Warm Showers hospitality for touring cyclists
February 15, 2016 4:11 PM Subscribe
Does anyone have experience with the Warm Showers network they'd like to share? I don't want to sign up until I get more information than that on the website.
We live on the south Oregon coast near US 101 and so can offer hospitality to the people traveling through. Also, we are planning an extended bicycle tour this summer and may like to make contacts for hospitality on the way through Warm Showers. Thanks in advance for your help!
We live on the south Oregon coast near US 101 and so can offer hospitality to the people traveling through. Also, we are planning an extended bicycle tour this summer and may like to make contacts for hospitality on the way through Warm Showers. Thanks in advance for your help!
Response by poster: @adamrice -- I interested in how the process works. How do I know about the people I may contact through the network or how do I vet these people. Can I trust the organization with my personal info? etc.
posted by partner at 4:22 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by partner at 4:22 PM on February 15, 2016
I have hosted four different people over the past few years, never used them for finding a place to stay. I honestly don't know much about the organization since I've never had much cause to interact with them. I have never had any issues with my personal information being misused to the best of my knowledge. It's a pretty DIY approach to the whole deal (as opposed to, say, AirBnB who have a whole bunch of legal blabitybla, but who also charge money). I've met some very nice people through them.
posted by jessamyn at 4:41 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by jessamyn at 4:41 PM on February 15, 2016
It was awesome for my friends and I on our cross country bike tour. I don't think we had a bad experience over the course of 3 months. We weren't all that concerned with vetting people, other than cursory glances of their profiles. I don't remember if this was intentional or not, but we did end up staying with a bunch of hosts who had children. Maybe they are more trustworthy?
posted by meows at 4:41 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by meows at 4:41 PM on February 15, 2016
I had nothing but amazing experiences staying with Warm Showers hosts. They tend to be touring cyclists themselves and usually give fantastic directions and route advice!
I've had to turn down several folks who wanted to stay with me because they didn't give me enough notice, but that wasn't a big deal; everyone I had to say no to was perfectly understanding.
posted by yomimono at 4:45 PM on February 15, 2016
I've had to turn down several folks who wanted to stay with me because they didn't give me enough notice, but that wasn't a big deal; everyone I had to say no to was perfectly understanding.
posted by yomimono at 4:45 PM on February 15, 2016
We've hosted twice (and had good experiences), but quit the site when we started getting last minute requests from people who seemed annoyed we could not help last minute.
posted by JMOZ at 6:49 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by JMOZ at 6:49 PM on February 15, 2016
My parents are Warm Showers hosts. They're pretty awesome.
posted by arnicae at 6:53 PM on February 15, 2016
posted by arnicae at 6:53 PM on February 15, 2016
I have hosted several times a year over the last four years. The only time I felt truly uncomfortable was when a guy called in January (I am in North Dakota, this was definitely out of touring season). There have been times when the hosting has not worked due to my crazy work schedule or being out of town. For the most part the cyclists were understanding.
Vetting takes place by looking at the cyclists' profile on the website. How much they fill out varies, but you can see where other hosts have left feedback, positive, negative, or neutral. You are free to tell a potential guest you are unable to host, even if it is just because you have a bad gut feeling from the initial contact. That contact usually will come from an email whenever someone sends you a message through the website, although if you fill the phone number out you could gets calls also.
Your profile states what kind of space you have available for sleeping (if you just want to offer up tent space, you can), if you allow them to use the kitchen, etc. I personally set mine to only host couples or singles as last year there was a group of four that came through and seemed a tad put out that I did not have beds for all of them.
Overall it has been a good experience, and I've met some interesting people.
posted by weathergal at 7:51 PM on February 15, 2016
Vetting takes place by looking at the cyclists' profile on the website. How much they fill out varies, but you can see where other hosts have left feedback, positive, negative, or neutral. You are free to tell a potential guest you are unable to host, even if it is just because you have a bad gut feeling from the initial contact. That contact usually will come from an email whenever someone sends you a message through the website, although if you fill the phone number out you could gets calls also.
Your profile states what kind of space you have available for sleeping (if you just want to offer up tent space, you can), if you allow them to use the kitchen, etc. I personally set mine to only host couples or singles as last year there was a group of four that came through and seemed a tad put out that I did not have beds for all of them.
Overall it has been a good experience, and I've met some interesting people.
posted by weathergal at 7:51 PM on February 15, 2016
I have hosted Warmshowers guests for several years. They've always been considerate and interesting people. However, you need to determine your comfort level concerning their profile information and about advance notice. On the risky end of the spectrum are people who joined very recently, provide little tour and personal information, have no references and wait until the last minute to contact you. On the other end are people with histories that you can see, extensive online tour journals, references from other hosts and who contact you several days in advance. You get to decide what you need to know before letting them into your house. Perhaps start cautiously and adjust after you have more experience. One last piece of advice is not to put your phone number or address in your Warmshowers listing; only provide that through email with people you have accepted. I used to get calls from people not even in Warmshowers or not bike touring who somehow got access to the information.
posted by conrad53 at 10:39 PM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by conrad53 at 10:39 PM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
My wife and I have been hosts for some years now, and have only met fantastic [and fantastically ridiculous] people. In Edmonton, we average 2-3 requests per year. We have also used warmshowers as guests in the Maritimes and on our long-ish bike tour through Europe last summer, and had great experiences. In Cologne, our hosts told us that they average 3 requests per DAY, which I would probably not have the patience for. On 101, you might be in a similar situation. Whenever somebody couldn't host us, we were happiest with a prompt "sorry, not this time" message. You don't need a reason to say no!
We have hosted people who are normally cyclists but are currently not cycling [but working to save up money to tour again, travelling by bus, or whatever], and it was just the same. The good person ratio on warmshowers seems abnormally high.
Keeping contact information [other than email] off the web is a reasonable step to take for privacy.
posted by Acari at 6:37 AM on February 16, 2016
We have hosted people who are normally cyclists but are currently not cycling [but working to save up money to tour again, travelling by bus, or whatever], and it was just the same. The good person ratio on warmshowers seems abnormally high.
Keeping contact information [other than email] off the web is a reasonable step to take for privacy.
posted by Acari at 6:37 AM on February 16, 2016
The other thing that I have found helpful with hosting generally is that in sort of random "I'm coming through town last minute" situations like Couchsurfing and Warmshowers, you can just say you already have guests. I've occasionally had people from CS who appeared to be just using the site in order to not pay rent and hang out in (for example) Vermont for the summertime.
posted by jessamyn at 7:08 AM on February 16, 2016
posted by jessamyn at 7:08 AM on February 16, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
What is your question?
posted by adamrice at 4:16 PM on February 15, 2016 [3 favorites]