Does anyone else bolt EVERYTHING in their listing to the ground?

[Richard531]

If something is meant to stay in place and can possibly be moved, we bolt it to the ground.  Period. 

Examples include but are not limited to:

All bedside tables, all sofa end-tables, all dining tables, easy chairs/recliners, free standing sofas, pool tables, video game machines, karaoke machines, deck chairs, ALL artwork (finish nailed to the wall).

I want things to be arranged the way they’re supposed to be arranged.  And there’s no way my crew is going to put everything back exactly where I want it if it’s moved by a guest.  The reason why guests move EVERYTHING that is able to be moved has always baffled me.  But there is no stopping it.  So I simply don’t allow things to be moved anymore.  End of story.  Strangely, I’ve never gotten a comment from a single guest about it (been doing this about the last 750 guests or so). 

About once a year, we’ll back out the screws on things like dining tables and bedside tables in order to deep clean under/behind them (it can be pretty nasty!).  That’s not a fun day!  But it’s worth it for the rest of the bookings to have our items where they’re supposed to be. 

Excited to hear what you guys think or if anyone else is as strange/neurotic/OCD (or genius?) as I am!

[Sarah977]

@Richard531  I can relate to things being centered under windows, ceiling light fixtures, etc. If I see a picture on the wall that's hanging a quarter inch off level, I have to go straighten it, or if I'm at a friend's house standing talking to them in their garden, or next to a potted plant, and there are some drying up or dead  leaves on the plant, I have to pick them off, so I'm a bit OCD in that way, myself.

A host once insisted that the empty hangars in the closet had to be spaced out with exactly the same amount of space between each one- I'm not that bad. You probably are 🙂

Of course most hosts want the place to make that first great initial impression when guests walk in. 

But I have found, not just with guests but people in general, that there are at least as many people who aren't really that observant of their surroundings as those who are. They may walk into the place and go "Wow!", but they aren't going to notice at all that one bedside table is 2 inches from the bed and one is 3 inches, and if you pointed it out to them they would think you were nuts, or shrug and say "Yeah, okay, so?" They're just going to walk in the bedroom, put their bags down, go freshen up, grab a cold beer and go sit by the pool.

I think your assessment of why guests move furniture is a bit harsh- it isn't necessarily because they are self-centered, entitled or destructive. More often than not, I would assume it's because they found the rearrangement to be more convenient  for them, or like Colleen's guests, the  mirror facing the bed made them uncomfortable for some reason.

[Emiel1]

@Richard531 

You can also lock up the guest, which is more effective:

[Richard531]

This made my day!  Oh man!  So funny!  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Emiel1@Richard531 

.... or you can bolt your guests 😄 : 😧 D

[Monika521]

Hi! I am not disturbed that guests are moving furniture. I bought light things on purpose to easily put them back together. Fortunately, the wardrobe was not moved by anyone 😁

[Linda3345]

I put felt on the bottom of all the furniture, so that if people want to move it around, it slides easily on the hardwood floors. 

[Inna22]

I hate when guests move furniture and ask they put it back. I often have one female cleaner and it is impossible for her to drag the couch or the heavy dining room table back without scratching the floor. Plus it is far from her job responsibility to do that.

[Elaine701]

@Richard531 @Colleen253 

Yes, well, there's potentially lessons to be learned from this. 

If guests consistently move something to another spot, maybe it's worth considering whether guests might have a good reason for it. It's worth looking into.

If you don't ever stay there as your own "guest", it may not be obvious to you. 

[Annie1372]

@Richard531 

Does it means you have multiple sets of 4 holes on the floor all overs your accommodations ?

And what happens when you have to change a piece of furniture that is not exactly the same size as the previous one ??

[Richard531]

@Elaine701  The items that we have seen get moved substantially are things like sofas, pool tables, video game machines, dining room tables, wall art.  Those items have exact locations and should never be moved.  So they're bolted.  The end.  Other items we bolt tend to move slightly (like nightstands).  So we bolt those down so the beds stay centered in their place, etc.  We obviously don't bolt down items like coffee tables, telescopes, bar stools, etc.  Folks want to move those items, that's understandable.  But as a general rule, I'm not going to agree that a guest knows where something should go more than I will  🙂  

@Annie1372  There are indeed holes all over the place.  If an item would need to be replaced and we didn't have the same exact piece of furniture to replace it, we would have to deal with that problem at that time. 

