2025 HOST HANDBOOK
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to SurfCity Homestay! We are delighted that you have decided to become a host for SurfCity Homestay!
This handbook provides information and guidelines to ensure a satisfactory homestay experience for both you and your student.
By applying and accepting to be a host for SurfCity Homestay, we ask and expect you to meet and follow the rules outlined in this handbook.
STEP-BY-STEP
You have inquired about hosting international students for SurfCity Homestay. Please review the Host Handbook to make sure you understand the application process and hosting service.
After you have reviewed and agreed to our Handbook, you can submit the application form online.
The Application Form can be found on our website at www.surfcityhomestay.com
After we receive your application and $40 background check fee/ individual over 18 years of age residing in the home, we will run background checks and verify the information you have provided in your application.
After the information has been verified and approved, SurfCity Homestay will schedule a home visit or Zoom-call walk through.
After the home visit, we will approve your application and you can begin hosting SurfCity Homestay students and enjoy your cultural exchange!
APPLICATION PROCESS
In order to be considered to host for SurfCity Homestay, you must submit the online application and agree to a background check. The information provided in the application must be verifiable and the background check must be cleared.
Our host families are carefully selected to assure they possess kind and caring personalities with genuine desire and willingness to open their homes and share their family and customs with our students. SurfCity Homestay conducts thorough background checks on every person over the age of 18 who resides in the residence to ensure the safety of all parties.
The background check requires a fee of $40/person over the age of 18 who resides in the home. This must be paid when submitting the Host Application form.
After we do the necessary checks and your records indicate you are a law-abiding person, you will have preliminary approval. SurfCity Homestay will then set up an appointment to visit your home. Here, we will take photos of communal spaces and the room which you will be providing for the student.
Upon approval of your home as a suitable homestay for SurfCity Homestay students, you can begin hosting!
PREPARATION
Our Homestay Coordinator will be in direct contact with you to assign students based on your availability. Once you accept a placement, you are expected to host the student for the duration you have agreed upon.
Prior to the student's arrival, we will be sending you the student's information, such as name, location of origin, and available contact information. We encourage you to contact the student prior to their arrival in order for both of you to get acquainted.
Room Preparation:
Prior to the student's arrival, you should make the necessary house preparations to ensure that you are able to provide those provisions for the student.
A bedroom should be made available for the student. The bedroom should at the very least contain: a bed, linens (sheets, blankets, pillows), a desk, a chair, and have access to Wifi. The bedroom is expected to be cleaned and made presentable prior to the student's arrival. The bedroom will serve as the student's own private and personal space and should be treated as such.
A space in a kitchen cupboard and refrigerator should also be made available for the student to store their personal food.
A microwave should be available should the student choose to use it.
A bathroom and laundry facility, with or without shared access, should also be available for the students use.
Any additional cleaning supplies necessary for the student to keep a clean and tidy living condition should also be provided.
A copy of the house key should also be ready to give to the student upon his or her arrival.
You should also provide and fulfill the meal plan the student signed up for.
Have information about public transportation readily available to provide for the student.
It is also a good idea to plan and outline a set of personal rules that you may wish the student to follow.
PROVISIONS
Food:
The number of meals you need to provide each day depends on the student's meal plan.
All students require a continental breakfast, which must be provided every day for the duration of the student's stay.
Dinner is dependent on the student's meal plan.
Please keep in mind the student's food preference and food restrictions due to allergies or diet. Ideally, you should communicate with the student to establish if they have any food they cannot eat and avoid serving meals containing such food.
Breakfast: a self-serve, continental breakfast that is readily available for the students to eat at their own leisure.
Dinner: a single-course meal that is available for the student to eat at night. Students are instructed to inform you if they will not require dinner for the night by 12:00pm same day, but you should remind them to do so.
Transportation:
You are not required to provide transportation services to the student. Just provide information to the student of any potential methods of transportation they may use to get around the city. If possible, provide a map of any buses or subway routes the student may use to get around.
