All Forum Posts by: Grant Woodward

Could your cleaner (if you have one) cover while you are off-grid? If you have a guest(s) at the property while you're unavailable, you could let the guests know the situation and give them the contact number of your cleaner or someone else local they could call. I would think checking your messages once per day would probably be sufficient as long someone could take a call in the meantime.

In simple terms, I would do a deep dive analysis of your competition using Airdna, Rabbu, etc., to understand if there are competitors doing better than you based on stronger design/amenities, and if so, how much additional revenue they are earning. If the additional revenue potential justifies the $60k redesign then it may be worth going that route.

Thanks all! These are pretty much the replies I expected, but great to hear that I'm not the only one concerned with guest safety. 

I do think that in many cases pool fences ruin the aesthetic and the Airbnb pictures so I'm sure that's why some hosts are cutting corners. Not worth it to me.

Those of you with outdoor pools at your properties - what are you doing to mitigate liability in the event of an accident? 

I see a lot of awesome amenity packed outdoor hang out spaces with outdoor pools posted on the many STR related social media accounts that I follow, but I don't really ever see any pool fences or other safety features highlighted.

I know pools are a must have amenity to compete in many markets and I have to admit that I'm a bit hesitant to enter those markets due to the potential liability risk. Am I being overly precautious?

Great tips! I especially like the point about not trying to talk the seller down by creating a list of flaws. I've made that mistake in the past and agree that it's not typically a tactful strategy. Thanks for sharing!

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Personally I don't ask for pics unless there is an issue and she sends them to me automatically.

IMHO if you have a good cleaner that you trust, asking for photos is probably superfluous. 

Thanks for the reply Michael! I realize based on your reply that I misstated my question - I intended to ask if you get pictures post-cleaning to document the condition the guests will arrive to.

Mine typically do provide pictures of anything observed to be out of the norm when they arrive at the property to clean.

Sorry for the confusion! 

Do you get pictures from your cleaners after every stay? 

I currently pay a premium price for my turnovers for a local cleaning company that specializes in STRs. They are there on time reliably, do a good job managing inventory/off site laundry, and generally do a good job cleaning overall. Occasionally I catch some cleanliness issued that I am not satisfied with which I believe is due to variability in attention to detail between people on their crew, or lack of training and familiarity with my property.

I've seen mentions of the value of post cleaning pictures from hosts on other forums. I think this may be a built in functionality of the Turno app, but I don't use Turno and my cleaners don't seem to offer that as part of their standard process. I have had around 100 stays (~35 with the current cleaning company) and no complaints about cleanliness ever, but in the event that there is an issue in the future, I can see how having pictures to confirm or dispute the guests complaints could be of value. On the other hand, I'm not convinced pictures would always capture the details needed to serve this purpose.

Curious to hear the thoughts of the expert hosts and property managers here. Thanks!

Inside mount looks cleaner if your window frames allow for it, but not all do. If you have the depth for an inside mount, I'd go that route with curtains, as mentioned previously. 

This article might help:

Blind Mounting

Good question! We buy basic soap, body wash, shampoo, and conditioner in bulk quantity on Amazon and load it in a refillable dispenser. We get Costco toilet paper, either Kirkland or Charmin depending on price/sales.

My cleaner is very experienced and made the point that most people who are particular about shampoo, conditioner, etc., will bring their own anyway. Everyone else is typically just happy to have something there for them.

I'm sure others have differing opinions but this has worked great for me.

Ensure they have good review history. For me that means at least 1 good review and no negative reviews. I think most hosts give 5 stars unless there is a serious issue so even a 4 star is a red flag for me that I would check into. 

If they don't have any review history, ask a lot of questions (e.g., what brings them to the area?) ask them to confirm they understand your policies (no parties, no extra guests that aren't included in the reservation, etc.) before accepting their reservation request. 

If anything seems off, I would not be afraid to decline the request and let them know that you aren't able to accommodate. With that being said, I probably only deny a couple of requests per year and the vast majority of guests are great!