Guests during COVID

[Lorissa0]

My husband and I have been noticing trends with our AirBnb guests since the COVID pandemic started:

- Guests are booking longer stays

- Guests are booking to use our Bnb as their work & live space

- Guests are requesting extra services and amenities not in our listing

- Guests are booking to quarantine before they see family in town

The unfortunate part of the above trends is that our BnB space (small guest suite) is being used as someone's primary residence much more than as a jumping off point for vacation exploration and adventure (as it was primarily in the past) causing much more wear & tear on our space. We're noticing that many guests seem to arrive only to hunker down for the next number of days/weeks of their stay and hardly leave the space. Our space doesn't have a kitchen- just a mini fridge/coffee maker/cups & paper plates- so it's not ideal for preparing many meals. We're noticing that people are leaving tons of crumbs, even in the bed, from their order in meals, appliances and bathroom are significantly 'used' and grimy. Our last two guests have also stained the sheets & towels via coffee in bed and blood. These occurrences used to be a one in a dozen maybe and now they seem to be the norm. 

We've also noticed the quality of guest has gone down with people disregarding basic rules like no smoking, no pets, or 'leave no trace' -(trash left in our courtyard area) even with our prices about the same since pre-COVID.

I'm guessing we're not the only ones dealing with these issues. I'm considering raising our rates and doing away with week/month discounts to make up for this added wear and tear which has translated into a decent amount of extra stress, money and work on our parts. I would love to hear others thoughts and experiences with this.

Thanks!

Lorissa 

[Mark116]

@Lorissa0  We've seen a huge drop in both business overall, we will be lucky if we hit 25% of what we have seen in past years, and in quality of guests.  Previously, the vast majority of our guests were international or US travelers who flew in and spent their time sightseeing.  Now, our guests are all driving and spending their time mostly inside the apartment and people are only booking for the weekends.  Not only is there more wear and tear on things,  but more stress and many more issues with guests not following the rules/directions.   

[Lorissa0]

@Mark116 wow- seems like this is a real problem right now. Thanks for sharing.

[Debra300]

@Lorissa0,

We also have a guest suite/apartments attached to our home.  In Georgia, STRs were restricted only during the month of April, but we remained closed for the entire spring to do renovations. We raised the rates and cleaning fee, changed the minimum stay from two to seven days. 

Most of our bookings were for weekends or a few days, but we have started to transition to longer term stays, because we prefer less turnover (especially during the periods we are not onsite).  We now are seeing more requests from people working temporarily in the area, or moving to the area.  For the winter, the minimum stay will be changed to either 14 or 21 days, and a single reservation can be no longer than 36 days (longer stays must be done in multiple reservations, e.g. a 40 day stay requires a 30 day and a 10 day reservation).   If a guest were to request a multi-month stay, that would be managed from our own website, as it would no longer be a short-term rental, and Airbnb is not an appropriate platform for long-term rentals (no real security deposit collected, and they don't guarantee payment collection after the first month).

We do offer a weekly and monthly discount, and adjust it depending upon the season to account for periods of increased electricity usage.  The AC and heater are heavily used during the summer and winter, and guests tend to stay inside when the outdoor temperature is uncomfortable.  

We had a housemate during the time we primarily lived in St. Lucia.  She was a friend who'd just gone through a divorce, and was in her mid-50s.  She did housekeeping at an unacceptable level for me, but I realized that's how she took care of her stuff.  She was asked to leave when we decided to list the space for STR.  My experience with her taught me that some people think they are clean or good stewards of personal items, or think that it's normal for stuff to get worn down or broken, and don't think that they've behaved poorly.  I keep this in mind when hosting.

[Lorissa0]

@Debra300 very good point. I think you’re right- guests may think they have left the place totally acceptable when in reality it’s completely not. I felt like previously our listing price deterred this clientele but it does not seem to be that way now. I’m going to be raising prices across the board and considering new wording for my listing. Thanks- 

[Debra300]

@Lorissa0,

The other reason our friend had to go was because it was only our stuff being used, because we let her store hers in the basement.  So, it definitely wasn't cool that she treated our not inexpensive name-brand stuff in the same manner that she did her bargain store items. 

