Call the host or pay for parking?

[Inna22]

A guest that arrived last night could not find my garage. It is behind the house so you could see it with your eyes, I provide arial map and turn by turn directions. This is a fairly frequent problem. I guess many people are not used to the Chicago lay out with alleys in back. That was not the problem.

The problem was that it was midnight and the guest decided to wake me up to get help with the directions. Of course my poor husband who had to be up at 5 was woken up as well. I am thinking the guest should have just parked anywhere, even if he had to pay a few dollars to do so. There is paid parking a quarter of a block away and often free street parking. I do not think this justified a midnight call.

Thoughts?

[Huma0]

@David8879 

The house number is right next to the outdoor light. Sorry, you can't see it from the photos that I posted because the Airbnb photographers deliberately remove the house number from those for security reasons but, believe me, it is there!

The guests I am having problems with in this respect did not arrive at night. I have a check in time from 3-9pm (unless a late check in is agreed in advance, which hasn't happened in ages) and it has been light here until 9pm or later for the last few months...

[David8879]

So @Huma0 

I just stumbled upon your picture on earlier posts. I presume whited out square under light is where the house number is. Honestly - I would have a really difficult time seeing it - day or night. Speaking of door color - I presume (I do not have panorama picture to judge properly) that that brick wall makes your door invisible for the people driving on further side of the road and for the people approaching on your side - brick divider on your driveway implies that it might not belong to your house and guests surely might park in the next driveway. If you do not have it - I would say put a big house number on that brick wall rigth next to driveway. The one with reflective paint. JMHO

And - I do agree with posters about GPS being good for some situations, but definetely not for city streets. I have a big "DO NOT USE GPS AFTER YOU PASS ..." and so on and I annoy guests demanding reply before they left their homes

P.S. Must be my bluetooth keyboard...

[Huma0]

@David8879 

The house number is next to the door, which is where you would find it in pretty much any house in London. So, how is it that my guests find their way to my neighbour's house? How do they know to come right there next door to me and not to a different house on the street? It is not the GPS, believe me, as that sends them several doors down.

They are finding my location, according to the directions, then choosing to ignore the green house with pink door and go to the grey house with black door?? My house number, by the way, is the standard size that manufacturers here make and bigger than my neighbour's. While I appreciate that a house number at the entrance to the front garden might help, literally, none of the houses have that here. They all have their house numbers next to the front door, and yet people in general tend to be able to find their way around.

I'm not sure what you mean about the brick divider making the door invisible. It's about two foot high or probably less. The door is clearly visible from the street. Not sure if you saw it, but I mentioned in another post that people are constantly stopping outside my house and taking pictures because it looks so unusual. 

I am not joking when I say it is one of the most (if not the most) distinctive looking houses on my street. You cannot miss it because it stands out like a sore thumb. It almost screams at you, "Look how odd I am!"

When I saw this house, there was no estate agent's sign outside (because it's a conservation area), so I didn't even know the house was for sale, but I passed it while in the estate agent's car (from the opposite side of the road), and said, "THAT is the kind of house I am looking for." I had no idea that was the house he was taking me to!

Really, it's a very, very odd house. Now that I have painted it green with a bright pink front door, it is even more unusual. If someone is standing next door (and yes, all of my guests have been over two feet tall, so can see the house), I really don't understand how they can miss it!

[Huma0]

Or maybe they would just rather stay at my neighbour's, so it's 'wishful thinking' on their part!

[Gillian166]

@Huma0  have you considered getting a small airbnb sign? you could even do one in hot pink 😁 have it printed on corflute, vinyl or metal, and attach it somewhere appropriate? I understand if you don't want to, i don't want an airbnb sign outside my gate, but i know some people have them. 

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I wouldn't be keen on that for privacy reasons as I live on a busy street with a lot of passersby. Anyway, I wouldn't be allowed to. It's a conservation area and even estate agents are not allowed to put up 'for sale' signs on some of the buildings, including the terrace where I live. 

To be honest, it's not a problem with ALL guests, just the ones who seem somehow determined not to follow instructions (and will probably then go on to break house rules during their stay). 

The girl I mentioned earlier didn't have any problems identifying the house. She eventually confirmed that she was 'outside... the pink door'. She knew that was my house, BUT, she was not outside my door. She was waiting in my neighbour's drive, which is precisely what I had told her not to do. She had understood the directions perfectly because, minutes before, she had messaged saying "I am being dropped of at X (the name of the place I had instructed)" and asking me to come there to help with her bags. Why she then got dropped off elsewhere and left me waiting with no update, I do not know.

This guest has continued to ignore instructions and a few of the house rules too. I am not sure if it all goes straight over her head or she is just contrary in nature, but there are other things, some of them really odd, that make me believe she is mistrustful. At it's more extreme, it would be called Paranoid Personality Disorder, but some people do not follow instructions, not because they can't, but because they choose not to out of some sort of underlying mistrust of others. I'm not a psychologist, but it kind of rings true in this case.

I do think that no matter how clear you make things, some people are just going to do the opposite anyway! 

[Sybe]

You could make that sign look very stylish with hot pink. I've seen your listing, I know what you're capable of @Gillian166 ! 😉

[Gillian166]

@Sybe  someone very helpfully made a "no parties" sign and posted it here recently and my first thought was "oh NO, not in those colours! that won't work"  😂 All my listings have a colour theme which you see in the throws, the cushions, the hand soap, the kitchenware, and even the guest manual. 

In my head I was imagining a bespoke sign for @Huma0 , something that worked for her vintage style and looked nice in the garden (perhaps a timber stake with a whitewashed small sign, with the pink logo). But i do understand why she wouldn't want a sign in the first place, for privacy reasons. 

[Sybe]

---

@Gillian166 wrote:

All my listings have a colour theme which you see in the throws, the cushions, the hand soap, the kitchenware, and even the guest manual. 

---

@Gillian166 I love working in colour schemes, it makes everything feel so much more connected!

I definitely agree with the whitewashed timber though perhaps a chalk paint in a colour similar to the outer walls would be good. But @Huma0 said no signs so let's get back to talking about parking! 🤣

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

The guest who arrived yesterday didn't have any problems finding the house, nor did she let the taxi park at the neighbours, but got dropped off where instructed. 

I'm really starting to think it's just a personality thing rather than people getting confused. The guest who did not follow the instructions still continues to break house rules, but she KNOWS she is doing it. For example, yesterday a package arrived for her. My rules say no mail and no packages. Some guests will still ask if it's okay and then I will decide depending on what it is. This guest however, did not ask me at all. When she came home and I told her there was a package for her, she said, unprompted, "I know I am not supposed to receive packages, but my friends wanted to send me something. It's fine though. I'm not expecting loads of them." When I explained the recycling to her during the house tour, she said, "I'll try," but in a tone that made it clear that she wouldn't bother with that and she hasn't. I could explain to her that it is a legal requirement where I live, but it's just not worth the effort. I don't want to be constantly nagging guests.

Some people will follow instructions and follow rules. Others will decide that it's fine to ignore them and just do what they like.