Beginners bad luck?

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Beginners bad luck?

 I just started out with my Airbnb and put a great deal of money into it I also did the special cleaning for Covid   requirements the place is spotless and beautiful!

. My first people brought two large mastiff dogs even when my listing said No Dogs..  I guess I wasn’t clear that I lived on the other side of the house so they were upset I was there and left I refunded their money. I went back and redid my listing to make sure people knew that I lived in the other side of the house . 

The next people cancelled because the Kitchentte  I installed wasn’t good enough, before they even saw it.

  🙄

Now I had a person leave because she didn’t like the energy... wants a full refund.. even though she ate the food , spent one night a left  the place a mess!   

My place is $40/night and  $20 cleaning fee.  I feel beaten before I’ve gotten started. 😣

Any suggestions?

 

Mimi Sudbury
1 Best Answer
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Maureen447  Unfortunately, you began your hosting career at a time when hosts are reporting getting some of the worst guests they've ever had. It appears that since COVID, there are lots of new Airbnb guests (I suspect there is social media buzz about how hosts are now desperate for bookings and it's a great time to get a deal on an Airbnb), who tend not to bother to read thoroughly, or at all, through the listing description or house rules. 

Your place is lovely- the setting is gorgeous, and I can see how much work you put into it. The kitchenette is sweet, those people were just being jerks.

 

A few suggestions- If you are using Instant Book, turn that off for now, so guests have to send a Booking Request. This gives you the opportunity to communicate with them before deciding whether to accept their booking or not, and check out their reviews, if they have any. A guest with a string of great reviews is probably nothing to be concerned about, but a newbie guest needs to be well vetted. You would want to make sure they have read all you've written in your ad, are aware and willing to comply with the house rules, have entered the correct number of guests, are aware you live on the property, that there isn't any Wifi, etc. Communicating with guests and reading their reviews is the best way for me to ensure I get good guests.

 

Raise your price! $40/night for a private suite for 2 people, in an awesome setting, with a kitchenette and all the amenities you provide, and a hot tub to boot, is way too cheap. You'll get a better quality of guest if you aim for people who aren't just looking for a cheap place .(I say this in spite of the fact that I hate it when I read "Low prices attract low-quality guests", because I have a budget-priced, for my area, private room/bath listing and I get consistently lovely guests, but your price seems really way too low for what you offer)

 

Although you have listed it as a private room, and mention way down at the bottom that you live in the separate part of the house, I think you should put the wording in the body of your listing info. "This is an owner-occupied home, although our portion of the house and the entrance is completely separate from the guest quarters. As we are on-site, we are available to assist you with whatever you might need during your stay".

 

And while all hosts may not agree with me on this, I think that when you are living there, you shouldn't have that wording about the guests being able to choose self-check-in. Any guest who is averse to meeting the host, who lives in the same building, is not a guest I would want to have. Meeting and greeting your guests can go a long way towards you getting a sense of who they are, and them understanding that they are staying in someone's well-loved home. It isn't necessary to be overly chatty, or stay long, when they arrive, but a quick greeting and orientation is a good idea, IMO.

What I actually do with my guests when they arrive is show them to their room (they also have a private entrance, although they share my kitchen), give them a quick run.through of the most important things for them to be aware of in there, like where all the light switches are, that it takes a few minutes for the hot water to work itself through the pipes to their bathroom, etc. Then I say I'll leave them to get settled and relax, and that I'll clue them in about the kitchen, door locks and other stuff whenever they're ready.

I don't like to overload guests with too much information when they first arrive- they are usually tired from travelling, a bit disoriented, and it's hard to pay attention to the workings and quirks of a strange place in that state. 

 

And don't put up with guest nonsense, like expecting a refund because she didn't like "the energy" after spending the night, using up the amenities, and leaving a mess. She ha every right to leave if she wishes, but no way should you agree to a refund.

 

Hope this helps a bit and that other hosts have some suggestions, as well. Hang in there- it's a hard learning curve sometimes.

 

 

 

 

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27 Replies 27
Sharon1014
Level 10
Sellicks Beach, Australia

@Maureen447  Alas Mimi, new Airbnb's are prime targets for the free-accom-any-excuse-will-do guest scam.  And alas, they get away with it.  Word has got around that if they complain to Airbnb about anything at all, they can get off scot free. And they milk it for all it's worth. 

