Most Unique Stay 2023 - the Raglan LoveBus. Photo / Supplied, Airbnb
Most Unique Stay 2023 - the Raglan LoveBus. Photo / Supplied, Airbnb
Don’t be stingy, cut the service fees and NEVER leave a list of chores for your guests. These are the top tips from New Zealand’s best bed and breakfast hosts on the holiday rental platform Airbnb.
In its third year, Airbnb’s NZ Host Awards recognise the hosts letting out properties in New Zealand who have gone the extra distance to make guests feel at home in their patch of Aotearoa.
While the Host of the Year is all about the people behind the top-rated stays, it also helped highlight some seriously cool properties which hosts have made their own.
Best Designed Stay was awarded to Emily Scott for her Luxury Glamping Tent in Waikato. Scott started the luxury tented experience in a Waitomo field in 2016 when she married a dairy farmer.
“The view was too nice to be wasted on cows,” she said.
Best Designed Stay 2023 - Emily Scott and husband Benjamin in their cavernous tent in Waitomo. Photo / Supplied, Airbnb
The luxury tent, which sleeps up to eight adults, has a stone kitchen and double-sided fireplace, which most flats would envy.
Having sold her Auckland-based furniture business, Scott brought her designer’s eye to Waikato.
What started as a safari tent now has a landscaped lawn and polished concrete flooring. The large, white marquee lends itself to events. “We get lots of multi-generational groups,” says Scott, who says they had a small wedding in the field just the other week.
“Start small” was also the advice of Tara Wrigley Gignoux, whose converted school bus was the winner of New Zealand’s most unique Airbnb.
The LoveBus, which is parked on a coastal farm in Raglan, was bought from a family in Taranaki. “We had it on the property for about 11 years,” says Tara, who admits the bus has been on quite a journey to get it to this point. “We just wanted to make it a very comfortable place, which people would want to visit for more than just the view.”
Now a decidedly static bus, Tara and partner Guillaume have spent the past four years building an epic decking space and even a cedar-wood sauna.
The couple were “really stoked” to be named “most unique stay”, especially in Raglan where they say there’s a huge amount of standout baches and beach properties.
“Sharing our land makes us enjoy it even more,” she says of the 35-acre field. “We love seeing people use the space.”
Most Unique Stay 2023 - Hosts Tara and Guillaume Wrigley Gignoux outside their Raglan LoveBus. Photo / Supplied, Airbnb
However, winners of Host of the Year 2023 prove it’s not the size of your property but how your guests use it.
Rotorua-based David and Christina Chemis were crowned the overall winners of Host of the Year for their hospitality at The Cabin. In just four years they have racked up an impressive 287 five-star reviews. Even more impressive considering they launched in a pandemic.
Hosts of the Year 2023 - David and Christina Chemis, whose carefully considered Cabin sits outside Rotorua. Photo / Supplied, Airbnb
Despite having almost 100 cancelled nights in their first year, those who made it loved the property - which has since appeared in a coffee-table book of New Zealand’s best tiny houses.
Having travelled extensively around Asia and Europe, David Chemis says they’ve picked up a number of tips from staying in other BnBs around the world.
“Don’t be stingy” is David’s number one piece of advice. Having stayed with a group in Tel Aviv, with 10 teabags to share between eight guests, he says that catering above expectations goes a long way. “It’s nice to provide little extras like umbrellas or slip-on shoes for guests, and pre-empt their needs.”
The couple recently stayed in several Airbnbs in Japan and are always looking at ideas they can bring from their travels to their listing.
A chore list and laminated set of house rules is not something they will be adopting, though he noted it’s common in some countries.
“A big A4 list of dos and don’ts is off-putting,” says David, who says that any rules or need-to-knows are much better delivered in person rather than delivered like a written edict.
“We like to meet our guests in person even if it’s only briefly.
“We also don’t do a separate cleaning service fee, like other BnBs. It’s good to be upfront about price.”
Based on the volume of five-star reviews and guest feedback from the last year, the final winners were chosen by a panel of judges from Airbnb’s Australia - New Zealand operations.
