I’ll preface the summarized ideas below with the fact that I’m fascinated by little details that niche communities uncover in collaborative settings.  I love the unobvious, unpublished ideas that are often brought about in conversations with industry experts and fellow hosts. One person’s question brings about another person’s epiphany, which brings out another person’s curiosity.

Whether virtual or in-person, events with Host2Host are chock full of conversations like this. Recently Host2Host members gathered with 3 professionals from 3 alternative platforms: HostShare, Radious, and PadSplit. Here are a few "light bulb" moments I had about each platform. But I promise there’s more if you consider watching the entire conversation, especially if you’ve never heard of these alternative platforms!

HostShare offers hosts opportunities to book properties up to 5 days in advance for up to 21 nights of free accommodations annually within the HostShare network. Hosts only pay cleaning fees, avoiding nightly rates, platform fees, or taxes.

While the “free” nights sound appealing, I also was super reluctant to think that a 5 day advance booking window is sufficient time to plan around work, family, and life. Anthony then pointed out something entirely unobvious to me: simply consider booking a hotel well in advance because most are refundable until the day before check-in anyway. Then shop a HostShare stay as travel window approaches closer. This immediately addressed my anxiety if a HostShare stay isn’t available during the desired travel window. To me, this is an unobvious strategy just isn't something HostShare could publish, but it absolutely made me reconsider the platform. Hosts hosting hosts!

Radious may be much more compatible with HOA’s and neighborly concerns about short term rentals than I realized, mainly parking and noise concerns. It was unobvious to me that parking is much less of a concern because Radious guests are not overnight guests, they are generally only on-property during business hours.  Amina pointed out, funny enough, Radious guests and neighbors become like two ships passing each other in the day. Potentially much less traffic impact than overnight guests. Again, maybe obvious to others, but since Radious doesn’t host overnight guests, Radious hosts can often avoid the need for short term rental permits in certain markets. 

Padsplit could be summarized as a platform for mid-term, co-living room rental stays. For hosts and investors, renting a furnished home by the room may offer an opportunity for greater cashflow than a traditional long term rental.

HOWEVER, my big unobvious “aha!” moment was realizing that given the nature of multiple turns and staggered lengths of stay among multiple rooms, hosts and home owners have much more frequent and legal access to their properties. Hosts typically cannot enter the home while guests occupy the property. However, with individual room leases, it seems homeowners can indeed enter common areas of the home and unoccupied rooms in the home, be it for cleanings, maintenance etc. This probably warrants further consideration but this struck me as an unobvious, unpublished benefit for homeowners to feel at ease that they can enter their own property, especially when compared to a traditional long term rental.

Watch the conversation on Youtube to discover your own unobvious moments!