Guest policies

[CiCi29]

Hi U.S hosts,

I live in Texas and is in the process of starting to host my house on Air BNB. But I'm not sure how to write the Guest  policies. 😞 

What do you guys base on when writing the guest policies ? What should we include in there ? would anyone mind sharing their guest polices please ? I would really appreciate it! 🙂 TIA

[Huma0]

@Lorna170 

A welcome package sounds like a good idea, but I worry that some guests won't read any of it. I have long been thinking of printing out similar and putting it in the rooms. The only reason I didn't do this before is because I do quite a thorough welcome tour, but I think it would be useful as you don't want to be running through the full list of rules at that point.

[Lorna170]

@Huma0  My Welcome Package is kind of a requirement as we are no-contact hosts.  Plus, many of our properties are in the mountains where GPS and phone service is spotty -- if they don't have the PDF, they are not going to reach the property and if they do get there, without the WiFi password they are not going to be able to connect and get the door code off the AirBnB website.  Big RED letters:  PRINT THIS PDF.   Most are actually smart enough to do so unless they are the type who live by the App and their phones.  

[Huma0]

@Lorna170 

Makes sense. I just message that information to guests a few days before, but I can see that perhaps a printed document would be useful.

However, the last guests that I am aware of printing out the instructions got lost anyway.  They didn't think to contact me. Instead, they turned off their phones. Again, you can't fix stupid.

[Sudsrung0]

@Huma0 

We get guest who travel half way round the world and dont have internet on their phones, 

We do try to help guest by offering a taxi service to collect them from the airport, some want to make their own way, Then get lost, no internet, cannot speak the language, I think the guest think we are over charging for the taxi we are 50km away, 

It's a great service the driver is there waiting for them so out of the airport straight into the taxi and away, 

I think too many guest are reading Lonely Planet

[Huma0]

@Sudsrung0 

Do people still read Lonely Planet? I have to say it was my bible when I was backpacking, but we're talking about backpacking, not staying at high end places like yours, and that was back in the 90s.

I was recently looking at a yoga holiday in Portugal. Problem is, it's quite far from the airports and there is no train to take you there, only a bus and even then, you'd still need a taxi/transfer from the bus stop. The airport transfer looked SOOO expensive to me, although I can see why they charge that much given the distance and it would be such a hassle to get there by public transport.

But, that transfer price really did push that holiday out of my budget, especially once you double it to make it a return. It was hard for me to get my head around paying more for the airport transfer than for the flight!

My guests sometimes still get lost even though they only have to walk 0.3 miles from the tube station down a straight road, with no turns to make. Plus, the houses all have numbers displayed outside. It really couldn't be easier.

[Sudsrung0]

@Huma0 

Im afraid they do, I didn't know what it was my husband told me and there is 2 on the self above me, We had two women book with us last month and they declined my offer, they said they would catch the bus to town which is still 15km away and get the local bus to my area, That was when my husband said they have been reading Lonely Planet, They admitted it to my husband hahahah, 3 hours later they arrived, my taxl would have been 40 minutes, 

What can I do? 

[Huma0]

@Sudsrung0 

Three hours? Yep, that's painful. 

That being said, I once had a guest who showed up three hours later than arranged for check in and I could not get hold of her at all. Turns out, or so she said, that she didn't make a note of the address (this is where @Lorna170 's suggestion guests print out that PDF becomes useful), then her phone battery died on the plane. 

So (she says), she made it to my road, and actually quite close to my house, but with a random door number in her head that had nothing to do with mine. She completely forgot to look for the green house with bright pink front door and flowerbeds outside as instructed. Instead, she goes and knocks on some random black front door of a totally brick house.

Having been turned away, she turns back and somehow finds an Internet cafe near the station where she can charge her phone. Bearing in mind that she had only come a five minute walk from the station in the first place, I still don't understand why it then took her THREE hours to respond to my messages. I mean, how long does it take to get enough charge on your phone to see that the host has been trying to call and message you and respond to one of those messages asking for the address again (or simply check and see the address that had been provided)?

[Sudsrung0]

@Huma0 

We now have a Airport bus service that comes right to my area Im told it's ok, it takes the coastal route it leaves on the hour every hour, obviously not in lonely planet yet,

It has internet on the bus how good is that? 

[Huma0]

@Sudsrung0 

Well, that sounds like the perfect budget option for the guest who doesn't want to pay for the taxi service.

If you have time, maybe try it yourself to see. If not, and it hasn't been reviewed much yet, I guess you could let the next guest be the guinea pig!

[Bubba-Lee0]

Unfortunately, no matter how "dumbed down" you make your House Rules, you will always find someone who functions on the level of a potato. 

You will find your House Rules will become a living document.  After each guest you will come across a WTF that will need to be added to the House Rules.

Some serious WTF moments:  When the family emptied their trash out of their car and dumped it on my kitchen floor. No bags, just trash on the floor.

The woman who used an entire package of baby wipes and flushed them down the toilet prompted the rule, "Don't flush anything except TP". 

The idiot who decided to park in the yard in the rain instead of in the parking spot, and promptly got stuck resulted in the House Rule, "Do not park on the grass".

The person who apparently spilled an entire bowl or rice and red sauce in the bed prompted the rule, "No food outside of the kitchen/dining area."

Two episodes of red wine being spilled on the living room and bedroom carpets prompted the rule of "No colored beverages outside of the kitchen/dining area."  I had a guest fuss about this rule and I responded with, " I'm trying to save everyone a headache. I figured the small inconvenience of confining your wine to the dining area might be preferable to paying $275 to clean the oriental rug when you spill it."

I had to add "No vehicles larger than a standard pick up truck" after a person showed up in a giant U-Haul sized truck. They had to park in the field down the street and weren't happy about it. Well, perhaps you should have mentioned your over-sized vehicle when you booked since most people wouldn't have room to park something that big. It was already mentioned in my listing that street parking wasn't an option.

In this business you will quickly discover, "Common sense ain't so common."  There are a lot of people out there who need to be voted off the island.