Luggage storage is one of those age-old problems that all hosts have to contend with at some point on their entrepreneurial journey.
“Where can I leave my bags?” a common classic as guests walk into your Airbnb.
The reality is that no-one likes lugging lots of bags around.
Guests want to put their stuff to one side and start enjoying their trip without worrying about something so trivial and mundane.
And this is where you come in as a host.
You can win extra brownie points and positive reviews if you can sort out your guests luggage problems in advance.
There are 4 simple options available that you can organise for your guests or direct them to use.
Economy Solutions for Sharing
In many European countries there are new sharing economy services available to help guests store luggage.
In the UK, CityStasher is one of the key founders in this space and have terrific solutions. They also help connect you to local shops and hotels for a very reasonable price.
In the Spanish market, Keepiz will help you find local businesses. Other countries may have similar services, although many are new startups, so check reviews before you direct your guests to use them.
For all these businesses though it is the convenience that is the major upside for the guest. As the locations of these emerging startups increase, you may find one just around the corner of your property listing which would make it ideal for your guests. Repeat customers may also get all discount codes.
Free Short-term Options
Museums, galleries or shopping centres often have the facilities for luggage storage but for short stays only, and they may charge you a small fee for it.
The key with these venues is that they will only allow you to store your bags at those venues while you are using their facility. You cannot leave luggage overnight or for longer stays.
This option is only useful for emergency storage during check-in or check- out.
Lockers
In most city train stations, there are lockers that can store your bags. These range from relatively affordable to seriously expensive, like in London, the stations typically charge £12.50 for 24 hours.
Weekends and holidays are usually really busy so be prepared to queue.
Keep It at The Property
Your last resort is just to store the bags in your property if none of the other options are available.
Similarly, if the guest is only staying one day, it may not be worth it for them to take one of the other options that require more planning.
The best thing to do in this instance is to set aside an area (a garage, annex or spare room) for storage that your guests can use during their stay.
Another option to supplement this could be to use the increasing popular key-drop services, so your guests can drop their keys somewhere secure after they collect their luggage. This usually works well if you aren’t around to let them in or out, and it means your keys get left somewhere secure for you to collect later.
Keynest in London, and many others like it are viable options we vouch for.
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