Private Room Rental Guest Confusion

[Chad320]

I am looking for advice on making it very clear to guests that they are booking a private room rental. In the last month, I have had 3 reservations that have booked and cancelled because of them (one of them was a month-long stay). To date, I have always approved a full refund (even though I have a strict cancellation policy) because the mistake is corrected on the same day, and I don't want people in my house that feel financially forced to be there.

My listing is classified as a private room rental (so they can filter based on this, and it says it on the reservation page). I also mention this fact TWICE within the listing description, though I know guests frequently don't read the entire description. I believe it's also listed under "Things to keep in mind" during the booking process. To me, I think this makes it pretty obvious, but I still frequently get guests that did not realize they were booking a private room and not the entire house. I have literally thought of uploading an interior layout diagram of the house with color-coded legend of guest private space, common space, and off-limits/owner areas, but then I have to assume guests will look at that photo, and if I do too much, other potential guests may be deterred from my listing. 

To head this off, I send them a welcome message over AirBnB and a welcome email that both mention the fact that it's a private room rental (this is where guests always catch their error and contact me immediately). I am not one to simply take someone's money because of a mistake, and like I said earlier: I put a lot of time and care into my house and don't want people that feel forced to be there.

Here is a link to the listing if it's helpful to see it (though I just added the wording "Private Rooms" to the title today in hopes that might help):

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/31343328?s=67&unique_share_id=75ae4ec5-2d92-497c-ba1c-28ad78c06a38

[Ryan2961]

Thanks for starting this discussion Chad.

I have helped manage private room Airbnbs in the past and have had this issue with every 1 out of 5 guests. I wish Airbnb would do better at confirming this during the booking process but that's out of our hands.

One solution I just thought of, not yet tested 🙂, is to add a badge of sorts to your listing pictures to show "private space" and "shared space" for interior pictures. Then you could even add "see description" in small text below the tag. I find that a lot of people never read the description but almost everyone looks at the pictures. It's a similar concept to the "not for rent" watermark realtors put on pictures but less obtrusive and more tactful. See example photos below (I used a random listings' photos to demonstrate the idea).

Private SpaceShared Space

[Gillian166]

old thread alert.