I’m a new host and just had a disquieting experience with guests. I have an old house that kind of rambles, so to create a rental space I just installed locks on all the doors (on their side in the rental, on my side at the end of hallway, top of stairs etc). I do a sweep before guests come to make sure all doors are shut and locked. I just hosted a very young couple and did my usual sweep right before bed. When I woke up in the morning, I noticed the door at the top of the stairs seemed to have been opened to the reach of the chain lock and a piece of the wooden lip had been broken. I was confused but it didn’t occur to me that anyone would try to open it. When they checked out I found shoeprints going to all the connecting doors (my floors are very clean and so they were easy to see), and signs that someone had tried to open the doors. All my connecting doors are at the opposite ends of hallway/stairs from the Airbnb front door, so there would be no reason for anyone to walk that way except to access my part of the house. They otherwise were very quiet, polite, and left the space very tidy. I truly don’t think the young man to whom the footprints belonged meant to harm me or anything, just was entitled, possibly under the influence of something, and nosy and not too bright and wanted to see the rest of the house (I’ve got an elderly relative who has caused me endless angst by simply walking into unlocked houses if she thinks they are cool and she wants to see the inside). But at the same time, the idea that someone tried to break into my space while I was asleep kind of makes me sick to my stomach. I’m curious about what experienced hosts would do in this situation, short of installing drop bar locks, which I just started doing. I have not yet left a review, but at the moment am leaning towards an honest one.
