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Airbnb options with something a little different
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Spaniard Luis Azcona and Brazilian Joao Trevisan, who work in Hangzhou, rented a tatty and cluttered old house in the city and transformed it into an airy, space-filled home decorated in a vibrant blue and white beach theme.
As they have two spare rooms, the duo decided to lease them through Airbnb.com — where people can list, find, and rent lodgings. Less than 24 hours later, they received a message from their first customer.
Hangzhou is one of the top tourist destinations in China, attracting more than 100 million visitors from home and abroad last year.
Today, there are around 400 apartments in Hangzhou registered on Airbnb, but three years ago, the number was less than 20, the number’s rising after the company started promotions on China’s mainland in 2013.
According to iResearch, the online short-term apartment rental market in China was worth 4 billion yuan (US$628 million) in 2014, and will surge to 10 billion yuan this year.
A factor in this is that Chinese people are increasingly familiar with Airbnb.
According to the San Francisco headquartered company, in the past year the number of Chinese tourists who rented apartment through Airbnb for their outbound tours increased seven folds, the fastest among all market areas of the website.
Today we visit three Hangzhou Airbnb apartments, and see how guests from home and abroad are made to feel at home.
Making waves
Located in southwest urban Hangzhou, Mantoushan community has many three-story houses built in the 1950s and 1960s, many of which are now showing their years and looking rather shabby.
But The Beach is quite different. One side of its facade is painted with beach-themed graffiti, while in the garage there is a wall painting depicting surfing. Meanwhile, the high wall in the hall is decorated with messages and drawings by visitors from different countries.
With four bedrooms, one living room, a movie room, a terrace, a well-equipped kitchen and three bathrooms, plus plants, the house is at once large and cozy.
Azcona and Trevisan renovated it as they plan to live there for a number of years. Two rooms are let on Airbnb because “we don’t want to waste the space, and want to make more friends,” explains Azcona.
It was seven months ago that the pair decided to combine their rent budget to rent a larger place. Even though when they found the house it was “divided into a dozen of rooms and full of rubbish,” they decided to take it.
It took them three months to convert it, with the help of many friends, including several interior designers and artists. And because the two are huge surfing fans, they chose the theme of the beach.
“The house now is a platform of making friends and sharing art,” said Azcona, as they will exhibit their artist friends’ works in the near future.
For more info, visit https://zh.airbnb.com/rooms/6894819; or follow their WeChat account “thebeach.”
Special ingredient
“Belong anywhere” is Airbnb’s slogan. And Hangzhou Airbnb host Smile Ying hopes that the kitchen of her apartment in the west of the city will help give guests a sense of belonging.
Seasonings are so numerous that they form a United Nations of favors as almost every guest adds material for the kitchen before they leave.
“It is a tradition started by my guests. They use stuff in the kitchen, add new things, explain that on Airbnb, and others follow,” explained Ying. “Gradually, I’ve accrued Japanese wasabi, Thai, Italian balsamic vinegar and lots of other things.”
Ying believes this trust is mutual. “I provide flowers and fruit for every customer, and double check whether every glass or cup is clean, because I want them feel at home.”
This attention to detail has paid off as Ying won the “superhost” badge awarded by Airbnb, granted to hosts who get five-star comments from at least 80 percent of guests.
“Now my life is filled with surprises,” she said. “It’s so exciting to hear my Airbnb app beep and tell me new friends are coming.”
For more info, visit https://zh.airbnb.com/users/show/22970893
Art of hospitality
This is how many guests in Banyan spend their day: rest in the guesthouse containing many artworks; hike in nearby mountains or bike around West Lake; eat local dishes at neighboring farmers’ homes; join in art activities and drinks with artists at night.
Banyan is a typical guesthouse, but stands out because its owner Zheng Wenxin is an artist and her husband Peng Zhongming is an art dealer, and they make their house “a rendezvous of contemporary activities and artists.”
Zheng exhibits works — from paintings and sketches to installation and videos — on the stairs and in guestrooms. Peng organizes serious artistic events and casual parties, while seminars and concerts among artists and art fans take place almost every week. The couple don’t charge admission for exhibitions or concerts, yet always treat visitors to food and drinks.
Most of the guesthouse’s customers are from Airbnb, and owner Peng finds that “they don’t ask for service like a hotel’s.”
Instead, “they want to feel warmth here, and to experience local culture as well.”
“We also love to communicate with our guests from different places to refresh our knowledge,” he added.
The guesthouse is in the scenic Longjing area, a 15-minute drive to downtown.
For more info, visit https://zh.airbnb.com/users/show/647033
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