House rules help

Amy2390
Level 2
Royal Leamington Spa, United Kingdom

House rules help

Hi everyone 😊 just wanted some advice from experienced hosts as I’m new here! My second guest was very different to my first. He was a travelling sales man who new the area well and had decent reviews.

He parked out front on my quiet cul de sac but was then in and out all night to sit in his van & drink alcohol & smoke whilst taking calls on his vans telephone system. Needless to say there was questions from my neighbours. Plus it was annoying! He did get quite drunk to be honest in the end, and when I politely made a comment that there was so smoking he made the fair point that he wasn’t doing it in the house.
Having him stay when he’d drunk this much wasn’t comfortable as it is a shared space, and I’m just wondering if anyone has any wording I can use/experience of dealing with anything like this? Technically he wasn’t doing anything wrong I am aware! But my home smells of fags & alcohol and he was a chatter so couldn’t escape him talking at me easily and whilst drunk this wasn’t pleasant. I’m feeling quite put off of hosting 😞

2 Replies 2

@Amy2390  I can certainly understand how your neighbors were perturbed by this behavior. As you say, he wasn't doing anything categorically wrong by isolating himself to his car to drink, smoke, and take calls - from his viewpoint, it might have been an act of gallantry to spare you from these activities being conducted inside your home. But OK, materially I'm not sure if there's a difference between a guest getting drunk, smoking, and chattering in their car versus doing all the same things at a local pub when they return to the home. Either way, their behaviors are influenced by things they do while outside of your jurisdiction, so a rule about coming back home sloppy is pretty unworkable.

 

If this situation gave you safety concerns, you might consider offering your private room exclusively to female guests (hosts who share personal living space are allowed to select only same-gender guests). And there are tactics for standing your ground and moving quickly out of situations so someone can't corner you into an unwanted chatter. But unfortunately, there's no foolproof way to prevent someone with emotional issues or a drinking problem from booking your AIrbnb. The best you can do is leave off Instant Book and engage in as much dialogue as you need before accepting to make sure the guest has earned your confidence.

Amy2390
Level 2
Royal Leamington Spa, United Kingdom

Thank you @Anonymous  thats a really helpful reply and has certainly given me things to think about. Same gender is a good shout while I get used to it all and practice my pre booking dialogue. I guess I was trying to be easy going but you are right confidence needs to be gained too.