In our rentals, I've removed a lot of extras (pillows, towels, linens, and infrequently used appliances), and supply enough for the duration of the stay.  In the listing's Things to Know section, the house rules, and my greeting and checkout messages, I remind guests that they are responsible for cleaning up after themselves during their stay, and list a few of the things that we expect them to do (wipe up spills, sweep up/vacuum crumbs, pick up dropped items, put dishes in the dishwasher, throw away open food items and trash in the garbage bins).  It works for the most part, which has outweighed the times that guests willfully leave more mess than they should.

Good luck, and let us know how things work out.

[Glenys-and-Henry0]

All, we have the same issue in Bali (Indonesia) - rapid decline in quality of guests and a bunch of cheapskates.  I have so many declines in the past 2 months that AirBnB have dingged me and want to know why: I want to get this letter to their senior management - does anyone have a working email address for them?

Dear AirBnB,

I wanted to make you aware of a situation in Bali that has been prevalent for the past couple of months during the Covid pandemic. 

I have been an experienced host for many years with AirBnB and frequently a SuperHost.  Like most, we have reduced our tariff 50-60% due to the pandemic and closure of international borders.  However, two types of guests are now looking in Bali: (1) Indonesian domestic tourists who have very little money and (2) Foreigners, mostly Eastern Europeans/Russians with Kitas's (temporary residency visa) returning to Bali to escape the northern hemisphere winter. This latter group typically wants 5-6 months’ accommodation.

We normally do short term holiday stays up to 1 month but are prepared to do longer - up to 6 months - during the pandemic.  The issue is that both groups are bargain basement hunters with little money and want everything for nothing (or close to it).  Our normal tariff is $250 USD per night for a premier villa.  We have reduced to $150 USD per night and $100 per night for stays longer than one month (this for a 3 br/suite private pool villa total 5000 sq. feet). We can't do it any cheaper than that, given the wear & tear that full time occupancy creates.  Problem is, these groups are contacting us via AirBnB with lowball offers (e.g. $600 per month) and clearly not wanting to book via the AirBnB process.  We are also getting spam booking enquiries via your platform: as many as 5 in one day, from Azerbaijan and other “weird” locations.  We have been declining them all based on their ridiculously low offers and no background or reviews (most having joined in December 2020), however, I am worried that too many continuous "declines" will look bad on our record. In the interests to keep our staff and properties safe though, we will continue to decline enquiries that look suspicious from people with no prior track record or wanting to do "deals" offline.  They are looking for "dirty deals done dirt cheap" and they're not the calibre of guests that we want or are used to in our premier properties.  I took my listings off instant book for several weeks to try to deflect them. They are now back on, we will see what happens... but it is important that you are aware that there are tides of cheap would-be renters coming in to Bali and that most self-respecting and experienced hosts would not want them as guests, thus you'll see high decline rates.

Please bear this in mind as you assess host performance for good villas in Bali. 

thanks & regards

Glen Taylor (owner, Villa Samsara & Villa Rajawali)

[Helen427]

@Catherine-Powell @Brian @Lizzie  would you please folllow up on @Glenys-and-Henry0  concerns re Spammers?

It sounds like an issue for Tech/ Trust & Safety Team to follow up on and be alert to.
Thanks

[Sarah977]

You do not need to decline Inquiries at all. All that is required for an Inquiry is to message back the inquirer within 24 hours. You don't need to either pre-approve or decline, so don't waste declines on inquiries. If it's a booking request, you do need to either accept or decline within 24 hours. But as far as I'm aware these scams always come in the form of an inquiry, rather than a request. So just message back "No" or " I don't do business off platform" or whatever. The report the scam account.

@Glenys-and-Henry0