Indeed, you are not alone there @Huronbase
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It was totally different for us, I think we only had about 3 reviews when we got accepted for a luxury home with a swimming pool, but the reason we got accepted (I believe) was because of our reason to visit that particular location, and weâve returned to sit for them too, lovely people, beautiful pets. Around the same time we were given another sit with lakes on their land, again with just a few reviews, but we knew the area really well. So it just depends.
Anyway, you know what you want out of your sits looking ahead, so donât get side tracked thinking about the type of sits you donât want, focus your energy on the ones you DO want, and more will come your way.
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that sounds cool, was it in a highly competitive area? Because you mention a particular location. So it wasnât southern FL in the winter, where so many people want to go?
One thing I would suggest is asking to do a video chat before accepting the sit and during the video, ask the homeowner to show you the pet, the spaces youâll be using (kitchen, living area, outdoor area) as well as the bedroom and bathroom youâll be using. Seeing those areas during a video chat will give you a good feel for whether the level of comfort, clutter and cleanliness is acceptable to you.
We are willing to stay in homes that are not as nice as our own in order to experience different areas and get time with lovely pets. However, we do not like staying in untidy or cluttered places. It happens from time to time, but we try to learn this in the video chat and turn it down if offered if it doesnât meet our standards of comfort.
Neither were in the US, so less numbers-wise from that point of view, but nevertheless the swimming pool one was in a semi-desirable location 
. The other one with the lakes had 3 dogs, so less would apply for that one anyway. Both places were beautiful!!!
Understand, but I have found that in the US, in FL in winter, having double digit 5 star reviews is the hurdle. So you may have found an exception in a less competitive area in Europe, trying to spend winter in Florida in a beautiful home, with pool, near the beach, find applications fill up within a day and usually the HOs like to feel secure with someone who has a lot of references. Why wouldnât they? It would be a contradiction of reason to take someone less experienced than someone with 20 five star reviews. So can it happen, like it did for you, yes, but not so likely in a competitive area.
Further, a newby could probably stay in beautiful homes with pools and hot tubs in many areas in the US, that are semi desirable. I am not so sure what is semi desirable.
My version of semi-desirable is not at the level of Paris, London, Amsterdam, or Florida, the next tier down.
No, itâs been the total opposite for us, and I know thereâs others on the forum like us, but they keep this quiet as they are trying to be supportive of others who perhaps struggle to get sits.
So, I know this is going slightly off topic, but hereâs why we got âluxuryâ sits right at the start, because it may help othersâŚ
I knew there were plenty of other sitter applications for the two âluxuryâ sits with huge numbers of reviews, over us with just a few reviews when we started with THS less than 2 years ago. However, our reasoning behind visiting both locations was/is a lot more substantial than just for tourist reasons.
Weâve got family in both areas, and more importantly weâll return time after time if they need sitters. Plus we already know their area more than a normal sitters that are applying, where the host doesnât actually know if a sitter will like their vague location or not, let alone their home.
Now, less than 2 years after joining THS (we joined in March 2023, but our first sit was in May 2023), weâve got 37 x 5* reviews in every category, but weâve only been turned down for 2 sits in the last 18 months⌠ie since 6 months after joining, weâve only been turned down twice (apart from the ones where we were beat to the post obviously, where we were too late applying so they were already in talks with others).
The reason I believe we had such a high success chance right from the start, is focus! We were only focused on sits in two large areas, one of which involves a flight, but all of our sits in the two different locations are within a 2hr journey of each other (the majority are within 1hr 30mins).
So we know more about both areas than most sitters that apply. I think that plays an important part, because now when HOâs see our reviews, the likelihood is thereâll be a place they are familiar with, and we mention our closest sit locations to them in our personal message at the point of applying, so again itâs familiarity.
Then on top of that, our personal backgrounds are an added bonus to an HO too, because they know weâll sort of any unforeseen issues that arise while we are sitting, they know weâre the responsible sort, and all of that is evident in our profile, weâre totally transparent. So an HO wouldnât be left with any questions about who we are and why we want to sit in their particular location.
PS @Huronbase, itâs not about sitting in a luxury home for us, itâs about the embracing the individual experience for what it is. However, youâve got reviews now anyway, but hereâs a tip, if youâd like your luxury house to be in a specific location (eg FL), and youâve been there before, did you take a selfie with something very identifiable to that place in the background? If so, change your profile image to it, because familiarity could help you get you one step further than other sitters. Perhaps also mention that place name in your profile too near the start of your profile if you arenât applying to other locations, so it puts you two steps ahead of others. We do! You can always change it after youâve got the sit you want, but to any other HOâs in other places, itâs simply a profile pic and nothing else.
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I think anyone with double digit sits and 5 star reviews is considered responsible. I am glad your strategy works for you. I think you have a niche area where you have family and that is very nice. And, I mentioned, I prefer homes where the furniture doesnât smell, are not cluttered with childrenâs toys, have comfortable patio furniture to relax in and have streaming/TV services more than just Disney+. These things were not on the radar before I had this sit, since I had never sat in a home where there were any children under 12 living. So I did not expect this to be a luxury home, I did not expect what I got. And then to write me that a neighbor contacted her to say the garbage bin was still out â when I know it was because she checked the camera, I sent her a picture of the street and everyoneâs bin was out since the day before was a holiday. I was the first to put it back. That was the straw etc etc. Anyway, it is Wed and I am leaving early Friday. And little to clean due to clutter. And I am working on my tan.
