Hospi Housing on tour: Experiences, stories and photos of hosts and tenants
Once a year, the Hospi Housing team embarks on a tour throughout the Netherlands to visit our hosts and students. We gather stories, listen to experiences, and take photos at the hosts' and tenants' homes.
What is the fundamental concept behind Hospi Housing?
At the heart of Hospi Housing lies a transformative concept: connecting international students in search of accommodation and rooms with local hosts or guest families who have spare rooms to share. This is a win-win situation: students secure much-needed housing, addressing room shortages, while hosts enjoy an additional source of income.
Moreover, through sharing spaces and experiences, Hospi Housing connects individuals from diverse backgrounds, nurturing mutual understanding and fostering meaningful relationships. "Curious to learn more? Visit our platform for homestay & homesharing at Hospi Housing." Platform for homestay & homesharing | Hospi Housing
Interested in learning about the experiences of our hosts and students? Keep reading to discover some of their stories!
Behind the scenes: Hospi Housing house visit tour
Once a year the Hospi Housing team takes a tour through the whole Netherlands in order to visit our hosts and students. It is something that we love doing so much because it gives us such an insight to their relationship and how they view their cohabitation. Hearing their positive experiences gives us more motivation to make Hospi Housing even better. Organizing a tour like this is definitely not easy, it requires a lot of planning and thinking ahead, but no matter the effort, the outcome is so rewarding. Along with our professional photographer and our social media manager we hit the road. Our first stop: Nijmegen. Off to go and visit Cassandra (host) and Ikenna (student).
The first stop: Host Cassandra and her experience
Cassandra was living alone in her house after her children moved out. She was feeling lonely and she had these empty rooms, ‘’so why not use them ‘’, she said. Considering the housing crisis in the Netherlands, renting to students seemed like the perfect solution. Moreover, going through a tough period after losing her job, this additional source of income helped her a lot. Cassandra is also an experienced host as she had students from all over the world like the USA, China, Russia and more. ‘’I love the energy of young people and this new perspective that you gain after living with people that have such a different background than yours.’’
The connection that she has with her current tenant is good but Ikenna is also very busy with working and studying so they don’t see each other a lot. ‘’I always like to have a lot of interaction. With Ikenna, it’s a bit less, that’s okay. I understand that he has a busy life’’.
Adres number 2: The special bond of Alfred and Oleg
Our next stop was Hoogeveen to visit Alfred (host) and Oleg (tenant), studying in Groningen. Alfred was introduced to the idea of hosting when years ago his best friend stayed with a host and had a great experience. He always thought about hosting but never made the step to actually do it. Since he has a spare room he started doing research recently. He stumbled upon Hospi Housing and decided that it was time to go for it!". Since a couple of months, Oleg has been living with Alfred in Hoogeveen and the experience is better than both could think of. Oleg travelled all the way from Australia to the Netherlands. When asked about his accommodation search, he shared, ‘’’It was definitely very difficult to find a room. I was on multiple websites as well but I was very concerned about the safety and not getting scammed, so Hospi Housing felt like the best option’’. Alfred and Oleg have a very beautiful relationship and they really enjoy living together. ‘’I might go to Australia and visit Oleg when he goes back’’ Alfred said. Isn’t that something?
The third visit: The happy family of Manouk, Bart and tenant Chloe
Our last destination was Leimuiden where we met with Chloe (tenant) and Manouk (host) as well as her husband and their two adorable little boys. Manouk shared that when she was a student she went abroad and she lived with two host families, and it was a great experience. ‘’I really loved my host parents’’ she said. Having a spare room, Manouk and her husband decided to now become hosts. '’It is so nice for our boys to get to know someone who speaks a different language and learn so many new things’’. Chloe shared with us that it took her more than three months to find accommodation and she chose Hospi Housing because it felt very safe to her. She enjoys living with the family as they are friendly and the house has a nice atmosphere. ‘’It is so nice to come back home and have someone to talk to,’’ Chloe shared.
These experiences show Hospi Housing's core concept of connecting international students with local hosts. Sometimes the interaction is low and occasionally and sometimes, when both the host and tenant are open for it, you can really see meaningful relationships. Our annual tours reveal heartwarming stories of hosts like Cassandra, Alfred, and Manouk, whose lives are enriched by welcoming students into their homes. These experiences inspire us to continue improving and expanding Hospi Housing, creating positive impacts through shared connections and understanding.
Interested in finding more about Hospi Housing? Then check these blogs:
'The comeback of Homestay' - a news overview of autumn 2023 (hospihousing.com)
Becoming a host in the Netherlands; where to start? (hospihousing.com)
Student experience: living with a host or host family (hospihousing.com)