I had 2 female guests whom "I felt" had unrealistic expectations. I'd like feedback from other hosts on this situation, basically to determine if maybe I'm the problem, or if they did indeed have unrealistic expectations, if so, how should I have handled it, or how can I handle it next time?
They wanted the furnace turned on (in July). My listing is a self contained studio apartment (above ground walkout basement) in a large two storey house. My husband and I live in the house upstairs. There is a second studio apt in the basement also. The AC is turned on in the home from June to Sep, and furnace from Sep to May. If I turned off the AC and turn on furnace everyone else in the home is negatively affected (because they want and expect AC in summer, not furnace). The guests said "is heat not provided?" I said "Yes in winter, and AC is proivided in summer". I personally carry a cardigan sweater with me always in summer when I go to the shopping mall or to restaurants because I find AC too cold for me. But I never ask or expect public places to turn on the furnace or turn down AC to accomodate ME, since I'm just one person out of thousands who expect and want AC in summer. Should I feel obligated in this situation to provide a portable heater, or not? How would you handle this?
Secondly, a few days after check-in they asked for a supploy of plastic cups and straws. I have no idea what they needed them for, didn't ask. I responded by saying this is not included, that I don't have any, and that they have a fully equipped kitchen with regular glasses and mugs, etc for use. Would you feel an obligation in this situation to accomodate and run out and get plastic glasses and straws for them, or just say NO, and leave it at that and risk getting a bad review?
Thirdly, they complained that there were mosquitos in the apartment. They said they weren't at home so asked if I could go and take a look, I did. I did not see any live ones, saw a couple of dead ones near the door. The house backs onto a fully treed ravine, and because I'm surrounded by trees it is impossible not to have mosquitos from time to time. What I did see in the apartment when I went there was food on the coffee table, left over pizza and an opened package of garlic sauce. I explained to them that leaving opened food around like this will certainly attract mosquitos, and that a reasonable level of cleanliness is expected, and that they should remove organic matter (food waste, etc) from the apt on a daily basis to prevent smells and mosquitos, etc. And I left a bug spray for them. I also offered to have my husband go once a day and spray for them at a time that was convenient to them, they declined.
Then they asked for paper towels and more toilet tissue. They were given a package of 8 rolls of toilet tissue, for two people, and used it all in 5 days. Is this an excessive amount of toilet tissue to be using? My hubby and I don't use that much toilet tissue. What is a reasonable amount? And I explained to them that paper towels are not provided, it's not a neccessity, and there are regular (washable) hand towels in the kitchen for use (and they have access to the laundry room).
How do I deal with someone who has unrealistic expectations? How would you handle those situations? I'm fairly new to hosting and would like a better understanding of what's expected of me and how to handle difficult guests. I'm assuming asking someone to leave if they're not happy is not an option. But caving in to every possible demand and request of someone like this is also not reasonable.
Thanks for your help and feedback.
