Host Burn Out

Susan608
Level 3
Longs, SC

Host Burn Out

First let me say I love people and that's why I host. I don't live in a very popular place so can only get $30/night or less for my rooms. I'm finding I'm burning out after just short of two months - my sleep is constantly being broken up by 230am booking (from people in the same time zones), getting woken  up at 133am because there is a harmless bug in their room (they are from the state), getting woken up from guests locking themselves out of their room at 2am, getting woken up at 239 am for a cancellation  (person in the same time zone), people wantingn to chat about making a reservation at 2am (in same time zone, then don't end up booking), getting up by 7am for coffee (some guests don't know how to use a Keurig) or some just make a lot of noise and it wakes me, staying up for midnight check ins (first time travelers like to be greeted).  The bathroom is shared so I am constantly in and out of there making sure no one is leaving a mess behind for the other guests. Then there is the cleaning, running around making keys when guests accidentally take them home, shopping for supplies, etc.. Any suggestions on how to streamline things? I"m in the same house as them but I can't turn my phone off because I need to be reached buy current guests if they need something - lock out, bug killing, etc..

17 Replies 17
Matt682
Level 9
Hednesford, United Kingdom

Hi @Susan608,

 

I’ve been hosting for 5 months now, and I can’t say that I experience this level of disruption. I manage my three rooms by:

 

I have a lockbox for a self-checkin facility and set up the instructions with good quality photographs and specific instructions. If you want to go to bed before the guest arrives, send them a quick message saying sorry you’ll miss them that evening but will catch up with them later in the stay and the key is in the lockbox. Leave a light on in their room, and the door open for them so they find it.

 

Don’t respond during night-time hours. Just message first thing in the morning, with a “sorry about the delay in responding but I was asleep”. I’ve never had anyone get mad at me, and you get your sleep which makes all of us better people when we do respond.

 

I’ve changed my front door to have a key lock on both sides. House rules: Lock it on your way in, and lock it on your way out. That way no-one needs to keep track of other people’s movements and no-one is home alone in an insecure home. It also means they cannot leave without a way to get back in. Also, when they leave they are used to having the key with them, they secure the door, and post it through the letterbox - no missing keys.

 

I only clean the bathroom when a guest arrives, or every week (whichever is sooner). I normally end up cleaning the shared bathroom about 3-4 times a week. Maybe controversial, but I’ve not had anyone complain about cleanliness yet. I do change this policy with particularly messy guests so they don’t impact on others.

 

Build a stock of standard supplies at home, and replenish along with your normal shopping cycles. If you get a pot of instant coffee and put it next to the fancy machine, along with some good quality instructions for the using the machine in the house manual, you should be able to cover all bases.

 

As for bug removal... I would tell them to manage it themselves unless we are talking about tarantulas or something?! Lol. Or maybe this is one service you have to provide still 😉

 

Hope all that helps! Feel free to ask if you want more detail or whatever.

 

 

 

Matt

Moira21
Level 8
Bispham, United Kingdom

@Susan608  Hi, why don't you turn your phone off at a certain time? You're being dictated to by current and potential guests, no wonder you feel 'burnt out' Enquiries and Bookings coming through late hours can wait until the next morning. Leave bug spray in their room, leave instant coffee if they can't use the machine.

Invest in a keybox. I have a Yale keyless entry system, it's excellent, no loss of keys.

Get some Silicone ear plugs to block out any noise!!

I'm sure other hosts will give you more tips.

There are no problems, just solutions.

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Susan608  You can just say in your listing that you are available to answer questions from X to X time unless it's an emergency situation, that should prevent people contacting you in the middle of the night.  There is no need to be a slave to airbnb, and you have 24 hours to respond to bookings or inquiries w/out being penalized.  You could invest in an automatic lock w/a code so that no one could lock themselves out if this is happening a lot. 

Susan608
Level 3
Longs, SC

Mark116,

 

Thanks for your response. It's not really worth investing in expensive bedroom locks for what I charge; going and killing a beetle bug contitutes an emergency on a guest's end! I like your idea about not "pinging" me about reservations/cancellations during certain hours but I think they are afraid of losing out on a reservation or refund on a cancellation.

