Critique my listing - Pablo & Danette from San Antonio

[Pablo-and-Danette0]

Hello Airbnb Family - We just listed our property and I would like to get your feedback. Thanks in advance.

http://www.airbnb.com/h/bluestar-cottage 

@Karla533 

[Sarah977]

@Pablo-and-Danette0  Your place looks nice. But ditch the air mattress option and lower your guest count to 6. You have proper beds for 6 people in 3 bedrooms, you have dining seating for 6, and living room seating for 6. Don't list for 8. And when you start throwing air mattresses down to cram in more people, it cheapens the whole ambiance of the listing and encourages partiers and sneaking in more guests. You are renting out a nice home, not running a flophouse.

Further to that remove this wording from your house rules-

"No rowdy parties. You may only host quaint family/friend gatherings at The Blue Star Cottage. Please be respectful of the neighbors. Quiet hours begin at 9pm. We are happy to host you and your guests!"

And replace it with "No unregistered guests not on the booking, or visitors, are allowed on the property. Failure to respect this may result in immediate eviction with no refund."

You can't expect that your definition of a "rowdy party" will be the guest's definition. And you should never talk about "your guests". It is your home- anyone who stays or visits is your guest, not your guest's guest. Saying "your group" is fine, because it means the group they booked and paid for. 

What your wording will result in is at some point finding 30 people having a  barbeque in your yard and house, parking their cars on the lawn or blocking your neighbor's driveway, traipsing in and out of the house, using up toilet paper, soap, and towels, plugging up the toilet, dogs running through your gardens, cigarette butts all over the yard. 

"Oh, it's just our family and friends, it isn't a rowdy party". 

And then half of them too drunk to drive home and staying  at the house.

[Pablo-and-Danette0]

Thank you for the feedback @Sarah977 

[Patti-And-Marty0]

Your photos are great, good job. The only one I would change is the exterior shot that shows your house number clearly, you probably don't want your exact location revealed to just anybody.

In your house rules you have fines listed for late check out and smoking, how are you planning to collect the money? I know you are trying to deter these things from happening but unless something has changed, and please correct me if I am wrong,  I don't believe you can collect unless the guest agrees through the resolution centre. 

[Pablo-and-Danette0]

Thank you for the feedback!

[Huma0]

@Patti-And-Marty0 

This is very true. I once had guests who arrived very late at night, not due to unexpected delays, but due to their own disorganisation. I reminded them there was a late check in fee mentioned in the house rules, which they acknowledged. However, they ignored the resolution request even after it was escalated to Airbnb. Airbnb said there was nothing they could do (even though it was all there in the correspondence thread) because the guest has to agree to pay.

However, I do find that in general, it acts like a deterrent. When I first started hosting, I had so many problems with guests ignoring my check in/out times or even requesting to drop off bags early and then refusing to leave even though I was still cleaning the listing. I had to get strict about it and that involves mentioning it on the listing/in the house rules. I've rarely had issues with it since. I don't worry about collecting the fees, as I never need to charge them.

Late check in fee is the only one I've charged a few times in the past, and by that I mean when the guest has a very late flight and has agreed to pay it. Mostly though, it acts to stop people who know they are not going to arrive until 12 or 1am booking the listing regardless and just expecting me to stay up to check them in. If they think they will have to pay for it, they will usually ask me first. 

The only problem I had was with the guest mentioned above and really, that was my fault for not collecting the money straight away. Once the guest has already checked out, it becomes much harder.

[Pablo-and-Danette0]

Thank you for the feedback!

[Pablo-and-Danette0]

Thank you so much for the feedback Airbnb fam. I incorporated some of your suggestions to the listing.