Looking for suggestions to decline extension to a guest

[Dev4]

Dear Hosts, 

I list a communal home on Airbnb, where each room is rented to different guests and all the guests share the kitchen and common areas. Guests usually stay for a month or more. I have a guest (say Sam, not a real person) who has been staying for more than a month and has requested for an extension for up to 3 months. However, couple of other guests have left the home as they are not very comfortable with Sam when it comes to using kitchen and washroom.

Any suggestions on what is the best way to explain Sam why you cannot extend beyond their current stay? 

Thanks in advance for your responses,

Dev

[Linda108]

@Dev4   I see that you have many, many entire apartment listings but do not see the listing you are referring to in your post.  Is it an Air BNB listing?  The reason I ask, is that on the Air BNB platform, each room would be a separate listing with a separate calendar.  You could tell the current problem guest that the room is not available for an extension, then block him from being able to book.  

[Dev4]

@Linda108 

Thank you for the response and appreciate you looking into the profile. I am co-host on the listing in question, so i am not sure it will be seen on the Airbnb profile or not. 

The situation is slightly tricky because there are other similar rooms that are available. So I have to block all the rooms or give them explicit reasons on why I cannot extend their stay. 

[Trevor243]

Just say "Sorry, the maximum stay in our properties is 14 days" or something like that.

I recently had an enquiry from someone and realised they would be a pain, so I blocked all properties for the dates she was looking for and told her "Sorry, we're booked up now" .... waited a couple of days and unblocked again .... we'll get someone else in, no problem

[Tony-And-Una0]

It's a tricky one.

Maybe tell him that you have a policy of Max 30 days in a shared home but you have whole units available for longer rental. He won't upset anyone if he is on his own. At least way it doesn't appear you have anything against him as you are offering another one of your places.

[Ute42]

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@Dev4 

I don't know why You have to jump through hoops in this situation – just tell him the truth.

Tell him that You think he's a real nice guy and there was no problem in the relationship with You as the host. But other guests have left the accomondation bc they didn't like the mess he left in the bathroom and the kitchen. You would like to rent to him again but You can't, because other people cancelling is hurting Your business..

[Linda108]

One thing many of us hosts hate about Air BNB is the apparent lack of transparency, which is understandable if the information is passed along to a responsible, stable person.  I do not agree with being transparent in this case.  Just because you say it is not me but it is everyone else, does not help the situation.  If someone makes people uncomfortable, not just one person, but several people, there is a good chance he will not react well to the information.  Since he is planning to stay in the area, he could cause problems for guests and hosts.

There is a time for transparency but this is not one of them.  Simply say not possible and block him from being able to book.

[Tony-And-Una0]

The reason is revenge reviews

[Ute42]

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@Tony-And-Una0 

????

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Ute42 

Your direct approach is perfect and faultless. Perfectly Pragmatic. It would be a conversation you would be happy to have and one which I would most likely follow with.

Unfortunately as @Tony-And-Una0 mentioned, said 'unwanted guest' would not like being told 'No' and would simply take revenge by providing a less than perfect review.

A guest 'rising above' or 'sucking it in'  would be very, very difficult to find.

@Dev4 is a Superhost and may not yet have felt the freedom from those shackles.

[Ute42]

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@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0    

Noone wants to be told no, but I'm doing it anyway.

If You really want to avoid bad reviews, then You have to acccept every breach of Your houserules and the only thing You can say to Your guests is „yes sir – yes ma'am“. Come on, who are we? I tell people „no“ right into their faces if necessary and I don't have any disadvantages out of doing so. I'm booked out for 2020.

And by the way: Being a superhost or having high average ratings has no = zero effect on Your success on airbnb. I've done several researches on that and the outcome is always the same. @Susan17   also did a reasearch on that topic for the London market recently and the outcome was also the same. Ask her where she posted it, I can't find it anymore.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Ute42 

I agree entirely.

[Helen3]

Hello @Dev4 

I'm surprised you haven't had this conversation with this guest before.

Why haven't you spoken to him about your expectations around how communal areas should be kept and pointed out to him in what ways he has broken house rules? 

It's not a good idea to be managing your listings in such a way that you have two guests leaving because another isn't keeping to your house rules.

How often do you/the host go into keep the communal areas clean at the listing?

In answer to your question, I would just be honest and say that this won't work for you as other guests have expressed concerns about how he maintains communal areas.  (this is made more difficult as it appears you haven't spoken to him about these issues in the month plus he has stayed).

[Dev4]

@Helen3 

Thanks for the response. My team (my self and house keeping person) goes in once a week to clean. I have politely explained the rules, but a lot of the issues are due to cultural differences. For e.g. in some cultures, people get up early and start the day (e.g. use the kitchen, washroom, etc.) But that can potentially disturb others who like to sleep late. 

[Sarah977]

@Dev4  Once a week?  With multiple unrelated guests sharing the kitchen and bathrooms? Somewhat astounding that you think that's an acceptable cleaning routine. Other hosts with similar hosting situations have said they clean the common areas, especially the bathroom, at least once, if not several times a day. Even a budget youth hostel has someone who cleans every day.

I see something like 10 listings on your profile, all listed as Entire Homes. Not one listing that describes a communal house. Is this place under another profile?