 

It is important to make it 100% clear that you live on the property close by. And you might also want to block anyone who doesn't have previous positive reviews.  No reviews on a guest profile is always something of concern, but especially at this time.  Your price is incredibly reasonable so I do think you have just been on the receiving end of the jungle wire on the streets.  You can also turn off Instant Book, which forces the intended guest to have a conversation with you prior to booking.  You may be able to weed out the scammers that way too.  95% of guests are lovely, so try not to be put off by a few bad eggs in the beginning, but you do just need to be wise to the tricks they can pull and set up your listing to prevent the wrong type of person booking.  Good luck. 😀

DearI Sharon you’ve made me feel better! I felt like I was really getting taken by doing all these refunds because I was so afraid of a bad review (since I don’t have any yet). What you said makes a lot of sense so I will do what you said and review people before they come in. I was just going to stop and close it up but I’m going to give it another chance thanks to you. All the best and I hope your Airbnb is doing well ..I’m sure it is with you as a hostess💖 Thanks again , Mimi.

 

PS If you don’t mind maybe you could look at my listing and give me helpful tips if you have time but only if you have time. It is “MtShasta View High Desert  Retreat and Sanctuary..in Weed. I’ve blocked the rest of my spaces until September but may unblock them if the next person is decent🤷🏻‍♀️

Mimi Sudbury
Sharon1014
Level 10
Sellicks Beach, Australia

@Maureen447  You'll have to unblock your calendar before anyone can make an enquiry to book.  As long as you have Instant Book turned off, you can leave your calendar open and just vet prospective guests before you approve them to book.  You do also need to fix the check-in and check-out times.  Check-in is usually around 2pm, check out is 10am, unless by prior arrangement.  You need this 3-4 hour same day window in the event you have one guest checking out and another checking in the same day.  In your listing setting (availability) you can also choose to block one day before and one day after each booking, just so you have some cleaning time and breathing space between guests. 

 

Your place looks great btw, an ideal getaway, has everything required and fantastic scenery on your doorstep!

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Maureen447 

 

Just a quick look at your listing revealed your check-in/Out times. This might cause problems if a prior guest still remains as another turns up. Potentially, you might have two guests at once for a couple of hours and no cleaning time :

 

House rules
󰀥
Check-in: 10:00 - 22:00
󰀥
Check out: 12:00
 
 
 
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Maureen447  Unfortunately, you began your hosting career at a time when hosts are reporting getting some of the worst guests they've ever had. It appears that since COVID, there are lots of new Airbnb guests (I suspect there is social media buzz about how hosts are now desperate for bookings and it's a great time to get a deal on an Airbnb), who tend not to bother to read thoroughly, or at all, through the listing description or house rules. 

Your place is lovely- the setting is gorgeous, and I can see how much work you put into it. The kitchenette is sweet, those people were just being jerks.

 

A few suggestions- If you are using Instant Book, turn that off for now, so guests have to send a Booking Request. This gives you the opportunity to communicate with them before deciding whether to accept their booking or not, and check out their reviews, if they have any. A guest with a string of great reviews is probably nothing to be concerned about, but a newbie guest needs to be well vetted. You would want to make sure they have read all you've written in your ad, are aware and willing to comply with the house rules, have entered the correct number of guests, are aware you live on the property, that there isn't any Wifi, etc. Communicating with guests and reading their reviews is the best way for me to ensure I get good guests.

 

Raise your price! $40/night for a private suite for 2 people, in an awesome setting, with a kitchenette and all the amenities you provide, and a hot tub to boot, is way too cheap. You'll get a better quality of guest if you aim for people who aren't just looking for a cheap place .(I say this in spite of the fact that I hate it when I read "Low prices attract low-quality guests", because I have a budget-priced, for my area, private room/bath listing and I get consistently lovely guests, but your price seems really way too low for what you offer)

 

Although you have listed it as a private room, and mention way down at the bottom that you live in the separate part of the house, I think you should put the wording in the body of your listing info. "This is an owner-occupied home, although our portion of the house and the entrance is completely separate from the guest quarters. As we are on-site, we are available to assist you with whatever you might need during your stay".

 

And while all hosts may not agree with me on this, I think that when you are living there, you shouldn't have that wording about the guests being able to choose self-check-in. Any guest who is averse to meeting the host, who lives in the same building, is not a guest I would want to have. Meeting and greeting your guests can go a long way towards you getting a sense of who they are, and them understanding that they are staying in someone's well-loved home. It isn't necessary to be overly chatty, or stay long, when they arrive, but a quick greeting and orientation is a good idea, IMO.

What I actually do with my guests when they arrive is show them to their room (they also have a private entrance, although they share my kitchen), give them a quick run.through of the most important things for them to be aware of in there, like where all the light switches are, that it takes a few minutes for the hot water to work itself through the pipes to their bathroom, etc. Then I say I'll leave them to get settled and relax, and that I'll clue them in about the kitchen, door locks and other stuff whenever they're ready.

I don't like to overload guests with too much information when they first arrive- they are usually tired from travelling, a bit disoriented, and it's hard to pay attention to the workings and quirks of a strange place in that state. 

 

And don't put up with guest nonsense, like expecting a refund because she didn't like "the energy" after spending the night, using up the amenities, and leaving a mess. She ha every right to leave if she wishes, but no way should you agree to a refund.

