How to say something

How to say something

I am a single woman and have guests stay in my guestroom.  This is my home and I reside here. All of my guests have been delightful except for the man I asked to leave when I found out he had a protection order against him. This experience has made me wary about guests who may not be looking for a place to stay, but a place to live. I like hosting men and women who are in my town to relocate, visit family, or attend an event. I do not want guests who want to live here 24 hours a day and don't have somewhere to go or do during the day. Any suggestions on how I can say that tactfully would be appreciated. 

3 Replies 3
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Susan3448  Unless the bulk of your reservations are long-term, or there are laws in your area about only renting for 30 days or more, I would suggest that you change your availability setting to a 2 week maximum. That should be enough even for people who are relocating and looking for permanent housing, and then even if those people find they need more time, and you have experienced them as good guests, you could always agree to extend the reservation. 

You could also write in your listing more or less what you've written here, that your place is suitable for guests who are visiting the area, attending an event, or passing through, and will be out and about and busy the bulk of the time and that it is not suitable for those who have nothing to do and will just hang around the house all day.

Many hosts will ask a guest in an initial message when the guest sends a request, what brings them to the area. Of course, a guest can misrepresent their intentions and there's not much you can do about that, and some guests are even in denial about what kind of person they really are. I recall reading a post here from a host who said a guest portrayed themselves in their profile as being really sporty and liking to be out doing athletic things, but in fact, almost never left the house. The guest probably liked to think of themselves as being an active person, but really wasn't.

Thanks Sarah977. I guess I just have to say it; "You can stay here, you can't live here all day." It creeps me out to have someone staying here all day particularly when I am gone to work. I will ask more questions when they book and make sure they understand they are expected to be busy during the day.

@Susan3448 Just remember that we sometimes have to be really specific with guests, rather than assume they take something the same way we mean it.

"I was busy all day! First I had a long bath and shaved, then I made some breakfast, then I played video games for 3 hours, then I had lunch, then I watched a couple hours of TV, had a nap and now I'm about to make dinner. You think I was just sitting around staring at the wall all day?"  🙂