Written by Robert Jordan, Member of the Host2Host Board and host in NE Portland.

We have all heard Airbnb horror stories of guests who won’t leave.  After 4+ years of problem-free hosting, I finally had that unfortunate experience.  Let me tell you about it. 

Bookings have been few and far between this past pandemic year, and we had had no guests for several weeks.  The room was all prepped and ready to go, so when we got a three-day booking inquiry one Monday night, asking if they could get in early the next day, I didn’t hesitate to say “yes”.  First lesson – they had zero reviews, despite the account being 5 years old. A bad sign that I failed to even notice.  They were two adults and according to Airbnb were from Eugene, so I assumed they were a couple driving up here for a few days (not true – I later learned they were from Portland).  Second lesson – don’t make assumptions.

Did I say that the worst snow and ice storm of the season had just hit Portland and when they arrived the next morning there was ice and snow on the ground?  I was outside when they pulled up – in a SafeRide Health van.  The young man got out and proceeded to assist the other guest, an older disabled woman in a wheelchair.  Our unit is up narrow stairs above our garage, as is clearly stated in our listing. When I pointed this out, the young man said, “She can walk some, she just has a spinal injury. She can get up the stairs.” What could I do?  Tell them “no”, and leave them out in the cold?  As he unloaded her in the wheelchair and then bag after tote-bag, it dawned on me that these people were homeless… (another assumption, but I never found out if it was really the case). 

Our unit has only a microwave and a little fridge - I told him there was a grocery store nearby, but he said they had food.  And then for the next three days we didn’t even see a light go on out in the unit, and nobody left it.  He was very uncommunicative, not answering his phone or responding to text messages over Airbnb.  I finally was able to talk to him by banging on the door and talking through it. All along I was imagining the worst (more assumptions). Being concerned that they were starving, I ended up spending a good $30 on groceries for them, which I left at the door.  And three days later the morning of their check-out arrived…

About two hours before they should have left, they requested an extension – which I had no intention of granting, just wanting them out of there.  We finally communicated over the phone, and they both got into the back-and-forth with me, not understanding that they couldn’t just extend without our permission.  When at 11 AM they were still there, it was time to call Airbnb.

Once I found a phone number to talk to a real person at Airbnb (not easy!), they opened a case and tried to communicate with our overstay guests, but with no success.  We were told that until 36 hours had elapsed Airbnb really could take no action, but at that point something called an “extraction team” would take over. That could have added a lot of excitement to this tale, but the next day (at about hour 34) the couple found another place and moved out, having stayed one unauthorized night.  Some time later I ascended the stairs, conjuring up a horror story of what sort of a mess they might have left in the room - but in fact it was left perfectly clean (one more worst-case assumption).

We let Airbnb know they could close the case, and directed them that we would forgive the debt for the extra night. My conclusion is that these were not partiers or addicts or anything of the sort, just people in dire straits who needed a place to stay in the storm (rooms in Portland were virtually unobtainable due to the power outages).  They probably took our room despite its being totally unsuitable for a person in a wheelchair, because they had to.  

I feel a certain amount of guilt for having entertained so many negative thoughts during this episode, and of course, we were out the grocery money and the free night’s lodging.  I decided not to write any kind of review – I could hardly recommend them to other hosts, but slamming them under these circumstances didn’t seem right either.  Maybe Airbnb will suspend their account due to the overstay. I don’t know, but  I’m glad they are out of our place. 

Did I learn anything? Sure, I could have seen their lack of reviews and the hurried last-minute request and declined it. Then that might have left them out on the street in the cold.  It’s impossible not to make some assumptions about our guests. We only have so much of a guest's story to approve a booking and then to be comfortable during their stay. Blanks get filled in with our own thoughts and feelings. As for my guests, now that the weather is improving, I like to imagine that their luck has improved, too.

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Submitted by Jaime Johnston, H2H Member & owner of Goddamn Man Co, premium products for body & beard care. 

Travel Portland is a cheerleader for Portland’s tourism industry. Their mission - to generate travel impact that drives economic impact - has put Portland on the map as a travel destination. As a result, increased tourism has expanded the short term rental industry, contributed to job growth, and boosted visitor spending at local businesses and restaurants. 

The Travel Improvement District (TID) fund accounts for about half of Travel Portland’s budget.  All hotels pay this 2% tax and STR’s were added in 2018.  No surprise to anyone, since the beginning of the pandemic, overall hotel and STR bookings have caved, depressing tourism tax revenues by millions of dollars. Hotel bookings are down by roughly 75%, with downtown being hardest hit. 

