Is Airbnb Hosting Affecting Your Relationship?
BY MIKEL HUBBARD
FORMER HGTV PRODUCER | CO-FOUNDER, THE HOST CO |
OWNER, TIMES EIGHT PROPERTY & DESIGN
When you Airbnb your home as a couple, you’re inviting strangers into your space. Sometimes that means awesome new friendships. Sometimes that means “who’s going to ask this weirdo to leave?” How does having strangers at your dinner table affect your relationship?
We talked to several couples with and without kids who rent out rooms in their home or on their property to see how being a host affects their relationship. Here’s what we learned!
SARAH and PAULINA, 30 and 28, New York City:
Sarah: “Paulina and I rent out our office/guest bedroom one week a month and that totally works for us. It’s actually nice to have someone else around to break up the dynamic and makes us more of team when we have to deal with problems together.”
Paulina: “I think it’d be more stressful if we had to do it ALL the time, so keep it to short stints and you might find it makes your relationship stronger.”
DEVON and SANDRA, 37 and 39, Austin, TX:
Devon: “We rent out a guest house behind our house. It’s a real give and take and CAN be stressful when one person feels like they’re doing all the work, but also money can be stressful and ruin a relationship too.”
Sandra: “We realized it was better to have as little interaction with the guests as possible. At first we’d invite them into our home for dinner and wine, but pretty quickly realized people on vacay are ready to party every night and that got old quick. Plus, having a drunk chick hit on your husband in front of you kind of made me take a step back.”
ROBIN and OSCAR, 35 and 41, Toronto, Ontario
Robin: “We rent out an in-law unit in our home. We have a twelve year old daughter and a ten year old son, so in doing this, my children’s safety was our main concern.”
Oscar: “Guests have a separate entrance and we just insist that our children only talk to guests when we’re around. So far, it works for our family and has exposed our kids to a diverse culture of people from all over the world. We’ve loved the experience.”
Our couples biggest tips:
Make sure each person in the couple understands their role in the business, and that both responsibilities and income are split fairly.
Keep certain spaces off limits so you have somewhere to go if you need quiet time or private time without being disturbed.
People will keep odd hours when they’re on vacation, so don’t feel bad about setting a curfew. When someone is grinding coffee and yapping on their phone at 5am, or slamming a door from coming home at midnight, you’re going to look at the other person like “Tell them to shut up!” You’re better off setting quiet hours and curfews so the onus is on the guest to obey them, not for you and your partner to enforce general respect.
Good luck, and don’t forget, have fun, too!