All Forum Posts by: Christina B.

Very similar experience to @Gao Nou X. I used a combination of Minoan and going direct to vendor to furnish our 4BR/4BA. While the savings can be significant, end of day, I still had to run the numbers to make sure the Minoan numbers were better than what I could get via sale, etc. (Their pricing isn't automatically better.) The major negative experiences for me had to do with ship times (their updates are on the slower side) or what happens if product is damaged or arrives late. I would not use them for anything that is time-sensitive. In the event of damage to the product, you file your claim through them (take pics and submit). While they were good about obtaining a refund, etc., it still took time (and all communication is via chat or email, for me, chat was easier). And it was truly frustrating not getting shipping confirmation, etc. for days. For example, if you buy through Wayfair directly, you'll get fairly fast notifications of expected ship date, when it's shipped, delivery date, etc. Buying Wayfair through Minoan- I won't receive that data/info for days! If something is delayed, I'll have to press on Minoan to find out what's going on (and it could again, take days to find out).

Thank you for your replies. In my area, the pricing is really all over the place. While it's true I don't necessarily trust the pricing software algo, I really like the ease of accessing the data. The time saved on seeing that bigger picture is worth it to me. And while yes, no one has the same pricing (combination of factors), I also continue to check on a regular basis our rankings and how we "present" on total costs per stay vs. our competitors.

My gut says there is price creep and we might have a ways to go before the market really corrects. But it's not the result of deliberate collusion. More of a re-set that seeing the numbers (prices) at which my comp set actually books- leads to.

Not sure about delusional but it's not unusual for us to have to do a genuine drain & fill several times a month during high seasons if we've rented to large groups with kids. The water is just too disgusting otherwise. (And the pics back this up.)

I looked at bromine instead of chlorine (and still open to it). Looked at salt water but found as the above posts discuss, there wasn't in actuality, less maintenance (just a different set of issues) and end of day, chlorine was still being used (even if a smaller amount). The most useful switch I made was from a vendor who kept insisting the water was fine (it wasn't and no, the chemicals didn't just need more time) to a true pro who doesn't gouge us for maintenance and does a consistently great job.

In the same boat as @Bruce Woodruff. We have a commercial policy with State Farm and I *wish* it was around $100/mo.! Think twice that+. However, we are in Colorado in the mountains and the fire risk is high and real. Have been tracking the news on insurance which surprisingly to me- is not expected to rise in Colorado, post the LA fires. Apparently, because rates increased here so astronomically in the last 2 years, the insurance industry believes their numbers are correct with the risk.

If you have the correct coverage @Marc Shin, you should be covered (although you should also have budgeted or baked-in costs for minor issues/damage). Your Aircover mileage will vary and others have touched on "correct" coverage already. For example, minor towel or linens replacement is something I have a budget for (built into pricing). I'm not going to use Aircover for minor bloodstains, etc. even if I have to replace (or a broken wine glass). If it seems excessive or unreasonable, I reach out to guest first for reimbursement, then Aircover kicks in. Others here may not wish to reach out to guest and go to their secondary insurance right away as it's easier/straightforward, etc.

Curious how this will play out in the courts (granted it's LTR) and affect pricing products used for STR such as PriceLabs (which I use but have to seriously manually adjust for very specific reasons). I'm aware that many of my competitors use PriceLabs and have wondered what the unseen impact is on pricing (viz. is there an artificial increase in our particular market because of it?). Thoughts?

BTW, I've been trying to post this for several days (ever since the article in WaPo came out). However, I kept receiving errors so am trying to post this now without the link to the article and hopefully, that works.

Hi Troy. I use Pricelabs but make a lot of manual adjustments. What I found with Airbnb's pricing is consistent with the above- their recommendations are for lower pricing (and not in the host's best interests). With VRBO, strangely, it keeps recommending significant increases which isn't wrong. However (to go into detail requires a separate post), that's not quite the correct course either. Pricelabs costs but the ease with which all the comp sets are gathered and updates both calendars on Airbnb & VRBO make the subscription worth it to me.

Hi Jonathan. There's no precise figure because no one will understand your STR or market as well as you do- or, as well as you will (with time). When I first began, working with a property management company, they asked me to provide (and list clearly) the starter set that came with the house. It was on the more limited side in general (for a few days' worth). However, we left out a fairly full container of laundry pods. Guests seemed fine with this (or would say something privately, thank goodness- not in reviews). However, we have a higher end market so it always struck me as strange that we'd only provide such a small amount since it doesn't cost that much more to provide more. Then, a guest got called out for sneaking in 4 dogs (we only allow 2). And after their visit, more than 48 of those detergent pods "disappeared". So we moved to liquid and only leaving it a third full. Etc.