Further, Portland’s reputation has been tarnished by media coverage of federal police presence during Black Lives Matter events. Damage and violence have made Portland feel unsafe making it difficult to continue driving much-needed tourism to Portland. 

Clearly, we all benefit from Travel Portland’s efforts. Yet, they have lost significant revenue and had to lay off 80% of their staff during the pandemic. 

In response, Travel Portland presented a funding proposal to the City Council during a  March 3rd hearing. To address the budget shortfall, their proposal included making permanent the 2% TID, set to expire this year; and increasing the TID from 2% to 3% for five years. As always, this tax is to be paid by hotel and STR guests. 

The Council was unanimously supportive of making the 2% TID permanent (watch the hearing beginning at 22 minutes) and is set to vote on the 5 year increase from 2% to 3% next week. UPDATE: On March 10 Portland City Council voted in the additional 1% increase for a 5 year period. The increase takes effect July 2021.

Travel Portland presented its proposal to the Host2Host board on February 16, requesting Host2Host’s support. The H2H board was unanimous in supporting this proposal to ensure that Portland attracts a healthy level of tourism, which benefits our city, the local economy, all who serve the tourist industry and our members. 

Submitted by Frances Meyers, Host2Host member and host in SW Portland. 

On February 24^th, Host2Host held its second sponsored event with Kopa. Jack Forbes, CEO and co-founder, joined us to review Kopa's direct booking website.  

If you’re a host wanting to reach a greater number of prospective renters while reducing your costs, you may want to explore what Kopa has to offer.  Most hosts can build a website in less than 4 minutes, as about 80% of details and photos can be imported from your listing on Airbnb.  Technical support is available for hosts needing assistance getting started.  There is no commission on rentals, but Kopa does charge a monthly fee of $15 per listing.  

Although the company’s focus has primarily been on long-term rentals, short-term rental hosts can still use Kopa to market their properties, though they will have to make use of the “change pricing” feature to charge guests for taxes.  Kopa’s platform is totally customizable, allowing hosts to include photos of themselves (and any co-hosts), photos of all properties available, and even where they are located on a map of the area.  House rules can be included.  

As is true of other hosting platforms, prospective renters can request to rent and you can exchange messages with them directly.  Kopa has prospective renters fill out a questionnaire, supply a photo and give their real name.  A criminal background check can be done for an additional fee.  Kopa can handle renters’ payments, but you are free to do so yourself if you prefer.  

Jack generously offered Host2Host members and event attendees 25% off their first year by using the custom link: directbookingpro.com/host2host. This offer is valid through March 31. After which, Host2Host members can receive 10% of their first year using the same link.

Submitted by Alan Colley, Host2Host Past President & Contributing Editor

These days don’t we hear a lot about “the new normal” and “ a watershed moment” for our country? Catchy buzzwords. What might these words signal for us as hosts in our communities. 

I’m not so sure we are facing “the new normal.” Not just yet. But a “watershed moment”? Very possibly. 

As a community I think we are poised on a metaphorical ridge line between one way of seeing the world (an old watershed) and a new one (a new watershed moment) where the way we see the world shifts dramatically - a paradigm shift, if you wish. The great thing about recognizing such a watershed moment is that we can give sober thought to our part in that moment. We might call this time an invitation to enter a vestibule.

Vestibule? I think so.

A traditional vestibule is, of course, a transition space. It’s a space to wait. But mostly to prepare ourselves to shed our outerwear - to discard the coats and boots - and be prepared to move indoors.

Could this time be like that?

This year has jostled us all out of our comfortability, hasn’t it? I really don’t need to tell you how wildfires, ice storms, COVID, homelessness, economic devastation all at the same time have ripped the fabric of our community. What we took for granted as stable has been upended. We have learned how fragile life and harmony is, and needs nurturing, not left to autopilot. It can be a moment in time where we really examine our priorities, our visions, our pursuits - to consider shedding outworn ways and to contemplate how we pursue our futures - a vestibule moment.

What does a vestibule moment ask of us?

I don’t cherish staying in a vestibule very long. It’s not purgatory, but I do recognize how a vestibule offers us time and space to prepare. Time and thought to see how we can harness and help the best possibilities of our new watershed moment. That’s where I think we are.

What do we hosts do with this? Those of us who work on your monthly Host2Host newsletter have been wrestling with that question too. How can we harness our collective minds, hearts and muscles to help our community bind up the wounds, and reweave the fabric of our society to include those who have been harmed, marginalized and left out? Host2Host is committed to do that. Perhaps you have already begun to reconsider how you will move forward. We would love to hear from you about it.

