Como ajudar os viajantes a sentirem-se em casa

A Airbnb começou como uma forma económica de os viajantes ficarem em casa de outras pessoas. Foi uma ideia que triunfou à medida que mais anfitriões passaram a oferecer espaços em várias partes do mundo e a estabelecer ligações com os hóspedes.

Os quartos mantêm viva essa tradição: são ideais para quem deseja ter alguma privacidade, mas que também quer conhecer pessoas novas e viver a experiência da região se lá vivesse. Desta forma, terá o seu próprio quarto para dormir numa casa e acesso a espaços que podem ser partilhados com outras pessoas.

Partilhamos aqui consigo alguns conselhos sobre como conseguir que os hóspedes se sintam confortáveis em reservar o seu espaço e ficar alojados consigo.

Pode criar um guia para partilhar recomendações e ajudar os hóspedes a conhecerem a região.

Muitos anfitriões também oferecem recomendações em pessoa. Reed, anfitrião de um quarto em Filadélfia juntamente com a esposa, costuma convidar os hóspedes para jantar aos domingos e conversa com eles sobre "locais interessantes, mas pouco tradicionais", como o café do bairro com paredes repletas de livros.

Por vezes, até os convida para dançar salsa, um dos seus passatempos favoritos. "Fomos com alguns hóspedes a um clube latino para dar uns passos de dança", diz ele. Acrescenta ainda que alguns dos hóspedes "são como nossos filhos".

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.