Dependent on where you are hosting, you may be required to provide transportation for students. SurfCity Homestay will provide you with a transportation stipend.
By transporting students, you are acting as an independent contractor. You agree to release SurfCity Homestay from all liabilities regarding transportation.
DAY OF ARRIVAL
On the day of the student's arrival, please make sure you are at home to greet the student and go over the general rules outlined below and any other personal rules you may have.
Upon meeting the students, you should also provide the student with a copy of the house key and give the student a tour of their new living space, informing them of their new living arrangements. Make sure to let them know where they are sleeping, how they can use the kitchen, where the bathroom or laundry facilities are located, etc. Also, be sure to exchange contact information with the students for emergency and general communication purposes.
House Rules:
These are the rules that we require both parties to abide by:
As host you are required to provide:
House key
Household rules (differs depending on each host)
Host family contact information
Room with bed, linens (sheets, blankets, pillows), desk, chair
Wifi Access
Shared access to a bathroom, laundry facilities, microwave, and supplies to keep their room and bathroom clean
Daily continental, self-serve breakfast to be eaten at their own leisure
Dinner, if the student has chosen that meal plan
Space in a kitchen cupboard and refrigerator to store their personal food
Information on how to use public transportation
STUDENT RULES
As a part of the family, homestay students are expected to:
Keep themselves, their clothes, their room, their linens, and their bathroom clean. When they move out, they should leave their room and linens clean.
Be on time to homestay meals and events. If they cannot make dinner, call or text before 12:00pm to cancel.
Help clean up after homestay dinners and when hosts ask for help.
Always lock the house when entering or exiting.
Never smoke in the house. Smoke at least 20 feet away from the house unless otherwise specified by the host.
Never cook on the big stove/oven. Use the designated microwave or toaster oven.
Be smart. Travel with a friend, use Uber or Lyft, or use university transportation after dark.
No illegal drug usage in the home.
No alcohol usage in the home.
Be responsible for their own well-being.
If they break something, fairly pay you to replace or repair it.
Use the Internet legally and appropriately.
If they fail to return the keys, they will be held responsible to pay your costs to change your lock an duplicate another set of keys.
Make payment for their homestay when it is due.
Abide by all the laws of the State of California and the United States of America.
As a host, you are also free to inform the students of any personal rules that they must follow. Please make sure that these personal rules are reasonable.
PAYMENT
The student or third-party agency will pay SurfCity Homestay directly. SurfCity Homestay is responsible for dispersing payments to you.
Payment will be mailed out 10 nights after student's arrival. If the student resides longer than 31 nights, the following payments will be made 10 nights after the end date of the previous payment.
If overpayment occurs, in the event that a student departs early and host has already been paid, the overpayment needs to be Zelled back to SurfCity Homestay promptly.
HOST TERMS & CONDITIONS
You agree to indemnify and hold SurfCity Homestay, its officers, directors, shareholders, predecessors, successors in interest, employees, agents, hosts, host families, students, subsidiaries and affiliates, harmless from any and all actual or alleged claims, demands, causes of action, liability, loss, expenses (including attorneys' fees), damage and/or injury (to property or persons, including without limitation to wrongful death), made against SurfCity Homestay by any third party due to or arising out of or in connection with your use of the Site and service.
You cannot request money or payment directly from the student.
You agree to abide by all the laws of the State of California and the United States of America. Any illegal activity is grounds for termination of hosting eligibility.
You should never request money or payment directly from the student, this is a violation of our handbook.
You cannot cancel an accepted placement arriving within 7 days unless of emergency.
You consent to release and allow usage of photos taken of your home to prospective students in the event that they ask for them.
You agree to let SurfCity Homestay conduct annual home visits to ensure quality of homestay.
All information provided on the site, handbooks, and Terms & Conditions, and Policies & Procedures are subject to change without notice. Accommodation rates are subject to change without notice. Rates may vary by season and availability.
By using SurfCity Homestay services, you agree to everything listed in this handbook.
