2021, week 44
Tania Dovile, Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia 🇦🇺

This week let’s meet Tania 😊

Tania and her husband Richard live in Hurstbridge, Victoria, Australia. They have been hosting a studio with a pool in a native tranquil Australian bushy area for the last 4 years. Tania and Richard also run a Catering business and they treat their guests with tasty food. They love meeting new people and making them feel special during their stay.

Let’s hear their story! 🔊

So, Tania tell us, how long have you been hosting for? How and why did you start? How many properties do you manage?

Hosting for about 4 years now. We actually started as we are both European and have a lot of people visit. We wanted our own space as when people come to Australia from Europe, it’s not just a day or 2 stays, it is mostly for weeks. When we didn’t have family or friends stay that’s when we decided to become hosts to anyone who wanted to share our little heaven. We only have one property.

Are you an owner or a manager? Is this a part-time or full-time occupation for you?

We own the property which is situated on our family property. For us it’s more a hobby, we love welcoming tourists into our local area.

What is the best thing about hosting, and what are the biggest problems you face?

The best thing is that we have met some really special people who are now our friends. We love spoiling our guests by cooking for them, we actually run a Catering business, so guests are fed really well. It’s also nice to know we have made people feel special and offered them a place to rest and relax. We haven’t encountered any real problems, we only get frustrated when guests expect us to not be on our property when they are here.

What is one thing you wish you knew when you started hosting?

How many fabulous people from all over the world, that we were going to meet and make friends with!

What is the most important advice/tip you would give someone interested in becoming a short-term rental host?

Make sure you are organized and have a lot of spare equipment and linen. Importantly use a site like Hosthub to help reduce double bookings etc.

Besides Hosthub, are there any tools, devices, or software (eg. Remote keylocks, cameras, local guide apps, power meters, etc) you use? What is your experience with them?

We are super fortunate as we are involved with our local Tourism group (Nillumbik Tourism) so we know all the fabulous things and places people can do and see!

Which channels do you list on? How much has your revenue increased since listing on multiple channels?

We are listed on 4 channels. Airbnb is our main channel for bookings because we have been able to get hundreds of reviews and future guests rely on this. Revenue hasn’t increased too much being on multiple channels, just because our city has been the longest city in the world in COVID lockdown.  We still have been able to host through this period but only to emergency workers…

Besides listing on multiple channels, what other things can a host do to increase his/her bookings and revenue?

Facebook is a great way to go, especially on your local community pages. Some people have family and friends coming to stay but don’t have the capacity to host them so they are out looking for somewhere for them to stay close by. This way they can pick them up and drop them off and it isn’t too far for them to travel. It also offers the guest a little bit of privacy. Give family and friends vouchers to give to their friends for birthdays, weddings, and Christmas.

Here are some photos to give you a better vision of  Tania’s property (click for larger versions) 🧐