What would you do?

[Lorrie40]

I accepted a reservation because i thought the "family" was coming to spend the weekend on the water. I asked for more details today to personalize their stay and found out it's 8 guys coming for a guys weekend. Asked about boat launch and firewood.  He has communicated well but now i'm concerned that a guys weekend is all that i know of my husbands "guys weekend" and i would not want them at my property!  I'm fairly new to this and realize i should have asked more questions before accepting the reservation. I also don't want to cancel and have that hurt my rating.  Any thoughts?

[Elaine701]

@Anonymous 

On VRBO, for example, you can set a filter to limit it to people of a certain minimum age. I've got mine set to 30. 

Another platform we've just listed with (fincallorca.de), has same, but you can also set it to only allow booking your listing to certain profiles, such as families, couples, etc. I presume they ask these questions during registration of the guest. 

And I "discriminate" In precisely the same way any insurance company does. Statistically. Any insurance company would charge a much higher rate for say, auto insurance for that demographic. Especially if they have no driving record. 

A group of eight 19-22 year old males are statistically in a very high risk group. I don't think anyone can deny that. Except maybe Airbnb. 

Many of them know this very well, and will say it right up front. And when that happens, I'm listening, will have dialogue, and may request a security deposit. If they agree, I'm happy to let them book it, because they're far, far less likely to be irresponsible when they know they'll lose the deposit. If i don't demand a deposit, it's a free ride. They can do whatever they want with impunity. No penalty. 

Otherwise, if I get an inquiry from a no profile, no history, group of 8 who claim to be a "family" or "professionals". Yeah, I have a lot of questions. And too often, their responses are odd, inconsistent, or nonexistent. Then I get a pretty good idea who I'm dealing with. "Thanks, but I don't think you'll be happy with the villa.", and suggest a local hotel. 

It's prevention. Not "discrimination".  And by the way, Airbnb doesn't have to clean up the mess or pay for damages. >I< do. 

[Anonymous]

@Elaine701   Whatever euphemism you want to give your screening process, the fact remains that there are always potential risk factors that won't become apparent until the guests have already arrived. So unless the prevention measures extend to keeping tabs on the home throughout the stay and making sure the home features are durable and guest-proofed, they're really just guesses.

Have you used VRBO as a guest, by the way? I'm looking at my profile editor right now, and there's no place to input my age nor a process to verify it.  Is that "filter" for real, or just a placebo? I don't think many guests under 30 use VRBO anyway.

[Elaine701]

@Anonymous 

It's the only way to circumvent the declining quality of guest that Airbnb now seems to increasingly attract. And Airbnb's woeful host support. 

And for us, it's working so far.

Our last 2 guests we're groups of 6-8 males, 19-25 yrs old, willingly paid deposits, and left the place in amazingly good condition. All got 100% of their deposit back. 

In fact, we currently have seven 22-25 year old males in right now. Yes, they're loud, they were up until 6:00 this morning, but theyve been warned, willingly paid a hefty deposit, and I'll bet you a case of wine that the place will be surprisingly clean & orderly at checkout. 

And no, I've never used VRBO as a guest. I suspect this information is collected at time of booking. They're more expensive, and largely unproductive anyway. One booking in a year. 

[Linda108]

@Elaine701   While I agree a real security deposit is a good idea for many listings, how do you collect it on this platform?  Is it a fee you charge after the booking and then return if there is no damage?  

[Elaine701]

@Linda108 

Yes, exactly. 

I only impose it on "no profile, no history" inquiries, who, after some dialogue, understand that they're in a high risk group who must explicitly agree to all house rules and penalties for violations, and agree to the deposit.

About half of these are scared away by this, or end up being advised to go elsewhere due to  their odd or inconsistent responses. That's ok, I don't need that type of guest. And there's always another inquiry in the queue right behind them. It's airbnb's greatest strength. 

But for those that pass, I'll preapprove their booking, and they book it. Then resolution center -> request money -> amount of deposit. 

They pay it. If not, I'll ask them to cancel (this hasn't occurred yet, but could, so I'd have to cancel them if they refused, and suffer the consequences). 

