Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Would you put your spare room on air bnb?

582 replies

EachandEveryone · 03/07/2015 15:23

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?

OP posts:
cunningplans · 06/07/2015 22:34

I do this. We have a cottage in the grounds of our home and I do B&B. I am fully booked up every weekend.

EagleRay · 06/07/2015 22:51

Ehric - how bloody infuriating! Doesn't surprise me though - guests can be baffling with their behaviour.

I've had two booking enquiries today which I will have to respond to this eve (am currently on holiday and hotel wifi is sketchy). Feeling much pickier than I used to be - I think before I just didn't like saying no to anyone who sent me a nice email, but think I'm a little bit better now at sorting out who is worth accepting and who isn't. It's not that anyone is horrible, it's just that some people don't really get what it's about or have very high expectations!

I found out too late that what I thought was a strength was also a downfall. I have set up my larger room as a triple room, and it's been really popular with parties of 3 as rooms for 3 are quite rare. But it does mean I get people who book the room because there is nowhere else for them to go - and it's written all over their faces when they arrive!

EagleRay · 08/07/2015 20:29

Good news for hosts in today's budget as the Rent a Room tax allowance has increased significantly

EachandEveryone · 08/07/2015 21:29

When they are here for a month how much cleaning do you do? I have someone that comes once a week anyway and I shall just ask her to do their room. What about breakfast is it ok just to have a cupboard solely with breakfast stuff in it? Could get expensive over a month I hope they don't eat me out of house and home!!!

OP posts:
rockybalboa · 08/07/2015 21:34

Oh this is really helpful, I listed our spare room yesterday and posted a thread about it which lead to lots of people basically warning that paedophiles are going to come and stay in order to gain access to my children! Your tips are really useful Eagle and I am going to tweak my settings a bit on the basis of them. And just wait for the first booking to come in...

EachandEveryone · 08/07/2015 21:38

I got two in 24 hours but then one cancelled but the other is for a month. I really needy hallway carpet cleaning anyone got any advice on that?

OP posts:
EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 08/07/2015 21:42

Going to need it more than ever with this budget - tax credits gone for me. Oh well.

Peshwari · 08/07/2015 21:53

I think it's fine to offer as little or as much as you want in the way of breakfasts, access etc. as long as it's clear up front.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 09/07/2015 13:23

Fgs last night's guests broke the bed
Not their fault but I have no idea how it could have happened. All the slats fell out at once and the mattress got wedged down between them. If they hadn't been so convincing I'd say they were jumping on it!
They also washes their smalls in the bath! Not unreasonable just unusual.

rockybalboa · 09/07/2015 13:36

Oh no Ehric, what a nightmare!! Can it be fixed before your next booking?

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 09/07/2015 15:05

No idea! Going to assess the damage tonight. I hope so as it's Saturday!

rockybalboa · 09/07/2015 16:05

Waaaah, first booking made for Fri night. American couple. New to AirBNB so no reviews for them... Emergency trip to Wilko tonight to stock up on kettle, towels etc as I wasn't quite as prepared I could have been... Will report back!

missjuniper · 09/07/2015 16:10

To add my two quids worth ...

I live in Zone 2 London and Air bnb-ed out my spare room for a year and a half. I was pretty constantly full. I'd say that out of every five people who stayed, two were a pleasure to host (grateful, considerate, tidy), two were ok (i.e. pleasant enough but treated the place like one would a hotel, not making bed, leaving rubbish for me to throw away) and one was a bit of an asshole who I wouldn't have back.

With the nice guests, it feels like a total wheeze, money for old rope. I'm a terrible people pleaser and I actively enjoyed giving them a stay that exceeded their expectations and advising them on cool things to do in London.

BUT because it's your home, if people aren't immensely appreciative and charming you can become hugely resentful (well I did!). Cultural differences play their part - for instance, the room was at the top of the house and I'd offer to carry up their bags, expecting the silly English tussle of 'no, it's fine!' 'no no, I insist, etc', 'well, thank you so much!' etc. So if they took me at my word and say, 'ok, thanks', and left me to it, I'd find myself seething away as I lugged up their suitcases.

