Is it worth doing Airbnb? 17 February 2012 at 6:56AM in Boost your income 23 replies 7.7K views

catkins

Me and my husband have used airbnb quite a bit and both think it is a brilliant idea.


Personally I would only really want a bed but I would think younger people would be happy with a sofa bed.


The ensuite would definitely make your home attractive as would the parking. I have only ever chosen places with an ensuite or the whole home to rent. I am not so bothered about parking although one place we stayed we had to park quite a distance away and it was a really wet and windy weekend so that wasn't great!


I also think if most people were staying only 1 night they wouldn't be that fussed about wardrobes etc. We stayed 2 nights somewhere that didn't have a wardrobe and it didn't bother us at all.


It also wouldn't bother me about the cats but we both like cats. As long as you make it clear that there are cats in the property I am sure plenty of people will be happy to stay with you

justjustine

catkins wrote: »

Me and my husband have used airbnb quite a bit and both think it is a brilliant idea.


Personally I would only really want a bed but I would think younger people would be happy with a sofa bed.


The ensuite would definitely make your home attractive as would the parking. I have only ever chosen places with an ensuite or the whole home to rent. I am not so bothered about parking although one place we stayed we had to park quite a distance away and it was a really wet and windy weekend so that wasn't great!


I also think if most people were staying only 1 night they wouldn't be that fussed about wardrobes etc. We stayed 2 nights somewhere that didn't have a wardrobe and it didn't bother us at all.


It also wouldn't bother me about the cats but we both like cats. As long as you make it clear that there are cats in the property I am sure plenty of people will be happy to stay with you

Thank you for sharing your experiences.
My husband has agreed and spent the weekend DIYing and painting the room. My mum is here making curtains right now

Hopefully we can get it listed before the school holidays start...

duchy

I'd only consider a sofa bed at the lower end of the price range - If I'm paying in the upper range I'd book one with a proper bed - why pay more for less after all.

waltzy

We've considered it as well, so thanks for all of the useful tips here. Particularly Whizzbang for the mention of insurance.

Riddle_L

As someone who has used their service I would just make sure you put in details everything that it is. I would also state that you have cats....etc. So the person who would be renting out the room gets no surprises and knows what he/she got.

Hutchch0920

I'd suggest taking photos of the bed while it is made up, make it look as inviting as possible, e.g. nice cushions, a throw - if it looks close to a real bed I think this will help sell it!

My housemate rented her room out quite a lot through AirBnB and never changed her insurance (that said we were renting anyway)...you do get some protection through AirBnB I believe (although do check).

Lucy_Lastic

I have been thinking about letting a room or two through Airbnb.

Have you let a room/house?
Is it worth it financially?
What are the tax implications?
What are your experiences good/bad?

I've tried Airbnb as a user and found it to be excellent, but would be interested in views of accommodation providers.

I am particularly interested in the experiences/opinions of lone women letting rooms in their house.

Lucy_Lastic

Thank you to whoever moved my post to this area.
I did a search before starting a new thread, but it did not pick up this thread, maybe because there had been no posts for over 18 months.

Does anyone hosting with Airbnb have any experiences or tips to share?

Wizzbang

Lucy_Lastic wrote: »

I am particularly interested in the experiences/opinions of lone women letting rooms in their house.

That right there leads me to question why you would ever think of doing it. The risks could be horrendous.

If you do, I would strongly suggest keeping it female guests only. They might feel more comfortable knowing they are not sharing with a man i.e. single female traveller. I would also advise you to use the same system that lone workers do - have a code word that you can put into an innocuous sentence and some friends or family that you know you could call at any time of the day or night, if needed. You tell them your code word/ sentence in advance. I'd also recommend you get a personal alarm.

Emma851

It's worth doing Airbnb if you're ready to have random strangers in your place, who might misbehave, and then your neighbours might call the police.