Are guests getting more difficult?

[Catherine281]

Hi, I have been hosting for over 6 years on multi properties now and have found the guests are getting more demanding. Is anyone else finding that? Literally, one last guest seemed to think I was both a concierge and also at their beck and call re extra towels, etc. I provide a super-sized bath sheet - which comes from a professional laundry and costs me £2 per sheet - per guest - what do you go when a guest asks for another one? Up till now, I have given one but margins are so tight now that I am going to stop. However, you then run the risk of a bad review. I think guests know that they can just ask and ask these days with the threat of a bad review in the air otherwise...and f hosting is your profession risks losing super host and prominent listings/ Do you think Airbnb has shifted to wanting guests more than hosts....

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 

The real difference between our listings is that I do not accept long term guests. I am not looking for a housemate. My house is a retreat  Destination, not a place for workers and students. It is a wilderness destination, with as much luxury as possible off grid. Unless they ask, they have no idea how expensive it is to live out here, how it is a constant tech challenge. Some do come here to learn how we do it, and that is a terrific teaching opportunity. Anyone staying for longer than a weekend really must provide their own personal items. I would not ask for anything, myself. I traveled most of my life with little more than a daypack and a duffle, if I needed anything, I'd do without until I got off the trail and back to a market. This woman who wanted you to cater to her seems to be a sponge. I provide yoga mats and blocks, but it is easier for a guest to drive the 45 minutes to our small town to get their own, than it is for me.   I provide the things I do, as most guests really don't want to leave for something minor, they would rather sit on the porch and watch the sun set into the ocean. I'm on top of a mountain, you are in the city, so our offerings and our markets are vastly different. I thoroughly enjoyed a small room with a nice bed while staying with a family in Taipei. It was a place to sleep while I was out exploring all day. Your guests and mine are very different, and you provide a great value in a big city.

[Huma0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

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@Kitty-and-Creek0 wrote:

Anyone staying for longer than a weekend really must provide their own personal items. I would not ask for anything, myself. I traveled most of my life with little more than a daypack and a duffle, if I needed anything, I'd do without until I got off the trail and back to a market.

I think you summed it up here quite well. There are of course different types of travellers and different types of journeys. I am much like you in that I have travelled a lot and much of it was backpacking. Of course, I expect more amenities when staying in a 5* hotel on a work trip than I did when I was backpacking in Central America for six months and camping or staying in cabanas or cheap guest houses, but I have noticed that travellers staying at my Airbnb can have wildly differing expectations even though the price and the listing details are exactly the same.

Your place looks beautiful and, yes, if booking it to stay off the beaten track for a short stay, I would also not want to be constantly driving to pick up this or that little thing that I only need for a couple of days.

Meanwhile, I have a guest booked here for 5.5. months who seems to think every condiment I own (I like cooking) is for her use. I am not sure if many listings include things like oyster sauce or sesame oil for daily cooking, but I'm guessing not!

There are many reasons why I host long term Airbnb stays. The first was that I did have housemates but I was travelling a lot for work and got sick of them throwing full on parties when I was away. I have found Airbnb guests in general to be more respectful. I also had housemates who seemed to think that they owned the house and dictated the rules and that became a problem. 

So, I tried Airbnb out and that mostly involved short term guests for quite a while. Mostly it was fine, but pre-COVID I had two jobs, one of which involved a lot of travel and the Airbnb was so popular that it became another job on top. It was just too much. I also liked having the security long term guests who became friends and not needing to tiptoe around them all the time.

The original question asked here was: "Are guests getting more difficult?" I think from my perspective as a long term host, yes, they are. While I always had the occasional odd/difficult/high maintenance/clueless long term guest, they were a very small minority. I have, in recent months, felt that number growing...

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 

I have sesame oil - also black sesame oil, oyster sauce, and a wide variety of Asian condiments. I think we have similar tastes in food as well as in traveling locations and styles.

A long term guest should imho quickly replenish the condiments they use, as would any housemate.

When guests are cooking in my kitchen they are welcome to use whatever I have.  I also keep various types of specialized cookware, a full cabinet of spices and oils, really nice knives. I also have on hand what I need to make sushi. When I say in my house manual to ask if you are missing something, I may have it in the pantry - I mean it. It is very fun when a guest asks for something and I have it. 

I'm finally getting to the point that it is seems likely safe to host again, though we are both higher risk and in our 70's; our county is still in the "red" tier and hospitals are overflowing. I get a knee replaced in a week, and am giving myself another 2 weeks post surgery to prep for my first guests in 2 years. I doubt that they will be difficult, in fact I would bet that they'll be a real joy. 

[Sarah977]

@Kitty-and-Creek0  Funny, I'm just about to start hosting again soon, too. It actually happened by accident, but I'm just going with it. 

