Casita del Rose

If you're a Smart Communications subscriber and has a Smart Money account, you can actually save time and money by paying your Meralco Bill using your Smart Money. Instead of going to a Bayad Center or queuing up lines at Meralco, follow these steps and pay your bill easily.

Open Smart Money from your Smart Menu
Choose Pay Bills
Choose Others
Meralco Biller Code is 05010

Enter your Meralco Account Number. This is the 16-digit ATM/Phone Reference No below your billing statement.
Enter the exact amount to pay. Use # as substitute for (.)

Key in your Smart Money 6-digit PIN.
Wait for the confirmation text from Smart.

And you're done!

It takes 2 to 3days for Meralco to post the bill, and you can only pay bills that are not due. For overdue accounts, you'll have to go to Meralco to pay the amount.

Smart will only deduct your Smart Money wallet for the amount paid. Transaction fee of P2.50 will be deducted to your load or billed to your account if you're on post paid.

Note that Smart Money wallet is different from your Load Wallet.

You can actually monetize this feature by offering this payment service to other people at a small fee. Or encash your Smart Money wallet thru the payment service without paying high encashment fees.

I've listed Casita del Rose in Airbnb for less than a month and I would say that it's getting some nice attention. All past weekends since listing were booked, and I'm starting to see inquiries for weekday stays as well.

One thing I noticed is that guests always ask for an early check in. I guess that's normal since you'd like to unload whatever you've packed for an overnight stay in Tagaytay and have enough time to explore the place at your convenience.

As such, I'm glad to say that we're now offering Early Check In, for a fee. The Fee is about P500 to allow you to check in early, which is between 9AM to 12NN, instead of the 3PM Check In time. Payment for the Early Check In Fee would be thru Special Offer only.

The request would have to be approved prior booking and would depend on the availability of the unit. We don't want to evict our guest staying at the unit the night prior!

The process is still on experimental stage, but we're glad of finding ways we can cater the request of the guests.

Photo owned by Shutterstock

If you're using Google Calendar, you can export your Airbnb calendar to Google and see your reservations and activities in one glance. To do so, just follow these simple steps:

At the top, choose Availability Settings and expand the Sync Calendar option.

Choose Export Calendar and copy the iCal link.

From the Other Calendar options, choose Add by URL. Paste the copied iCal link from Airbnb and click Add Calendar.

It would now show all your active and passed reservations. You can copy the reservations to your calendar or to a new calendar that you can share in other platforms like blogger. Just click a reservation and choose Copy to my calendar.

Did you know that you can score a coupon from Airbnb that you can use when booking an Airbnb room anywhere? And when I say anywhere, I mean any of the over 3M+ listings that they have, as touted in their About Us page.

Staggering, right?

In Manila alone, there are 9300+ active listings that you can choose from. There are even Airbnb listings of private resorts all over the country. Fancy rest houses that are once exclusive to circle of rich people are now listed in Airbnb. Who wouldn’t want to spend a night at a private beach or a private island?

So, sign up now and get your P1100 coupon. It’s FREE.

To use, simply book any of room at Airbnb—aside from Casita del Rose, and Airbnb will apply automatically your coupon value during payment. Make sure that your total booking (less fee) is over P3500 to be qualified.

So go ahead, book that P5000 a night room in a private island now.

Image source: www.shutterstock.com, www.airbnb.com

Recently, I had a fresh Airbnb user asked me about the verification process of Airbnb.

Apparently, since I’m the type of cautious host, I’ve added the ‘Verified ID’ requirement on my listing before a guest can make a reservation. By ticking this option, guest requesting a reservation would be routed thru the verification site. Where they would be requested to make any of the following:

Add a profile picture
Upload a photo of their government issued ID
Connect another online Account, like Facebook, Google or LinkedIn
Take a selfie
Answer some questions

Options 1 and 2 are easy.

This can be done by going thru your Dashboard and choosing the Profile tab. From there, go to the Trust and Verification tab to connect your other online profile to Airbnb.

It’s option 2 that’s a breaker.

Uploading the picture in Airbnb takes a lot of patience… and a strong net connection. Something that’s not very reliable in the lovely PH. But do not despair. Try first the option of linking your other account and if that didn’t work, find a better WiFi signal than what your phone provides. You have 12 hours to complete the verification process and reserve your room. Just go to www.airbnb.com/verify to complete the verification.

If time is of the essence, better use your desktop with a DSL connection to upload the ID and complete the verification process.

Airbnb offers alternative option where you can stay for your next vacation, especially when the budget is tight, or you're hesitant to stay in questionable hostels.

Here are some of the reasons why you should book an Airbnb room instead of the traditional hotel:

Way cheaper to stay in an Airbnb room compared to Hotels. Especially here in the Philippines, where there’s hotel scarcity. For an overnight stay in a hotel in Manila, Trivago lists the room at the lowest P900 for Kabayan Hotel at Pasay City to P18,300 a night at Solaire Casino. Compared to a range of between P600 to P2400 for Airbnb. Most of these Airbnb rooms are studio or 1BR condo’s peppering the city.

Same basic amenities between hotel and Airbnb. Airbnb hosts make sure that they provide clean sheets, toiletries, air condition and WiFi access to their guests.

There’s a more homey feeling when staying in an Airbnb room. Like, you’re just bunking in at your friend’s or cousin’s house.

You get to stay like a local. There are plenty of Airbnb rooms with complete kitchenette that lets you prepare your own food.

All the beautiful interior, in a less stuffy and more shabby chic style. Remember, Airbnb rooms are real houses of people. May it be just their vacation house in a touristy spot, or their upscale condo at the city; Airbnb rooms carry the owner’s style and vibe.

There are a lot of Airbnb rooms to choose from in various places. Which is helpful when you want to be a stone throws away from the event you’re attending or the tourist spot your heading. In Metro Manila alone, there are over six thousand active rooms to choose from.

No physical money exchanged between hosts and guests. All transactions are done under the safeguard of Airbnb.

Want to book an Airbnb room? Get it at a discounted rate by signing in using this link, for FREE!

Photo property of ClipartFest

Vacations are supposed to be fun. A time to relax and spend quality time with friends, family or special someone.

It would be great to be off the grid. Where you won't be bothered by the online community or worst, your work email.

But alas! It is not in the Pinoy's nature to do so.

We want the Facebook update from friends. And we want to post our own lovely vacation photos as well. As it happens, and while it happens.

Hence, we're happy to say that while staying at Casita del Rose, you'll still be connected to the net. The unit is now equipped with WiFi, powered by PLDT Home DSL.