As we make the time and thought in our vestibules to see our role and opportunities ahead, we can walk into this new watershed with confidence and hope.

Alan Colley

Host2Host Past President and Contributing Editor

Submitted by Melissa Moran, Host2Host Member, owner of Forage & Scout Interiors and host in North Portland.

On February 10, we welcomed guest speaker Jeff Iloulian to our February meet-up. Jeff is co-founder and COO of HostGPO, the first Group Purchasing Organization for the short-term rental industry. GPOs leverage the purchasing power of a group of businesses to obtain discounts from vendors based on the collective buying power of the GPO members.

HostGPO partners with many companies you’ll know, such as Pottery Barn, RugsUSA, and Public Goods; as well as some you may not, such as Standard Textiles provider of linens to hotels around the globe. Previously open only to hosts with multiple rental properties, Host2Host members can now take advantage of buying direct from manufacturers at close-to-wholesale prices through HostGPO. Signing up is easy. Go to HostGPO and click Join Us Now.  

Host2Host Members are automatically approved when joining HostGPO, with no minimum unit requirement needed. Host2Host members can view the event recording here.  

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H2H member, Ann Kopal, let us know she was grateful for the HostGPO membership. She ordered some blankets and quilts from Standard Textiles and was very happy with both the quality of the products and the customer service; expressing: "the representative was very generous and the items we ordered are an improvement over what we had been using."

Submitted by Debi Hertert, Host2Host Founder and member of the Business Outreach Committee.

We held our first sponsored event with Breezeway on Tuesday night, with Justin Ford presenting via Zoom.  Our Business Outreach Committee Chair, Ryan Tigner, introduced Justin to our group of hosts.  

Justin is the driving force behind Breezeway’s Safety Program.  Safety is a huge issue for our short-term rentals.  Justin pointed out a number of ways that hosts fail to protect themselves and their guests from accidents and possible litigation.  Some of his examples were of BBQs catching houses on fire, homes lacking proper railings on stairs, and a lack of mounted or expired fire extinguishers.

Breezeway offers a safety program which involves a host using an app that walks them through specific safety questions about their property.  Based on the answers, if the property is already at passing level, a certificate will be issued.  If repairs are made and the host goes through the process again, they will still receive the certificate.  Justin pointed out that not only will your property be safer for your guests, but you would also be more protected legally in that you had proactively gone through the certification process. In addition, Proper Insurance offers a 5% discount for hosts with the Breezeway certification.

Justin offered Breezeway’s two certification programs free of charge to our event attendees. 

1. Self-Safety Certification Report, valued at $69, is currently a free-to-download app. 
   
2. Short-Term Rental Safety Inspector Course (STRSI), valued at $500, was offered free to the first 15 hosts to sign-up. This program is for people who want to become inspectors and earn money doing it. If you missed the free offer, Host2Host members can take the course for $100. Use the promo code found on Breezeway's member profile.

Host2Host members can find similar offers by looking up Breezeway up on our H2H member’s site.  And can view the event recording here. 

Submitted by Nancy Stevens, Pamela Jeanne and David Boe. All are members of the Host2Host Meet-up Team and H2H Charter Members.

Host2Host kicked off the New Year with a meetup entitled: Hopes and Plans for 2021. Debi Hertert, Host2Host Founder, shared some of the “forecasts” for travel in the future. Among them:

• Pent-up demand will result in far more travel beginning in the second quarter of 2021. 
  
• Trends blurring between short-term rentals, vacation rentals and long-term rentals. 
  
• Business nomads will continue to be common. 
  

Debi also suggested that we reflect on five questions in order to keep hosting in perspective: 

1. What’s more important to me, results or relationships? 
   
2. How does hosting reflect who I am? Or does it?
   
3. What impact does hosting have on the world around me? 
   
4. What is something that makes me feel proud about hosting?
   
5. What does my work-life balance look like?
   

Based on the forecast that we can anticipate more travelers this year, the members chatted with each other in small breakout groups on four popular topics on how best to prepare for a return to hosting. They included:

Technical upgrades: locks, pricing systems, etc

Airbnb platform changes

Property upgrades: interior design, kitchenware, etc

Building your own website

The evening was enjoyed by all – especially the break-out rooms where hosts could talk to and learn from each other. While the meet-up was recorded, the break-out rooms were not. This made for a less interesting viewing of the event and we will not be sharing or posting the recording on the Host2Host website.

Submitted by David Boe. David hosts in his SW Portland home and has remained open through the pandemic. 