I think this is a learning curve. Just like HOs have to deal with the 5 app limit.
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I think that to some extent, hospitality has to cover quality of facilities, as there isnât otherwise a category for that.
But with a focus on âhow much thought have they put into the sitters experience as their guestâ, which is why I think it fits in hospitality.
A good condition mattress or an old saggy one that gives you backache?
A clean and tidy bedroom you can relax in versus a bed in the corner of a cluttered âjunk roomâ
Trust and access to use all the relevant facilities or kitchen equipment with âdo not useâ post it notes (as Iâve once seen mentioned on here).
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I agree. A previous review mentioned the less than desirable bed but they didnât mark them down on hospitality. I am going 3 stars, because she texted me about bringing the bin in within the hour the garbage truck had come. I had gone to the grocery store. And leaving a cluttered countertop and dining table.
These are peopleâs homes not Airbnbs. The site is as popular as it is and there are as many homes available in as many places because it is open to all. Itâs not all mansions and millionaires. I feel a rating for homes would be off-putting to many homeowners. Not even Airbnb has that! Hosts are required to have photos and descriptions so people should know where they are staying. Maybe THS could work on more filters for types of home on searches, but I wouldnât want to see home ratings.
Iâve had sitters approach me on the forum with questions about my home as I live in a popular destination and also had them lose interest sometimes because I donât have a guest room, or a king bed, or something else that interests them. But the bed size and where the sitter sleeps is also on my listing. That should be enough for people to make an informed decision. Besides people are exploring all sorts of homes all over the world and the standards for what is luxury or even nice might vary. For instance, a very nice NYC apartment might have a shared laundry room rather than in-unit machines. Thatâs the way we roll here! Would that make it a 3-star accomodation.
Could you imagine if sitters got some additional star rating based on whether they had professional sitting experience, special home-care skills, pet first aide etc? Why would anyone in a 5-star home ever accept a 3-star sitter?
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I think that is what people complain about. That ratings and reviews donât always reflect the truth. That HOs are afraid to knock down a sitter that let them down or vice versa. I think that when I am traveling and filling in spaces, like this weekend, I am not as picky as when I am staying for a week or longer in a desired destination. But as it has been pointed out, hospitality covers this. Like getting a cot instead of comfy bed. Or dirty sheets.
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Like now, I have to give a rating on my last place. And I wanted to do 4 stars, but you think of this family, trying to take a vacation and the cot like bed is what they have. And sometimes, you donât even get a guest room. And yes it was horribly cluttered but she cleaned the bathroom. Same bathroom as her toddler uses, so it should be clean. But you feel guilty because it wasnât as nice as the place you just left that was very clean, spacious, pool. Non stinky furniture. Great TV choices. But like Marion said, do you rate them on luxury, or how hospitable they can be. And you donât want to hurt a young family from getting sits to take care of their dog. I was truly annoyed when she checked the camera and to make sure I took the garbage bin in â an hour after the truck came, first one on the street to do so. But I have left and then you get empathetic towards people trying the best they can. It is hard to leave a more honest review. I am refraining until I figure out how to put it.
Why would you rate on luxury? There are all kinds of homes on THS, the important thing is that they are clear and honest about the accommodations they are offering. If someone is only looking for luxury sits they should only take those sits. Although, what constitutes luxury is subjective. Iâve done sits in all different types of homes. The location, pets, and dates are much more important to me than the type of home. I just expect it to be clean and as described in the listing and photos. Hospitality is about making the sitter feel welcome, not about providing luxury.
If the house you sat in was not clean (you state cluttered and stinky), then take off a star or two for cleanliness.
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It was essentially clean. Just cluttered. Furniture was stinky for me. Maybe not for others, I am sensitive to smell. But they were honest about accomodations. They showed the cot like bunk bed where I would sleep. Which was separate from their beds, sometimes you have to sleep in the master. And location and dates were important to me. Hence, why I took it. So if they were honest, then how can you rate them lower? I donât expect people to shampoo their rugs before I come. I expect vacuumed. And the floors were swept, vacuumed. And during video chat, she didnât show me around. And pictures may have been taken when the child was a baby, so there werenât so many toys and stuff cluttering up the space.
If they were honest in both the listing and the description then you canât rate them down @Huronbase - what you could do, gently, is say âThe family home is well lived in & full of lifeâs treasures throughout. Sleeping accommodation is a pull down cot bed so you need to be an easy sleeper.â Etc. if you like them you could also say privately (post review), it would definitely help you get more sitters if you cleaned through pre sit as this is what THS tell us to expect on all sits. And/or ask THS to send them the check list for pre clean as an additional reminder. That way everyone is a winner and youâve still alerted future sitters to what they are walking into. #oneapproach
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It sounds like the sit was as expected, so why do you want to mark them down? If the listing was not accurate you could take off for accuracy of listing. We have 5 rating categories now that I think encompass most aspects of the sit.
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I like those phrases, thank you.
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Yes and no. I did not expect to cut my foot on the bunk ladder getting out of bed, bleeding all over the floor. Twice that happened. I did not expect her to watch the camera to see how long it took me to bring in the garbage bin after the truck came.