I've been a live-in Airbnb host in London for around 7 years and welcomed over 400 guests from around 40 different countries spanning from South Africa to Sweden and Argentina to New Zealand.
In 2017, with some previous experience in hospitality, I decided to try renting out my room. I had no idea if anyone would be interested in booking a room in the suburbs of London. As a new host, and without any reviews to entice people to stay, Airbnb advised me to offer a discount to my first guest. Needless to say my first booking, a 10 night stay during the peak time of the year, ended up getting a pretty good deal! Other bookings soon followed, for stays of a night or two, and they stayed prior to her arrival.
My first guest arrived a few days after I'd listed my home and stayed for one night. He arrived earlier than we had previously arranged and so it was a quick dash to get everything ready. And being the first time to host anyone, I wasn't completely sure I knew what 'everything' was. It was also one of the hottest days of the year and so seeing my guest, an older gentleman who I'd only just met, walking around my home in his vest was a little surreal.
You soon get used to having strangers in your home and I've been really lucky with the guests I've welcomed. On the whole, guests have been friendly and settled in well whilst showing respect for my home. Some like to have a bit of a chat and some prefer to just keep to themselves. I've only experienced a handful of incidents or personalities that have made hosting less enjoyable.
It's been fascinating getting to know new people from all walks of life, ranging from opera singers to buskers, business people to retirees, and athletes to other Airbnb hosts.
Booking occupancy varies month by month, year by year. I try to look for patterns and although to some extent there are, for example January is a really quiet month for me, it mainly depends on the guest's reason for visiting, as some guests stay for one night and others might stay for weeks.
Guests reasons for booking with me have varied widely, whether it's for work purposes or tourism, for half marathons or to be near an airport, to visit friends and family or to go to events, or for training workshops or nights out. I have even hosted people who live locally and need to vacate their home whilst the builders are in, or those looking for somewhere permanent to live, it literally could be anything!
Although what I offer hasn't changed drastically over the course of my time hosting, I'm always looking to add odd things along the way to offer my guests more.
I've received great reviews, receiving Airbnb's Super Host status throughout, and have enjoyed helping my guests have a comfortable and enjoyable stay. I wanted to help other hosts who are starting out and I hope you find this website useful 😃