I live alone with a toddler and never felt in danger (call me naive/foolish/overly trusting of human nature, but paedophilia never crossed my mind). Although I did get completely freaked out one day when two girls staying invited a friend of theirs into the house at night without telling me, and got very cross with them. So, from then on I made it really clear that visitors had to be cleared with me first. I didn't want to put up endless house rules on my listing, because I think it's off putting and unwelcoming, but from then on I did clearly state that.

My worst guests, for some reason, tended to be twenty something women, either in pairs or with boyfriends.

With breakfast, I didn't particularly want guests down in the kitchen in the mornings, so I put a fridge in their room with orange juice, milk etc, and a kettle, and then gave them a tray outside their door every morning with croissants and fruit.

The cleaning did become a drag, especially with one night stays.

My hosting ended when I had to sell my house unexpectedly quickly. On the day we exchanged I canceled five advance bookings, all with at least a month's notice. I was hugely apologetic, and explained that i had to leave my beloved home and find another place to live with my toddler. The reactions I got completely tallied with my general findings about the niceness of guests: two said 'absolutely no problem, good luck', two said they were a bit disappointed but never mind, and one really laid into me, saying that I had let her down and how were they going to find somewhere else for their weekend with only six week's notice (!) with absolutely no reference to the fact I was about to be homeless with a toddler.

rockybalboa · 09/07/2015 16:21

Waaaah, first booking made for Fri night. American couple. New to AirBNB so no reviews for them... Emergency trip to Wilko tonight to stock up on kettle, towels etc as I wasn't quite as prepared I could have been... Will report back!

rockybalboa · 09/07/2015 17:46

Next question: what colour towels should I buy? I'd be inclined towards a pale blue as our own ones are white and DH will never remember which are ours and which are guest towels. Our guest towels for family and friends are a hotch potch of colours and don't match each other or the room which bothers me...

I guess white is best as stains can be bleached out? Our own ones are looking a bit grey so could do with some tlc themselves....

serenmoon · 09/07/2015 18:03

I'm not a host but have stayed in plent of air bnb places. For me the most important thing is a friendly welcome and then that the place is clean and tidy - I mean the areas I will use. I wasn't impressed with the last place I stayed in because I found the owner quite demanding, he kept going on and on about how I had to leave by 10 because he had more people arriving that day. I'd already said once in an email that 10am was fine. At 945 he was waiting outside my door for me to leave while I was doing last minute packing. The bathroom smelt of blocked drains which wasn't very pleasant and the shower curtain was old and stained. I realize that sounds picky but it made me think it hadn't ever been cleaned. The floors were also dusty. There was a fridge in the room but it had mouldy milk and fruit in it, I guess left by previous guest and he hadn't cleaned it out.

For towels I'd say white so you can bleach them or hot wash them. If I'm using towels that strangers have used I'd like to think they'd had a hot wash.

Reading this back makes me sound really fussy, I promise you I'm not and I've been happy with nearly all my stays.

EachandEveryone · 09/07/2015 18:23

Well I've booke in for the hallway and stair carpet to be cleaned. I ordered a new duvet and two covers from Matalan today and some towels. When I get paid I'll go to TK Maxx and get nicer ones. Im expecting them to want to use the washing machine and there's a laundry basket in their room. I need some other kind of laundry bag for their bedding and towels is it reasonable for me to ask them to strip their own bed and leave it all outside the door for me once a Week? And the cleaner can make it all up with the washed stuff?

OP posts:
EagleRay · 09/07/2015 19:47

Each - I got my towels from TK Maxx - had a job to find matching set of 4 but managed it in the end. You can also order towels on line on TK Maxx website which is useful! Regarding the washing machine - up to you whether you want them to use it or not - some say yes, some no, and some charge. Maybe say once a week or something like that? The request regarding stripping the bed sounds reasonable.

