Increasing Number of High Needs Guests ???

[Steven64]

I have superhost status and am going into my second summer of operations.  Last year, every single one of my guests was totally super cool,  very unique and diverse people.  This is one of the things that I really liked about airbnb.  This year I have had 3 cancellations of people who left after the first night, two were executives, one a doctor. They all complained about it being messy but all different things.  

They all claimed it was not what they expected and that I give an innacurate photos and descriptions.  The rest of the guests love it and say that it was exactly what they thought and or better.  The fact that the expectations are so polarized make me think that maybe its not the actual tidines of the house but that there are more guests using airbnb, the user types are changing along with their expectations.  

Has anybody else experienced this?

I dont want these types of people in my home anymore...first thing I did as reccommended by a satisfied guest who was also a host was to turn my autobook off.  He did this as he wanted to get rid of troublesome people that are high needs.

S

[Karin36]

Someone else posted a message that the superhost status might be the culprit in this situation.  People who only look for superhost properties have really high expectations.  There might be something to that theory...

[James1 · Accepted solution]

I've been a superhost on and off since 2012. What you are describing I see for myself, and only in the last year. It's not the Superhost status. It's because features like Instant Book (IB) and Smart Pricing (plus airbnb's massive advertising campaign) are moving airbnb towards the travel commodity business, think trivago or hotels.com. It's all about price, location and availability. Less about making any sort of local 'connection' or, to borrow from airbnb's own marketing, to 'living like a local'.

IB changed the character and demeanor of the guests. My IB guests generally do not read the rules or my entire listing description and amenities. They are often very poor at communication and many have seemed uncomfortable seeing me in the same house (I rent a guest penthouse in my home) except when they need or want something (and they tend to be needy), and then they want it right now. They have very high expectations of a boutique hotel like experience. They are also the worst reviewers.

[Eloise0]

Steven,

I am glad that you have shared your experiences.  I have had almost the exact same experience.  I had 3 requests right in a row from first time users who  either could not get verified for multiple reasons, or wanted to go around the airbnb platform immediately.  Since the last huge jump in the number of first time airbnb users I have had  differnt kinds of Guests who were much more demanding and very entitled.  I am literally the maid, and could easily imagine how they treat any kind of wait staff!  I don't particularly care for these kind of people and it is really unpleasant to have to be around them so I am always glad that they are also the kind of people who don't socialize with the help. It is hard to explain the difference, but I feel that it has something to do with their perceived notion of class.  They are the kind of people that my family referred to as the "new rich" while we are land rich we are usually money poor but that does not mean that we don't have manners or social skills.  Plus a lot of Southwestern older adults like myself also have a couple of degrees folded up in an old envelope somewhere.  We don't wear our "success" on our sleeves.  I have been wondering about this very same thing with regards to the differences in the kind of Guests I used to get compared to a lot of the most recent ones, and I don't do Instant Booking.  

I can offer up a metaphor or allegory as a way to try to describe the differences. One kind is the couple who whip out their rhinestone covered cell phones while you are still standing there showing them where the fire extinguisher is to call a friend and start talking right over you....."Yeah Buddy, We just got here, Yeah it's OK and man did we score, got a place, dirt cheap and Brandi is going to wash all our clothes from the beach unless the lady that is showing us around is gonna do that to." Then there is the person who has bought a beautiful pure bred dog only so she can tell people how much she paid for it, then never gets around to training the dog, and it lives out it's days on a chain in a tiny yard at the back of a cheap condo, but she paid a lot of money for that dog! She is also the kind of Guest that will want you to take out any food that is in the house that is not organic  because she is a full fledged vegan and a food natzi and will eat a whole pound of bacon before she leaves and complains that you should get organic bamboo sheets and stevia sugar replacement....Oh and did I tell you how much she paid for her luggage and have I fed my chickens hormone free feed...and the list goes on and on.

I try to do my best at weeding difficult people out from the requests but this summer has been totally different from last year. I can only attribute it to the latest wave of popularity of airbnb and I am hopes that the novelty seekers will eventually move on to the next "latest thing" and leave Hosts that enjoy meeting REAL people alone.  Meanwhile I just think of myself as a social scientist observing the latest trend in how societys work within the confines of contemporary technology.  So there are more days when I can laugh it off than not, while affixing my little orange clown stickers to the  reservation photos on my airbnb office bulliten board! You just can't make this stuff up!  So keep on Hosting and smile about how simple all of us really are.  It's all an adventure, and some of us are the passengers and others are the drivers, taking fares and punching tickets.

Sincerely,

Eloise at Happy Trails