Interior Design
Is your Airbnb missing this safety essential?
Compared to the highly regulated world of hotels, Airbnb safety precautions can feel like the wild west. Each host makes their own judgment calls about
You’ve never thought about an Airbnb emergency at your place.
As Airbnb guests, we’ve seen some strange things go wrong. In a single northeast trip one fall, we were guests at three different properties to witness three separate uncommon events.
At the first place in Maine, we arrived just moments after the electricity had been lost, and the hosts were lighting candles and searching for flashlights to illuminate our arrival. Luckily, the power was restored relatively quickly and we adored our stay.
At the next place in New York, we turned on the bathroom sink one afternoon to witness the property’s 100 year old well run dry. Remarkably, the host had that situation rectified by the end of the day, but she was clearly panicked when we first called with a strange report of muddy, sputtering water.
And then three days later, we found ourselves in a remote, one-room, tin-roof cabin in western Massachusetts as a bomb cyclone ripped through the region. It knocked down countless pine trees, one of which fell between our tiny hatchback and the cabin, miraculously missing both but pulling down with it the electrical line and any form of communication during its 2:00 am descent.
With this last event, we waited for daylight, packed up our belongings and our pup Odin, and squeaked our car out of the surrounding storm wreckage, slowly rerouting through several detours, searching for a blip of cell service in order to notify the remote host.
We returned from that extended trip a little bewildered. Three of our six hosts had encountered an unexpected emergency, and each had handled it well. Unlikely events do happen, and if you haven’t spent the time thinking through possible emergencies, it’s time to think through what could go wrong.
Create emergency plans to protect your guests and your business.
First things first. What are the life-threatening emergencies your Airbnb guests could encounter? As you outfit and maintain your space, things like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers and blankets are essential. (Our Airbnb Checklist Collection has an entire chapter devoted to safety for a reason.) You’ve likely also created a list of local numbers to call in case of an emergency: police, fire, poison control, and included the nearest hospital. You might have memorized 9-1-1 as a child, but would you know who to call in a foreign country?
Next, think about natural disasters. What could your guests encounter for the first time in their lives while staying at your place? As born and raised midwesterners, we’ve done more tornado drills than we could count. When the sirens go off, assuming it’s not the tests run on the first Wednesday of the month at 11:00am, we know exactly what to do.
But everytime we’re driving along the coasts and see all of the evacuation route signs along the side of the road, we’re flummoxed. How often are these used? How would we know we need to evacuate? You may have grown up accustomed to hurricanes, floods, wildfires, snow storms, tornadoes, or earthquakes, but we can guarantee that plenty of your guests have not.
Put together clear instructions and tell guests exactly what to do in case of an emergency, even if it seems completely obvious to you. Remember that all safety instructions should be provided as a tangible, hard copy as well as digital. A storm could easily knock out the internet connection, and relying on cell service during an emergency is risky, especially if you live in a remote area.
Additionally, think through your own operations. What emergencies could cause the most detrimental impact on your business? What could derail your profits? For example, we’ve met perpetually booked hosts who lose power so frequently (and are always the last area restored) that they’ve invested in a sizable generator to keep their Airbnb running during outages. This investment has paid for itself many times over, enabling them to continue to host guests they would otherwise have to turn away.
Think through the most critical and most frequent emergencies.
If you don’t have your emergency ducks in a row, it’s time for a brainstorming exercise. Set a timer for ten minutes and make a list of all the most critical emergencies that could happen. Where could guest safety be impacted? Where could the long term viability of your business be destroyed? (This is where good insurance is critical.)
Next, set a timer for another ten minutes and think through the most frequent emergencies. These likely have much lower consequences, but without a good plan in place, feel incredibly disruptive. Do you have a good plumber for your Airbnb? Do you have a backup water plan or electrical plan if your primary source is less than reliable?
Once the solutions and systems are in place for these emergencies, you can go back to working on the fun parts of hosting, resting assured that if the unexpected happens, you’re as prepared as you can be.
Compared to the highly regulated world of hotels, Airbnb safety precautions can feel like the wild west. Each host makes their own judgment calls about
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At Big Heart Hosting, we’re on a mission to help hosts like you thrive, not just get by. We create step-by-step resources that bring together the best hosting strategies from around the world. We’ll give you the knowledge and community you need to create the joyful, prosperous Airbnb you deserve.
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