I think this new policy is unfair and unsafe to hosts.
Here in NYC we are only permitted to do STR where we live. We have to share the space with our guests. So as much as we don't want to have personal stuff in our spaces, there's only so much we can put away.
I only feel comfortable doing airbnb STR because I have ring cameras in the hallways, the kitchen and my daughter's art room.
I do not want to remove it from the hallways because:
1. My outdoor cameras are not reliable. It picks up every passerby and every car but doesn't always pickup when there's a guest at the door. I rely on my hallway camera for accurate notification when someone enters my house. As much as I try to pick good guests, at the end of the day, they are strangers in my house & around my family. So many have tried to enter doors they no they shouldn't enter. God forbid something goes wrong, I need proof.
2. so many guests leave my doors wide open & never say anything. I only know when I get an alert from my indoor camera. The outside camera always misses it. If I have to remove my hallway camera, anyone passing by could just walk in.
3. When I 1st started airbnb, I had damages & theft. I only received reimbursement for a tv stolen by a guest because I had proof from the hallway camera (the outside camera missed it).
4. Too many guests have tried to sneak in unregistered guests. I have to be careful with this because NYC maximum guests is 2 or risk getting fined.
I do not want to remove the camera from my daughter's art room because:
1. it can't be closed off & there are too many guests touching her belongings. They only stop because they remember I have the camera. I have nowhere else to move her stuff.
2. I get a notification when they try to open the door to my daughter's bedroom. There's big sign on the door so they know it's off limits but, the still try to open it.
3. If someone goes in her bedroom, or damages her stuff or takes something, I want to be able to look back and see who did it.
The kitchen camera helps:
1. when people forget stuff in the fridge, I can go back & see if it's my kids or if it was a guest.
2. When I found a bunch of food in the sink, I was able to go back & see who did it (it's not a garbage disposal).
3. When I saw slimy stuff in the sink drain, I was able to go back & see, someone hacked up thick spit in it. I knew I had to take extra precaution, clean/disinfect/sanitize even more than usual. 4. more importantly, if I need to, I can see when someone is trying to access the bedroom right next to the kitchen, it's off limits to guests.
I don't know what to do. This new policy will just give guests freedom to break house rules.
I'm ok getting rid of the kitchen camera. I'm not ok getting rid of the camera in my daughters art room. I don't feel safe getting rid of my hallway cameras.
