Information for travellers

Guidance for travellers seeking hospitality from other members

Travelling with Servas offers opportunities to connect with other members on a personal level and requires the traveller to observe agreed procedures and conduct. The Servas host offers their hospitality in a spirit of friendship and this should be respected by the traveller.

Manage your Servas profile

1. When you join Servas your details are included in a Household profile that will contain yours and any other members’ details, if there are additional members in your household.
2. Before travelling with Servas, your profile must be up to date and confirmed.
3. Once you have confirmed your profile, you can create a Letter of Introduction and request its validation.

Create a Letter of Introduction (LOI) 

1. Every Servas traveller is required to create a Letter of Introduction (LOI) which must be validated before they travel and available in advance for prospective hosts. The LOI is more than a passport. It provides your host with a personal introduction, some details of your travel plans and confirmation that your visit is accredited by Servas.
2. To be valid,your LOI must have a current eStamp with an expiry date. You can create more than one LOI within the period of the eStamp. If your membership expires, your LOI will no longer be valid.
3. If you are travelling with another member of your household, each adult (18 and above) requesting Servas hosting must have a valid eStamp. Dependent children under 18 and travelling with a Servas member do not need LOIs.
4. If you are travelling with friends, they must also be Servas members with their own valid LOIs.
5. If you don’t know the procedure in your country, you can get information from a national or regional coordinator in the country where you live. 

Finding hosts

1. You can find potential hosts in the Search hosts section using the map search facility to zoom into the area you want to visit. To narrow your search, open More search filters and select the search criteria that are important for you. Remember the more filters you use, the fewer hosts you will find. If doing so eliminates too many members, consider reducing your search criteria.
2. Some members have not yet identified their location on the map. When this happens, they are all grouped together in the centre of a region.
3. Depending on your search parameters, a list of hosts of one or more pages will be displayed to the right of the map - or below it on mobiles and devices with smaller windows. You can download the host list as a PDF by clicking the button above the list.
4. Note: There is help available on the Search Hosts page. Click the blue Help link at the top left of the page.

Contacting hosts

1. The Servas Household and the members' profiles contain information to help you contact them. Check if they prefer email or some other means of contact (such as WhatApp), who to contact if the Household contains more than one member, their hosting capacity and the amount (days) of notice they require. Please respect these requests. 
2. Do not copy hosting requests to several hosts; it is usually obvious it is a group email, and hosts may simply not answer. It could also result in multiple offers for the same night. 
3. If you decide for any reason not to visit a host who has offered accommodation or day hosting, contact them immediately.
4. With your first contact, let hosts know that you have a valid profile on servas.org. If you contact them by phone or through a servas.org message, direct them to your profile, or offer to send an LOI.
5. Servas hosts in areas with many tourists often have far more guests than they can accept. Servas hosts further away from these areas often have few travellers, and may be eager for more visitors. Look also for the note Want more travellers.
6. Be sure to discuss important details with your hosts: 
   When is it convenient for the host for you to arrive, and when will you leave? 
   Will you have eaten when you come, and will meals be provided?
   Do you have special requirements (such as type of bed, diet, etc.)?
7. If a lot of time has gone by  since you contacted a host, reconfirm the date and time of your arrival again shortly before your expected arrival time.
8. If you are phoning, call before 21.00 local time for your host.

Visiting hosts

1. On arriving at a host’s home, always offer to show your LOI in digital form or as a copy printed on paper, even if you have emailed it before.
2. The goal of Servas is not inexpensive travel – Servas exists to bring together people from different cultures to communicate and learn from each other as a means to promote a more peaceful world, understanding and to learn how people live. Please remember this when you travel.
3. Your hosts are not hotels – treat your hosts like you would your friends. Offer to help with dishes and other housework. Like friends, hosts have different expectations and comfort levels with how much you help and how much time they spend with you.
4. If plans change, you will be late or you have to cancel, always contact your host as early as you can. 
5. Spend time with your Servas hosts. This is the reason Servas exists. If you are attending a conference and have little time to spend with your hosts, consider a hotel instead.
6. The typical Servas stay is for two nights. Some hosts welcome visitors for one night. Not all hosts may know about this option, so if you hope to stay only one night, check your planned host’s profile on servas.org to see what the host has written for the length of stay. Hosts can offer an extended stay if they choose, but travellers should not expect or ask for this.
7. Some hosts will want – and be able to – show you around the area, but others will have less time or ability to do so. Don’t expect a tour guide. If hosts do show you around, offer to pay for expenses. You may also be able to find a Servas day host in the area to spend some time with.
8. Accommodation provided will vary greatly, and some hosts may not be able to provide all the conveniences or even the standards that you have at home. Tolerance and an open mind are essential for Servas travellers. If you have particular needs, be sure to discuss them with your hosts ahead of time.
9. If you can, offer to bring a bed sheet and/or a sleeping bag. By bringing this equipment you reduce housekeeping for the hosts and decrease the environmental impact of your stay (since the host doesn’t have to wash your bed sheet). Hosts may request that you bring a bed sheet and/or sleeping bag.

The contents of this page are a compilation of best practice from different Servas groups. Servas groups can be one or more individual countries who administer members’ interests within that country or countries.