Helping guests travel like locals

Airbnb began as an affordable way for travelers to stay in someone else’s home. The idea took off as more hosts offered places around the world and interacted with guests.

Rooms celebrate this tradition: They’re great for guests who prefer a little privacy, yet still want to meet someone new and experience the area like a local. With a room, guests have their own bedroom in a home, plus access to spaces that may be shared with others. 

Here are some tips for helping guests feel comfortable booking and staying with you.

You can help guests get to know your area by creating a guidebook for your listing. This is an easy way to share recommendations with guests.

Many hosts also offer recommendations in person. Reed, who hosts a room in Philadelphia with his wife, frequently invites guests to join them for Sunday dinner. He talks about “cool spots that aren’t traditional,” like the neighborhood cafe with walls of books.

Sometimes Reed invites guests out salsa dancing, one of his favorite pastimes. “We’ve gone with a few guests to a Latin spot to turn it up a bit,” he says. Some guests, he adds, “are like our kids now.”

Guests may book your room because your host profile creates a sense of familiarity, which can help guests feel comfortable staying with you.

Nicola, who hosts a room in Fitzroy, Australia, shares that she appreciates new cultures and cuisines. She’s found that some guests like to “hang out and feel like they’ve got a home here.”

She and her brother, a renowned chef in Melbourne, sometimes offer to cook meals with guests. “We’ve got a commercial kitchen, so they can roll out the pasta or the panini breads,” she says.

One group felt so at ease that they did yoga in Nicola’s living room. “It was great that they really enjoyed the space,” she says. Noting their interest in exercise, Nicola took them to a park nearby, where they spent an afternoon climbing trees and talking about other places to explore.

Think about how you’d like to interact with guests, and let them know what you prefer. If you’re up for socializing, your openness may lead to meaningful connections.

Garth, a host in Auckland, New Zealand, says welcoming guests allows him to spend more time with people from other cultures without traveling. He thought, “Let’s bring the people to me.”

One of Garth’s most memorable moments as a host happened with guests visiting from France. The mother asked if her son could watch him tinker in his garage workshop. “He thought everything I was doing was cool,” Garth says.

So Garth came up with a project they could do together. “We made a little boat, and we painted it,” he says. “It was really lovely, because he didn’t speak English, but we had this shared language.”

You can get more hosting stories and tips by joining your local Host Club. These clubs are run by and for hosts, and offer in-person and virtual meetups, ongoing support, and Airbnb news and product updates.

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.