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Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Jul 25, 2016 16:03:33 GMT
So my husband and I are taking our "branding" a bit further and putting flags on our properties. There's the US flag as we live here, the Canadian flag for my husband's nationality and the portuguese flag for my nationality. We own three places in town, and each has the same flag set up. I recently had to alter the booking of a guest that is arriving on Wednesday, and he was a bit put out at the change. I was trying to think of something nice that I could do for a welcome, and since I don't know about his lifestyle but assume he's Muslim (from Kuwait) I decided that food and drinks are probably not a good idea. My husband and I batted around a few ideas and then I realized we have a cool thing with the flagpoles! So I went to Amazon and ordered a Kuwait flag, then decided to toss in a few others as well - they are cheap, can be easily swapped out, and can be reused for a while. So much better than a bottle of wine! Let's see how the reaction is on Wednesday, if the incoming guests are pleased with the Kuwait flag flying to welcome them. If they are, I'll start doing this for Entire House Bookings. What do you think? FYI, for the life of me I can't seem to insert a photo!! Flags
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 25, 2016 17:10:51 GMT
THat's an interesting idea, Milu -- I have never seen a host do that before, but it seems like a kind way to welcome someone! They will feel both welcomed and recognized and honored about their nation of origin. The only concern I would have with this, would be with your neighbors -- their potential response to some national flags that you might fly. For instance what if you have a guest from Russia arriving just when Putin makes the news with some new invasive move in the Ukraine or some new anti-gay action in Russia. Or you have a guest from China arriving at a time when China is in the headlines over some alleged hacking into US websites to steal information. Or you have a guest from Pakistan after news reports that Pakistan is shielding ISIS cells. For these reasons I'd be inclined to have the flag be a small one, and perhaps indoors or close to the front door -- not a big flag waving in the wind high up on a flagpole. TO insert an image, you can grab an image address from an image located on the web somewhere, and then paste it here using the info I have given in this thread about how to post images. globalhosting.freeforums.net/thread/77/set-account-post-photos-forumKuwati Flag
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Post by CC on Jul 25, 2016 18:07:53 GMT
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Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Jul 25, 2016 18:42:47 GMT
Hi Deborah, yes we thought about the fact that there might be sensitivities around this idea, so we'll have to play it by ear. My husband asked if he thought there would be any fallback from our neighbors for flying a Kuwait flag, and I said that they could stuff it! But as much as I smart mouthed him I know that it's sometimes a delicate situation so we'll stay glued to the news On another matter, my husband came across someone in our front gated area trying to use the keypad to open the carport gate, and when questioned, the guy said "Oh, I thought this was an embassy I was trying to ring the bell". Ha! Points for creative thinking but he was clearly not looking for any embassy, more looking for a quiet place to have a beer induced nap.
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Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Jul 25, 2016 18:53:22 GMT
I think a house with flags looks so nice. Growing up in Canada it was super rare to see flags on houses, the only time that you'd consider putting up a flag would be for Canada Day, and that's only if you got a free flag from the gas station (or so it was in our working class neighborhood). When my husband and I moved to the US and went to visit family in Bristol, Rhode Island we noticed that almost every single house had a flag outside. At first I thought - bloody Americans, so full of themselves - but then I thought - wow that looks so nice and these people have so much national pride!
Obviously changed my tune
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Post by CC on Jul 25, 2016 18:58:53 GMT
(Deborah, I read the thing about how to post a pic here, but then I just tried it my simple way & it went right up--I can see it, can y'all?)
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Post by High Priestess on Jul 26, 2016 0:27:41 GMT
YEs CC I can see your flag. Since you are (I believe) posting from your mobile phone, the instructions I give on this forum for posting a photo don't quite apply to you since the way one does it on the mobile phone is different from how you do it on the desktop PC. I think it's amazing you can post photos from your mobile phone to this forum because I haven't even figured out how to do that myself!!!
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Post by CC on Jul 26, 2016 2:24:21 GMT
Well, I don't know how to do it either; I just did it.
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Post by helgaparis on Jul 27, 2016 16:49:42 GMT
A nice idea to have the flag. Although some cultures never use them. It may have taken me five years or more to realise that the town of Sète has the Europens flags on the bridges, a few per bridge. And the Austrian flag just in front of my favourite coffee spot, ehere we sat about every day.
For an Arab, you could lay out a bowl with salted pistachios and almonds or good olives, if you get those. Or sweet pastries.
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Post by lambada on Jul 28, 2016 16:01:14 GMT
I thought of all kinds of strategies to 'brand' my STR business, including creating (and paying a monthly subscription for) a website. Also posted on my Facebook in case I could get friends to spread the words. Ironically, these days I prefer to be very low profile. I did register per the local law, get the permit, pay whatever I need to pay. But other than that, I prefer to just be anonymous and run my business online, hosting strangers thru Airbnb. A few friends asked to stay, mostly because they thought they could get a discount. So I told them that we only do monthly now. Sometimes I feel like I am living in South Korea where anytime I could be banned having guests in my own home. So the thought of having a flag on my properties somehow is so out of reach.
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Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Jul 28, 2016 20:22:46 GMT
Flags in action!
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Post by maria on Jul 30, 2016 12:02:55 GMT
A nice idea to have the flag. Although some cultures never use them. It may have taken me five years or more to realise that the town of Sète has the Europens flags on the bridges, a few per bridge. And the Austrian flag just in front of my favourite coffee spot, ehere we sat about every day. For an Arab, you could lay out a bowl with salted pistachios and almonds or good olives, if you get those. Or sweet pastries. Yes! they love pistachios. LOL, i know, and pistachios are not cheap! I left once Hummus and chips for a group arriving late (too late to go out and eat) and lots of bottled water (always good during Summer days).
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Post by helgaparis on Jul 31, 2016 17:32:09 GMT
It looks good, a bit like a cultural center with an international event - or an embassy hosting tripartite negotiations - not so far off from reality ;-)
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Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Aug 1, 2016 11:27:27 GMT
So the Kuwaiti guests have been like ghosts! They are in our front house and we're separated by a patio and I have seen only the young boy as he's been the designated key runner (we're helping them with parking) and one woman, for a brief second. Other than the briefest of words with the young boy, communication has been exclusively by text. From my brief glimpse at the woman, the party appears to be very traditional as she's in a full abaya with headdress so perhaps they didn't want to say hello because I was in a t-shirt and shorts. I did go inside to put on pants and a long sleeved top and went back out to the patio, but no more sightings.
I was excited to see/hear the reaction of the flag, but it fell flat! Well, my next guests are Swiss, maybe they'll be a bit jollier.
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Post by High Priestess on Aug 1, 2016 14:19:24 GMT
That's something I have noticed and/or read about in the host community -- that has been a little disappointing -- is that sometimes when hosts do something special for a guest, the guest doesn't even notice...or at least, they don't say anything.
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