After a busy and exciting week at Hosts International, during which our Operations Director, Harsha Brown, attended both the English UK Parliament Reception and the English UK AGM, we've taken some time to reflect. These events offered a great opportunity to connect with fantastic individuals—many long-standing partners as well as new contacts—who continue to enrich and expand our network.

They also reminded us of the incredible support we've received since our journey began in 1988. It’s made us consider what it is that inspires our partners to keep choosing us as their trusted homestay provider across the UK and Ireland, and why so many institutions return to work with us year after year.

1. We’re dedicated homestay specialists

Homestay accommodation isn’t just one of our services—it’s our entire focus. With 15 accommodation locations in the UK and Ireland, we invest heavily in recruiting quality hosts, ensuring compliance with safety regulations, retaining our extensive host network, and providing timely payments. We’ve built dedicated teams who offer comprehensive support to host families when they need it. Our teams live and breathe homestay, allowing us to perfect this specialised service while our partners focus on their core educational offerings.

2. We function as an extension of your team

Our partners don’t need to hire additional staff to manage homestay accommodation. We aim to integrate smoothly with their existing student services teams, handling all aspects of the homestay arrangements including host recruitment and vetting, placement matching, ongoing support during stays, and issue resolution. This comprehensive service removes the accommodation burden from their teams, saving time, resources, and stress while ensuring students receive quality homestay experiences.

3. We maintain rigorous quality and compliance standards

Behind the scenes, we also invest significant time and resources in making sure our operation meets the highest industry standards. We strictly follow safeguarding protocols for student safety while adhering to criteria set down by the British Council, Ofsted, ISI and AEGIS. We also regularly review host standards so that all safety regulations are met, giving our partners confidence that their students are placed in safe, welcoming environments.

At Hosts International, we believe the key to our most successful partnerships is a collaborative approach. We value open communication about expectations, challenges, and operational needs and believe our success depends on mutual understanding. As summer approaches, we invite clients to get in touch to arrange a complementary team training session to help us better understand each other’s needs and effectively manage peak periods together.