When they check in, they're reminded of the house rules, and what is expected in order to get their deposit back. 

At checkout, we have the deposit on hand, in cash. And a printed receipt. If all is good, they get the cash, and they sign the receipt. And as an added bonus, they'll also receive a good review, which will help them the next time the want to book something on Airbnb. 

Everybody wins. Everybody happy. 

Naturally, we deal with "regular" guests in a simpler, more friendly, personal, and accommodating manner. Unfortunately, it seems they're the exception nowadays. 

[Linda108]

Seems very reasonable and fair to all.  I always thought something like that was not in line with the Air BNB terms of service.  Since I have a shared home listing, I have not had to make a claim, but for entire home listings, I think a proper security deposit is called for.

[Ann72]

@Elaine701  Such a good idea.  I wish I could set a minimum age on Airbnb, where the only deterrent I've found is pricing.  I'm going to use your method in the future for the no-profile, no-history guests.  However, in the last year, it's not so much that they've left damage (though they have left mess) as that they have no life experience and no concept of home maintenance.  One young woman left outdoor furniture uncovered in winter and a sink and countertop full of dirty dishes, but defended her actions by saying she had "folded the throws."  This type of guest always marks you down in at least one of the categories.  I believe holding their money and then (usually) giving it back to them might change that.

[Elaine701]

Thanks, @Ann72 

You gotta do what you gotta do. 

Hope it spares you some grief! 

👍

[Till-and-Jutta0]

A "guys weekend" could also be a party. Respect the global party ban on Airbnb.

https://news.airbnb.com/airbnb-announces-extension-of-party-ban-through-end-of-summer/

[Suzanne302]

@Lorrie40  The thing that would concern me most is that 8 people booked a house with only 4 beds. Unless maybe they're couples? Still leaves someone on the couch or the floor though since 2 of those beds are bunkbeds.

My advice is to not build too much up in your mind or you will stress yourself out worrying about something that might not happen. If possible, I would greet the guests personally just to make yourself feel better and also let them know if they need anything you're "right down the street" even if you're not.

[Loni56]

@ Suzanne Boa a sua colocação!

[Ann72]

@Lorrie40  Under the heading "hope springs eternal," and in keeping with what @Suze6 and @Alexandra316 say, I had a client (a novelist) who got a fan letter describing a men's hunting weekend in which all eight men sat around at night reading his books, so you never know.  🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Lorrie40 

if this booking doesn't feel right and you are afraid you can cancel this booking. It will cost you 50-100$ but it's a small price to prevent possible huge and expensive damages and save your time and energy for repairs and cleaning the house after a trash party. As others have said - it will be you and only you who will deal with the consequences

My experience is that groups of up to 4 people were fine but larger is a pain in the a++ ... they are like chickens, impossible to get all of them to listen to you at the same time even for a minute. We use to allow groups of 8 but we cut it down to 6.

[Anonymous]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Well, OK, and yet...if you've voluntarily decided to go into a business in which your primary function is to remotely rent a big house out to a large group of people, presumably you're going to start out with some concept of how to mitigate the issues that would most obviously come with that. It doesn't seem like a viable long-term strategy to cancel an 8-person booking because you assumed that it would only be booked by 8 librarians or Octomom.

There's a lot of lip service being paid here to various ways hosts can try to sneak around the system to get a degree of backup Airbnb doesn't offer, which is great if it's working for you and catastrophic the moment it doesn't. In the context of that, I only have to ask every new host - are you sure the parameters you've set for your listing are a match for the amount of risk you're willing to take?

I really hope all new hosts take that question in deeply. If you feel like your backup plan relies on some fake deposit you've finagled through the weeds of Airbnb's non-deposit system, or your guest screening process can be confined to projecting your personal stereotypes about who's risky and who isn't, then you better make sure your STR insurance covers all the horrors you hadn't anticipated. If you're lurking on forums, don't forget that everyone is a staunch advocate of their own way of doing things, until that moment that it screws them up and they suddenly go quiet.