Eating on beds

[Julie4249]

I am new to hosting.  We have hosted 5 separate guests.    2 out of the 5 have ate all over the beds, this last one, their child peed and they remade the bed to cover it up.  I have currently washed the comforter 2 times and dried it and there are still stains on it from the greasy food they ate and wiped ALL over it.  I have 4 beds I have to wash because of this.  (Obviously it is washed everytime, but I hope you follow!)  This is time consuming and hard on the bedding and my washer.  We have a studio so two beds are right next to the table!  Is it unreasonable to put not to eat on the beds?  If I have to replace the comforters, is that a claim I can send to Air bnb for them to get from the guest?

[Katrina79]

@Julie4249 @Oh greasy food stains on the bedding is the worst! Get a degreaser and it should come out in the laundry. I use duvet covers and I wouldn’t  have it any other way!! If a duvet cover will not come clean I can just get a new one. They are easier to wash and it saves the duvet underneath. I checked out your listing and you have beds where there should be a sofa, you should consider getting rid of those beds and putting in living room furniture. Plus having all those beds just encourages more guests which is more wear and tear. Your idea of leaving a note of sorts stating no eating in the beds is definitely okay! 

[Richard531]

@Julie4249  Ahh, I remember my first few listings were a lot like this.  They were 1BR 525 square foot apartment units (4 of them).  I had a queen bed in the bedroom, a queen sofa-bed, and a queen blow up bed.  6 person occupancy in each.  We got the beds-n-heads mark and did very well (although we ran 4.85ish in our reviews so we clearly had upset a lot of people).  But we were WAY overpacking the little places.  I almost cringe when I look back at those listings thinking of how hard we packed them.  You're doing that right now.  Stop doing it.

 @Katrina79  is spot on.  My recommendation would be to back out those 2 living room beds (putting it kindly, they are utterly ridiculous), replace with a nice sectional (with a pull-out).  Then, get rid of both those queen beds in the bedroom put in a nice king bed.  You now have a SUPER nice 2-person listing.  If guests want to stretch it and put in a 2nd couple, or a small family of 4 wants to make it work, your listing still hits the mark.  

On the other hand, if you're interested in running a glorified flophouse, you are clearly well on your way!

Furnish the home appropriately, ditch the "no eating on the bed" notion (which will be moot once it's furnished properly) and delight your guests and make your life a little easier all at the same time.

You're already off to a tremendous start with three 5-star reviews.  Nice work!  It's not too late to make these updates.  If you don't, you're going to get a large group that's rowdy, making a mess, you'll confront them about it, they'll revenge review you, and you'll never recover.  

Good luck!

[Brian2036]

@Julie4249 

We have found that if they can watch TV in bed they will eat and drink in bed.

I wouldn’t bother trying to claim the cost of damaged bedding. The guest will probably deny it, refuse to pay, and write a vindictive review.

If Airbnb can be convinced to pay anything it will not be worth the effort to collect it.

Allowing 8 people into a 1BR studio is begging for trouble.

[Stephanie1933]

@Julie4249 I would take the excellent advice of @Richard531. And as @Brian2036 said if they watch TV in bed they will eat in bed. Yuck! Make the changes and you will notice a difference. Great work on the 5 star reviews! So awesome and you are off to an amazing start.  

[Anonymous]

@Julie4249   I have to agree with @Richard531  on this one. The way you've furnished and advertised this property makes it an absolute certainty that problems like this (and much worse) will recur regularly.

The spacious studio might indeed make "a great gathering space" if you listed it on an event-rental site like Peerspace, where you could rent on an hourly basis for small events like holiday dinners, without overnight stays. But a 1-bedroom, 1-bath studio is emphatically not suitable overnight accommodation for a group of 8 people, especially one containing a smattering of small children. 

If you place two beds right across from a dining table, and you have kids in the house, of course you're going to find food on the beds. Plus, those beds appear to be doing double-duty in the "gathering" space because there's no other indoor seating aside from the dining stools. But imagine how much nicer that room would be with those incredibly awkward beds out of there, and a sofa and some comfy chairs in their place. 

It might help to remember that the way the guests experience the home during their stay is nothing like the way you deliver it at check-in, because every person is also bringing their stuff in with them. If there's not enough room to store or unpack their luggage, all of the contents just wind up cluttering the floors, beds, and tiny bathroom, making the space feel chaotic and cramped. Hotels get away with this by offering daily housekeeping service - without it, the detritus just piles up every day.

If you're already frustrated after only 5 groups, and you haven't even had a true disaster yet, this might be a good time to hit the brakes on the experiment of squeezing 4 beds into what is otherwise a truly lovely space. Your cabin is not a clown car, and it would still be good value for a smaller family or couple who has a little more to spend on their vacation **

**[Inappropriate content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Kenza31]

I think u need to report that to Airbnb, and  specify in ur page that no eating on the beds, also put a sign in ur place for this 

[Anonymous]

@Kenza31   "Reporting that to Airbnb" wouldn't be appropriate in this situation, because there's no action that would make any sense for the listing service to take against the guests. Generally, the host's recourse here would be limited to a) mentioning the problem spots in their review, and b) initiating a Resolutions claim for anything that was irreparably damaged.

Signs and rules can be helpful as prevention when you have only small groups of adults, but they have no effect on the behavior of little kids or pets. I find that the way we organize our space, vet our guests, and set our parameters (group size, min/max length of stay, price) has a much bigger impact on the outcome of each stay than which rules we set.

[Kenza31]

Thank you Andrew for the information, so it's up to us to make rules and restrictions, know how to organize the space that would help in cases like this 

[Pablo629]

dear @Julie4249  first you have to report to guest by chat. Then have recipes, or quotations, then open a case to ask for money and add all evidences.

There are some rules about timing . check it out.  It's  easier if your property asked for a deposit by app.

In my case. All stains have been solved with good chemicals (uses to wash dishes). 🙂

Regards from Bolivia 

[Anonymous]

@Pablo629  A pre-treatment with dishwashing liquid before laundering is a good way to handle food stains! I'm not sure I understand all the rest of your message. But FYI, asking for a deposit on Airbnb has no effect on anything, because they don't actually charge or hold it to the guest's payment method. It's only a placebo.

[Pablo629]

Dear @Anonymous  setting a deposit worked in my case, so it was more than a placebo.

I think it's easier to take  money from the deposit than opening a case with thrird parties.

Regards 

[Sarah977]

@Pablo629  Some hosts are successful in getting paid for damages by the security deposit amount if the guest agrees to pay.

You can't actually "take money" from the deposit because it isn't a deposit- Airbnb doesn't charge the deposit to the guest when they book, nor put a hold  for the amount on their credit card.

[Mary996]

Tell us more @Pablo629.

Thats great. Wel done. Did you collect the deposit privately in advance? 

[Pablo629]

Dear @Mary996  . A guest caused damages for 105 $US, so after reporting and sending evidences, I hadnt had problems on refund. My deposit is 100 $US.

https://www.airbnb.com.bo/help/article/140/dep%C3%B3sitos-de-seguridad?_set_bev_on_new_domain=163542...

I think that its easier for Airbnb take money from deposit than insurance.

This deposit do not disturb my guest in order to avoid booking

Best regards from Bolivia