I provide ear plugs? It's dead quiet on a night. My second listing is for a whole month! It's two Chinese students coming to shop. I do your advice. How often do you change sheets towels in thus case? Do you just walk into their room to do this? I've got a cupboard for them and will put breakfast stuff in there. Am I better off buying the mini cereals so I can keep an eye on them when they are dwindling? I'll give them a shelf in the freezer and fridge. Anything else?

Eagle that's annoying! I had a couple turn up expecting an actual b&b and they were put out at sharing a bathroom! I refunded them the second night and they went on their way. No review thankfully. I have to say I would have cancelled the booking when they started talking about home office!

Each I would say provide them with clean towels to help themselves to, tell them where you want the dirty ones, and offer to change their beds once a week?

I wonder if there's such a thing as a hanging laundry basket? I have one in the room but if they are here for a month I should have a separate towel one

Ehric - I agree sometimes it's better to have no review than a bad one! But totally their fault for reading the listing properly.

I had a bad feeling when my guests asked me to write to the Home Office, but felt my hands were tied. If I refused but they kept the booking, they would have been dissatisfied from the outset which would have made things difficult. I'm not sure if I would have been justified (in Airbnb's eyes) in cancelling the booking so my reputation as host would have been harmed. Am still a bit pissed off they asked though, as it was a fair bit of work on my part and also just felt a little bit uneasy about it. Normally guests are very open about their reasons for visiting, but this couple mentioned a course, but wouldn't give any details about what it was for or where it was (I asked the location so that I could tell them how far they would have to travel to it), but still they said nothing. They are also from a country which is in the news a lot recently (not for good reasons). I didn't think they had sinister reasons for coming to the UK, but I hated their vagueness!

I've just had a notification to say my other week-long guest who was staying at the same time as the other couple has left a review too. Am a little bit anxious as she was very very pernickety about things (asked to borrow my hairdryer two days in advance, and before she stayed she continuously emailed to ask if towels and wifi were included). We ended up driving her to and from the bus station, plus gave her a very big discount on the room as it was a new listing but I still fear that will count for nothing and she'll say something which will put other people off!

I'm too delicate for this hosting business I think...

Each - I tend to do beds on a weekly basis. Month-long guests get offered a weekly change of linen, and gave choice of either doing it myself or leaving clean things for them.

Will you be allowing use of the kitchen other than for breakfast? Just bear in mind that longer-stay guests (in my experience) will end up eating a fair amount of take-aways - perhaps just have a think in advance about whether this is ok. I'm generally ok with it, but am a bit paranoid about food stains on the soft furnishings!

I just had a review which was positive but in the private feedback they have said
“Hopefully it was just because of the humid weather we came in, but the room needed a bit more airing to stop it being stuffy.”
They shut the bloody windows! Nobody ever shuts the windows in the warm weather and they are just those little thin ones at the top so not a security risk. I went in to clean after them and remember thinking phew it's stuffy in here...no wonder the windows are closed
No explanation for some people's behaviour

This is interesting. I was looking at it from the other way around. I am an academic and am applying for a job where I would need to be away from home for a night a week in term time. Looked like a good solution esp if you could do a block booking!

If any MNetters who do airbnb live in sunny Brighton, let me know pls!