I am in the first few weeks of hosting, and this is the first time I have encountered "difficult guests." Until this week, I was excited to meet everyone, continually working to improve my guest experience, etc., but this has left me questioning everything. I would greatly appreciate any advice.
I rent out one room in my one bedroom apartment and sleep in the other. Days where one guest leaves and another arrives are a little stressful, but I always took these cleaning days to be part of the deal. My current guests arrived in New York early in the morning. I agreed to let them drop off their luggage before 4 PM check-in, assuming that we all understood that this meant that I was going to bring a suitcase into the house and leave it in the living room so they wouldn't have to schlep it all over the city, but not do anything that would disturb the guests who were scheduled to check out later in the day. Instead they arrived and stayed. We have a bit of a language barrier, but they did understand that I had other guests, just not why I couldn't push the other guests along now that they had arrived. Then they wanted pizza. Ordinarily there are three pizza places within a few blocks, but it was Sunday morning and a Jewish fast day (all kosher restaurants closed,) so the closest available pizza was five long blocks (as opposed to short blocks) away. I took them, both because they didn't seem up to following a map and to avoid making the previous guests uncomfortable. They were not happy with the walk.
The previous guests had checked out when we got home, so I set to work cleaning while the current guests sat in the living room.
And from there we never established the sort of boundaries that prevent resentment. (Or any boundary I tried to establish was resented and ignored.) They understand enough English for basic communication, but there is a fundamental disconnect. I asked them repeatedly not to use my computer (my work computer) unless I was present and specifically set it up for them on guest user (otherwise they can read my texts, emails, etc.,) but nonetheless came home to find them asking for my administrator password so they could download software. (Which was actually spam.) They seem genuinely disappointed and upset when I said no.
I spent hours trying to help them book a bus tour to Washington DC (I'm in New York,) but they never actually booked one, and now they are not going to DC, and I don't know if they think this is my fault.
In the midst of a heat wave, I believe at least five days passed with no one showering, and this inevitably resulted in an odor that eventually made its way out of the room and into the rest of the house. I changed the sheets once to minimize this, but it was back after one night.
Tomorrow they check out and someone else checks in, and they are pushing against my having to be firm with a check out time because the cleaning I am going to have to do will be epic. They do not have a plan as to where they are going after checkout. I don't know if I can handle another two hours of trying to help them book a bus ticket just to have them book nothing and let the consequences fall on my lap.
Because we have such different expectations of my role and obligations, I cannot see this ending well. Please, please, please let me know if there is any way to salvage this and give me enough time to offer the incoming guest a room that is up to my standards of cleanliness. Thanks!!!!!!
