Major review fatigue and hosting burn out

[Yvonne41]

I am heading into year 7 as a host.

What are some real ways to reduce my workload in an area with a lack of reliable, consistent and available home care taking resources?

I am writing this after having chipped wood for 5 hours (with my 74 year old mom) to clear tree and bush branches a maniac meth head haphazardly slashed (I naively didn’t realize what the bizarre stutter was)…and after finding a mouse nest and two dead mice under the twin bed, in a throw blanket that went missing Labor Day weekend. My body is sore and I am really tired. 

I am using Hospitable to automate communications for bookings - which I love, it helps free up my time. I set clear rules for the housekeepers and they still aren’t telling me about issues in the house, so every time I am here I am deep cleaning and repairing. What works for you to get the help you need to stay a 5-star Superhost? 

[Sudsrung0]

@Yvonne41 

It's the cost of doing business so dont let them get you down, 

I dont get many problems from guest if I do I deal with them right away,

All my problems come from the cleaners, one a while ago nearly lost me $500 I'll take some of the blame for not checking, What am I paying for?

I remember one guest complain about a rat, when I mentioned it to the cleaner she said she saw that 2 weeks ago, why she not tell me I have a pest control company they would come out right away,

I could write a list about cleaners I have had, they all start off good but it all goes down the same road,

The cleaner I have now I had to tell her the other week about cleaning the skirting boards, dust on the top, behind the TV, on top of the fridge.

[Fred13]

Perhaps it may help you to look at your two places philosophically different, meaning with different expectations and geared to two different clienteles. One is in a 'man-made' setting; the other in a more 'natural' environment, thus the difference in price and definitely drawing guests looking for something totally different. The 'cabin in the woods' should be kept simple to run, the less fancy the better; forget subject it to a conventional 5-star standard, more towards a 5-star guest experience.

But one thing is certain, trying to rely on others to deliver the right amount of cleaning and maintenance to achieve your goal is indeed a tall order so perhaps think of becoming a DIY (do-it-yourself) dynamic duo and make it a fun journey. Listening closely to your clientele and improving every day is the winning ticket.

Good luck.

[Yvonne41]

I simply don’t get a lot of feedback from my guests. And, if my housekeepers are fielding some, they aren’t telling me or addressing it. If guests and housekeepers aren’t communicating, and so far I’m not psychic, I’m not going to know what they aren’t happy with. But, when I come to my house and stay and find things I think aren’t dialed in, I imagine my guests feel that way too.

[Sudsrung0]

@Yvonne41 

I dont know about you, but I do not do self check in here in Phuket brings a load of trouble and I dont do one night stays, I live on a party island, 

We also let guest know we will meet you at the property, Easy for us as we only live 5 to 10 minutes away from our properties.

[Yvonne41]

I wish I could do that. My places are an hour and a half, and 2 and a half hours away by car - and that is without traffic. The one night rental cabin I have been screening out potential parties so far…it seems to be working!

[Richard531]

@Yvonne41  If your profile is accurate, it appears you host maybe ~15 bookings annually according to your 70 reviews over the last 7 years doing this. Let's assume you host double this amount including other platforms/private bookings.  

By that math, 2-3 guests per month feels like an extremely manageable workload.  Maybe I'm missing something, but you can't reduce a STR owner's workload much less than tending to a guest every couple weeks.  

Being a fantastic host is a LOT of work.  It appears like you just added a new listing.  This means more guests so it's certainly not going to get any easier. 

Maybe your shortest path to happiness is understanding that being a STR host isn't for you?

[Yvonne41]

I rent back to back from June to September, and have a 9 to 5 career where my primary home is - about 200 miles away from my main STR. The review count is low, because the housekeeping consistency is low. 

What I don’t want is hosting to consume my life - I do like sharing the experience of my places with guests who appreciate the effort it takes to have an clean and functional, well stocked place. To date, I have only stayed at one place (in Rome) that was as clean and well appointed as what I provide my guests. 