 

Hope this helps a bit and that other hosts have some suggestions, as well. Hang in there- it's a hard learning curve sometimes.

 

 

 

 

@Sarah977 Well said. Good Airbnb guests are responsible people and now they are mostly staying at home, left over those irresponsible people hanging around. I have raised the bar and now rejecting about 1/3 of the guests requesting to book these days after having issues with a few bad apples. 

 

One thing I have noticed is that those irresponsible people don't like to tell us what they are here to do. Most of them just put something like "looking forward to my stay" when booking, while before the pandemic those responsible people always told us ahead what they are here to do. I used to send a message to ask, but now I simply reject any request with no information. 

@Nanxing0  It's very true that the great guests are nicely communicative when they send their first message. They'll often address me by my name, say they saw my listing and right away felt it was the just what they were looking for, say a bit about themselves and what they plan to do when here. They don't say anything weird, don't ask me to bend any of my rules for them, don't ask for any discounts. I never worry about those bookings.

 

I've had a few where the first message was something like "I'll be arriving at noon", when I haven't even accepted their booking yet. Because I don't do a high volume of business, as far as having one or two nighters (most stay for an average of 10 days), I don't mind taking the time to try to solicit a better response. Most of those types of messages, at least as far as my guests go, are from younger guests who are used to sending one-liner text messages on their phone. I've found that when I respond with something like "Hi XX, thanks for your booking request. I'd be happy to host you, but I need to make sure you've read through the listing description and are aware that.....".  So far, that has always elicited another message from them which is much more personable and forthcoming.  If they responded with more of the same as the first message, I wouldn't be likely to accept their booking, but that hasn't happened yet.

 

As for the ones who ask questions like "So is it just for one person?" when my listing title includes "for solo travelers", I can usually manage to write a polite, but brief and discouraging response that means I never hear from them again 🙂

David3267
Level 10
Torquay, United Kingdom

very sensible advice!

 

Colleen253
Level 10
Alberta, Canada

@Nanxing0  "Well said. Good Airbnb guests are responsible people and now they are mostly staying at home, left over those irresponsible people hanging around"

 

That's too funny. The " leftovers". It's true, we've had some of our worst guests recently, then there's the 'covid bargain' hunters (uh,no. price is increased thank you). But we've also had some of our best guests as well. Go figure.

@Colleen253 I'm saying "mostly". There are still some of those good people travelling for essential purpose, like I have hosted many guests coming in for essential service at local hospital, as well as those healthcare workers.

 

The diffrence is that before the pandemic most people requested to book are communicative and polite, while at this time about half of the requests become one liner and have no information at all and come from new account. I seldom had problem with guests before pandemic, but since March I had to file several complaints including a guest stole my coffee maker and pillows. This made me tighten the requirement of booking and started to reject about 1/3 of those non-informative requests.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Maureen447 I THINK this is just bad luck. I've had a very quick look at pricing and whilst at the cheap end you are not stupidly cheap - It appears to be quite competitive where you host. If you haven't done so then search the locality as if you were a guest regularly too check you are appearing high in the search listings and the price is appropriate. PLEASE ignore the Airbnb price recommendations as they are, in my opinion, entirely ridiculous and would drive you to paying guests to stay.

With Covid everything is screwed up but living on the property should keep the worst people away. 

Good luck and I hope you succeed.

@Maureen447 I agree with all the great suggestions above, particularly in regards to setting a higher bar of entry - remove Instant Book, ensure that you've established good communication and accurate expectations before accepting a booking, and perhaps raise your price.

 

This will make your listing less competitive in the short term, but you've entered the tourism business at a moment when it's devastated by a raging pandemic and a recession, so the next months are not likely to be the time when you get the full return on your investment. The best thing you can do now for the long term is select guests who demonstrate appreciation for your home's unique qualities so that you'll have successful stays that earn top-notch reviews. This will boost your listing's visibility and appeal to ultimately make it more competitive as tourism rebounds. Also, having better quality guests will make your job far more enjoyable and free up time that would otherwise be wasted on cancellations, damage, excess cleaning, or catering to unreasonable demands. 

So much good advise and wisdom.  I really appreciate all the responses.  

I realize now some errors I have made in the listing and have corrected them., thanks to all of you! 👏  I’m also going to let the guests know I will greet them  and give them the key .. instead of self in.   Then give them their privacy but let them know I am available if they have any questions.

 I put a book together with laminate pages of house rules and things to do on the. 20 acre Property. 

So my next guest shows up the 29th.  Fingers crossed 🤞 

Many Many thanks and best wishes to all of you. Mimi

 

Mimi Sudbury

@Maureen447, first, my sister Renie's name is Maureen, so you are great already. Next, your place is magical.  My other sister and I are getting ready to host.  I am so jealous of your space I just want to go there to relax instead! Good luck, it is magical.  Theresa