Airbnb

j6891 · Sep 29, 2016

Have recently built a new farmhouse and looking at airbnb as a means of trying to pay for some of it. Short term lets while I go on holiday sounds ideal. Anybody done similar? Do you get a cleaner in or do it yourself? Is it possible to get a company to look after bed linen/towels etc?
T.i.a

Dr. Alkathene · Sep 29, 2016

I have only stayed in airbnb places, not let one out. Some the owner cleans others cleaners come in and clean. It usually lists a cleaning fee on the website when you are booking somewhere to stay.

Spartacus · Sep 29, 2016

What do airbnb charge for letting through them? I've booked somewhere for next summer through it and did start going through to list our holiday cottage on it but couldn't find any pricing details.

Riverblue · Sep 29, 2016

Have let one of our holiday cottages through Airbnb and they charge only 3% commision. Very happy with them so far regarding the quality of the guests and they pay on the second day the guest are with you.

Still Farming · Sep 30, 2016

Looks complicated to set up ???

Still Farming · Sep 30, 2016

Riverblue said:
Have let one of our holiday cottages through Airbnb and they charge only 3% commision. Very happy with them so far regarding the quality of the guests and they pay on the second day the guest are with you.

Free night if they go is it ???
Deposit up front ALWAYS best ?

Jungle Bill · Sep 30, 2016

Talk to Fishers about bed linen and towels I can remember being surprised it looked cheaper to hire than to wash at a Go Rural meeting last year.

Cooper3075 · Oct 23, 2016

We use it for 2 caravans we rent but I wouldn't want to let something like my house when I wasn't there as you hear some horror story's

ollie989898 · Oct 23, 2016

Do not use Air B n B. Some of the horror stories I have read made hilarious reading. The site is designed for randoms who are looking for the cheapest possible stay at some place. Not ideal for someone who is envisaging people staying in their own home.

If you are going to run a hospitality business, do it the right way. Works for thousands of other businesses.

A decent farmhouse B & B will provide linen, fresh sheets and some basic toiletries (buy from any wholesaler). DO NOT USE BRANDED ITEMS (IE towels with Primrose Farm B & B embroidered on)- they will be taken as souvenirs.

You may need to buy some extra sizeable cookery stuff for doing breakfasts en masse.

B & B can be the most rewarding thing you might ever do. It takes some time to adapt to people, the public are generally 99% good as gold, there will be 1% you will just have to be polite to, then laugh about once they leave, never to be seen again.

Insist people pay a deposit by credit card to book the room. If you discover they have wet the bed or stolen the radiators or something after they have left, you can inform them you will be charging the cost of replacement to their card. It is also impossible for them to leg it without paying- but to be honest none of this is going to happen in the farmhouse B & B.

Good luck and have fun. If you go the extra mile for people you will soon have little need to advertise your business. Offer to show people around the farm, ask what cereals/juice they want for breakfast when they book- this is all stuff a mainstream hotel can't do. Give it the personal touch. Glass of Brandy with the farmer at midnight by his open fire.

You can make good money from the job, soon you'll be having to extend your farmhouse to fit more rooms in. You will find a local girl, probably Polish etc who will be willing to come and clean regularly for reasonable money if you look in the local press if the workloads becomes too mental in time.

Oh and you will need somewhere for the smokers to go. Decide on a dog policy and if yes where they are going to stay. I would suggest an outbuilding personally.

If nothing else you will need to keep your gaff tidy 24/7 so it may be a good motivator!

RuralLaura · Oct 26, 2016

Whilst I agree that AirBnb could be a gamble in the early days, and it was used by people looking for a cheap bed for a night, it has really changed now. Airbnb is actually the first place I would look when booking a long weekend away, or even 2 week long holiday. And it's not just young people that are using it...my 60+ year old parents are the same.

Their review system is fantastic for people wanting to let properties as it is a BLIND review. (you can't see each other's reviews until you've both posted a review). This prevents guests leaving "spiteful" bad reviews because you gave bad feedback about them. The fact that you can choose to accept or deny a booking - (I have a friend that does it that refuses to accept people without any reviews for instance). Given your control over who stays and who doesn't, surely this is better than most booking agents, where you just get a name, email address and telephone number with no idea who they are or how they've behaved on previous trips?

Guests also have to pay upfront, and my understanding is you can add a refundable deposit if you want to as well.

Whether you like it or not, today's holiday makers want confirmation instantly, so old websites where they have to submit and "enquiry", or where they have to (heaven forbid) make a phone call, just don't cut it with millennials that are used to getting everything immediately at the touch of one button on their smart phones.

Whilst the platform isn't perfect and doesn't guarantee you won't have a bad experience with a guest, I don't think it's any more likely than with any other web based booking agency. In fact if you do your due diligence on the guest, it's should be less of a risk. However if you don't use AirBnb, in this day and age, your risk of losing a 2 week booking to someone else because their accommodation was easier to book gets higher every day.

annonimouse · Oct 27, 2016

I like Airbnb I used it to rent a place in Italy in the summer and I will be using it again next month to stay at a converted barn on a farm yard on the outskirts of bath. The days of it being for people wanting a cheap room is long gone .

