Hosting Joy
There are many things I am passionate about. Hosting guests in my particular brand of hospitality is one of my passions. I am passionate about this because I love people. For the love of humanity and all things defective and authentic and beautiful. People need a place that feels like home to them. Even if it’s just for a short stay, I want my guests to feel like they are being welcomed into a space where they can relax, rest, and feel at home.
Your Home Away from Home
For me, THIS FEELING is a big deal. It is why the homes I host look like they look. I am absolutely and passionately not interested in hosting any spaces that look or feel like a hotel. I love hotels and I stay in them when I travel sometimes when I want something predictable and sterile and impersonal. I enjoy being an anonymous number sometimes. Sometimes that is the right way to travel. Sometimes not. When it’s not, we look to rent short stays with hosts who know the area we are staying.
Cleaning Philosophy
The backbone of our rentals is cleanliness. We have gone through many phases of figuring out cleaning. When it was just my condo at Wafco Mills and Eric’s house at King Edward, we did the cleaning ourselves. Adding 907 W Wendover in 2019, and then 909 W Wendover in 2020, still, the majority of the cleaning I did, but occasionally we had a few cleaners we would hire for times when I had too much going on with teaching, or real estate. When we added 905 and 903 W Wendover we had to get real about hiring a cleaner. We tried to use one of the people we had used occasionally but quickly realized that we needed a team or company of professional cleaners so that when that one person was sick, the cleaning still got done. We currently use Simply Organized and Clean and have been so happy with their work and communication with them.
Linens & Things
One hundred percent cotton sheets. If you work in the hospitality industry and can not tell the difference between cotton sheets and polyester sheets: Fire yourself from your job effective immediately and go get some clues from the internet. Sheets that say no-wrinkle and quick dry ALL feel like sleeping under a large sheet of Saran Wrap. It may free up a bit of extra time in the dryer and if that few minutes is how you are gonna make your big money, and that’s your business model, great. For me and the people I host, we sleep on cotton and natural fibers only.
Plastic and polyester are not in any way, shape, or form how humans are intended to sleep. No, I do not have source material to reference or data to share, other than being a human! I just know. This is a foundational belief about life and how to achieve the best sleep, which in turn allows optimal outcomes when awake.
Cleaning Products & Fragrance
Low and no fragrance detergents and cleaners in the homes make the spaces welcoming for people with sensitivities to the endless chemicals we are exposed to every day. We clean the floors with Bono or zero residue cleaner. We have not found a way to eliminate the need for an exterminator and their chemicals but we are hopeful that by hosting guests who understand that they need to do or pay for housekeeping during their stay, we can keep the chemicals to a minimum.
