Saturday, July 23, 2011

hotel amanda

i just wanted to save $20. but somehow i ended up scrubbing toilets and shampooing carpets for $2/hour.

it all began when i booked our first apartment in Copenhagen. the website i used said i could get a $20 rebate if i listed my property as a rental as well. muahahaha, i'm totally going to do that, i schemed. i'll throw together a quick listing, pop it up for two weeks until i get my money back, then delete it. badaboom badabing, twenty smackers back in my pocket. nobody comes to Winnipeg, i''ll never hear a peep from this sham of an ad.


a couple of days later.... a peep. and then another. and another. and another! what the hell? this wasn't supposed to happen. no one was actually supposed to request reservations. i didn't even post photos of the room! (although i was required to include at least one picture, all i had available was one of the living room.) this was very unexpected. i had reassured blair that this listing was just for show, we wouldn't ever have guests.

but maybe it'd be kind of fun... nah, blair would never go for it...

to my incredible surprise, he didn't immediately nix the idea. sure, it might be weird having strangers in the house for a few days at a time, but we were lured in by the idea of the little extra income. so, i accepted my first reservation. and then a few days later, my second. oh boy... no turning back.

we had only 3 days between returning from Denmark and our first guest arriving. the rental space was a disaster zone. no one had used this space in about a year and a half. it was cluttered with all the junk we didn't want to throw out but didn't want to look at. it was coated in so many layers of grime i could barely tell that the stairwell railing was once painted white. the carpet in my brother's old room was spotted with spills and stains. the bathroom... well, do you know that disgusting toilet in the movie Trainspotting? what had i gotten myself into?? i was in over my head.

so for 3 days i came home from work, went immediately to the 3rd floor, and cleaned until close to midnight. in the end, i stood and surveyed my work with pride. it was a complete transformation. i mean i'm not a miracle worker, it wasn't the Ritz, but it was definitely a clean, habitable space that i could put a price-tag on. hurrah!

then, the day of check-in, my guest cancelled.

the first night only was non-refundable due to the last minute cancellation. but yeah, one night of payment puts all those hours and hours of back-breaking work at about 2 bucks and hour. our next guest is due to arrive wednesday, and at least i was smart enough to change the cancellation policy so that if he's a no-show, i still get 50% of all nights. i still have enquiries coming in, but i just really don't know if all this headache is worth it.

all this over a stinkin' $20 rebate. yeesh!

6 comments:

IWASNTBLOGGEDYESTERDAY said...

classic!!!This is something I would have done!!!


so do you get rental money for the room from the person booking, and also save the 20 a week on your own rent? I haven't heard of this so a bit confused'

Deborah said...

Great idea, though I don't think I could do it, I'm a bit hermit-like in my home ... and it would need one SERIOUS clean! :o)

manders said...

i used the site to book an apartment for a few days when i went to copenhagen (instead of a hotel). i got a one time $20 rebate by listing my house for rent. but my rent here in winnipeg is the same as always :)

aafrica said...

it doesn't sound too bad a deal to me. now you have squeaky clean toilet for spare. that's something.

Al Penwasser said...

Yeah, now you have a toilet you can eat off of. Ewwwww, that didn't come out right.

ShanimalsCrackers.blogspot.com said...

My sister's friend just had a baby and she's going back to work. Guess how much she's offering someone to babysit her newborn? $2/hour! It's actually quite a lot of money...if you think about it...to those little kids in Nigeria.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...