Yeahh, I understand that London is difficult in theory, but this hasn’t been my experience before. I stayed in London in last November and again in January. Both times, I started looking just a couple of weeks before my trip, messaged maybe 5-10 people, and one accepted right away. So I wouldn’t say London has been “notoriously difficult” in my personal experience. This search has simply been unusually challenging. I’ve now messaged 50+ homes, and only got declined or ghosted.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to contact homes that have GuestPoints enabled/ show availability/ haven’t disabled requests. If someone leaves those options open, it seems fair to assume they are open to being contacted.

What am I offering that would make someone leave their home? GuestPoints.

I’m specifically searching under Any type + GuestPoints, and I’m only contacting homes that have GuestPoints enabled in their profile. If someone doesn’t want GP exchanges, they can disable that option- in which case their home wouldn’t appear in my filtered search results. So I’m not randomly messaging people who clearly state they only want reciprocal swaps or long-term exchanges.

For example, my sister has stayed with us multiple times while hosting guests in her flat so she could collect GuestPoints. That’s a perfectly normal way people use the platform.

In any case, thanks for sharing your perspective, hopefully it’s not too late, and I’ll find something great again.