9 questions to Janeth
1. Why do you rent out your place?
I started to rent out part of our own apartment. I liked working with travellers so much, I decided to quit my job and focus fully on renting out apartments. We bought another property and made two more apartments there.
2. Why 9flats?
9flats contacted me and the contact is really good. Most of my bookings come from you nowadays.
3. What kind of traveller should book your place?
Everybody can book with us, of course, but especially people who like the bustle of the city, yet like to have a relaxed place to sleep. We offer a place like home in Amsterdam. Most of our guests are couples of all ages, either with children or without. We also welcome students and party animals.
4. How have you changed your decor or how you use your home since listing your place?
I gave each apartment a different theme. One has a Netherlands theme, because this is where we live. One is Brazil, because it’s my home country and the most beautiful country in the world. The third is Thailand, one of our favourite holiday destinations.
5. What do you offer your guests as a treat?
I have coffee and tea available for free. I also have two bicycles people can use free of charge. I’m trying to get some more.
6. What do you enjoy about being a host?
It’s fantastic to be able to offer people a great place to stay, 10 minutes from the centre of Amsterdam. Making people happy is the best thing there is.
7. What's your best/funniest hosting story?
Once, four young guys from Denmark booked one of our apartments. Exactly one week before the dates they’d booked, they rang the door of our apartment. They’d been driving all night to get here! Our apartments weren’t free that night. I felt so sorry for them, and booking another place would have been really expensive, so I offered them our private home, because we were going away for the weekend. They were really happy and the next day I moved them to an available apartment.
8. What's your personal travel philosophy?
Go with the flow. Be open and spontaneous and local people will do everything they can to make your travel experience fantastic.
9. What do you enjoy about living with people you don’t know?
Everybody is different and interesting in his or her own way. It’s great fun to get to know people, even when the contact is limited. I’ve learned a lot about ‘reading’ people and making them feel comfortable.