Seren - interesting hearing from point of view of guest. I try and make sure guest areas (rooms, bathrooms and kitchen when they have breakfast) are spotless. However, the rest of our house can be a bit messy at times, partly because we have a toddler and also because we are now a little squeezed as two rooms are now used for Airbnb. I try to make sure our own rooms have the doors shut but bloody DP always leaves them open. My last guests said in their review that my house was messy and I was really cross as I'd stupidly let them have far more access than normal guests would have - cheeky fuckers! My biggest fear is that guests will find a stray hair on the floor or bedding. It doesn't matter if you've hoovered or boil washed everything - a stray hair looks like you haven't cleaned the room. If people with abundant/dark hair have stayed, I go through the room with a fine toothed comb when doing turnaround as I'm very paranoid about this.

Rocky - well done on your first boooking!! Great that it's soon - get it out of the way and get your first review up. I'm a bit towel-matchy too, and bought new ones for the guests. My sets are lilac and floral print. Good luck with getting it all ready in time. I have limited experience of hosting US folks but the ones we did have were quite service-orientated and ate an awful lot at breakfast and sat there at the table for two hours while I entertained their 4yo twins

MissJuniper - very interesting take on the guests you hosted. I think I've generally had more luck when I've hosted but I would imagine London to be a much tougher market in terms of pleasing people. I would imagine there was a lot of people using Airbnb purely for cost savings and not because they wanted a homestay experience. Like you, I'm a people pleaser but spend a lot of time seething! And yes to the horror of cleaning after one night stays... I've got a 4 storey house and recently got a very lightweight hoover and couldn't get over how much my life was improved by it. sorry you had to sell your house unexpectedly - must have been so stressful dealing with cross guests on top of everything else.

Ehric - what a nightmare re the bed! I hope it's easy to fix or replace

I'm still on holiday (currently typing as I lie in a hammock in the middle of a field in the evening sun) and still enjoying my little break from hosting. Haven't totally escaped Airbnb though - had some mixed news today in that I have had an email saying I'm now a superhost (and immediately stressed about why only 88% of guests were totally satisfied), plus read a recent review for a guest who is coming to stay next week. I've been trying to convince myself this booking will be fine, but did have misgivings for a while. And the review has confirmed my worst fears as the host was less than complimentary! Must have been bad to have had bad stuff written about her. I am bracing myself...

HeyDuggee · 09/07/2015 20:54

I'm reminded of Jerry Seinfeld's stand up on hair... (Paraphrasing) when it's a lot of hair, we kiss it, we stroke it, we admire it... But separate one single strand on its own...and it becomes the most disgusting thing on earth

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 09/07/2015 20:57

Have found a divan free on freecycle for now but I will replace the whole thing next week when I find the right thing. I have a trundle that can be 2 singles or a king size as I also host students and need the option of 3 beds in the room.

EachandEveryone · 09/07/2015 21:43

I watched Orange is the New Black today and I've become obbsessed with bed bugs!!! How would you know???

OP posts:
EachandEveryone · 10/07/2015 09:47

I don't bloody believe it. Someone's just enquires for the whole of August and I've just accepted someone for a weekend in the middle of August! Damn that was £850!!!

OP posts:
EagleRay · 10/07/2015 12:15

Ah - that's a pain! Are you getting enquiries from tourists mainly or students? I've found visiting students great for longer term bookings.

Btw, you could possibly still accommodate the month long booking if they found somewhere else for that weekend? Depends on how difficult it is to find a month of accom elsewhere (may be tricky as most people have something booked in their calendar)

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 10/07/2015 12:55

Honestly that's not a big problem, you are bound to get more bookings for August and in my experience it's easier to have a few shorted ones than a great big long stay. Long stays start to feel like flatmates which isn't really what I want and they end up cooking dinner and being around a lot more.

EachandEveryone · 10/07/2015 17:29

I wish we could keep this thread it's being very useful. I just want the first one to come and go so I can start getting some reviews.

OP posts: