All FAQs
Hosting on Kindred
Preparing your home, cleaning, hosting logistics and how you earn credits.
Let’s start with the basics by adding your availability! When you add your availability on Kindred, you’re letting other members know that your home will be vacant and that you’re potentially open to hosting members for credits during that time frame.
When a guest is interested in your home, they’ll request to book it in their Kindred App. Please note: Guests can request your home up until 2 days before the start date of the trip - so we recommend preparing your home if the dates are fast approaching and you’re still interested in hosting. Otherwise, you can always update your availability directly from your “Host” tab in the app.
You’ll know that a guest has requested to stay in your home because you’ll receive a text/email with details about the request. Both will include a link to see more details about the guest, their travel plans, and their profile.
At that point, you’ll be presented with a number of options, including:
If you have any questions for the guest before approving a stay, we generally recommend choosing the option to message the member and open a chat to ask any clarifying questions. As a host, you will always have the ultimate decision as to whether or not you’d like to approve a stay to your home.
Finally, we kindly ask that you respond to any requests within 48 hours of receiving the request. That will give you time to review the request, but also leave enough time for guests to arrange other plans for their trip, if needed.
When you approve a trip to your home, you’ll be prompted to complete a few hosting tasks in the app, and Kindred will take care of the rest!
How to navigate to my hosting tasks
What questions will I be asked?
You can also reference the Hosting for the first time Guide for additional first time host guidance, as well as the How to Prep for a Guest Guide for tips and tricks on how to best prep your home to host!
No! Our members fully understand that this is a home and not a vacation rental. Don't worry about having clothes in your closets, pictures on your walls, or stuff in your drawers.
We only ask that you tuck away unnecessary clutter. We also encourage members to safeguard high-value or irreplaceable items.
Kindred will organize professional cleanings whenever possible before and after you host, so you don’t need to clean your home either.
Kindred works to connect you with a trusted cleaner for your trip whenever possible. If a Kindred cleaner isn't available in your area or timeframe, we encourage members to use a cleaner they know personally.
Yes. You are always in control of whether a member stays at your home – we will never book a trip without your permission, and there are no minimum hosting requirements to be a Kindred member.
Additionally, any pets and overnight guests a member brings to your home must be shared in advanced and approved by you.
💡 Please read our Member Code of Conduct for more details on our policies on guests.
Yes! You have control over both your guest capacity and your hosting duration preferences.
Setting Guest Limits
In the Home Layout & Beds section of your home profile, you are able to set your "max guests" to the number of people your home can comfortably accommodate. You can update this at any time by viewing "My Home", and clicking "Edit" under Home Profile.
Setting Minimum Night Preferences
We've also recently launched a new feature giving our members the ability to add a minimum night preference to their hosting availability. This option will appear when adding availability to your calendar, either in-app or on the website. By default, the system will always state a 2-night minimum, which is Kindred's general trip minimum. Members cannot set a "blanket" night minimum - preferences will need to be added for each set of availability, and can be edited or removed as needed!
At this time, Kindred only facilitates whole home swaps and stays, in order to provide a safe and consistent user experience for traveling members. That means members must be out of the home to host a Kindred-coordinated stay.
Kindred is all about human connection, and we love when members get to know one another personally - but at the moment we don't facilitate partial home swaps. We are looking forward to launching houseguest and roommate swaps in the future.
For stays with Kindred, there are no financial transactions between the guest and host. This means you won’t receive payment for things such as utilities and you also won’t have to pay for them when you stay at someone else’s home.
That’s the magic of Kindred - every Kindred guest is also a host. Therefore, there’s a mutual understanding and respect when it comes to staying in a Kindred home and using any special home features.
Kindred coordinates professional cleaning before and after each Kindred stay to make the experience effortless, consistent, and trustworthy for both parties. Being able to count on a professional cleaning means members don’t have to stress about cleaning their own home before leaving on a trip, and allows us to ensure they can return to a sparkling home that’s cleaner than they left it. Kindred works to connect you with a trusted cleaner whenever possible. If a Kindred cleaner isn't available in your area or timeframe, we encourage members to use a cleaner they know personally.
Cleaning fees are paid for by the guest - this covers two cleanings: the check-in and check-out cleaning. 100% of cleaning fees are passed to our vendors (or to the host if they opt to use their own preferred cleaner). When you're swapping, you pay for cleaning as well. You cover your host’s home cleaning and your guest will cover yours.
It also means that when arriving on a Kindred stay, members know the home will be cleaned and ready for them with fresh guest linens, each and every time.
When preferred by a member, we are also happy to work with their existing housecleaner for the cleans at their home. If you have a house cleaner you love, just let us know! You can read more about the process of using your own cleaner here.
Since Kindred homes are real homes lived in by real people (& not vacant rental properties), we make sure every home is professionally cleaned before and after each stay. This helps ensure a consistently clean, safe, and reliable experience for guests each time. This also allows every host to come back home to a nice and clean home, every time!
Kindred works to connect you with a trusted cleaner for your trip whenever possible. If a Kindred cleaner isn't available in your area or timeframe, we encourage members to use a cleaner they know personally.
The Cleanings
In general, when using Kindred cleaners, they will prepare the home for a guest by cleaning the surfaces of a home, making the beds with the designated Kindred guest linens that you left out, and setting out the towels for the guest to use.
