We are a 5 STAR property on Airbnb!
And our Pottery Barn table finally arrived!!! (Not sure which is more exciting...🤔)
So for all intents and purposes, we're off to a good start. Airbnb posts your ⭐ rating after your property accumulates its first three reviews. We are grateful to have had three good groups so far that were kind enough to leave us public feedback. We decided to start Triple Creek Cottage on Airbnb because their API integration with our platform was DIY. And pretty quickly we've found ourselves booked into March!
Behind the scenes it's been a bit of a rocky start. We're learning and tweaking our processes as we go. Our second guests were a last minute mid-week instant-booking, with only 3-days notice. We have legal agreements and security deposits that need to be squared away before check-in, so this took us by surprise and our guests felt rushed through our process. They were very nice and thankfully very communicative, but it became apparent that they did not read through our carefully crafted Airbnb descriptions and this led to some questions about the security deposit and mis-understanding the hot tub fee. Despite these things being mentioned in no less than three separate areas of the listing (and initialed in the legal agreement), apparently we were still only about as clear as mud. 🤷♀️
Ugh! And Airbnb is the worst about collecting extra amenity fees. They have what is called their Resolution Center. From the start, the term "resolution" just conveys negativity. What good thing needs to be resolved? Nothing. Only problems. Even though (we thought) we clearly stated that there was a $100 fee for the OPTIONAL use of the hot tub, (because maybe not everyone would want to use the hot tub and absorb the extra costs that come with the use of that amenity...?), our guest (politely) balked at receiving a Resolution Center notice charging a $100 fee for the OPTIONAL use of the hot tub. Airbnb only allows you to request optional fees after the reservation begins, and who wants to feel nickel and dimed while they are trying to relax in the beautiful Laurel Highlands? Certainly not us, and therefore certainly not our guests! We are glad they said something, because we don't want guests leaving Triple Creek Cottage on a sour note. AND...it turns out EVERYONE wants to use the hot tub. (And by everyone, we mean all of our 11 of our bookings thus far; statistically valid, I know.) So we've built the hot tub service costs into the nightly rate and now the hot tub is "FREE" for all to enjoy!
AND... we will no longer accept instant bookings with 3-days notice. We require at least seven (7) days to instant book, the longest Airbnb allows in their API settings. And if you want to request a stay on shorter notice, you better show us you read through the House Rules or it's a hard "no" from me. Mahalo! 😉