Nanyuki Businesswoman Shows State Clients Left Her Airbnb: "Kitanda Tuu"

• Zippy Kinyua, an Airbnb operator, commended clients she hosted recently for their tidiness, noting it was a unique thing
• Kinyua told TUKO.co.ke that while many customers are respectful and clean, some leave the houses in a bad state and do not respect check-out times
• Kinyua recounted her worst experiences, including clients who broke plates and ran away with a bill of KSh 26,000

Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than three years of financial, business, and technology research expertise, providing insights into Kenyan and global trends.

A Kenyan woman operating an Airbnb business in Nanyuki has shared a video showing how clients left the house after a two-day stay.

In a video she shared on TikTok, Zippy Kinyua (@wangecikinyua) commended the clients for leaving the house in a clean and organised state.

She remarked that they had washed the utensils and only the bed was not done.

This highlighted the challenges faced by many Airbnb operators who have to deal with rogue clients who destroy property and lack cleanliness.

Most Airbnb clients are well-mannered

In an effort to highlight the challenges of dealing with clients in the hosting business, TUKO.co.ke spoke to Zippy Kinyua in an exclusive interview.

She explained that many customers are good, but some leave the houses in a bad state.

"Rarely do I get clients that will damage your house with malicious intentions. For the most part, I have really enjoyed this business because my clients are very respectful. I take time to engage with them so they have a feeling that they know me and would not want to wrong me.

Some customers will be extremely bad on things like cleanliness but most of them are very clean. I don't have a bad history with many but some clients are really bad. They do not respect your check-out time, and they leave the house as filthy as they can," Kinyua told TUKO.co.ke.

Worst experiences as an Airbnb host

Kinyua recounted some of the worst experiences she had faced as a host and told TUKO.co.ke that some clients had run away with a bill after breaking her plates.

"The worst a client did was scrubbing and destroying my non-stick cooking pots with steel wool. I don't know if they did not know they should not do that. But then again, steel wool was not in the house, so they took the initiative to go and buy it and scrub the pots. I had other clients who broke all the plates and ran away with a bill of KSh 26,000," Kinyua told TUKO.co.ke.

Despite these challenges, Kinyua remains positive about her hosting business and emphasises the importance of communication and building rapport with clients to foster mutual respect.

In the video she shared, she could be heard beaming with joy, appreciating the guests who had just left her house.

The sitting area was all neat, everything still positioned at their original stations. The sandals were clean and returned to rest on the metallic shoe rack.

In the kitchen, all the dishes had been cleaned, and the sink area well arranged.

“Even the dishes have been done, this is unique. It is only the bed, which is expected… it needs a change of sheets,” she could be heard saying, adding that she was glad that she was going to have an easy time cleaning up.

See video below:

How Kenyans reacted

The video has garnered many reactions on TikTok with many netizens commending the clients for leaving the Airbnb in a good state.

@kinz said:

"Am really confused,,,should one do dishes and clean an Airbnb?"

@moryans02#hellen said:

"Yes, I leave Airbnb neat. How I found it."

Hannah Bella NK said:

"Mimi hufil guilty kuacha uchafu karibu nioshe mpaka towels ..and I stay a week or more."

(I feel guilty about leaving a mess; I almost wash even the towels ... and I stay for a week or more.")

Kenyan lady builds Airbnb business with KSh 100k

In other related stories, Yvonne Kagondu, a Kenyan entrepreneur and co-founder of ICP Hub Kenya, told TUKO.co.ke that she ventured into the hosting business in 2022 as a side hustle.

Kagondu launched her Airbnb business with an initial saving of KSh 100,000, and she shared mistakes and lessons she has had in the business.

Airbnbs have become a popular source of passive income in Kenya, with many locals investing to capitalise on the demand for short-term lodging options.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke