uncomfortable with current guest

[Julie1525]

Yesterday afternoon I got a reservation request from a woman in the next town over, just 9 miles. (First red flag) She didn't give a reason for her stay. She came, and then told me her boyfriend from another state was in our local hospital and was being released. He's the one who found my place.(Second red flag)

She said they needed both bedrooms. At the time it seemed reasonable with his recent hospital stay. They came in about 10 pm with a huge bag of fast food, which they sat down to eat. Really? He just of out of surgery. (3rd and 4th flags) #3 is that he was walking just fine. While they are eating, she said, "By the way, my boyfriend's brother is here from California and has my boyfriend's car. He's going to come out here and visit." (Fifth red flag). Brother comes in and seems nice enough. We bid them good night. I got up at 1 a.m. with a headache and go out to the kitchen to get pain reliever. Both men are still up watching a movie. (6th red flag) No said anything about brother staying too! This could be all innocent, but both hubby and I felt uncomfortable enough with it that neither of us slept well. At 2 the tV was still going.

So now I haven't slept much at all. What the heck am I supposed to do when something like this happens????

[Helen3]

What you should do is have a house rule that says if guests want visitors then this can only happen with your written permission (this is what I have in my listing).

If you then agree to having guest over have a sensible curfew such as 10 p.m.

You should also have house rules around whatever quiet time you want say 12 p.m - 7 a.m.

In your case if you didn't have a rule it is still reasonable for you to have said something when they told you they wanted the brother to visit.

If you found they had him stay over, I would ask Airbnb to cancel the booking due to them having a third person stay who hadn't booked and paid.

To be honest there is no way I would have not said anything when I found them both up watching a movie in the early hours. At that point you could have reinforced any quiet time rules and have insist that the brother left.

Good luck.

[Julie143]

I see you have a house rule about quiet hours. You need to enforce it by notifying the guest that they are breaking it. If they don’t stop, then you can call Airbnb and tell them you want to kick out the guest.

I checked your place. I entered 4 people for some dates, and it came to only 52/night. For four people?

At that price you will attract semi-homeless, drifters and who knows what else. You have some good reviews. I think you can up your price, and charge more for additional guests.

It’s a gorgeous environment. If you want to attract bird watchers and wine tasters, you can charge more I think.

Don’t take locals!!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Julie1525 

Completely agree with @Helen3 regarding quiet time rules and also being firm about not allowing or having clear ground rules (visiting hours and up to how many people at a time) when allowing guest(s) of the Airbnb guests. 

Me......I just don't allow locals. Period. And I am always very clear and upfront that I don't allow guests to bring friends/family/acquaintences over - it's one of the first things I reiterate to guests. 

Instead of saying "oh~ but you can't do that" to guests intending to do something that makes me uncomfortable in my own home, I think it's better to be pro-actively clear and set the rules first so guests know MY EXPECTATIONS and adjust their actions/behaviors accordingly. Or they can simply stay somewhere else if they don't like my rules. 

My house, my rules 🙂 

[Julie1525]

I will update my rules today. I didn't sleep much, worrying about these 2 men. I had wondered at the time about woman who lives so close staying here. My hubs and I wondered if the boyfriend had legal issues.

Although I didn't clearly state no guests, I'm not going to give her a very good review for announcing twice that there would be additional people.

[Ann489]

@Julie1525  I just looked at your listing (it is lovely!)and realized that you are renting rooms in your home, not a self-contained guesthouse.  No wonder, you didn't get any sleep!  In your situation I would definitely say, absolutely NO outside visitors allowed. Period.   

We have a guesthouse on our property and do not allow outside visitors without prior approval.   Luckily, it has never been an issue, but I would have no problem giving anyone the boot who violated my house rules.   Also, make sure you have a sheet with the house rules handy in the room and point it out to guests, asking them to please aquaint themselves with it.   I have actually "hidden" the wifi password somewhere in the middle, making it more likely for guests to actually read it  😉

If hosting has taught me anything, it has taught me going by my gut feeling as far as accepting reservations is concerned.   I do not take reservations from locals-with the exception of my neighbors.   I ask a lot of questions and if I don't like the answers/the way the guest responds, I won't accept.  I require a government-issued ID.  No exceptions.  It is up to us hosts to vet our potential guests as best as possible.   I want to make sure that my property is a good fit for the person requesting to stay. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

unfortunatelly we can't see any more if someone is local or not, at least not before the booking is done.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Recent inquiries I recieved were basically a blank profile (no introduction of themselves) with username(first name) and city & country info. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

tnx, you are right (as usuall 🙂  somehow I overlooked it because it is not under the guest name any more but further down.

[Sarah977]

@Julie1525  When guests tell you  what they are going to do "my boyfriend's brother is coming over", that is the time to say "Actually, no, he's not. This my home, not yours, I make the rules and decide who I allow in my house and you need to ask respectfully, rather than tell. "  Of course, that would need to be rephrased more tactfully, but that's the jist of it. I would never allow a guest to behave in a way that made me uncomfortable in my own home.

[AJ-and-Erica0]

Even if you don't have clear and explicit rules about extra guests and such, they should always check with the host before assuming its ok to do what they want. Its YOUR place!

I have a pre-booking message where the guests have to reply about themselves, reason of their trip and inform who they are coming with. I also put a extra fee for second guests. and no visitors.

Would be better to have the rules sent before check -in day or printed in the room to avoid anything like it in the future. 

Either way, you can contact Airbnb and ask them to reinforce the rules with the guests or rehome them.

[Linda108]

I wonder if anyone know what mi casa su casa really means because adding that to your listing is not a good idea in my opinion.  You are not inviting a guest to treat your home as their home.  You are allowing them to have a private room and to have access to shared space.  I think it is better to mention some of the rules within the description and not expect guests to remember what you have written on the listing.   

Perhaps having 23 (!) grandchildren adds to your welcoming spirit 😄 but orienting a guest to your expectations allows you to "remind" them of boundaries.