Before Covid-19 appeared on the horizon, a popular YouTube channel called Vsauce published the latest episode of its Mind Field series. Released a week before Halloween of 2019, the episode was entitled “What is the scariest thing?”

Mind Field’s creator Michael Stevens has a knack for mixing comedy with serious scientific content, and it’s made him one of YouTube’s most bankable stars. His resources allowed him to assemble a unique and diverse panel of world-class experts on fear; a curious mix of authors, researchers and scientists that also included the producer/director of one of the world’s most well known horror films. 

Serious science involves years of tedious research. It’s not usually the stuff of Hollywood movies. Yet it’s Mr. Stevens’ gift to make such things both accessible and entertaining, and he succeeds beautifully here, with one small but significant exception: 

Over the course of the program, the search for the scariest thing is the constant focus, and the question itself is repeated and restated throughout the episode, building up to a big reveal. But the answer he provides in the last half-minute of the video is so dryly clinical as to be almost meaningless. Are you ready? After a 40 minute build-up, here it is: The scariest thing, the single thing that universally provokes terror in all human beings is:

“Elevation of Carbon Dioxide in the Blood Caused by an Uncontrollable External Threat.” 

What? 

It was an anti-climax after such a long build up. As if Dorothy’s house had just landed in Oz, but instead of opening the door to reveal a technicolor world, she just wakes up in a hospital bed, skipping the whole story.

But I quickly realized the point. The preceding 40 minutes had offered up everything I needed in order to fully appreciate why this cold, clinical explanation was indeed the correct answer.  It was never about the destination. It was always the journey.

Now, you may be wondering, what does all this have to do with hosting during a pandemic? Hold on. I’m getting there....

The bulk of the program is an exploration of our most basic, innate fears. Innate fears are present at birth; they aren’t acquired or learned. Although we can learn to manage them, we can never entirely master them; they are always present, encoded in our DNA.

You can easily guess the first two: The fear of falling, and the fear of sudden movement, deeply connected to the startle reflex. 

Here’s where it gets really interesting. Remember that this episode was conceived, written, produced, and posted online the week before Halloween, on October 24, 2019; 23 days before patient zero was first documented in Wuhan, China, on November 17, 2019. Yet watching it today, it’s chilling how fully Covid-19 inhabits the six remaining innate human fears:

These all flow from the greatest fear of all, the fear of Death. (Did I mention that this video is mostly a comedy?) In writing this article I am filled with even more admiration for Mr. Stevens’ comedic genius, especially in tackling such a dark topic. But then again, if you harken back to that innocent time before the pandemic, such gallows humor went down a lot easier.

For readers currently living through the worst pandemic in a century, it is immediately clear how directly each of the six remaining innate fears relate to Covid-19: It’s an Invisible (unknown) Disease that Incapacitates its victims with tremendous Pain. Moreover, it forces us into Isolation, and causes Death by Suffocation.

An especially ingenious aspect of the episode is that it is structured like a horror movie, and even includes an interview with Sean S. Cunninghan, the producer/director of Friday the 13th and many other films. The program uses this movie connection to explain how fear is maximized in horror films through something known as “category jamming.” 

Category jamming is a technique that has been perfected over many years. It’s why a character like Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street is so terrifying: Several of our most basic fears are piled one on top of the other to multiply the terror.  It also explains why movies like the Alien franchise are so effective: unknown creatures hunt human prey, isolated in a spacecraft where air could run out at any second. It even explains the logic behind a movie about Snakes on a Plane: People already fear both snakes, and flying. Putting them together creates a confluence of terrifying factors including fear of falling and sudden movement.

How does this relate to hosting during a pandemic? 

The pandemic we’ve all endured over the last year is a lot more like living in a horror film than anyone realized. But not just any horror film. This seemingly endless movie moment is category-jammed with all of our most basic, innate fears, and they have been more effectively stitched together in real life than any horror film. 

For me, the concept of category jamming was a light bulb moment: It’s no wonder we’re all so stressed and disoriented. We’re simply not built to live with so much fear, and there are numerous studies that show the adverse effects of constant stress (though I’ve seen none as yet, about the pandemic). Our bodies are evolved for fight or flight; something that ends in a matter of minutes, or maybe hours, but not days or weeks on end. Months or years? We’re not built for that.

From a hosting perspective, every guest is potentially Freddie Krueger in a hockey mask, carrying a Texas chainsaw in his oversized luggage. Every child is The Good Son. Every toy is Chuckie. 

From the guest’s perspective it’s just as bad: every host is Norman Bates welcoming them to Hotel California: You can check out any time you like, but (if you catch Covid) you might never leave (alive, that is). 

