Unenjoyable Hosting Experience

[Nicole563]

Once in awhile, I have some 5-star-review guests that I just do not enjoy hosting at all.  Yesterday, this lady guest who has really good reviews requested to stay for one night for 2. She showed up with a college aged son ( I didn't ask, but it looked like it). By the way, I only have one queen sized bed. That meant that the college aged kid in his 20's had to sleep with his mother in the same bed. I had never had situation like that before, and to be honest, it really weird me out.   The moment I opened the door, I felt her coldness, no greetings, no smile, no talk whatsoever. I got a feeling that she didn't like me at the moment she saw me. I absolutely hate hosting unfriendly guests regardless of the amount of money I can make. Fortunately, I don't have too many of those. 

I enjoy hosting, it gives me a chance to meet some very interesting and great people. To me, the experience of connecting with people from different backgrounds and get to know them personally is what hosting is all about, money is only secondary. 

[Anonymous]

@Nicole563  You might be surprised how common it is that two adult relatives choose a room with a shared bed and seem totally comfortable with it. I've seen it all...father-daughter, father-son, brother-sister...the whole bed-sharing thing bumps up against taboos for many people, but in so many families it's just not an issue.  

No way to know the cause of the cold behavior, but what was the guest's communication like in her initial request? (I ask assuming that since you care about guests having a personable demeanor, certainly you wouldn't have Instant Book activated...)

[Nicole563]

@AnonymousI have never seen father-adult daughter yet, the mother-adult son bed-sharing just too weird for me. 

The guest initial request was  "Your place looks lovely Looking forward to our stay". The reason I accepted her was based on her reviews. I do have Instant Book activated, but only guests who meet my requirements can Instant Book me. I had to manually approve her since she booked only a few hours before she arrived. 

I just can't imagine being in somebody's home and not even slightly sociable. 

[Ann489]

@Nicole563    I know what you mean, Nicole....every once in a while a guest comes along that we simply don't connect with; I had a few myself.  Even though they were clean and respectful of our property,  I couldn't wait until they left and would most definitely NOT host them again.  😉    But by the same token-the great majority of our guests are wonderful people, which more than makes up for the few bad ones!

[Nicole563]

@Ann489Yes, exactly!

[Patricia55]

@Nicole563 

Me too, I think I've had all the permutations of couples (except father-daughter!) sharing our guest bed. With “odd” couples, I always check beforehand that they're OK with sharing a double bed. Mind you, it's possible they don't share the bed – maybe one sleeps on the sofa... I don't ask 😐 It used to weird me out too, but I got over it!

The rudeness that you experienced is a different matter. Occasionally I've had that experience vis-a-vis the companion of the guest who booked... it's a bit unpleasant at the time, but I now know NOT to take it personally. I figure maybe the couple had an argument before arriving, or maybe the companion was persuaded to go along with the booking (possibly would have felt more comfortable with the anonymity of a hotel), or just wasn't the sociable type. (I'm not always the most gregarious myself, so I understand. Though I'm pretty sure I'm never unfriendly!)

As you say, fortunately the good'uns outweigh the bad 🙂

[Nicole563]

@Patricia55I don't have a sofa in the room, so they had to sleep in the same bed. It will take me awhile to get over it, hopefully I won't get too many of those. 

I understand some people are not sociable, but they are in somebody's home, at least say something. They might not feel comfortable, but they surely made me very uncomfortable of having them in my home.  

[Patricia55]

@Nicole563 

Maybe they slept top to toe! I had a couple of heterosexual guys who made a point of telling me that's how they slept!  We had a Chinese mum and 30s son sharing for quite a while... hmm, I was thinking that was a cultural thing... then shortly afterwards, we had a Brit mum and teen-age son sharing!  (I have no reason to think there were any strange goings-on; I just assume it was a budget solution for them...)

I totally agree, there's just no excuse for bad manners - being blanked in one's own home is a very weird experience, to say the least 😐  (But I've heard of much worse scenarios. Think I'd rather be blanked than have a guest trash my place...)  I'm interested to know: how did you review that guest?

[Nicole563]

@Patricia55 I haven’t reviewed her yet. Most likely would say “quite and clean guests”, done.