Tips for Hosts

General

The concept of letting out rooms in a family home on a short term basis to travellers and tourists is not new.

Bed and breakfast accommodation is the salvation of many travellers and a welcome income for homeowners.

But until now, a home owner who wanted to let out a room or a self-contained flat/apartment or house, especially on an ad-hoc basis, had no way of letting travellers know about this availability.

RoomFT, allows anyone who wishes to let out rooms or a self-contained flat/apartment or house, to register as a host, record which days their room/accommodation is available to let, how much they want in rent and then allow the website to match them with travellers.

Before registering, here are some ideas to think about:

Is your room/accommodation in a fit state to rent out?

• Is it in good decorative order?
• Are the curtains, tables, beds and bedding in good condition?
• Is the lighting adequate for reading and dressing?
• Is there a mirror for dressing?
• Is there enough wardrobe space?
• Does the room/accommodation have adequate locks?

How much should I charge?

We recommend you look at listings around your area and what B&Bs and hotels are charging. Pitch your price at 30-50% less than the market rate. You can always increase your price after you built a good reputation and received reviews.

Remember, you need to make it worthwhile for the traveller to choose your room/accommodation, above others, and so price accordingly.

How much does it cost to join RoomFT?

It is FREE to become a member of RoomFT and FREE to become a HOST and register your room/accommodation as available for letting.

A 10% commission is payable by Hosts on the amount charged to Travellers for the stay.

Advertising your room/accommodation on the website

Ensure you give your potential guests plenty of information about your room/accommodation.

• Where is the property located?
• Is it near public transport?
• Is there off street parking?
• Take lots of photographs and upload them to the site
• Will guests have access to the kitchen, lounge and garden?
• Are you providing breakfast and/or dinner?
• Are you going to provide towels?
• What are your preferred arrival and departure times?
• Do you allow or have pets?
• Do you allow young families with little children?

There is space within your profile to add this information or any other terms that are important to you or to travellers.

How do I get my profile to appear on top of search results?

Travellers use the following options to sort search results before deciding who they book with.

- Verification status
- Feedback from other members
- Recommendation by friends
- Email response percentage
- Last login date

To appear on top of search results, you should therefore:

a) Login on a regular basis.
b) Respond to enquiries from other members even if you are unable to host them in order to maintain a high email response percentage.
c) Apply to 'Get Verified'. Verified hosts are identified with this special icon on maps.
d) Get feedback from members you have hosted.
e) Use our Friend Finder tool (available on View My Friends link on left hand of the screen) to invite your friends to post their personal recommendation on your profile and add credibility to it.

How do I get more enquiries and bookings?

In addition to ensuring you appear on top of search results, you should:

• Ensure your price is competitive. Most travellers travel on a budget.
• Look after your guests and they in turn will recommend your profile to friends, family and colleagues.
• Market your profile and grab travellers' attention by writing about yourself, location, transport etc. Give reasons why travellers should book with you.
• Upload lots of photographs of your property.
• Log in regularly and use "Search for a Traveller" in order to find and contact travellers that have posted a room request in your area.
• Join or create a group.
• Copy your profile link www.roomft.com/members/"your screen name"' and share it on Facebook, Twitter and other websites that you have an account with by using the bookmark link below.


• Promote your profile on your blog, discussion forums and other websites.
• Advertise on Craigslist and Gumtree or other classified websites in your area and ask potential guests to contact you at your RoomFT profile www.roomft.com/members/"your screen name".

What is a Verified Host?

Travellers may be concerned to ensure that the person they are staying with is bona fide.

RoomFT has an optional facility that will allow both hosts and travellers to be verified, so that each can be confident about the other.

Verified homeowners are easily identifiable on maps with this icon . This increases their chances of letting out their home or rooms.

Travellers may choose to only select 'verified' hosts and hence your chances are improved if you avail yourself of this facility.

The annual verification fee is only UK £ 9.99, US $16.99, € 11.99 euro, AUD $ 16.99, CAN $16.99 or Yen 1600, subject to changes in exchange rates.

How do I get paid?

When you agree to host another member you should ask them to send you a Request and Pay for Booking form to accept. The link for this is on the left hand panel and centre of your profile. This will ensure that the booking is recorded on RoomFT.

Travellers are required to make full payment to RoomFT for the accommodation booked when you accept their Request and Pay for Booking form. Payments made are held by RoomFT and are available for Hosts to redeem after the stay.If a traveller has requested a hosting for more than one week, you can ask them to book your room/accommodation in weekly slots. This will ensure you can redeem the money they paid at the end of each week.

Hosts who wish to redeem the money in their booking account should login and select from the left side of the screen - My Host Account > Booking Account > Paid Bookings.Please allow up to seven business days for your payment to be processed.

Hosts should not accept cheque payments from Travellers that exceed the price of the accommodation or room that they are renting with a request from the Traveller that you cash the cheque and send the balance by money transfer. Such cheques are often stolen and may eventually bounce. Please see our safety tips.

Why should I ask travellers to pay through RoomFT?

By asking your guests to pay through the website, you will be protected from no-shows and awkwardness of asking your guests for money. Hosts can enforce cancellation charges if a traveller cancels a booking or fails to turn up.

Also, hosts and travellers can only rate and give feedback on each other on bookings paid through the website. Members with high ratings appear higher in search results. They also have higher status and reputation within the RoomFT community.

The exchange of email address, website link, telephone number or contact address before a booking has been paid for is strictly forbidden and will result in the suspension of your account.

At the end of their stay your guest will be asked to give their feedback on you. You can also give your feedback on your guest. Receiving and giving feedbacks will make it easier for both of you to host and stay with other members in future as the feedback you received will be visible on your profile for other members to see.

Receiving your guests/traveller

There are a few important points to remember to make your guests stay with you an enjoyable one:

Provide them with clear instructions on where you live and how they can reach you by public transport.
Make sure you are at home to greet them on first arrival.
You may wish to have flowers in the hall and a paper on their bed.
Try and obtain tourist maps to hand them.
Ensure there is fresh linen on the beds for each new guest and change linen at least every 3 to 4 days, if they stay longer.
Explain clearly any house rules and consider having these printed out or on your RoomFT profile.
If the bathroom is to be shared, make clear arrangements about its use.
Have plenty of toilet paper available and ensure bathroom is clean.

Above all, make their stay comfortable, so that they recommend you to friends and post positive comments about you on the RoomFT site.

Watch out for scams

Report any attempted fraud or suspicious emails by other members to us. You should also report any fraud and illegal activity to the Police.

One scam we have come across is where guests offer to send you a cheque for an amount that exceeds your room rates. The guest will then insist that you send the balance to them through payment services like Western Union or Money Gram. Under no circumstances should you enter into any such arrangements.

Please use common sense. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.