I am renting my home - customers request hotel amenities???

I am renting my home - customers request hotel amenities???

Hi

I am a divorcee, was a stay-at-home-mom for 15 years and after divorce I am an unemployed poor little creature. Airbnb has really helped me earn extra income. I rent my home and stay with friends or in the basement storage room, depending on the situation.

 

Many guests are quite flexible and accommodating. But every once in a while you get requests like "we need double pillows" of "we need luggage storage for the day of departure" of "please order us a taxi" when the customer is still in the apartment at 3PM although the checkout is at 12.  I get customers who have used up 8 towels in two days, and many of them are bloody. I get visitors who use my sparklingly white towels for makeup removal.

 

I understand that some Airbnb hosts are professionals. But some of us poor souls are just renting out their HOMES.

 

 

 

 

7 Replies 7
Bryan10
Level 10
Feltham, United Kingdom

Agree @Karina60 and I'm sorry to hear you've had some bad experiences. You're right that many guests see Airbnb simply as a cheap alternative to a hotel when we're kinda different. Hang on in there because most guests are great. 

 

Daniel1549
Level 1
Riverside, CA

Hi @Karina0! I'm in a similar situation, and I've had a mom show up with a sick, crying baby; spills and food on the floor; request for ride to LAX (70 miles in LA traffic... she was an 18 yr old student, so I took her); two folks with pets although my listing clearly says "no pets;" and recently a kind Columbian gentleman needed to use my debit card to pay for his Uber ride to airport after his was declined, haha. I'm a softy, but I am adding a cleaning deposit to my listings, fully refundable depending on how they leave the rooms. Thankfully 95% of my guests have been respectful, only a few stinkers! And Airbnb is paying most of my rent. Best to you!

JoyandJay0
Level 2
Bakersfield, CA

Greetings Karina,

 

Unfortunately, as Airbnb hosts, we are in direct competition with hotels. Therefore, we  feel inclined to provide amemities one might expect to find in a hotel. Soap, shampoo, clean towels, linen, coffee, extra blankets... This is a service business and to us, it is imperative to provide excellent service to all even if it means going over and above to do it. As a service business, we really rely on repeat business, referals, and excellent feedback to keep our place booked. To accomplish that, we have to provide a consistent level of service commensurate with what people expect from a hotel.

 

With that said, if you have people damaging your property or disregarding the house rules, you need to hold them accountable. Just my dos centavos.

Adriana100
Level 10
Pitts, PA

Hi, I know what you mean. I had that happening too in 5 percent of the guests, I'd say. My solution?

 

Lock the cupboards. With a key or a lock. I was so furious when one group stayed for 3 nights and used up all my towels in the cupboard and 2 extra bedsheets, moved the mattresses around, smeared mascara everywhere, spilled food and set a towel on fire.... Needless to say they got 1 star review from me.

If it's there they will use it. it if can break, they will break it. try to think in terms like "what can be destroyed here" and lock your valuables. I also dont put my best linen and towels there for the same reasons. Just middle of the road quality. Some people steal. At Christmas I put my best towels for the guests and they got stolen!

dont underestimate people's stupidity. I had a nice battery operated candle that felt real and a dumb guest set the light bulb on fire!!! since then I had removed all candles from the house. keep it as simple as possible. Some - 5% people - are that stupid!

@Karina-Каринa0

I'm an on-site host and if I don't want the guest to disturb certain items I store them out of sight and in (really) hard to reach places or lock them up. I also point out specifically, dishes/utensils/pots/pans here, here, and here are available for guest use. Please do not disturb any of the items in the other cabinets/drawers. Idiot-proofing your home is really important. I think when it comes to hosting, we really do need to "Prepare for the worst (type of guest you can imagine), but hope for the best."

We have similar problems. A recent guest wiped her acme medicine all over her bath towel and bleached it out. Another guest slept on the comforter and not between the sheets. Another soaked the basement by not putting the shower curtain inside the shower, so the water drained down. We have taken all of these problems and created a laminated "House Rules and Expectations" card in every room and on our guest check-in dresser. This is exactly what each of our listings say online. People check the box that they read and agreed to all the rules, but they don't read it. We have a "no smokers of any kind" policy. It's the first thing in the description. We still get guests reaking of smoke. It is a really negative experience AND Airbnb expects us to give them a refund. That really hurts. We have to dehumidify, purify the air, clean EVERYTHING and still give them a refund? Seriously, this is a problem. And these are the ones that give us the worst reviews. I call Airbnb immediately for help. We need to charge for damages. Towels add up. Our time is valuable. 

BTW, we don't let anyone use our kitchen, except for microwave. We serve breakfast on (nice) paper plates with paper nampkins, use cheap quality utensils. We save a lot of money and time with less breakage and no kitchen messes to clean up. We also screen very carefully and decline if the guests are rude, abrupt, and/or give no information. We never allow a guest in our home without a facial photo to I.D. them. There are so many new Airbnb members that have no clue. We end up teaching our guests a lot. The next hosts get the benefit of our hard work. And so it goes.

Bottom line - we've made so many wonderful new friends who've become an extended family from around the world. After 3.5 years as Super Hosts, we are very pleased by the the results and the tax breaks that allow us to improve our home in ways we could never afford to do without the extra income and motivation.

It's a win-win with just an occasional downside. In for the long haul!

 

 

Clara116
Level 10
Pensacola, FL

@Marlene54 what happened? where's your listing???