Things I would never do: parachute jump, zipline, parkour, rent my house on airb&b…which doesn’t apply? I’ve stayed at airB&b’s and had a great time, and wrote up good reviews for my host. My brother and his wife went to France last year — he’d never heard of airb&b but after thinking about where they’d stay for their eight weeks, decided to research airb&b and found the most amazing and gorgeous places for much less than they’d pay at a hotel and with many more amenities and privacy. After they returned home, they decided to put their house on airb&b and they’ve been full practically every day since then. Another brother decided to do it as well; he has a two-family house and so was able to keep an eye on his guests and have total privacy as well. I was fascinated by what they were doing, listening to the “flip” stories (a guest checks out at 11 am, the cleaning people come in and scurry around in time for the house to flip to the next guest.) It takes a lot of time to answer emails from prospective guests and then make sure everything is nice — just like having weekend guests all the time.
I have a big garden with a pool and my brothers and one of my sisters were encouraging me to try airb&b for he summer. When we first bought the house we were all a lot younger and my siblings, our friends, and their kiddies would come over all the time but now they’re all grown up and have homes of their own. Often the pool is empty and the garden is taken care of but enjoyed only by me. “You an make some extra cash,” “You like meeting new people,” “you can go away on a weekend and not worry about the place,” etc., etc. this fell on my deaf ears — “I would never want to have strangers in my home, they might trash the place, or steal my stuff, or — or - or. So in the end, they went from excitedly suggesting, to coaxing to vague exasperation to the dare! That did it! How dare you dare me!!!
That was 11 weeks ago! And since then, I’ve had ten guests (one a repeat) and it has been an astonishing experience. I’ve done a complete 180 degree turn! And can’t recommend it highly enough. I guess it’s not for everyone but I know I love it when people say how much they enjoy staying at my cottage, and what a happy time they had. Friends can’t believe that I do it — than I leave my house for a weekend and let total strangers stay in my home. I tell them like my brothers told me, that there are so many layers of security that airb&b puts in place, both for potential guests and for me, that you can tell quickly if you want to “accept” a request or decline it.
There have been a few oddballs. One weekend I received a long text from a guest saying that they’d called the local police because they “heard” something (the house is really small and it is difficult to get in).
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