 

Thomas1033
Level 10
North Tonawanda, NY

@Susan608  I have the same day reservation time set to by 10pm eastern time.  I have my phone set to quiet at 10pm.  We have a keypad at entrance door and on apartment door upstairs. No keys!  While I’ve had a stupid late night question or 2 it has been more the exception to the rule and they were lucky I was on my phone or they wouldn’t have been answered until morning.  Yes I agree you are responsible to tidy up bathroom if you have unrelated guests in your home.  Perhaps a sign stating please leave this room the way you expect it to be left by others with a smiley face.  Of course if their standards are low that won’t work.  I do a bug check before guests arrive.  I just found 2 dead ones and a tiny live spider managed to escape me...oops.  Maybe raise your price a tiny bit, the $$ will make it better.  Yvonna (cohost)

Susan608
Level 3
Longs, SC

You have a better set up than I do. It's key to get inot the house which some people pocket and leave others locked out, and then keys to the bedrooms which they lock themselves ouf of. I vacuum right before arrial but bugs can travel through the ventillation system from one room to the next! I have a sign and a container of Clorox wips and gloves in the bathroom.

 

It's a lot of work!

@Susan608  So maybe you could do a code lock for the main house, and just stress to people that if they are going to lock the bedrooms they need to be careful of the keys and that there is a key charge for lost keys? Something like that?

"A" let me charge for lost keys twice and now no more.

I see you have two rooms. Why not give each guest a key to the front door on a key chain that also holds the specific room key. Label each set of keys to the corresponding room.

Doesn't stop them from putting them in the room and locking themselves out.

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Susan608, You have to let go. A booking request, question, or cancelation at 2am does not need your attention. Turn off your notifications and wait until you wake up. If a guest has that big of an emergency that needs your immediate attention, they will repeatedly call your phone or bang on your door. Of course you are going to get burnt out when you are available 24 hours a day. Anyone would. That is why most of us take time for yourselves, sleeping is usually one of those times.

You are right. I'm just so afraid I'm going to sleep through their need since I'm so tired. Have to break the cycle. I have more pieace before I gave them all locks on their doors. One less thing to worry about - them getting locked out. They wake me for every little thing. I need to figure ouf how to turn off notifications off on my phone app.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Susan608   I turn my ringer off at night. I also wear earplugs if necessary. No way I'd answer a request or inquiry at 2 AM- you have 24 hours to respond. The guests who phone you at 2AM expecting you to get up and come remove a bug are rude and entitled and their demands should be ignored during sleeping hours.  And you don't need to let anyone check in after reasonable hours. 

I've also never had guests walk off with keys- if they don't bring them to me when they ar ready to leave, or tell me they've left them in the room, I ask for them. 

You are allowing guests to treat you like a doormat. There's no need for that. Being accomodating to your guests is one thing, but thinking that they are allowed to run your life according to their needs is misguided.

Stephanie365
Level 10
Fredericksburg, VA

1. You can dictate arrival times on your booking listing. For example, mine is from 5 pm to 10 pm. Depending upon the day of the week, I may (or may not) allow an exception for a later check in.

2. Put a note in your House Rules that guests are responsible for keeping track of the keys as you will not be available after say 11 pm if they should lock themselves out.  (I personally have never had a guest lose my keys or lock themselves out but I can see it may happen). 

3. I did have a guest message me at 2 am asking me to turn off the Air Conditioner. I "didn't get" that message until 8 am when I woke up the next morning. I apologized that I didn't get the message sooner, and they apologized for messaging me so late. They still gave me 5*.

I have a House Manual that I provide my guests.  Among the many pieces of information it contains, it spells out when I am available for services and that after 10 pm, I am not available unless there is a life threatening emergency. 

One of the things I do point out is that I live on a farm. With that, sometimes we get critters who don't follow the rules and my guests may occasionally encounter such critters.  So far no one has complained about bugs. Not even the stink bugs that invade each winter.