The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: snacky on February 05, 2019, 06:23:02 AM
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Hello all
When you are staying at an Airbnb, what kind of info do you like to find in a binder at the apartment/ house? The ones I have seen often have house rules, how to use the wifi/ coffee maker, etc., and local attractions. What would also be helpful?
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Nearest grocery shop for Mustachians who buy their breakfast there.
Nearest public transport stop and time schedule.
Restaurants in the vicinity.
Take-out pizza menu?
Taxi phone number.
Event calender of your region.
Map, both overview of the city and hiking map of nearby hiking area.
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Recommended restaurants within walking distance.
Vegan/halal/other special dietary restaurants?
Local walking / hiking routes.
Specialized neighborhood info you won't find on a city website, super local info for your neighborhood.
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Treasure map
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In France, there was a page of English-French phrases that was helpful (and fun). If you find that you have a lot of Americans staying, you could do an American to Canadian translation page (Soda = Pop, Bathroom = Restroom, etc.)
Instructions for the appliances.
How to set the alarm clock. How to set the time on the alarm clock.
Getting around:
Put in a transit map, and a walking/cycling map - both should be available from the city.
Bikeshare instructions if your town has it.
Detailed walking distance in time to nearest shops.
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If anything isn't blatantly standard- shower controls, dishwasher, whatever. Bonus points if you just link to a youtube video walkthrough. I think stuff like this can be especially important if you have a lot of international visitors.
As an aside- if you have a kitchen, PLEASE have basic things like spatulas. The number of "stocked" kitchens I've stayed in that will have like, FONDUE FORKS, but not a goddamn spatula, is astounding.
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List of nearby churches/synagogues/mosques, with times of services or contact info so your guests can find out.
Nearby urgent care or ER, just in case.
Street address of the house in case they have to call 911.
911 instructions, if you have visitors from countries that use a different emergency number or have none.
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This is all really helpful! Keep the suggestions coming!
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Ditto the advice on how to work all the gizmos in the house and how to lock up. However, it's even better if all the gizmos in the house are really basic. For example, if you install some kind of fancy shutoff for the bedroom ceiling light, please don't be annoyed when your guests can't get the thing to shut off and instead just unscrew the bulb.
Contact info for whomever they should contact if they can't run something in the house.
Also, please install working fire alarms. It doesn't count if the fire alarm is just left on a shelf.
I may need to start booking a slightly higher class of AirBnB . . .
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Here's an outline:
- In case of emergency (first page or cover):
- Instructions for calling emergency services
- Non emergency police number
- Full address of location
- Landline number
- Location of nearest Emergency Room
- How to contact you
- House rules:
- Guest Policy
- Smoking
- Noise Restrictions
- Off Limits
- Accommodation information (how to find/access/use):
- Climate Control Systems
- Entertainment Systems
- Wifi
- Extra pillows/blankets
- Kitchen Staples
- Cleaning supplies
- Laundry
- Outside trash bin
- Community Amenities
- Getting Around
- Public transit (closest stop, schedule, how to pay fare)
- Bikeshare
- Map
- Local Recommendations
- Resturants (especially options unique to your area)
- Close, fast, and cheap
- Delivery
- Casual dining
- Formal dining
- Attractions (parks, museums, zoo, monuments)
- Grocery stores (closest, best value, ethnic specialties)
- Events (farmer's markets, free concerts, community calendar)
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Glad all the Mustachians here are focused on public transit. I'd add: any relevant info about where to park a car during the visit.
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Some recommendations - I can get a list of hundreds of restaurants in the area, but I don't want to sift through hundreds of reviews.
Something like:
If you want pizza, we recommend XXX. Add to that list Chinese take out, walking distance from Air BNB, fast casual, etc.
If you are big enough to host kids - nearest playground or area they can run around.
Recreation to do for an out of town person who needs to rent equipment. Example - there are plenty of places to XC ski by me, but only a few that rent skiis. Same with Kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or biking.
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Some recommendations - I can get a list of hundreds of restaurants in the area, but I don't want to sift through hundreds of reviews.
Something like:
If you want pizza, we recommend XXX. Add to that list Chinese take out, walking distance from Air BNB, fast casual, etc.
If you are big enough to host kids - nearest playground or area they can run around.
Recreation to do for an out of town person who needs to rent equipment. Example - there are plenty of places to XC ski by me, but only a few that rent skiis. Same with Kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or biking.
Definitely agree to this. Curate your list, don’t just inundate with info.
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Some recommendations - I can get a list of hundreds of restaurants in the area, but I don't want to sift through hundreds of reviews.
Something like:
If you want pizza, we recommend XXX. Add to that list Chinese take out, walking distance from Air BNB, fast casual, etc.
If you are big enough to host kids - nearest playground or area they can run around.
Recreation to do for an out of town person who needs to rent equipment. Example - there are plenty of places to XC ski by me, but only a few that rent skiis. Same with Kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or biking.
Definitely agree to this. Curate your list, don’t just inundate with info.
And then get kickbacks from your recommended spots!
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Some recommendations - I can get a list of hundreds of restaurants in the area, but I don't want to sift through hundreds of reviews.
Something like:
If you want pizza, we recommend XXX. Add to that list Chinese take out, walking distance from Air BNB, fast casual, etc.
If you are big enough to host kids - nearest playground or area they can run around.
Recreation to do for an out of town person who needs to rent equipment. Example - there are plenty of places to XC ski by me, but only a few that rent skiis. Same with Kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or biking.
Definitely agree to this. Curate your list, don’t just inundate with info.
Agreed. Provide YOUR recommendations as a local.
- THE BEST restaurant in the city
- couple more restaurant options, indicating if they are touristy or more of a locals place....some people prefer one, others the other
- list of cheap eats
- list of cheap, fun things to do in the city....most likely they'll know the expensive ones from their research but maybe not cheap things
- and like others said, pizza, etc.
Also include tour brochures at the back or separately.