First time hosting experience not so great . . .

[Ryan2195]

First stay at my new listing. 2 nights Friday Saturday. 4 guests. Reviews on users profile looked good.

Guest definitely had more than 4 stay at my house. At least 6-10 people stayed the night.

Cleaning person stated the couches were slept on. no big deal but obviously extra guest from drinking late.
-Every linen was used

-Missing 3 towels

-no dishes loaded
-cans and bottles were on all the tables & countertops.

-kitchen was messy
-some swollen wood on coffee table where a drink spilled. (price of doing business)
-3 bags worth of garbage were removed from the home to the outside bins by the cleaning person.
-City Trash bin is already 3/4 full before adding trash from the inside to the outside. (2 nights of party people)
-Cleaning person was waiting on guests to leave after checkout time.

Nothing destroyed. minor damage. My listing stats only 4 guests.  did not have all my settings right before this person booked.

-accidently had instant book on.
-did not have security deposit

-did not have extra guest fee

-did not have a cleaning fee

                 Ended up paying the cleaning person more money for the extra work

I certainly did not charge enough for someone to host a party at the house.

Any advice on anything i could do currently & settings i could change for next time???
Similar experiences? thoughts?

Im fine with people having a good time but wasn't looking for a 8-10 person party at my 2 bedroom.

[Jennifer1897 · Accepted solution]

@Ryan2195  Sorry your first guests were not the best. I went and looked at your listing, and there are a few things that I would correct and/or add moving forward.

-You say no parties and state that you have a 4 guest limit, but then you say in the house rules keep it under 8. This statement somewhat encourages extra (often unregistered) people, or leaves that door open in a sense. Be very clear about the number of guest that you can accommodate, and the fee you charge for guests over a certain number. Make sure you are not contradicting yourself in your listing. It is also a good idea to make sure your guest clearly understands all the rules. A lot of people do not even read the rules in the listing itself. You can confirm they did by asking in your welcome message. You can also have them clearly posted in the house. 

-You really need to add more information to your listing. It is extremely vague. Aside from the basic pre selected rules, you only have a sentence as your description. Describe your place and highlight its attributes. What can guest expect when they book your place? This will draw more quality guest. 

-If you do not want guests using excess towels and linens, do not leave them accessible. Decide what you think is appropriate for the number of guests and length of stay, and leave that out. If you need to consider getting a lock for specific cabinets, so only the housekeepers can access things. When people stay in hotels or vacation rentals they tend to use things in excess. So the more you give them, the more they will use. 

-As for missing towels, unfortunately that is all to common, and is usually chalked up as "Part of doing business." Just make sure what your supplying vs what you are charging is cost effective,  so if a few things go missing on occasion, you are not denting your bank to replace them.

-It looks like you already added a cleaning fee, so that is good. 

-Lastly, leave an honest review for these guests. If they booked for 4 and brought 8 mention that. If they didn't follow house rules or check out procedures, mention that. If they were exceptionally messy, mention that.

Good luck moving forward and happy hosting 

[Sarah977]

@Ryan2195 Sorry you got taken advantage of right out the gate. These types often look for new listings, assuming the host is green, which of course we are when we first start out.

As an off- site host, you need outside security cameras so you can monitor what is going on and how many people are coming and going. There are also devices like Party Squasher that tell you how many devices the guests have plugged in, which can give you an idea whether there are 4 people there or 10.

Don't leave more linen or towels or other supplies than what would be required for the number of guests and the length of stay. 4 people for 2 nights would need the 2 beds made up, a set of towels each, and a couple/3 rolls of toilet paper. No extra stuff they can help themselves to. If for some reason they need more (maybe a female guest got her period unexpectedly in the middle of the night, etc), they can always request more.

A stand alone rental with an employed cleaner should definitely have a cleaning fee.

The security deposit is a bit of a moot point, as Airbnb doesn't actually hold one- it's just there to say guests could be charged up to XX amount. But to get paid on it, you have to request the money from the guest, and many, if not most, will refuse. And you can only claim a security deposit for damages, not breaking house rules or leaving a mess.

Now that you've turned off IB, your best way of vetting guests, in addition to checking their reviews, is to communicate with them when they send an Inquiry or Booking Request. If they give little info, ask them questions. Make sure they have booked for the correct number of people and are clear that anyone not accounted for on the reservation will be denied entry and that having more people than booked and paid for may result in immediate cancellation and eviction.

If they don't respond to your questions, don't communicate in an appropriate way, ask for discounts or special favors or waiving of any of your house rules, or send up red flags for you in some way, decline the request. (For an inquiry, you don't need to either pre-approve or deline, just messaging back within 24 hrs. fulfills your obligations)

[Lorna170]

@Ryan2195   My first impression is that your price is too low, which will attract the bargain hunters and possibly less desirable guests.   I learned a long time ago that fewer guests at the right price was far better than trying to book every night and making deals to get guests.  Take a look at your competition, and put yourself in the middle of the price range if you believe that your location and your decor would warrant that.   Also, when renting an entire apartment, you may want to have a higher fee and not charge an extra guest fee; keep your max at 4 persons, and make sure that you post in your listing that this is the maximum allowed by municipal code and licensing (you should check this with your local zoning board).

You need to have a cleaning fee that is a bit higher than your cleaner charges so that you can pay her more when guests leave a big mess.   Do not leave more towel sets than your guest limit; 4 guests, 4 sets.  If your guests do not leave on time, have your cleaning lady contact you and immediately send a request for payment of 1 hour of her time via the resolution center and follow up with a message to the guest.  You may not get the payment, but Airbnb might honor it from the "deposit".

Good luck with your new rental property!

[Mark116]

@Ryan2195   Here is my advice:  1) consider as others have said external cameras or a doorknob camera or other way to document how many people are entering the space, make sure it is disclosed.  2) I would also lock up extra supplies  3) not sure who your target audience is, but you might consider re-doing your pictures with brighter light and adding captions to the photos. 4) if you didn't, start sending a check out message the night before guests are to leave that thanks them for their stay and reminds them of whatever your procedures are on cleaning/trash/check out time. 5) review your house rules and add things like extra charge for late check out and put in the rules anything that is a must for guests to do or not do.