high maintenance guest

[Sayuri2]

Hello!  This is my third time to host a guest.  Unfortunately, this has not been a great experince.  Upon my guests arrival, the bed was not made, and they were very upset and said they would check in a hotel.  I had clean sheets ready so I made bed for them.  I did this as a courtecy, though  my listing clearly says no esential amenities are provided and they were just not aware of it. But they kept compalining how things like coffee/tea, soap, shampoo, or hairdryer are missing- again, I said no essential amenities!  But I bought $ 50 worth of basic stuff for them and provided my hairdyer. I wanted them to be happy.  Today, they said the bed fell apart. They moved a king size bed and slats came off from the frame.  We  went there to offer help putting slats and stuffing back in palce, but they declined and said I should have secured slats in place with screws. (as many people may know, my ikea bed has slats which just sits on the rails- they are not supposed to be nailed to the frame).   Before their  arrival, we actually filled the gaps between the slats to make them secure, but the stuffing apparently fell off as they moved the bed.  I want to make them happy but this has been a little too much.  Any experience or wisdom will be greately appreciated. Thank you. 

[Marzena4]

Hello @Sayuri2 Imho, if you call a place a penthouse, you do not put in a bed that falls apart after 2 guests (you've got 2 reviews so I assume that's the number of guests). For comparison - mine has served many guests - more than 100 (I am also on booking.com), but is far from failing. I steer away fro Ikea, though. The bed is the basic for an Airbnb place - take it into consideration.

[Sayuri2]

Hmmm... I don't understand what my penthouse has to do with my difficult guests.  

Bed held up fine for many years ( I have had more than 20 long term tenants and just in-between airbnb. I think IKEA is fine and many airbnb in the US has IKEA furniture. Thank you for your quick response anyway. If anyone has practical advice please let me know. 

[Harriet-and-Stu0]

@Sayuri2 the amenity issue may come up again for you, as it is somewhat unusual for a unit as high end as yours to not have essential amenities on AirBnB.  Plus many AirBnB guests don't review listing details completely.   Not your fault in a sense, but I can see that some guests will be disappointed.

You might add the phrase "no essential amenities -please see amenity list" or "please don't forget to bring your own hairdryer and toiletries!" or some such both to your listing description and to your initial reply to the guest inquiry or request.  You may want to include in your listing description the information you shared here, that this listing is usually unavailable for short stays, but makes a great AirBnB in the gaps between long term tenants.  Not that everyone will read it, but hey it could help 🙂

For the bed, a few ideas.  You could bolt it in place, or experiment (with fasteners or whatever) to make sure the slats will hold if the bed is moved, or add "please do not move the bed" to your house rules.

[Sayuri2]

I like your ideas. I am going to stress that essentials are not provided. I never thought people don't carefully read what they are signing up for, but sure I can understand some peolpe get confused if they did not do their homework.  I do provide linens and towels and kitchen supplies etc, but it just does not make sense for me to buy items like soaps /shampoos etc for one or two guests, which wil be thrown away when a long term tenant moves in, so I plan to continune to encourge guests bring their own or buy their own, (which worked fine until this time) and I will keep being transparent about it.  - Thanks! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sayuri2

hm... I would advise you to offer some basic bathroom and kitchen essentials and hair dryer. It really doesn't cost much and not all guests will use it but it is nice to have it  (it doesn't have to be expensive brands and you can buy family sizes) . 

I didn't understand do you provide sheets , towels and bedding but usually this is provided and guests expect it at ABB. If for some reason you don't provide it then you should write it very clearly on top of your description to avoid any misunderstanding.