We procure pretty robust furniture for the listings.  None of it lasts forever!  But we hope to not have to replace really anything for at least 5-10 years.  At that point, maybe we do another small renovation/replace all the flooring, etc. . .  That would solve the holes in the floor problem.  Hard to say!  But good question!

[Elaine701]

@Richard531 

Ok, well, it appears you have an unusual problem. We never have large furnishings or artwork or anything else moved. That would be understandably concerning, especially if the guest didn't put it back before checkout. Occasionally, they move the coffee machine or put the silverware or pots and pans in a different drawer. They often put mismatched plates together in the cupboard, but this is just laziness - they're on holiday. They don't care. So, sorry if I didn't realise the severity of your issues, and admittedly, suspected you are just being a bit OTT. This stuff just isn't what one would expect. It's not normal. 

However, if this major realignment is a common occurrence for you, it begs the question of who you're attracting. I haven't looked at your listing yet, so can't comment, but it's always a good practice to frame your listing to attract the type of guest you're most interested in hosting. 

Furthermore, it's a somewhat fine art, but cleverly vetting guests before they book can have a significant impact on the quality of guest that you routinely host. 

The point is this: the objective of any host should be to ensure the guest thoroughly enjoys their stay. There are certain "personalities" that will always have a problem with something. It might be that there's a spider web or a smudge somewhere.

It might be that they want the furniture in different positions <<This is most certainly not normal, and can lead to all kinds of frustrations and problems. 

Hosts need to do their best to ensure that the guests booking your place will enjoy it. Yes, it should be easier than that, but there's a large number of OCD like personalities out there... Your situation sounds like you're getting an unusually frequent number of them. 

If you don't want "problem" guests, then perhaps you need to start doing a bit of psychological analysis on guests before they book. If you're clever, you'll see these signs with just a few simple, innocuous questions. It's no guarantee, but a few questions can speak volumes about who you're talking to. You learn more with each interaction. 

If you happen to be the type who's just accepting every booking for fear that you might lose one, then be mindful that Airbnb's greatest strength is that their market reach is vast. If you scare away this booking, you can be pretty sure there's another one waiting in the wings. Most likely, one that's going to love your place. Take that one. You won't regret it. 

[Richard531]

@Elaine701  Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely way OTT!  You got that part right!  If something is moved a single inch, I'm freaking out.  So, neurosis is part of the conversation here to be sure!  But I'm convinced that it matters in making the spaces feel the way they're supposed to feel.  It's that overall feel that results in us delighting ~99% of our guests.  

We have 6 active listings in different climates/regions of Southern California.  Each one runs 0% vacancy 365 days a year @ an average price of ~$325/night.  We are NOT by any means a big player!  But we try to be extremely inclusive across the board.  As a result, we accept well over 90% of guests that inquire/book.  We have what I would identify as a "problem guest" about every 250 bookings or so.  So the number is more than zero!  Which is too often!  We could probably get that number to zero (to your point above) but I think we would miss out on many great guests that just may not be eloquent enough in our message thread exchanges or experienced enough on the platform.  Those people deserve a place to stay and we can often be that for them (but since we're a tad pricy most of the time, that helps too).  And if we can tell someone is awful (we all know how to do that) we of course tell them to find another spot that is a "better fit."  Or using whatever other words we feel like using to reject someone. 🙂

Back to bolting things down: it just makes our lives (and the lives of our crew) easier.  It turns out, I'm realizing that I'm the only one ridiculous/crazy/neurotic enough to do it!  

[Sarah977]

@Richard531  You gross over $58,000/ mo. from your Airbnbs and you're not a "big player"? 

[Colleen253]

@Richard531 If your listings are never vacant, how do you get maintenance done? They must suffer a lot of wear and tear, with that much traffic. 

[Richard531]

@Sarah977 I guess I never thought of it that way.  I feel small because there's operators that have dozens (even hundreds) of properties.  I'd like to get there someday and really throw my weight around at the County/State level. Not there yet!  We'll have to see!

@Colleen253  All of our maintenance is done "between 11-3."  All contractors that I did our renovations know this up front.  And they really rally to that cry when we need something done.  We have replaced windows, doors, flooring, light fixtures, TVs.  Everything. 

We have indeed had a cataclysmic bathtub failure at one of the Joshua Tree listings that required more of a closure.  The tub still could function (it leaked) and we waited until the next 2 day gap (which was over a month from discovery of the problem) and then scheduled the replacement over that gap.  My wife and I stayed over that period and got a lot of other things done too.  So maybe not EXACTLY 0% vacancy!  🙂