By Squiffy Eye via flicker photo
My alarm rang at 5:05am. Normally, my phone is set to “Do Not Disturb”, but not this day. John, one of the guests in my Private Apartment listing, was leaving at 5:30am to head to the airport. The rest of his family would follow two hours later and I wanted to make sure their departure was a lot better than their arrival.
From the start, their visit was a nightmare. When John, a first time Airbnb guest, and his family arrived 4 days earlier, their morning flight to NYC had been postponed again and again due to stormy weather. They finally landed at JFK after midnight. When they went out to meet my “trusty” car service, no car. When John let me know there was no one to meet them, I called the car service and, as luck would have it, there were no drivers available. Due to the bad weather most drivers decided to go home. Leaving four very tired people who’d been en route all day with all their luggage stranded outside JFK in the middle of the night.
There was nothing I could do, and helplessness is not a feeling I’m used to. I had to tell them to find a taxi to bring them to my place. I left the keys in the lockbox and went to sleep.
The next morning when I finally met them, I apologized profusely for the car service snafu. They were very gracious about it. The rain continued for the remainder of their trip, right up until the day before they left. Not exactly the dream vacation people spend months getting excited about.
In an effort to make up for their frustrating trip, I spent the early morning hours of their departure day making sure everyone got to the airport safely and on time. It’s not something I normally do, but certain times call for making an exception.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning their apartment, doing laundry (always more laundry, no?), greeting my new guests, responding to emails, and reviewing my arrival and departure calendars. When I looked up, it was 9pm, and I was starving! I heated up a frozen dinner, then answered another inquiry before heading to bed for some much-needed sleep.
And when I don’t have any guests, I rebel like a teenager. I declare a moratorium on all cleaning, laundry, and organizing. Living with guests can take its toll, so I savor my time off. It’s a vacation from being “on” all the time. No dishes, no laundry, and no bra.
So that’s a relatively typical day for me in the not-so-typical life of an Airbnb host. I’m lucky that I don’t have to show up at an office in addition to hosting. When I have assignments as a freelancer it's another job task of planning and organizing guests exchanges.
Do you have a routine? Do you do your own cleaning? Do you have a full-time job besides being an Airbnb host? How do you manage other work with your hosting duties ? Let me know in the comments below.
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Until next time,
Happy Hosting
