What are you more comfortable doing?

ElleCuddleMi

I’d love to get some feedback from both pros and non-pros! ❤️

For those who book or provide cuddle sessions, would you rather have the cuddler come to your location, or would you prefer having a dedicated location to go to?

Up until now, I’ve always done either hotel sessions or gone to someone’s home for a cuddle session. I’m considering changing things up and looking into leasing a more permanent space.

There are definitely pros and cons to having a dedicated location—convenience, privacy, comfort, cost, etc.—so I’d really like to hear what people think before I make a decision.

There’s actually one particular space I’m considering leasing, but before I take that step, I’d love to hear from both professional cuddlers and people who have booked cuddle sessions.

What would you personally prefer, and why?

Cuddler comes to you 🏠
or
You come to a dedicated cuddle space 🛋️

I’m just looking for honest feedback and ideas—nothing more. 😊

I think it boils down to each individual’s preferences and quirks.

With an enthusiast, it does not matter. Whatever she feels comfortable with works for me.

With a pro I prefer they come to me because I am so relaxed and zoned out by the end of a session. I have gone to the pro before at their place and that is cool too. However, you mentioned leasing a place, and whenever I hear or see that I definitely pass that pro by. This is my quirk. Going to an “office” or commercial property immediately strikes me as too cold and clinical with the difference between that and a proctologist being the service provided. Just know this is only my opinion and if you ask a thousand people you will probably get a thousand varieties of opinions.

Finally, on a more pragmatic note, the cost of everything is skyrocketing and rent is number one on that list. I question if there would be enough increase in business to offset the rent, and even then, why bother with rent, electricity, water, etc unless you are significantly profiting from the outlay of capital. You are the one absorbing the risk of your income and even your credit if it all goes awry.

I honestly hope this helps in some small way.

I would LOVE to find a space I could book on a as needed basis.
I reached out to a few companies that offer therapy space rentals as needed, but none of them were accepting of cuddle therapy unfortunately.
I know I would have to lug around a portable bed and bedding but I feel like the reduced overhead cost would make it worthwhile.

For now I’m just booking nice hotels. I like that I don’t have to worry about changing sheets or having any of my personal items around, but in California it’s really tricky.
Each room I book costs more than what I make per session and typically 90% of my booked sessions cancel same day, sometimes notifying me and sometimes not, so it’s a gamble to see if the cost of hosting is justifiable.

Open to suggestions, thanks for opening up this discussion!

@CarrieCA are you requiring a deposit up front? Are they responsible for the cost of the room? Are you eating the cost of the room when they cancel?

@ElleCuddleMi ultimately, can you afford the cost of leasing a space? That overhead will cut in to what you make. 1. Can you afford it? What happens if business slows down? 2. What's most comfortable for you?

Just this Summer I started having cuddlers come to my new place. The majority of time I was going to a hotel they paid for. I have been told by one cuddler I am more relaxed now. BTW, I did increase what I charge because the cuddler no longer has to pay for a hotel. I have been booking a bit more than before. I would do the math and be conservative in your estimates.

@CaramelNotes No unfortunately I’ve found site users are very adverse to all of the above.
When I’ve attempted to protect myself with a deposit or asking for the room to be covered, I lose business, I’ve never been successful with that.

I have a pretty iron clad cancellation policy but even that doesn’t protect me.

I ask for a donation to help offsite room costs, sometimes I’ll get lucky with users who are kind enough to understand the financial investment it takes to be able to offer hosting.
I think most of them are oblivious to how intense the hotel costs and site fees can be, so I try to spell it out for them in my profile but I’m still hit with requests for discounts every single day.
Very often it’s $300/day plus a $100/day deposit that takes weeks to return back to my account AND site fees, I would need to book atleast 3 hours or 3 sessions to profit just $8.

Rarely do I book over an hour session per site user each time I secure a hotel.
It’s really not smart but I don’t know what the alternative would be.

Open to suggestions.

I definitely prefer hosting. Very rarely do I go to clients- sitting in traffic, gas, parking- just no. I dedicate a space for it and it’s perfect. I have a therapy spot where I see all my clients including cuddle so it works for me. I would not lease an external space though. If you can dedicate a room at your place or whatever, that works best. You’ll save more money and you won’t have to do deposits and minimums and stuff. I have a good solid set of clients and both parties feel comfortable.

I prefer to host at a hotel etc rather than visit someone’s home. Just a comfort level thing but so far, each person I’ve met has become a trusted friend

@CarrieCA I think you should go to the pros forum and ask them what they do. This doesn't seem like a good business model and it seems like you might be losing money. Sorry I'm not a pro so I don't have good suggestions .