small gift for AirBnB hosts?

What about a card with a handwritten thank you note and a promise to write a positive review if you enjoyed your stay?

I make notecards with photos of local scenery glued to card stock. These take little room in my luggage and offer a glimpse of my home area (the beautiful Pacific NW) and can be used by them in the future.

Everybody likes chocolates.
Get a small box - like 6 or 8 pieces - from a deluxe shop like Pierre Herme, or Maison du Chocolat.
No flowers.

The Airbnb "host" is not sharing his/her home out of kindness. You are engaging in a commercial transaction with the Airbnb person, not visiting a relative. I fail to see any reason for a gift. He/she should be leaving a box of chocolates for you, not the other way around.

While we do understand that it is a business transaction, we have enjoyed our exchanges with the host for our upcoming Paris visit. So, for the first time, we are bringing a little something: a small jar of local honey from our Massachusetts town. Doesn't cost much or take up much room in our carry on.

David Lebovitz has a good blog entry on food items American visitors can bring as gifts to friends in France. I saw on his twitter account that his blog changed servers so this might not load right now, but here is the link in case it gets fixed:
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/food-gifts-to-bring-french-people-from-america/

We used to couchsurf a lot and always took gifts for our hosts, since it was free of charge.

We mostly airbnb now and only once did I give a gift to a host - and it was a gift I had been going to give to a couchsurfing host, but this lady went out of her way to cook us supper and took us the next day for a drive in her car and we walked around a park with her and she took us to a little village we wouldn't have been to otherwise. (Basically like couchsurfing but we paid for it).

I had a 3 pack of locally made maple chocolates from home and gave her those.

Oh - I do recall leaving a gift for our hostess in Salon en Provence - we didn't bring anything special from home tho. We had gone to a factory tour of the beauty brand l'Occitane and hubby and I got free lip balms - well, I had just bought one in Paris because I lost my lip balm at the airport in Canada, so because our host was so nice and gave us evening snacks and breakfast all 3 nights, I left her a lip balm.

But no, I've never felt like I had to take something as a gift for airbnb.

If you are truly sharing someone's home - someone who actually lives there and isn't renting it out all year long - and if you are so inclined, I think chocolates are OK.

On the other hand, if you are not going to see anyone, I wouldn't leave anything.

I'm with Norma; no gifts or tips required, but a sincere review will be appreciated.

If it's an illegal apartment, nobody will see the review anyway...

The Airbnb "host" is not sharing his/her home out of kindness. You are engaging in a commercial transaction with the Airbnb person, not visiting a relative. I fail to see any reason for a gift. He/she should be leaving a box of chocolates for you, not the other way around.

It makes me wonder why you stay at an Airbnb or a B&B of any description, if you do at all.

If you do stay at B&B I think you're missing a big reason to stay. We don't stay at B&B's because of price, we stay there to interact with our hosts. This has led to some wonderful experiences and new friendships.

We will be staying in an airbnb in Paris in October. It's a fascinating system we found. You choose where you want to stay, then fill out a form that describes a little about yourself. This request is sent along to your potential host, who have the choice of accepting you as guests or not. We were accepted by our hosts, who share many of our interests. We have already had very cordial email exchanges. We plan to take them a small gift indicative of our home area because we regard them as new friends, not commercial proprietors.

we are bringing a little something: a small jar of local honey from
our Massachusetts town. Doesn't cost much or take up much room in our
carry on.

Note to didan, honey is considered a liquid/gel so you will not be able to include it in your carry on unless it is 3 oz or smaller and fits in your quart bag.

Thanks for the reminder JenC!

The B&B mentioned fits the criteria for the Mayor's regulations for B&B's.
The host is present, fixes breakfast, and gives tourist information.
Your room has a window and may have a shared or private bath.

Your room has a lock on it.

So if you choose a "real B&B" - not AirBnB - you are good to go.

I see no problem with a small gift. My wife and I are arriving in a week and the owner of the apartment has been very helpful. Yes she is making money renting the apartment to us. I tip taxi drivers and waiters for excellent service. And the time spent in a cab and restaurant is small to the time I spend on vacation. And the owner of the apartment has spent a great deal of time answering my emails and suggesting things to do. A small show of appreciation goes a long way. We are bringing suitcases. And honey is a great idea. I am not sure what I would bring if I only had a carry on. Have fun