smoking

[Adela6]

Hi,

I had a couple that left today. During their stay, the female asked me if it would be okay if her boyfriend smoked outside of the room on the patio. I told her that was fine and didn't think much about it after the conversation. When I went into the room after they checked out, it smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke, there was a water bottle filled with cigarette butts, and a towel stuffed under the bedroom door; I'm guessing this was to prevent the smell  from entering the rest of the house.

I have a few questions regarding this:

First, Can I make a claim against their deposit, and any suggestions of what kind of review to leave in this situation?

Other than the smoking issue and leaving the room pretty messy, they were decent guests.

[Sandra126]

You can go to @Andrea  post on Host Voice: https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Host-Voice/Better-host-protection-after-guests-breaking-house-rule-S... and give it a thumbs up for future Airbnb consideration, other than that I leave it to other hosts to answer. All the best.

[Elaine-and-Duane0]

Leave a factual review. Is smoking inside is against your house rules? Messy and smoked inside is not my idea of decent guests. I am not sure if the resolution center would open and claim for removing cigarette stench. Others probably can advise you. Or contact airbnb before 48 hrs after check out to see what your options might be. 

[Linda108]

@Adela6  As you have just experienced, there are guests that will not follow the rules.  However, how do you know that the guest smoked in the room. Could have smoked on the patio and the smoke came into the room.  The towel could be seen as being thoughtful and not sneaky.  Were there ashes on the floor or bed?  Take pictures.  This is what is needed to prove your allegation.  You gave permission to smoke on the patio adjacent to the room.  That is what will be reported to Air BNB.  So sorry you had this experience, but you have had a number of good and appreciative guests to remember.

[Adela6]

Thank you for the feedback. It's much appreciated. @Linda108 I agree with you and felt torn because I didn't know for sure if he actually smoked in the room and only had a suspension. I think I'll look at it as a lesson learned. Overall, I have been very fortunate. Thx again.

[Robin4]

@Adela6 Hi there Adela, it is human nature, people will take liberties and push the boundaries, and if you are going to allow smoking on your property it's a strong bet the pastime will end up inside your house.

Although you say no smoking in your house rules, you back pedalled and allowed it outside. You need to make it clear not only in your rules but in person to the guest that smoking is not permissable on the property and that your alarm will trigger if it detects cigarette smoke inside the house.

I had my daughter staying here for some time and I made it clear, if she wanted to smoke she had to do it in the street....I did not want a lit cigarette on the property.....and that was a bit of a walk, in the rain!!!

I do not think you will be sucessful in claiming any compensation from Airbnb, so, next time, be a bit stronger.

Another useful item is an electronic filter! These scrub the air and take away almost all smells and other contagions....but don't get a cheap ionizing one! There is talk ionizing filters will be banned in the not too distant future as they can/do lead to lung problems. We use a Whirlpool Whispure 5000 filter and that does a great job at keeping the cottage really fresh. It is designed to do about 2 average to large rooms and is definitely worth consideration. We put it in because we were getting a few allergy sufferers during the hay fever season and everyone commented on how much better their breathing was in the scrubbed environment.

Cheers......Rob

[LeaAnn0]

I also have a question about this. 

I have an old house next door as my Airbnb.  No smoking. 

When the last guests left, it smelled like smoke.  I had a few friends lend their noses.  The consensus:  smoke. 

So, I wrote them a reivew:  SMOKED in a non smoking house. 

I got a response:  "We absolutely DID NOT smoke in your house.  We hate it and are sensitive to it.  This is an unfair review!"

Any advice on a further response or action? 

[Linda108]

@LeaAnn0  I read both your review and the guest response.  The guest review of you was positive so there is no further response required from you.  I think unless there is some physical evidence of smoking, it is very difficult to "accuse" someone of breaking the rule.  Perhaps a private message to the guest would have asked if they noticed any unusual orders in the house as you noticed a smoke odor after they left.  You have raised the issue and they would have responded that they didn't smoke.  Is it possible that the smell was actually from the dog getting wet?

It is a tough call because you want to provided an honest review and certainly the host community appreciates that but  the review appears to me as a bit strong regarding both the smoking and the dog.  That you bring this issue to the host community suggests that this is a difficult one.  Thank you for your posting.