What is her story?

[Suzanne302]

I had a solo guest who stayed without incident, but I will always wonder what her actual story is, because her behavior was...unique.

Her booking message was not suspect at all. She booked a day in advance and was feeling a little stressed and decided on a solo getaway for her day off. Very pleasant and normal and looked to be in her 20's.

She checked in just before 7pm. I'm a homeshare host but I was out back when she arrived and we never crossed paths. She spent almost an hour in the bathroom, then left just after 8pm. She did not return until around 11am the next morning, spent less than 2 minutes inside, and left. She did not appear to have a car either. She took all the snacks and water I left in the room, but other than that you would never know she was there.

I don't think she was on a solo getaway on her day off. What do you think?

In 4 years of hosting, this has actually happened to me once before. Very similar scenario. I don't know what to think.

[Pat271]

Came into town and had a first date with a guy she met online. Got the Airbnb in case it didn’t work out.

It worked out.

That’s my guess…

[Anonymous]

@Pat271 I think you nailed it. 

[Suzanne302]

@Pat271  Now that makes sense! I still can't figure out the no car thing.

[Gillian166]

@Suzanne302 
my guess is she   got an uber to where her rendezvous was?  

[Amanda660]

Back in the date when I took one night stays a pleasant chap booked for one night.  I didn’t see him or meet him but he arrived 6-7pm-ish and messaged to say that the house was lovely. 

He then messaged at 9pm stating something had come up and he’d have to go home.  

After he left I popped over and all I found was an empty sandwich packet in the en-suite bin.  I think there had been an illicit rendezvous planned and he/she bailed.,

[Helen744]

@Suzanne302, I avoid this type of guest generally by having two night stays,anyone who books too close to checkin for one night and is solo is a red flag. Obviously you were not part of the scenario any more than a hotel room would have been.No car is a red flag because in Australia where everyone drives it also means no ID and a misdeamour whereby you have lost your licence or underage. A lot of red flags.A TWo night stay does not protect you from the serial hook uppers but it helps because sometimes your place is the one they choose to be in and they bring 'unknown friends' . Let them eat cake H

[Anonymous]

@Helen744  I don't think "red flag" means what you think it does, because we generally use that term for signs of something negative.  There's no negative here.

 I see nothing wrong with renting an Airbnb as the base for a hookup, as long as either a) all the participants are registered guests, or b) the hookup is occurring somewhere else. Cleanup is very easy when the only thing the guest uses is the bed (don't forget that waterproof mattress protector) and even easier when they don't use the room at all!

As a non-driver, I object to the notion that having no car is a red flag, and I lived perfectly well in Australia for a year without one. It may be problematic if you genuinely live way out in the middle of nowhere, but there are - believe it or not - billions of people who navigate big cities and small towns every day without driving. It might be a sign that the guest is ecologically conscious, fit and active, or simply prefers other means of transport. A driver's license is not the only form of ID; all US states issue ID cards, and international travelers will naturally have passports. Car ownership has been steadily declining over the past 2 decades as people recognize what a horrible mistake it was to design cities around it in the mid-20th century.

[Helen744]

@Anonymous, I was only commenting on the post as I see it and experience it . i do not run my Airbnb for short term hookups .Ii run it for familys and singles and all sorts of groups ,many of whom  I am sure have sex. It is a right of passage in australia for 18 year olds to have a car licence wether they use it or not . In citys like Melbourne trams trains and buses and bicycles let people get around but in my city thats not the case.The last time I let a late booking thru , I found no licence or any id for the second person who was staying even though 'he ' was about 60, the young person who booked frightened the hell out of me as they were riding a scooter or not riding as it was broken. Old men started to hover outside and I  realised that this was not an ordinairy booking . I went home and wished I had had the guts to refuse this guest Bins full of condoms , stuff on the walls and random white pils stuffed down the sides of the couch . some stuff i like to avoid cleaning up . I can only learn the lessons I see and thank goodness for the stuff I dont . Each person in my house is judged only on the possible result to my house. hooks ups should be private and please do not make them my business. H 

[Helen744]

Also Andrew , the water proof mattress protector could not have helped here H

[Helen744]

A car licence is the closest Australia comes to an ID card . We do not have them. the person who was staying it turns out ,their hookup ,had no licence was driving a car ,nevertheless and presented a health card as ID funnily he did not checkin so I was told  but someone or more likely someones did unless this crazy person had a hookup with themselves. these are the things i choose to not think about but I learn from them . H

[Helen744]

@Anonymous because of this 'guest' I will be leaving Airbnb sooner rather than later because I am nor running a brothel and I feel that sometimes Airbnb know that these guests are simply not planning on doing the 'right thing' H

[Anonymous]

@Helen744   Your guest was a sex worker who most likely advertised your listing's address online to provide services to a series of unregistered visitors (presumably the "old men hovering outside"). This is unfortunately a common thing with Airbnb's these days; it's against the Terms of Service, and I don't condone it, but it's not what is meant by "hook ups." The main issue was the unregistered guests, which hosts have to set rules and be on guard against regardless of what activities they're getting up to.

[Helen744]

@Anonymous Yes Andrew and absolutely why I have the 'rules ' I now have. Being naive is to be guarded against H

[Suzanne302]

@Helen744  I very much LOVE my one night guests and encourage them. And this guest did absolutely nothing wrong.

I use Airbnb a little different than most hosts. My max number of nights is 3, and I prefer those 1-2 night stays. I don't want guests in my house every night, or, for an extended period of time. Most of the guests who stay one night are simply stopping off to rest on their way to someplace else. Also, my area is popular for daytrips for those within 2-3 hours away. So some guests will come for the day, stay overnight, and then head back.

Also, I live in the house, so if anything nefarious appears to be happening, I'm there to put a stop to it. In 4+ years, I haven't had to.