The dark side of Airbnb businesses in Nakuru city
Nakuru Airbnb owners lament over theft in the rooms.
Imagine yourself sunbathing in Watamu, sipping on a cold beverage as you count money that keeps trickling into your account thanks to your Airbnb property.
Sounds like a dream right?
After conversations with a couple BnB owners across Nakuru, I quickly find out that this is far from their reality.
Sharing their experiences with Mtaa Wangu, Lydia Obare and Eugene Wamalwa helped shed light on the less glamorous aspects of this booming industry.
Lydia Obare started the discussion sharing, "One thing no one prepared me for was the inconsistent stream of money. There are months when nothing enters the account and you still have to pay for rent, water, electricity and pay the cleaners."
The inconsistent stream of money is of course only made worse by the number of BnB properties that keep mushrooming across Nakuru city.
Another challenge Lydia additionally cites as a challenge BnB owners face is theft.
"Most BnBs these days don't put so much effort into decor because the minute you do so, clients are quick to steal or at times even break them. It's such a big loss since any breakage/ loss is footed by us (BnB owners) and we all know décor isn't cheap at all," Lydia adds.
While seconding her theft point, Eugene Wamalwa also points out that cleaners are at times part of the stealing problem.
Eugene shares, "I had a cleaner that stole from my client that was staying at my property for over a month. The cleaner stole the clients bag that contained close to 100 USD and the passport. This of course landed her in jail."
The two BnB owners also point out theft in form of clients who don't pay.
"You find that a client checks in with the promise to pay the rest of the fee during their stay only to check out very quickly without doing so," Lydia laments.
To combat this, Eugene notes that he asks the clients to fully pay before checking into his property.
While speaking on clients amidst laughter, Lydia shares one drawback she has faced is a client that came in with bedbugs sharing that she had to seriously fumigate her property as a result.
The last great challenge the two business owners mention is the misuse of resources, each of course citing different examples.
Lydia starts of by sharing," Clients are usually quick to request white beddings and towels only for them to stain them. One time, some guests quickly checked out after peeing on the beddings."
"Also, most clients aren't so prudent in how they use water or electricity. They end up using a week's tokens in a day or two which is very expensive in the long run."
Chiming in on this point, Eugene points out for him, he has seen resource waste with his property cleaners.
"I had a cleaner who'd come into my property and use the place as hers going as far as boiling githeri and kamande on the gas cooker and even inviting her boyfriend," he shares while laughing before adding, "of course now I look back and laugh but it wasn't funny at the moment."
As the discussion comes to an end the two business people note that despite these drawbacks, they don't regret going into the BnB industry.
"At the end of the day, BnB ownership is a business and all businesses have risks. These just seem to be ours." Lydia closes off.