I am a new host and I am preparing for my first guest.

[James191]

I have a few questions if someone has the time.

1. should I empty my fridge?

2. shoudl I empty all the draws in my dressers?

3. should I greet the guests? do all guests like to be greeted?

4. If i tell guest that there is no access to parts of the house, should i trust them not to go in there?

thanks in advance.

Jimmy

[Deborah1]

Your place looks beautiful and you have thought through the listing. Congrats on your first guests.

I rent a room so my situation is different, but here are my thoughts.

-- Yes, for an entire place, I would empty the frig of anything you don't want them to use. You may want to leave a few "starter" items.

-If the dressers are in rooms, they will use, I would either empty them entirely or at least several drawers. (We rent only a room, and leave a few empty drawers and one closet for guest's use. We would have no place to put our things if we were to empty all the dressers and both closets.) We just don't go in there, of course, when there are guests.

-If there are places you really don't want them to access, I would install locks. I think when it is an entire house, some may expect that they have access to the entire house. It is clearly in your listing, but you will find that many people don't read. On rooms where you don't have locks but they don't have access, maybe you could have a small framed sign?

-I don't really know about the greeting for an entire place. We always do, but we live here. I would make some plan to check in with them. How will they enter? Do you have keyless entry?

Hope this helps a little. Hopefully, others will respond as well.

Happy hosting, Deborah

[Renee31]

I had my first guest this weekend. I hope your goes better. I have added a requirement to obtain a copy of the guest’s drivers license before handing over the accommodations keys. The person I rented to was verified in many ways but had no ratings. The guest I had likely created a fake profile, but the photo looks like the person that stayed. I rented in my apartment, the other bedroom in my two bedroom apt. I was there the entire time, never left once in two days. I was scared to. I took photos of everything the guest had access to prior to their arrival, including inside drawers, cabinets, collectables, decor, and electronics. I do not regret taking the time to do that for my peace of mind. My guest stayed up late, slept in late, went to the pubs down the street, no problem. He left his room unlocked. I did not want to intrude or be paranoid, so I did not check the room while he was gone. When he handed me the keys this morning I was a little apprehensive. The comforter had been vomited on. He urinated substantially on the carpet in the bedroom and it splashed on my cabinet and futon. He also saturated a bath towel with his urine and left it on the bedroom floor. The unoccupied bathroom was only a few feet away. It was a host’s nightmare. No host should ever have to deal with that. EVER. I thought about calling the cops. He also left trash in the room on top of the futon and behind the curtain even tough there was a trash can. He also helped himself to my kitchen cabinets as I found a can of mostly eaten spagehetti-o's under the futon from my kitchen cabinet. I went to the store to buy additional cleaning products and have been spending the remainder of the day stripping the room of all fabric, washing and lysoling everything, and cleaning the carpet. I am paranoid another host in the area sent him to dissuade me from hosting as he had a local number even though he said he was from Texas. I have a keyed lock on my bedroom door. Do not leave out anything it will hurt to part with, especially items that are easy to take or conceal. 

[Sharon114]

I am so sorry, what a horrendous experience.  Have you reported this guest to airbnb?  Also, you must leave an honest review to warn other potential hosts.  Unfortunately if they use a new account they could probably get round any negative reviews.  I am sure your next guest will restore your faith in hosting.

Good luck.

[Zandra0]

@Renee0

Sorry if that was your first experience of hosting.

A lot of your story made me wonder if hosting is for you as while it's an idea to be cautious... You sound unsuited to the process.

You mention being too scared to leave the property. Why? Had the guest behaved badly and if so why didn't you call Airbnb?

You mention the guest creating a fake profile; all guests have to start somewhere and like you said the two pictures matched.

You also note the guest was probably sent from a rival host to disuade you from hosting. I doubt that very much.

Finally spaghetti os are on sale in the grocery store; all it means is that the guest went in the same shop you frequent and bought dinner. There's no reason to assume they'd steal something so minor from you especially as you were in the whole time. Even if they did steal them; this forum is littered with guests borrowing edible items, it's an annoyance but please don't give it more importance than it deserves.

Finally the pee and sick everywhere: did you take photos of this and have you sent them to Airbnb? To be honest you should be able to make a claim as long as you have evidence of this. This sounds like very serious, possibly wilful damage (and in fact probably the first time I have heard of this type of thing with a live in host) so the first thing you should have done is contact Airbnb. If you haven't yet I strongly suggest you do it immediately and get further advice from them. And of course review the guest appropriately though be careful not to include anything that isn't fact.

Forgive me if I'm not coming across as supportive; there are elements of what you have said that for me are a red flag and I wanted to note them.

I remain convinced that you should probably be looking for a long term tennant who you can build a trusting relationship with. Airbnb requires you put all that trust upfront and I feel you're really going to struggle with that.

[Gisela11]

Hijimmy.

[Gisela11]

Hi Jimmy I had trouble writing before....

Well, I have been guest in many homes, and I can tell you there's nothing written.  What makes you feel better is what you should do.  I have been in rooms where the owner goes to a couch and leave all their properties in the room.  I have been in houses where there's everything automated and you never see a person, the contact is through mail or whatsapp.  So, drawers, fridge, greetings, nothing is written.  Is how you want to procede and what gives you peace. The only thing that is really important is to make a good "scanner" of people in the messages in advance to their arrival and to do the things that make you feel better.  That's the only important thing.  Mostly we are not hotels and we don't live of this so the community welcome guests and hosts in a great convivence.

What I had to do was to separate rooms because my property was confusing. I gave the rate for one room and announced 4 rooms, so people thought the rate was for the whole 4 rooms!!  so I had to put them separated.  So it's very convenient to be very specific of what they can do, in the rules of the house and also in the house with signs is a good way because they stop you or allow you to do something or enter to a place because not everybody read the rules when making a reservation.

One of the ladies I have stayed with received one or 2 persons every day, she had 3 different rooms and went out to work the whole day.  So she left signs in the doors of welcome, rules, schedules, thanks, check in and chek out, and everything you can imagine.  She had all her belongings around and nothing got lost to her.  And she only slept at home.  So signs do work.  And if you are afraid put some locks for your good rest!!

Don't worry.  Most people is nice.  Knowing people from all around is a great experience!!   Enjoy it and have fun.