Rating a guest who may have had a party

[Catherine2156]

I am troubled by how to rate a recent guest.  I did not meet them or converse with them.  They said they wanted to get together with a few friends at our home over New Year's Eve.  The house is rated for six guests.  The housekeeper arrived afterwards and said 'it looks like they used the house for a party'.  She wouldn't send me any pictures and when i asked for details she said the rearranged the furniture, and she thinks a lot of people stayed there because they had blankets and sheets on the couches.  My cleaner doesn't want to cause trouble, and I trust her completely, we've been working together for years across two different properties.  

There isn't much to go on.  I know i wouldn't rent to her again but nothing I can really prove about her stay.  

Suggestions? 

Thank you!

Bob

[Kit45]

Hi @Catherine2156 ,

Happy New Year.  I hope your place is intact and your housekeeper did not have to spend many hours to clean your place. 

You has a "No party" house rule and maximum guests, so when this main guest said that he or she would have a get together with a few friends at your place, this should be a red flag. 

As for proof,  please consider installing a door bell camera to monitor number of people going in and out of your place (registered and non-registered guests). Please mention the door bell camera in your listing.

Hope this help,

Kit

[Kate204]

Welcome to the bad side of hosting on Air BnB.

Airbnb don’t always take a guest bond that’s why they have the last say. Yes please leave a warning for other hosts, please let us other hosts know if a guest had a party. What about your poor Neighbours. It is awful having to live next to a Air bnb party house. We should be able to register bad guests that only other hosts gets to see.   Unfortunately guests will just close your account if they get a bad review and re-open up another one totally clean slate that’s why you never see guests with several bad reviews . I’m over Air BnB

Love to know an estimate of how much host have lost worldwide from Air BnB guests damaging their property, booking for 2 guests and 15  turn up, lost of income, extra cleaning cost.

[Karen1027]

I make it very clear in my listing as well as in the houserules that parties are NOT allowed. We also state that we do not allow visitors due to guest security and privacy, as on the occasions which we allowed it, it impacted on other guests. Make sure that you cover all the rules and regulations of your listing. Unfortunately what has happened has happened. I would leave it and move forward.

[Karen1027]

We have also experienced this situation:-

Guest books for 1. We request confirmation of 1 guest, receive it. The guest then arrives with her "companion" who makes out to be the provider of her transport. He does not introduce himself but naturally we are suspicious that he may be spending time and sleeping over with her which is of course what the situation was. We monitor the situation and nip it in the bud before it continues. We contact Airbnb to notify them of our suspicion. Contact the guest and remind her of the houserules and that she booked for one. She agreed to pay. We requested  money through airbnb and were paid. Best way to handle dishonest and/or negligent guests.

[Anonymous]

@Catherine2156  Well...it would be unusual if a group rented a house for NYE to *not* have a party. 

But the review should contain only facts, not unsubstantiated suspicions. Was there damage or missing items? Did the state of the home require more than the expected amount of cleaning? Did you receive noise complaints? Did the group use things such  as extra linens that weren't designated for them?  Depart later than the agreed time? If any of those things were the case, they would be appropriate for the review.  "They might have had a party" is something you should absolutely not say.

[Kate204]

No that’s a bad Attitude for a host. Do you own the property or renting it? If you have a $1.8million mortgage on the property with $60,000  furniture would you allow your guests to party, have extra guests, extra noise, Move the furniture around damage to floor boards costing you extra money in cleaning. Guests can Party weekdays and weekend. Neighbours would be complaining and the council will eventually shut Air bnb letting down and not allow Airbnb -That’s why it’s a selfish attitude for other responsible Hosts and responsible property owners. Airbnb host that will NOT take responsible for their guests behaviour should not host. You are wrecking it for other hosts worldwide with that attitude.  Put ii in the term and conditions any extra guests or visitors must be  declared or registered to the host. I ask for Government photo ID (passport or drivers license) and car rego plates so if they park in someone else’s spot I know which car it is

If there was a fire  and the guests are unconscious  It’s your responsibility to the fire Brigade to let them know how many guests are in the property. It’s a liability nightmare.

In Australia some councils will only allow a  certain number of guests staying  based on the number of rooms-only up to two people per bedroom with Airbnb letting because of the bad reputation Air BnB has. 

[Anonymous]

@Kate204  I don't know who you think you're talking to here, but my post was in no way suggesting that hosts should allow guests to throw parties in their homes. I don't even see how it could be interpreted that way, if you actually read it.

The original question was about how to review guests when you suspect that they committed a transgression but can't definitively prove it.  State the facts, not the suspicions. I stand by this advice.

And also, if you get a one-night booking for a group of people on New Year's Eve, you can be pretty sure they intend to have a party, no matter what your house rules are. If you want to dispute that, I've got a bridge to sell you. 

[Kate204]

Andrew are the working for Airbnb ? or you’re renting your property and renting out a room on air BNB which in Australia is illegal . How many properties do you own Andrew ? Do you have a mortgage Andrew on your properties?  Most properties in Australia are over $1 million and most Airbnb host will have Over a  $1 million mortgage on that property .

*discriminatory comments removed in line with the community guidelines*

if I booked an Airbnb in New York it’s not saying I would have a party of 30! because I’m not  A bogan  I might have a dinner party I might go to bed at 8 o’clock you’re saying that this is expected and THIS  is what’s gonna bring Airbnb down. *discriminatory comments removed in line with the community guidelines*

if I booked an place on Airbnb in New York on  New years it’s not saying I would have a party or that it’s Expected that I have a party of 30 people because I might have a dinner party  A responsible adult  State on the booking I might go to bed at 8 o’clock you’re saying that this is expected and this is what’s gonna bring Airbnb down .

*personal comments removed inline with community guidelines*

[Anonymous]

@Kate204  I don't know how to engage with your comments, because much of what you said has been removed by the moderators and also because whatever you are trying to say does not appear to have anything to do with the topic at hand. How is the rate of someone's mortgage relevant to anything here? 

If you work in hospitality in any capacity, including as an Airbnb host, some insight into patterns of human behavior will get you a lot further than waving your arms and screaming about your mortgage.  I can see from your recent guest reviews as well as your messages here that you still have a lot to learn about how to communicate effectively with other humans, and that's fine - we all do. But your last few reviews are proof that a list of rules is not sufficient to control guest behavior.

It's very flattering to think that I could "bring down" a multibillion dollar company (if I could, I'd have a few better targets). But all I've really done for Airbnb is satisfied their customers. Maybe you should try that sometime.

[Sarah977]

@Catherine2156  If you don't have a stipulation on your listing that guests are not allowed to have anyone over who is not listed on the reservation, and didn't kibosh the "having a few friends over" when the guest mentioned it, then the guest hasn't violated any of your rules. "Party" and "having a few friends over" can mean more or less the same thing. I'd tighten up your rules if I were you. And if there were no actual damages and no noise complaints from the neighbors, considering it was New Year's Eve, I'd say ypu got off fairly lightly.

As Andrew said, factual review, without unprovable suspicions.

[Lisa723]

@Catherine2156 you got good advice from @Anonymous and @Sarah977.

Other things aside, I'm struck that you employ a housekeeper who refuses to send you photos on request. That's a working relationship I don't understand (and wouldn't tolerate).

[Kate204]

Maybe the Housekeeper didn’t really read the terms and conditions

[Patrick568]

Without solid proof of them doing something they shouldn't have, and no significant damage. Not much to do.