Open 35 homestays in the same building in Shanghai! What is this Wenzhou accompanying mother? She is a ruthless character in the building, Sprite, and homestay
Eight years ago, because her son was going to attend an international high school, Wenzhou native Sprite came to Shanghai to accompany her. At that time, she would not have imagined that in the bustling Shanghai, she not only opened a coffee shop, but also became a brand homestay landlord with dozens of properties in just 5 years.
When meeting with the reporter, it was the afternoon of the last day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, which was also the peak time for tenants to check in during the day. Almost every few minutes, Sprite's two phones vibrate or ring. "Password error, we can't enter the room!" "We are a family of three bringing our parents to play. Can you accommodate 5 people in your room?" "How far are you from the Bund?"... Various needs and inquiries continue. ". During the conversation, she had to occasionally pick up the phone and reply to WeChat, feeling extremely busy.
The first homestay became popular as soon as it opened
In 2015, Sprite, who came to Shanghai to study with her son, lived in Yangpu District. In her spare time, she often goes shopping and finds that the mall is very popular every day. She suddenly has a strange idea: If I open a coffee shop here, wouldn't it be good too?
After discussing with my family, Sprite opened a coffee shop in another city of Yangpu Bailian, and the business is quite good. While busy taking care of her son and managing the coffee shop, she spends most of her time in Shanghai and still walks around when she has free time.
At that time, the old western-style houses were very popular in the market, and Sprite tried to experience several homestays opened in the old western-style houses. She quickly realized that although some photos of old western-style houses and homestays were beautiful, there were many flaws in their actual occupancy. "The biggest problem is that it's difficult to find a place. Many old western-style houses and homestays are hidden in places that require a lot of twists and turns to reach. If guests arrive at night, it's even more difficult to find them." Sprite also felt that some homestays have too simple facilities and are not very different from the facilities in regular hotel rooms.
With a strong business acumen, she quickly came up with the idea of creating a room that combines the advantages of hotels and homestays. "I hope guests will have the clean and refreshing feeling of entering the hotel lobby when they enter, and everything in the room, as if they are at home." At a homestay near the Bund, Sprite pointed to the complete refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, and kitchen equipment in the room and said that in order to create a "home feeling", she added these devices to the homestay from the beginning.
The homestay is equipped with an induction cooker, rice cooker, and oven
In 2017, Sprite's first homestay opened near Xintiandi. The old western-style residential area where the homestay is located is only a road away from the subway station. "When tourists come to Shanghai, the main mode of transportation is still the subway, which makes it inconvenient to walk too far with luggage. Therefore, the homestay I chose will not be more than 500 meters away from the subway entrance. If it is far from the subway entrance, I will not choose the best house."
This homestay is a Loft style house with two beds, one upstairs and one downstairs. From the small balcony of the third floor room, you can see that the subway station and commercial area are opposite. Except for the basic hard furnishings, all soft furnishings in the room are personally selected by Sprite. She has studied design and has been in the clothing business for over 20 years, with her own ideas in color matching and aesthetics. This homestay was later selected as one of the "Top 10 Most Beautiful Homestays in East China" when participating in the selection of tourism platforms.
"At that time, I had just started doing homestay business and had no concept of the off-season and peak season. I didn't expect that when it first opened in June, there were a lot of people checking in in July. It turned out to be the peak season for summer travel." Sprite humbly said that she was lucky and became popular when she started her first homestay. Later, she rented four more houses in the same community as homestays and would occasionally chat with the neighborhood committee and security guards. If there were any problems, everyone would help each other take care of them.
There are 35 homestays operating in a building
Running four or five homestays simultaneously in the old western-style residential area, Sprite gradually discovered some problems from the feedback of residents. For example, the cockroaches that plague many old houses are difficult to avoid no matter how they are cleaned; Some guests also pointed out that the sound insulation in the room is not very good, or the air conditioning temperature is not enough.
Sprite continues to search for new homestay locations. This time, she hopes to find a new apartment and try to avoid the problems of the old house. Continuing to follow the standard of not exceeding 500 meters from the subway entrance, she found a building near the Bund. This is a commercial and residential building that has been completed for more than 15 years. It is not only close to Nanjing East Road Station of Metro Line 2, the Bund and Nanjing Road Walkway, but also within 100 meters of the nearest double deck sightseeing bus stop in Shanghai.
In 2018, Sprite attempted to rent a room of over 80 square meters in the building and decorate it as a two bed homestay, equipped with some appliances and kitchen equipment. After the homestay opened in December, it happened to coincide with the peak season of the Spring Festival, with a continuous flow of orders, and the feedback from the guests this time was good.
