Unexpected parties

Kristen383
Level 2
North Belle Vernon, PA

Unexpected parties

We are new to hosting with 1 month under our belt.  Out of 7 guests so far, 4 have now had some kind of party.  I get sick to my stomach watching the "just 2 couples for the weekend" walk up to our ring doorbell with balloons and discuss how to block our camera to sneak the guests in.  Then left with a house full of weed smoke, damage, and garbage.   I was hoping there would be better experiences than this.  

We have tightened up our expectations of having prior reviews and raised our prices.  But in doing that the inquiries go to zero.  

 

Do you think this is pandemic related since there aren't events to go to?  How do others vet this situation?   Getting quite frustrated with the quality of people taking advantage of our home. 

Last guest we were able to collect on our security deposit, but I wouldn't expect that to be as easy each time.    Can Airbnb do more to curtail this behavior?

51 Replies 51

@Eric-And-Roslina0  I'm not disputing that Airbnb doesn't support hosts when it comes to guests disrepecting hosts and house rules.

 

But when you state that you will discriminate against those who have the 'reputation' of disobeying house rules, in the context of mentioning the guests' religion or nationality, it sure sounds like you will reject bookings from anyone of that religion or nationality, as if the bad guests you had are representative of the behavior of all those in their demographic.

 

The only reputation that's acceptable to reject a guest based on is a history of bad reviews.

 

And the fact that you are a mixed race couple isn't some proof that you aren't prejudiced against those who aren't of your races or religion.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Eric-And-Roslina0 I find your post very disappointing. Many hosts have proven successful in vetting customers without resorting to discrimination.

In answer to the question you pose in your second paragraph - YES you are discriminating and, as a result, your listing really should be suspended.

Dear sir 

 

Are you discriminating too easily as well?

I had once my guest bin in fire after they left, so i was close to have my listing

suspended by fire. 

Today  I do discriminate CS for not teachings against indoor smokers. 

 

how long until Airbnb CS teach the right smoking behavior for those who ignore it plainly. Should not we all take the security issue seriously ?

it is my second time to get shocked after being host since 2011. 

 

PS: We are a mixed couple. We do not care about colors and races, but about enforcing rules respect. . 

 

 

 

PS: We are a mixed couple. We do not care about colors and races, but about enforcing rules respect. . 

 



If that's the case why mention the guest's religion/country of religion in your original post. @Eric-And-Roslina0 

 

By the way if you catch guests smoking more than once, contact Airbnb and ask them to cancel the booking and notify the guests then need to leave. Why let them break your no smoking rule 4 times?

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

Best to never use 'labels', especially nowadays when 'isms' have become so popular and and everyone surely is already guilty of at least one of them. In hosting I  go strictly by my survival instincts, if an applicant feels chancy I proceed with added caution, strictly on a case-by-case basis to give everyone an even chance. No further explanation required.

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

@Kristen383 Great advice given and really it gets much easier with experience. Above all, you will learn a lot about human nature in the process. 

Katri548
Level 1
HKI, Finland

I had a nightmare-guests last weekend. In my small apartment there were over 20 young people having a party with alcohol and tobacco. Because of the noise I warned them two times and then I had to call a police. Their behaviour against me was very aggressive: shouting, insulting and one of them even spit me in the face. I reported to Airbnb securite and now while they are investigating my account is closed so I wont get new bookings. It makes me sad because I am innocent in this case. After this episode I definetely I choose only guest with previously good ratings. This Covid-time-party-people really makes Airbnb-hosting hard!!

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

We are seeing a pretty steep increase in the behaviour from prospective guests. We do our best to try to vet them, but we're getting a lot of good liars. We just had our villa trashed by one such guest. They claimed they were "professionals" Coming for "work". They seemed perfectly legitimate, but turned out to be a group of hipop musicians booking it for a 3 day party. Not only against house rules, but in violation of current lock down law. And caused significant damage. 

 

We are now receiving dubious sounding inquires from guests with no history, no rstings, which claim to be a couple or a family, but upon further dialogue, appear to be, or even admit they're planning a party or gathering of some sort. 

 

Our villa is in the countryside. Lots of space. Privacy. We have traditionally hosted small and large events, it's a great venue for that. But only with our express permission, and with onsite observation by us or our designated observer. And, obviously, not at this time. 

 

Currently, these things are illegal under lockdown law. I suspect this is why we're now getting all these dubious inquiries, and why they're willing to lie about it. They're looking for a place to party, beyond the view of the authorities. They know it's illegal. 

 

The risk for us is that if caught, it could well be >us< that is fined 1000's. And based on recent incidents with Airbnb host support, it's unlikely they'd ever pursue the guest on our behalf. 