As a home-host, welcoming guests into my own living space, these issues are compounded. It’s no wonder that on many of my days off (when no guests are around, no arrivals scheduled) I’ve found myself unable to get out of bed, sad to the point of incapacity, weeping for no good reason that I could figure out. Until now. 

I simply didn’t appreciate that we are being category-jammed by the most frightening monster of them all: Our own imaginations, as fueled by the combined resources of the entire planet’s news, information, and entertainment industrial complex. 

Dealing with it

It’s said that acknowledging the reality of a situation is one of the first steps toward healing. Working through the anxiety and the range of other emotions brought on by a year of lockdown and isolation is no easy task. But luckily, the same advances in science and technology that allowed us to create a vaccine and find effective treatments for COVID-19 also offer a number of proven strategies to help us deal with such monsters, both real and imagined.

Exercise your knowledge and your body

Once you appreciate the full scope of what's going on emotionally (i.e. in addition to the physical dangers we face, we’re also being held in a psychological prison by a tiny, invisible invader), there are many ways to help reduce your fear and anxiety. Two of the most important are related to movement, both physical and mental. 

More than any time before, during the pandemic I’ve come to appreciate the value and the volume of information that now resides at our fingertips. Educating yourself about the realities of COVID-19 is an effective way to gain a measure of control over the situation. And of course, a daily walk with my beloved dachshund, Buddy, does wonders for dissipating the monsters too. 

The bottom line

Hang on, and stay as healthy as you can by exercising both your body and your mind. You’ll need them both for the next Renaissance.

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An Airbnb Superhost since 2016, David Boe has welcomed more than 1,100 guests into his home in Portland’s West Hills. This article is based on his experience of personally hosting more than 50 trips between April and December of 2020. David is a charter member of Host2Host, and is also the author of Secrets of an Airbnb Superhost, and Walk With Me, Discover Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon, based on the Airbnb Experience he created in the Arboretum, which is within ½ mile of his home. Both books are available on Amazon.com.

Submitted by Amina Moreau, Host2Host member and CEO & Co-founder of Radious

Locals… I thought people loved locals. But as it turns out, many short-term rental hosts shudder at the thought!

For some of us hosts, a booking request from a local guest, raises red flags. Will they be partying it up? Will our place get trashed? We start to cycle through the countless things that could go wrong.

Before the pandemic, there seemed to be a general sentiment that out-of-towners were the safer, more responsible guests. After all, it’s less likely that they’d be traveling with a huge entourage looking for a place to party. Locals, on the other hand? They signaled trouble.

As a relatively new host, this aversion to locals was counterintuitive for me at first. Until I’d started having conversations with more experienced hosts, I’d assumed that locals would actually show more respect for hosts’ properties. I figured people would be less likely to cause turmoil in their own neighborhoods, for fear of being recognized and called out as the community hooligan. But no. It seems that every town has its bad apples and it’s up to us to recognize them before they inflict their wrath.

And so I learned to consider “locals” as a dirty word.

And then COVID-19 happened. 

Travel all but halted completely, which meant out-of-towners were a thing of the past. Many short-term rental hosts found themselves with a greater number of inquiries coming from locals looking for a change of scenery. Cooped up families were looking for a holiday refuge or simply for a quiet place to work away from distractions.

While some nervousness about locals lingered, the pandemic increased demand for “legit” local rentals that didn’t include partying or property damage. More and more local guests were proving themselves to be quite lovely. Was this the start of a shift in perceptions? Maybe locals might not be so bad after all?

In parallel, we’ve seen small businesses suffering immeasurably due to the pandemic. But, in inspiring fashion, communities have come together in solidarity to support local businesses in any way they can. “Shop local” has become an ever-present philosophy, and people have really leaned in. Locals have stepped up as stewards of their communities, taking on projects to clean up graffiti, donating food, propping up those who have stumbled, and being all-round good neighbors. The word “local,” in this context, seems to mean “friend.” And short-term rental hosts have played a big role in being those good friends.

One might suggest that as hosts, we really are leaders. We provide shelter, safety, a sense of warmth and community, at a time when distance and isolation are the norm. 

If we’re afraid of locals, we’re afraid of each other.  I believe we have a unique opportunity to come together, see one another as allies, and rebuild our communities in a way that feels welcoming, open and genuinely collaborative.

2021 began with it a much-needed feeling of hope. No matter what happens, let’s embrace hope by taking every opportunity we can to help one another, and let go of past beliefs that may no longer serve us. Let’s create the “new normal” we really want to see.

Amina Moreau

CEO & Co-founder of Radious

Your home office, away from home.