Still Farming · Oct 28, 2016

The CLA has issued guidance for members on dealing with these .

bobk · Oct 28, 2016

Spartacus said:
What do airbnb charge for letting through them? I've booked somewhere for next summer through it and did start going through to list our holiday cottage on it but couldn't find any pricing details.

15%

JP1 · Oct 28, 2016

ollie989898 said:
Do not use Air B n B. Some of the horror stories I have read made hilarious reading. The site is designed for randoms who are looking for the cheapest possible stay at some place. Not ideal for someone who is envisaging people staying in their own home.

If you are going to run a hospitality business, do it the right way. Works for thousands of other businesses.

A decent farmhouse B & B will provide linen, fresh sheets and some basic toiletries (buy from any wholesaler). DO NOT USE BRANDED ITEMS (IE towels with Primrose Farm B & B embroidered on)- they will be taken as souvenirs.

You may need to buy some extra sizeable cookery stuff for doing breakfasts en masse.

B & B can be the most rewarding thing you might ever do. It takes some time to adapt to people, the public are generally 99% good as gold, there will be 1% you will just have to be polite to, then laugh about once they leave, never to be seen again.

Insist people pay a deposit by credit card to book the room. If you discover they have wet the bed or stolen the radiators or something after they have left, you can inform them you will be charging the cost of replacement to their card. It is also impossible for them to leg it without paying- but to be honest none of this is going to happen in the farmhouse B & B.

Good luck and have fun. If you go the extra mile for people you will soon have little need to advertise your business. Offer to show people around the farm, ask what cereals/juice they want for breakfast when they book- this is all stuff a mainstream hotel can't do. Give it the personal touch. Glass of Brandy with the farmer at midnight by his open fire.

You can make good money from the job, soon you'll be having to extend your farmhouse to fit more rooms in. You will find a local girl, probably Polish etc who will be willing to come and clean regularly for reasonable money if you look in the local press if the workloads becomes too mental in time.

Oh and you will need somewhere for the smokers to go. Decide on a dog policy and if yes where they are going to stay. I would suggest an outbuilding personally.

If nothing else you will need to keep your gaff tidy 24/7 so it may be a good motivator!

Reckon I'm a model Airbnb resident and I love meeting the owners and staying in them

Riverblue · Oct 29, 2016

We rent out two holiday cottages. One sleeps 10 on the farm yard and is rented out through one of the major companies, and the other sleeps 4 and is in the village. This also is rented out through the same company, but the booking were slow coming until someone told me about Airbnb. We joined Airbnb in June this year and since then the bookings have come flooding in, including enquiries from France and Spain to stay in the cottage here in west Wales. This month we only had 5 days free without guests through Airbnb. We also noticed that the quality of the guests are much better then with the other company. As @RuralLaura said,it is good that we can rate the guests.

Still Farming · Nov 5, 2022

Hilly · Nov 5, 2022

ollie989898 said:
Do not use Air B n B. Some of the horror stories I have read made hilarious reading. The site is designed for randoms who are looking for the cheapest possible stay at some place. Not ideal for someone who is envisaging people staying in their own home.

If you are going to run a hospitality business, do it the right way. Works for thousands of other businesses.

A decent farmhouse B & B will provide linen, fresh sheets and some basic toiletries (buy from any wholesaler). DO NOT USE BRANDED ITEMS (IE towels with Primrose Farm B & B embroidered on)- they will be taken as souvenirs.

You may need to buy some extra sizeable cookery stuff for doing breakfasts en masse.

B & B can be the most rewarding thing you might ever do. It takes some time to adapt to people, the public are generally 99% good as gold, there will be 1% you will just have to be polite to, then laugh about once they leave, never to be seen again.

Insist people pay a deposit by credit card to book the room. If you discover they have wet the bed or stolen the radiators or something after they have left, you can inform them you will be charging the cost of replacement to their card. It is also impossible for them to leg it without paying- but to be honest none of this is going to happen in the farmhouse B & B.

Good luck and have fun. If you go the extra mile for people you will soon have little need to advertise your business. Offer to show people around the farm, ask what cereals/juice they want for breakfast when they book- this is all stuff a mainstream hotel can't do. Give it the personal touch. Glass of Brandy with the farmer at midnight by his open fire.

You can make good money from the job, soon you'll be having to extend your farmhouse to fit more rooms in. You will find a local girl, probably Polish etc who will be willing to come and clean regularly for reasonable money if you look in the local press if the workloads becomes too mental in time.

Oh and you will need somewhere for the smokers to go. Decide on a dog policy and if yes where they are going to stay. I would suggest an outbuilding personally.

If nothing else you will need to keep your gaff tidy 24/7 so it may be a good motivator!

Skin in the job have ya ?

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