After the guest checks out, the Kindred cleaners will clean the surfaces of the home, remove and clean the linens used by the guest, and prepare the home for the host’s return by returning their bedsheets to their beds.
You can check out the full checklist that Kindred Cleaners follow when cleaning your home here: Kindred Cleaning Checklist.
Can I be at home when Kindred cleaners are cleaning my home?
Our cleaners ask that the home be vacant so they have room to prepare the space for the guests! Feel free to reach out to your Kindred Concierge if you have any questions.
Please note: cleaning might look different from country-to-country. Please reach out to the Kindred Concierge team if you have any questions about your upcoming Kindred cleanings.
If you have a cleaner that you know and trust, you’re welcome to use them instead of Kindred’s network of trusted cleaners. We’ll send you instructions that you can forward along to them on how to best prep your home for the stay. You’ll be prompted to let us know in the app as part of your hosting tasks once you have a confirmed trip to your home.
You can read more about completing your hosting tasks & checklist here.
If you do opt to use your own cleaners, Kindred will reimburse you up to a certain maximum per clean determined by the location and size of your home. Once you have paid your cleaner and the trip has ended, you will be able to submit your reimbursement details on the trip details page. Members must submit cleaning reimbursement requests within 30 days of the associated check-in or checkout date.
Once submitted we’ll send your reimbursement within 7 days. You’ll be able to see the current reimbursement maximum in the app when you indicate your cleaner preference as you fill out your hosting tasks.
Kindred works to connect you with a trusted cleaner for your trip whenever possible. If a Kindred cleaner isn't available in your area or timeframe, we encourage members to use a cleaner they know personally.
Guest experiences on Kindred are important to us! We highly recommend having a dedicated set of guest linens for any primary or frequently used beds. Kindred members can access exclusive partner discounts, up to 50% off (region dependent), on hosting essentials in our new Kindred Marketplace.
To ensure consistently great stays, all bed linens, towels, and supplies should meet the following criteria:
Before hosting, please:
After the stay, if Kindred cleaners are scheduled, they will launder the guest linens and remake the beds using your personal set, so everything is ready for your return! Kindred works to connect you with a trusted cleaner for your trip whenever possible. If a Kindred cleaner isn't available in your area or timeframe, we encourage members to use a cleaner they know personally.
What is it
Your home guide is something that is uniquely yours! It’s a guide that you fill out (and we collate) where you can share your home quirks, WiFi information, nearby recommendations, and more, that gets shared with every guest who stays at your home!
Why is it important
Your home guide, once filled out, will be listed in the “Trip Details” for any guest that has a confirmed stay in your home.
Members find that their home guides help guests better understand how they can best utilize your home during their stay, and treat it like their “Best Friend’s Grandma’s Home” (BFGH).
How to fill it out
You’ll be prompted to fill out your Home Guide the first time you host on Kindred. Once a trip is confirmed to your home, you’ll be guided to complete hosting tasks in the Kindred App, one of which includes filling out a brief survey to populate this home guide. You can also share additional details with your guests at any time in the group chat created for your trip.
How to edit
We don't have the ability for members to edit their Home Guides themselves (coming soon!). You can check out your Home Guide once another trip is confirmed to your home in the Hosting Details page in the Kindred App.
If you have changes you’d like to see to your Home Guide, please reach out to the Concierge team with those edits.
When setting up your profile, we'll ask that you upload photos of your home's 4 key rooms (living room, kitchen, primary bedroom, primary bathroom), we automatically check that:
Most homes are verified within minutes. If we can't verify your home automatically, it's routed to our team for a closer look, and we'll let you know if we need anything else from you (like a missing room photo).
You won't be able to accept trip requests until your home is verified.
Kindred Passport members can claim a set of linens and towels, called a "Host Kit", at no additional cost. Other members can shop exclusive discounts in the new Kindred Marketplace.
The Passport Host Kit includes the basic essentials to make preparing your home for a Kindred stay quick and simple: a fresh set of guest linens, including sheets, a duvet cover, bath and hand towels, and a bath mat. Before hosting, simply leave the linens out for the cleaners. They’ll take care of the rest - making the bed and neatly folding the towels to place on top for your guest.
All you need to do is ensure that your guest has easy access to living essentials: guest toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body wash), paper towels, toilet paper, soap & dish soap
💡 You can read more about preparing your home in the How To Prep Your Home guide.
Because Kindred is based on reciprocity, it fosters a community with a higher level of trust & mutual respect for one another's home than a rental platform. That said, we know that accidents happen!
If something comes up on a trip or you find something has been damaged, or you confirm that an item went missing during a hosting, we ask that you let us know as soon as possible via our claims process. You can learn more about our claims process in both our Lost and Missing Items Policy and Kindred Damage Protection Program pages. Our dedicated team will work with you to make things right.
In addition to our Damage Protection Program, we also require that all members have an active renters or homeowners insurance policy for additional coverage.
💡 Feel free to read more about Damage Protection and our conflict resolution policies in our Terms of Service.
In advance of a stay, members may agree between themselves for a guest to care for their host’s pet on their stay, but this is NOT a service facilitated by Kindred and is NOT covered by Kindred’s Host Protection policy.
Any pet sitting or pet care arrangements made by members is strictly between them directly as individuals. Kindred is not responsible for caring for any member’s pet, and will not be held liable for any injury or damage to a member’s pets or involving the pets.
We do require that members inform Kindred if they have made a pet care arrangement between themselves.