"I think it's great to be a homestay here, so I started buying houses one after another. Whenever there is an empty room in the building, I rent them to become a homestay. I have a total of 35 units now," said Sprite. Although the exterior of the building has been around for some time, the 8-16 floors of the building were newly renovated two years ago, with good hardware conditions and no need to worry about formaldehyde pollution. Being a homestay is very worry free.
In the buildings near the Bund, all the soft furnishings of Sprite's homestay rooms are designed and arranged by oneself
It is worth mentioning that this strategically located building is also surrounded by multiple hotels. The reporter roughly strolled around the building and found that within a one kilometer radius, there were numerous branded hotels: Shanghai Grand Hotel, Wang Baohe Hotel, Holiday Inn, Art Dragon Hotel, All Season Hotel... countless. Sprite once conducted a survey and found that there are over 100 hotels near the building.
To survive in such a hotel "encirclement", Sprite's homestays compete for cost-effectiveness. "Our usual room rate is over 800 yuan per night, and during holidays it's over 1000 yuan per night. However, some rooms have three beds that can accommodate six people, and the average cost per person is relatively low, which is popular among family tourists and young people."
Market feedback has proven the success of Sprite's business philosophy. Since the beginning of this year, the average occupancy rate of her homestays in this building has exceeded 90%, with a maximum of nearly 170 people staying. The day the reporter visited was the last day of the heavy rain during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, usually during the peak check-out period after checking in during the holiday. But there were very few vacant rooms that Sprite could show on that day, and there were two rooms that had just seen half of the guests before returning, with no signs of off-season after the holidays.
Do a good job of home stay "complex and simple"
In Sprite's description, the biggest difficulty she encountered when opening a homestay was the pandemic, and everything else went smoothly. But operating dozens of homestays at the same time and becoming a "brand landlord" on the Tujia platform is obviously impossible with just a few brushes.
On the 5th floor of an old western-style house on Chongqing South Road, Sprite took reporters to visit a three bed homestay. The appearance of the old western-style house is not impressive, and climbing up the 5th floor may be a bit difficult, but entering the room has its own unique features: shiny tiles, transparent tables and chairs in front of the window for dining and rest, and the decoration of the living room sofa area complements artistic paintings. Go up to the second floor, take a short elevator, and you can also walk up to the rooftop terrace through a small door to enjoy the scenery. Guests' luggage will be paid by the homestay to the downstairs security guard for assistance in moving upstairs. This old western-style house homestay is particularly popular among young people, who often come in groups of three or five to stay overnight for birthday parties or proposal ceremonies. In contrast, multiple homestay rooms in commercial and residential buildings emphasize simplicity and comfort.
Behind operating multiple homestays, Sprite has its own business philosophy. In addition to being close to the subway and having good housing conditions, she pays special attention to the hygiene of homestays in daily management. "Once a customer called and the first question they asked us was whether to exchange our four piece bedding set or not. I was surprised by this question. How can we not exchange a four piece set?!" Sprite said, "One customer one change for a four piece set is the foundation. In addition, she often reminds her aunt to pay attention to details such as the corners of the bathroom and under the bed.". "Our homestay windows are clean and have a view of the outside scenery. We ensure that the windows are cleaned at least twice a year, which many families may not have achieved."
The living room and terrace of a homestay in an old western-style house on Chongqing South Road
Responding and solving problems anytime and anywhere has also become Sprite's subconscious reaction. During the more than two hours of showing the reporter at the homestay and chatting, she answered two phone calls, replied to WeChat messages, or simply replied before assigning follow-up work to other colleagues for follow-up. There are various needs, including asking for room passwords, requesting room video introductions, and asking her to introduce nearby attractions.
In order to respond to various issues of guests in a timely manner, she usually works in the building where homestays are concentrated. When it comes to the "secret to success", she said, "Making a homestay is both complex and simple. As long as you do everything you need to do well, you can do it. Every time a guest makes a reservation, we will immediately add WeChat to inquire about their needs, whether they are family guests or business guests, whether there are elderly people and children, and we will have different travel projects or route recommendations."
Now that my son has graduated from university and started working, Sprite, who has been in Shanghai for nearly a decade, is constantly observing and adapting to the changes in this city. She said that Shanghai people are very rule abiding, and during the process of opening homestays, they get along well with landlords, neighborhood committees, and community security. Shanghai's urban tourism resources are also abundant, attracting a continuous stream of tourists to experience, so homestays have sufficient development space.
Now, Sprite not only runs its own homestays, but also exports brand development franchisees to help people manage homestays. Some former homestay guests have also invited her to help design and decorate homestay soft furnishings in other places. She, who was once the national champion of bodybuilding, had a career in clothing business, and opened a coffee shop, has opened a new stage of life in Shanghai.
