oliviatamccue

Airbnb is often my choice of accommodation when I visit a new city for three or more nights. It offers more spaces, a kitchen, a washer, a smart TV. I always remember fondly those with a magnificent view or a beautiful garden.

Considering that Airbnb was officially founded 18 years ago in 2008, I was neither an early nor a late adopter of the concept. I like its concept of allowing hosts to rent out spare rooms, apartments or houses to visitors. It is part of the peer-to-peer sharing / gig economy. It has an environmental spirit of improved utilization of what we have. It takes some getting used to. Over the years, Airbnb has grown to a huge travel business. There is now more overlap between a hotel suite and an Airbnb. Most Airbnb hosts no longer live on the property. The hosts rent out the whole house/apartment. Sometimes it even comes across the hosts investing in the property and turning them into an Airbnb. I am very satisfied with Airbnb experiences, though I heard about scary ones that the host manages poorly. 

I am about to leave for another trip, and will stay in a few Airbnbs. I came up with this list of Airbnb features, not in any particular order, that would elevate the guests’ experience.

1. Digital Lock is better than physical keys. While I had not lost the physical key or  misplaced the key, it often worried me about losing the key or leaving the key inside the Airbnb. Recently, there are more Airbnb offering a digital lock. I no longer need to worry about the physical keys or the lockbox.
2. Kitchen stoves can be different across the globe. Some have safety locks to switch it on. Some need matches to ignite it. A simple one-pager how-to instruction would go a long way for the guests to self help themselves.
3. Often the checkout time for Airbnb is 10am or 11am.  I think the host can automatically extend the checkout to a later time if there is no guest for another day.
4. SmartTV is a means to show generosity. I often appreciate the generosity of the host to allow us to use his/her Netflix guest account on their SmartTV.
5. Tissues and toiletries are cheap. It irritates when there is only one bathroom paper roll, or half-full shampoo or conditioner or no kitchen paper towel.  It irritates me more if a kitchen does not have detergents. These can all be addressed by ensuring a clear checklist for the cleaning team for ample supply of these cheap toiletries.
6. Most Airbnb kitchens are equipped with utensils, plates, and pots. Scissors are very useful and it goes a long way to add it to the kitchen staples.
7. Many Airbnb guests want to keep the place clean. A🧹 broom can help guests to help you to make the unit clean. 
8. Weekly cleaning for guests staying over a week. I often find it interesting that we have to ask for an inter-stay cleaning service, even if we stay for over two weeks. It makes another act of generosity for hosts to offer weekly cleaning for the guests.

Many of the above is more about having a good checklist to have the unit ready for the guests. If you are an Airbnb host, these are small things that show that  you care about the guest experiences.