How about this!

[Robin4]

I just accepted my 100th reservation.....how good is that!

I wish I could adequately describe what this experience has meant to me!

Before I embarked on hosting I had no idea how many wonderful people there are out there in this world and this has rubbed off on me! To start with I just provided basically four walls and a bed because I felt that extra bit of money would be nice. But as guests came to me, they wanted to relate to me and take away some of my life and what this area has to offer.....so I have provided more and more to give my guests the best that I can!

Well the reward is, hosting, (including Airbnb) has enabled me to buy a houseboat on the River Murray which I now intent to add to my hosting options!

It is powered by a couple on Honda 120hp outboards which give it the necessay zip to get along the river!

Features a really generous living area with all mod cons

One of the three bedrooms

Have now replaced that outdoor setting with the one in the previous shot, but Jacuzzi remains intact on the upper deck!!

Although it's an relatively old boat now (ten years) it is in great condition and we have inherited bookings into 2018. The River Murray is 3,000 Kms long so there is no holiday that could become boring on this boat!

I could not have done this without what Airbnb has done for me. 

I see so much negativity on the forum but, to all of you......I can't really imagine how life could get much better......And hosting has had a big part in that!!

I will post a listing for this soon

Cheers....Rob

[Andrea9]

This is so absolutely cool and amazing @Robin105, wow!

What a beautiful houseboat, and such a perfect extension to your hosting enterprise!

You must be feeling so chuffed and proud. Well, that does help smooth the hurt of steam-rollered plants...

Congratulations, and a great way to start out for 2017!

Cheers, Andrea

[Kirstie]

Congratulations @Robin4! That's incredible that you've reached 100 reservations, you must be so proud!

The house boat is a well deserved reward for all your hard work in hosting. It looks beautiful! I'm glad this will allow you to expand your hosting options!

I wish you (and you too @Andrea9) a very Happy New Year!

Kirstie

[Lizzie]

This is a beautiful boat @Robin4, can I come and stay? 🙂 

A huge huge huge congratulations on your 100th reservation. Here's to many more great experience, as you embark (excuse the pun) on this wonderful next step. More exciting times ahead in 2017! 

Enjoy.

Lizzie

[Robin4]

@Lizzie.....I can't say all those bookings are with Airbnb, but at the rate we are chalking them up we should be up to 100 Aibnb bookings before June! We are currently up to 43 bookings with ABB

Can you come and stay?.........You sure can!! 

Thanks Lizzie, It is a nice boat, for its age, it is absolutely unmarked inside and out which is unbelievable as it has been a rental. But it has been looked after by one of the best houseboat rental companies on the river.....and they don't tolerate any nonsense!

It has an almost designer kitchen with black granite stone benchtops....indestructable, all mod cons including convection and microwave ovens, great outdoor grill complete with Wok burner, dishwasher, it's all air conditioned and sleeps 10 pretty comfortably. It has 2 queens and one double bedroom and two sofa/beds. We have put a nice comfortable lounge out on the rear swim deck, and upstairs there is an almost formal outdoor eating area and bloody good hot tub....which is nice on the summer nights when the sun has gone down and there is a **bleep** in the still outback air. Also just built in a fridge on the upper deck to save all the back and forth up and down the stairs!!

These boats are pretty sought after as holiday rentals because our River Murray is over 3,000 Kms long, and at just over 18Metres (58ft) in length this boat is still small enough to be able to fit through the various locks in the river system up to the Murray/Darling river junction.

It has previously been booked through a company called 'Unforgettable Houseboats' and they have delisted it while the changeover has been taking place. There are still a years worth of bookings on the slate which we are in the process of taking over. Some we may loose (in fact possibly as high as half) but hopefully ABB will take up any slack! Once I have established a final complete transfer list I will relocate the existing calendar and merge it with the Airbnb. Then I will put up a new listing for it.

Oh, good times ahead Lizzie, and I tell you what, it was the IES and Airbnb that made me brave enough to take the plunge!!

Cheers.....Rob

[Ana7]

Wow @Robin4! Congratulations!!! Amazing! And I mean everything is amazing, the number of reservations, your success in hosting, and last but not least this riverboat! 

When I grow up, I want to be Robin 🙂

[Robin4]

@Ana7

Thanks Ana but, and as you well know being a Superhost, it's the way you treat people. I am finding most of my booking requests are a result of guests trolling through the reviews. Mine is not a wonderful swish listing in a 'to die for' location, but I offer service to the best of my ability and Ana, it is paying off! 

In a way I am afraid the bubble will burst!.....At 72, I don't like sinking myself into another mortgage but we did have a reasonable bit of discretionary money available and the mortgage is not large, so, lets see what this year brings!

And my God, look at you!  You have such a wonderful listing just oozing cleanliness with privacy and just the greatest reviews. I think it should be the other way around.....I should like to be like you when I grow up!!!

Cheers.....Rob

[Ana7]

Thank you so much Robin for these compliments 😘

[Laurie85]

First time hostess here .... wow! What a great idea to reinvest the money for another property. And what a lovely investment you have! Congratulations on your new addition. Well done!

laurie

[Sharon64]

Many congratulations! Your hard work has paid off!

[Helen3]

Hi @Robin4

Congrats on reaching a hundred sets of guests.

Your houseboat looks stunning - I am super jeleous.

In my younger days I lived on a narrowboat - nothing as glam as yours.

Glad to hear your hosting business is going so well.

[Robin4]

Thanks to all who have made a comment on this thread. I, to a point have regreted making this post because it sounds like a bit of 'Trumpet Blowing', and maybe it is. But my main focus was to get across the things that are capable, and in your grasp when you are an Airbnb host. Hosting is returning me around $1,500 per month which is considerably more than the amount of the mortgage on this purchase. 

With interest rates on invested monies being what they currently are I could not have dreamed of doing this without the support of Airbnb...I have outlayed a few thousand dollars on my listing and I am getting back $18,000 per year in return!

To all those who feel like throwing in the towel, or think that hosting is a just too hard a gig....I just want to say, this is what you can achieve if you stay focused, be yourself, and concentrate on the positives and flush those negatives where they belong!!!

I am working on getting this purchased listed but it is already heavily booked...and I do want to spend some time on it myself just to revel in the experience....thanks ABB

Cheers....Rob