Guest smoking in non-smoking rental

[Dee--Denise-1]

I have a man staying in the other half of our duplex (we rent it as the Airbnb) who has been smoking since arrival. The smell of pot smoke is quite intense coming through the walls. I have two signs in that apartment about no smoking and list it as no smoking. I was not provided with his phone number. I am inquiring as to my options. I fear he will give me a bad review. I work hard during the day as a nurse, take care of my disabled husband during the evenings and really don't want any negative confrontations. Any suggestions?  My daughter thinks I should charge double.

[Anonymous]

@Dee--Denise-1 Your daughter might be mistaken about how charges work on Airbnb. Hosts can't simply take extra payment from guests or impose fines at will. Your main recourse when guests violate the rules is to terminate the booking, which tends to involve refunding the remaining nights.

Unfortunately, there's no way to enforce the House Rules without some kind of confrontation. It's just part of the job. You can try to approach it gently with a message reminding the guest of the smoking rules and directing him to the nearest place where smoking is allowed, but you're in a tough spot if he denies being the culprit.

People who flagrantly disregard your rules are unlikely to leave great reviews anyway, so that's hardly a good reason to avoid taking action. But it's too late to prevent the smoke odor now, so it really depends on how much longer the stay is and how much you're willing to tolerate the smell until he leaves. 

[Dee--Denise-1 · Accepted solution]

I did go over and talk to him. He denied knowing it was a non-smoking apartment yet had adjusted the thermostat that has one of the no smoking notices right above it. He agreed to stop and smoke outside for the next three nights.  Legal in NY doesn't mean okay everywhere.  Like you said the damage is done. (my daughter was kidding, aggravated about the smell) Ill have to wash all the curtains and clean the cloth furniture. It makes it hard as I work full time as a nurse and we are frequently mandated to work extra shifts - cleaning time cuts into sleep time. I guess I will revise my listing to list NO SMOKING as the first line.   

Thank you. 

[Anonymous]

@Dee--Denise-1  Or make NO SMOKING the WiFi password...

Your guest was lying to save face; every smoker knows that smoking allowed indoors is extraordinarily rare, not default. But the way I prefer to handle that conversation is to state in the listing and at check- in where the nearest smoking/vaping area is, as people just tune you out when you say "no this, no that." 

[Karen3459]

Love this idea but probably wouldnt stop them.  

[Kate867]

@Dee--Denise-1   Depending on how bad it is and if you can ‘prove’ additional cleaning costs, you can try to claim them via the Airbnb resolution centre.  

[Zak207]

Airbnb does not cover additional cleaning costs especially by companies that specialize in smoke removal, even though it says it in their website Aircover covers smoke removal. Completely rediculous.

[Huma0]

@Zak207 Yes, it's ridiculous for them to claim that they cover it and then tell you it's impossible to prove. 

At the same time, they suspend hosts due to guests claiming hidden cameras or gas leaks to get a refund and the onus is on the host to prove the non-existence of said cameras or gas. I remember one host posting about a listing where there was actually no gas supply being suspended until he had to pay a gas engineer to come out and write a report confirming there was no gas supply.

A few months ago, I had some guests who smoked both weed and cigarettes in the guest bedroom. They thought they were being clever about hiding it, but who did they think was going to empty the bin where they put the buts? I didn't even bother trying to claim for it because I knew it would be a waste of time. 'Luckily', they had been opening the windows in the middle of winter while the heating was on and at the same time constantly complaining the room was cold, but refusing to let me enter to check the radiators, so the smell didn't linger for long.

[Huma0]

PS There are areas where the guests can smoke, but they were too lazy to walk down one flight of stairs...

[Zak207]

Well I hired a smoke expert Airbnb refused to cover. He took measurements of the vapor from the smoke along the walls, floors, carpet with this measurement tool. So physical proof. He even cut out my wall and measured the smoke permeated half way into the wall. So he painted the wall to block the vapors from the smoke.

I had photos of cigarette butts in the room, empty smoke packages in the room trashcan, testimony from a smoke removal expert that the walls and mattress were a total loss. Airbnb even refused to cover a professional carpet cleaner $160 to wash the carpet which was the very least they could've done! I have video of the guests bringing lit cigarettes out of the room, smoke coming out of their window too.

I even confronted the guests in person and they admitted over Airbnb messages they were smoking in the room. They said they had the right to smoke in the listing.

And even with all of that! Airbnb would not cover a single penny!

[Zak207]

Oh yeah in my case all the guests needed to do was open the door and step into the patio from their room to smoke outside.

[Huma0]

@Zak207 

Oh dear. Well there is absolutely no hope if you had all that evidence and still they refused to accept the claim. 

I think the whole spiel of them covering extra cleaning for smoking is total BS then.

Luckily, I did not have the kind of damage you speak of and also the room was vacant for a few days before the next check in, but imagine if you have guests checking in the same or next day (not sure what happened regarding that in your case). Then what do you do? If you have to cancel the next guests you are penalised and lose income on top of everything else, plus might get a bad review from them.

I am actually a cigarette smoker myself and am very lenient about smoking at my listing. There are several places people can smoke if they want to. The guest bedroom is not one of these. Honestly, I don't know what is wrong with people. It is an addiction and I am addicted, but I don't smoke inside someone else's airbnb.

[Anonymous]

@Zak207   Up until about 5 years ago or so, before Airbnb upended its whole service operation, they had a fixed amount that they would offer for smoke odor claims. Sit down for this: it came out to around $20.

A lot of things have changed since then; guest behaviors have grown much more audacious and more hosts have gone remote and outsourced their cleaning and maintenance to ever more expensive professionals. They still cling on to the rebranded damage - compensation scheme as a marketing tactic, but in practice their adjustors are only looking for reasons to deny a claim. Too many hosts operate with the assumption that AirCover will actually cover them and lose a lot of money as a result. I can only advise that hosts resolve any damage issues the way they would if they knew they were doing it 100% out of pocket.