When I took over management, I've gone with providing more since having a well-stocked kitchen and house seems more consistent with the experience we want to provide. But I try to balance that "more" with reasonable use (for the time period they're there). It's adjustable based on size, erring on the side of generosity. So, for example, a 4-night stay for a group of 12? 2 extra toilet paper rolls in every bathroom (we have 4), extra paper towels, extra trash bags, at least 8 dishwasher pods, etc. But a 4-night stay for 2 persons? We'll still provide extra but just not quite as much.

Beyond check lists, getting stocks replenished correctly and consistently is really dependent on the cleaners and quality review. Re-stock is supposed to happen a certain way but I recently had a group staying for Christmas who reached out to ask if there were extra paper towels. There should have been but this was missed in the rush of holidays and high traffic. I apologized and said (and truly meant) I'd follow up on it and improve for the future. They luckily took it in stride (and the grocery store is 10-minutes away) and still left us a 5-star review.

But now, I'm wondering what can be simplified and what are more sustainable practices in the long run. So I'm still learning all the time. And I can see why the different offerings (some stock light, others heavily) make sense. The more you provide, the more complicated it gets for your cleaner or whoever manages quality review. I wouldn't leave it all to trust, however. For most guests, you'd be fine. But a few guests are going to burn you. Also, keeping track of inventory is important as well (as is a trustworthy cleaner and that can get tricky if you have too much stock). You'll figure it out over time.

That's really disheartening, Dan. While I don't have ideas on compelling Airbnb to do the right thing (unless you have national news reporter friends), what you've reported is one of my fears and you've had a great and successful history of bookings so far. First, puke in the toilet that froze? That's not a responsible guest. That's above and beyond normal or reasonable cleaning fees. Leaving windows and doors open when it's -15F? That's spiteful or just out there- again not reasonable behavior. Who does that? It might be worth talking to a lawyer but not sure if it's small claims or worth it.

Also, you might already have all of these things but for future prevention:

- smart thermostat (so you receive alerts when the inside temperature dips below whatever preset you have)

- Minut (or similar device) would also alert you to the inside (and outside) temperatures; for example, I have 2 devices inside the house and outside on the hot tub deck. While I use it primarily for noise concerns (it alerts me for sustained +80 decibels), it's also handy for cigarette smoke and tracking temperatures (in addition to our Ecobee thermostat)

- sensors on all exterior doors and possibly windows (which you might have via smart locks for the doors)

- exterior cams

A recent guest for reasons only known to them set the thermostat to cool and 60F in the winter (where it's currently a balmy 11F). Basically, it turned off our furnace and I watched until temps started hitting 56F inside, then reached out gently to educate that our AC (blower) is disabled in the winter and the furnace needs to stay on.

Hang in there. Keep us posted on how you moved forward. And hopefully, this is the worst guest/event that happens to you for all of 2025.

Thank you @Lauren Kormylo @Mike Grudzien @Michael Baum for your replies. I *do* learn eventually, lol. For clarity, when I first started out, most of my bookings were from Airbnb and Pre-Approval is easy to do as a response to inquiries and only lasts 24 hours. So when I started getting more inquiries on VRBO, I assumed (incorrectly) this was a similar feature until a few days ago. (And since I also got bookings via my earlier VRBO pre-approvals, didn't realize until the inquirer let me know they were going with another option, that VRBO holds it for 72 hours.) Lesson learned. Have a great weekend, y'all.

I'm going to try to post snippets of things I've learned this past year as a way of paying it forward and gratitude for all I've learned and keep learning via this community. Today's lesson: why I won't use VRBO Pre-Approval anymore.

I get inquiries from time to time asking things like- is your place truly ski in/ski out? Answer: yes, we're less than a 5-minute walk to the lift but you need to be skiing at blue+. Alternatively, you're a 5 minute drive to the resort. When it seems like a good fit, in the past, I've gone ahead and pre-approved the stay. Recently, with two separate inquiries (different dates, different groups), things didn't work out.

VRBO Pre-Approval blocks those dates in your calendar for 72 hours. !!

I'm in one of 2 peak seasons currently. If someone's not truly interested, I want those dates released ASAP. I had to call VRBO and push repeatedly for those dates to be freed. They warned me I'd take a hit on the algo. I pointed out the guest already notified me they had booked a different property, etc. VRBO then said they cleared the dates but when I refreshed the calendar, I could see it was still blocked. Second attempt on their part freed up the VRBO calendar, but not Airbnb's (and yes on sync'd). ONLY when I pushed further, did they actually release those dates (and I received an email with the subject: Your reservation XXX was cancelled at property YYY), and those dates showed as truly open across both calendars. (They also assured me I would not take the algo hit.)

I no longer default to pre-approval as for me, it's bad for business. If they're serious, I encourage them to send me the request which I accept (after I've also made our House Rules clear). TLDR: Pre-approval seems like a good thing but it can lead to lost bookings or a time sink (has anyone spent less than 20-30 minutes on the phone with VRBO trying to fix something??).