@Elaine701 In your position, I would definitely invest in security cameras and/or a device like Party Squasher that can help you keep an eye on things. If you have them and make it clear in your listing that you do, it should make it a lot less likely that people of this type book, and if they do, it's a lot easier to deal with the issue while it's happening rather than trying to repair damage after the fact. 

@Alexandra316 

 

Yes, thanks. We've considered it, but one of the key attractions honour villa is the privacy. As I posted in another thread, our guests br naked, or other things ... Without prying eyes. In our reviews, guests often comment on how much they enjoy that. 

 

But also, under Spanish law, there are some serious legal issues about surveillance of guests in a tourist rental. It's complex, and there's some legal risks in doing that. Our licence could be at risk. 

 

And since we began with this property, and until now, there haven't been any issues. The vast majority of guests have been truly outstanding. And we reflect that in our reviews of them. And traditionally, Airbnb guests have been of the best quality. 

 

We used to be on all other major platforms as well, and there were far more issues with guests booking on those platforms. We became so wary of it, that we dropped all other platforms and went exclusive with Airbnb. And became one of Airbnb's biggest promotors here on Mallorca.

 

But sadly, we are experiencing not only a deterioration of the quality of guests but also a deterioration of host support from Airbnb. 

 

So, if all things are trending to be equal, we're again returning to other platforms in hopes of attracting a more targeted, higher quality guest profile. I'm under no illusions that any of the others will be better, but we'll see if perhaps we receive better guests and host support. 

@Elaine701 What about just a doorbell camera? Does that fall under the same rules? It doesn't have to be recording all the time, just when people are entering and exiting so you can ensure the group size is what they've booked for. What about Party Squasher, since it just checks the number of electronic devices on the property and doesn't record any information about them or take photos, video or audio? 

 

I get the privacy thing, but there's only so much vetting you can do and remain within the rules. Even prior good reviews don't insulate you from bad guests. 

@Alexandra316 

 

Yes, well, we have video at the gate. This is clearly not surveillance of the villa, and falls within legal boundaries. 

 

But even if we had "party squasher" or any other device, it still doesn't prove how many people are staying at the villa. It's still circumstantial. They all could have several devices. Maybe some friends stopped by (we really can't or shouldn't make a rule that says you can't have more people than the number of people on the property than in the booking - would considered pretty restrictive by mist guests, but it's a consideration). 

 

Well, I've always advised hosts that there's always the risk of "bad" Guests. We get them too. But good vetting minimises it. 

 

Unfortunately, we really have to vet carefully nowadays, and I'm sure we decline a few who would otherwise be really great guests. That's just the risk you take.

 

I'm sure we'd all love to get back to the days when you could trust people to be respectful and conscientious, and the booking platforms to act in our best interests. But I fear those days are coming to an end. 

 

Watch your back! You're increasingly on your own. 

@Elaine701 If you have a gate camera, surely you can look and see that a bunch of extra people are showing up at the property?

 

None of it needs to prove anything: it allows you to potentially nip situations in the bud before they become a problem. You can call the guys who had a party and say "Hey guys, what's going on?" before they do a bunch of damage to your property. Don't wait to use them as evidence of damage that's already been done, which almost certainly won't work, you're correct. 

 

Lots and lots of hosts have exactly that rule, because if you're allowing lots of extra people to stop by, how do you stop it from becoming a party? Also... surely there are rules in Spain right now about a bunch of people gathering at your place?

@Alexandra316 

 

Yes, we do have lockdown laws against such parties. It's one if the reasons we're getting so many dubious inquiries. A previously noted recent guest blatantly violated that. We can prove there were cars coming in and out, we could prove that they used a lot of electricity all night, every night. We could prove that all the beds were used, we could see that the couches appeared to have been slept in. We found hundreds of beer and liquor bottles scattered everywhere. Beer and cigarette ashes in the carpets... The bedrooms and the whole house smelled of smoke and stake beer... 

 

But that's all circumstantial. It doesn't prove they had a "party". The guest denies it. 

 

They did cause quite a bit of damage, and it was irrefutable. The guest even admitted it, although disagreed with the damage costs. But Airbnb quickly closed the claim anyway, and now refuses to discuss it further. 

@Elaine701  A security camera out of reach that can’t be tampered with easily that can show footage of guests entering the house is immensely helpful. As is an explicit house rule regarding occupancy and unregistered guests and consequences. Are you close to your property, or have a designated cohost close by to deal with these things as they happen? On Airbnb, prevention is really the only way to go. We have to do absolutely everything we can to prevent situations, or be able to shut them down quickly if they happen. Being in a position of reacting after the fact is never a good position to be in with Airbnb.