[Robin4]

@Yvonne41 

Yvonne, I understand what you mean by feeling burnt out. Hosting is a challenge, even if you live on the property, let alone host from afar.

I find I need to take a few days off every 6-8 weeks to keep my hosting enthusiasm focused! Week before last this was my hosting week.......

So I also understand what you mean by feeling fatigued.

This is an old building and I do have to go the extra yard to convey that I put a lot of effort into the cleaning. It doesn't just have to be clean, it has to be seen to be clean. And it doesn't matter how much effort you put into cleaning, it will never be good enough for some guests.

The reality of hosting with Airbnb is that there is no such thing as a standard, everything boils down to guests perception.

94% of the 539 guests who have reviewed me have given me a 5 star for cleanliness, 4 months ago I had a guest who gave me a 1 star for cleanliness.....who is right?

The reality is they are both right.....according to their perception.

Yvonne, you have to try not to take those occasional knocks to heart, they say more about the guest than they say about you. I have had considerable experience over the years as a guest, we have had the good fortune to do a lot of travelling and from my experiences your success as a host boils down to 2 things.

1/.......The bed is everything. If the guests gets a good comfortable nights sleep they will forgive other shortcomings with the property but, if they roll around all night on an uncomfortable mattress and poor quality bedding, nothing you can do will be acceptable.

2/.....Give the guest something they were not expecting. Provide a gimmick, a beer or bottle of wine in the fridge, a box of chocolates......as well as all the regular condiments I provide a cheese plate for every guest, even overnighters. 

If you concentrate on those points your percentage of good reviews will remain high and guests will go that extra yard to respect what you offer........generally!

Don't let the random ones get to you, the mass of good guests more than makes up for that odd Piranha. All the best Yvonne.

Cheers........Rob

[Richard531]

@Yvonne41 I guess I was just trying to say that if you're feeling burnt out now,  bringing on another listing might not be the way to go.  I've kinda noticed that guest's expectations/entitlement is shading worse as the pandemic gets further into the rearview.  So it's not going to get any easier.  

We have 8 listings and have never, ever, had a vacant day at a single listing.  Ever.  Each property is managed my my wife and I remotely (100-200 miles away) and we have an average 4.99 review rating on them.  Do we love this job?  Kind of!  We are super proud of the properties and delighting our guests make us happy.  But not a week goes by there's not some stressful moment in this line of work.  

This is our current multi-calendar (inspired by @Robin4 sharing).  We're going on a road trip and staying at 2 of the properties where it's blocked off (Tues/Wed/Thurs).  Then doing a family get together at one of the bigger mountain properties on 11/3.  We also clean them personally when we go on those days (big fun).  

Again, you gotta like this job to really do it well!

[Fred13]

How did you get the calendar show show Airbnb bookings in green colors? Mine are empty of color and do not show well.

[Richard531]

@Fred13  I use Chrome. Maybe it's a setting?  Or it's how the American site behaves and it's different internationally?  I don't think it's a setting I made. . .  Others can chime in?  

Here's how it looks in the future when there's vacancies (which are white with the prices). The days that are pink I have "rules" set up to allow a single night stay that would otherwise force a 2-night stay (orphan days).  

[Fred13]

Thanks, that helped. /

[Ross648]

Hello All, 

I agree with the good sheets comment from Robin.  Good sheets solve a lot of problems. 

Then we just have to accept difficult guests.   I had a guest that gave me a "3" because she "felt" that behind the charm of my cabin the place was dirty.   It's not dirty, and it's a one-room schoolhouse from the 1850s.   It's just old.    But, of course, it is her perception, so the rating stand.   Another guest made me come a pick mushrooms growing on my property because she was worried that her dog might eat them and she didn't want to touch them herself!   And she gave a 4, I think because of this (I didn't ask!).  

It would be nice to give hosts a way to find out if the guest (otherwise fine) gives unreasonable ratings, but that will never happen.    So it is best as others have said to train yourself to ignore them.