I'd been blocking my calendar a few months ahead for the past almost 2 years, rather than snoozing it, as I still wanted it visible if past guests were looking. 

That of course meant I had to go back and block more days every few days. But I had been lax on that- leaving almost 3 weeks open at the end of my 3 month availability window.  And got a request for the end of April/early May for 2 weeks. I messaged her back, explaining that, but also saying I was missing hosting and that if she could assure me she was vaxxed, I would be fine with accepting her as my first post-Covid guest. 

She wrote back immediately, saying yes, double vaxed and boosted. Aside from personal choice, required for her workplace. And she seems like an easy guest to host- middle aged, she knows this area, has been here several times, had 5 very nice reviews as a guest, and doesn't sound like she'll even be around that much- she's a surfer and is going to rent a car so she can get to all her fave surf spots in the area. 

And sharing my kitchen isn't that risky- the weather is warm, the windows are always open, as well as the 2 meter wide double door to the terrace, so it's almost like an open air kitchen.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sarah977 

Seems like this is a good situation - for you and for her. There's so much to do there, and it is so lovely in an y season. Enjoy!

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

Glad to hear that you are gently easing back into hosting and with what sounds like a suitable guest. Keep us posted on how it goes!

[Huma0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 good luck with your surgery and do make sure to take it easy!

Yes, it was exciting for me when I was finally able to host again. I do believe guests are getting more difficult but, luckily the more difficult ones are still a minority for me as I try to vet as much as I can so most of those that stay with me are delightful. What I am noticing in the past few months is that I am having to turn away far more guests than I ever did before as there are so many red flags.

I probably cook more Asian food than any other so I do have a lot of condiments and spices. I'm perfectly happy for guests to use these and also of course any kitchen equipment. I'd say the kitchen is pretty well stocked. The annoyance comes when a guest seems to be trying to use as much as they can just because they think it is 'free' and, no, those type of guests never replace anything. When they finish whatever it is, they let you know it's finished because they expect you to buy more for them. That would be fine if it is something that is listed as available for guests, e.g. tea, coffee, sugar, oil, salt, pepper, otherwise, but I think that if you want to use a whole bottle of oyster sauce a week, you should buy your own! 

Then there are the ones who will ask for everything you don't have, i.e. the guest I mentioned before. I also had one girl stay here who asked me for 'extra, extra virgin olive oil' because that's what she liked to use on her salads and the extra virgin type wasn't good enough for that. There was another who decided she would go through all the condiments (and there are many) and take one teaspoon from any that were unopened, just so she could try it, rather than use the ones that were already opened. A lot of expensive things ended up being thrown away as a result. There was no way I was going to use them all before they went off.

[Helen744]

Helen@ 744 , it seems that with long term guests in house with you that the expectation is the same as for ordinairy tenants but I am assuming more expensive and a chance for those who want to travel for work or uni or some such to do it relatively easily . Problems seem like any old 'house share' with guests taking others stuff. Separate cupboards or shelves for each person always seemed to work well for my children in their uni house share days.Let them get their own condiments . Our long term guests are expected to set themselves up after the first week cheers H

[Justine275]

@Catherine281 But back to the towel question… do you only give one towel per guest per stay? As someone with long hair, I always need a towel for my hair and one to wrap around myself. For guests, we supply multiple towels and have a little secret stash in case they need an extra. 

[Sarah977]

@Justine275  Yep, long hair here, too. I think one bath towel is skimpy. It's a pain to have to try to dry your body off with your hair dripping all over, before you can wrap it around your hair.  My guests get 2 bath towels, a hand towel, and a washcloth. Fresh stuff after a week or offered halfway through the stay if they have, say, a 10 day booking.

As I only host solo guests, I often find one bath towel still neatly folded and unused for shorter stay guests or those with short hair.

[Colleen253]

@Sarah977 @Justine275 Hair turbans here. There is a stack of them always in the bath closet. They are much appreciated and used, and so much easier than a second bath towel for hair.

[Sarah977]

@Colleen253  Hmm. Never seen nor used one.

[Colleen253]

 @Sarah977 they’re very absorbent.  

[Sarah977]

@Colleen253  I looked them up. I'm not sold. They are made of microfibre, which is polluting waterways and oceans with plastics. 

And how they show in the video to put it on is exactly what I do with a towel, so I don't see the point.

[Colleen253]

@Sarah977 They're not exclusively made of microfiber. Mine are all waffle cotton. They work just as well. Less water and laundry loads too because they are so much smaller than bath towels. If I have 5 ladies staying for a girls getaway (my typical stay) that’s 5 hot tub towels, plus 10 bath towels, which results in a lot more laundry than if they all use the turbans instead of bath towels for hair. Plus there is little room to hang all those towels.