Guests overstepping/taking advantage/ no manners

[Judi846]

Recently, I've had several guests who have seen fit to rummage through my linen closet and use every towel and sheet that they could find. It seems to be more of a problem this year.      It might be good for Air BnB to remind guests that Air BnB rentals are not hotels and that guests are staying in someone's home. Guests are expected to treat the Air BnB home as if they were staying in the home of a friend or relative. Do people need to be told that they must limit themselves to only the sheets on the bed and 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels and 2 face cloths if they are staying 5 days or less?

[Gichele0]

I’ve had guests go into the garage and take things without permission! You have to adjust your house rules. Airbnb won’t do anything 

[Elaine701]

@Judi846 

Somebody suggested previously (I think it was @Sarah977 ) that Airbnb should establish a separate entity dividing shared home hosting from whole house hosting, and apply different rules. 

I think that makes a lot of sense, particularly since the rules are different, and as in your case, it's necessary for the guest to respect the host who's also resident in the house. Some people just won't get that. They paid. Just like at a hotel. 

It's not a hotel. Especially in your case.

As a "whole house" offering, we're actually a bit more similar to a "hotel" than you are. And the rules are therefore a bit different, and the guest can only use what we supply. So, it would be in everyone's interest to make those differences clear to guests from the very start. 

I really don't enjoy having to teach guests basic common sense. But it's the nature of the beast. 

[Gregory87]

@Judi846 

Unfortunately, as the host, you need to be proactive and set the boundaries for guests.  Don't expect AirBNB to do it for you, as @Gichele0 stated above.  We put out whatever we believe is suitable for guests to have access to based on the length of their stay (towels, sheets, toilet paper, etc.).  If they are booked for a longer stay (more than 1 week), they are reminded they can request fresh towels and sheets on a weekly basis (and we check with them too).

Any extra items are locked away in a closet or pantry which is posted "no guest access"!  Should a guest require more of an item, they can contact the host and we will assist them as appropriate (which may be fulfilling the request OR suggesting that they go to the local store).

Don't be afraid to state expectations and limitations in your House Rules/Manual!

[Emin-Selman0]

Airbnb fails in many cases for host. They take %15 commission from guest for one time. but they take %3 from host everytime and each time. So, i think airbnb better to take care of host needs a lil bit more... 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Judi846 

Do people need to be told that they must limit themselves to only the sheets on the bed and 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels and 2 face cloths if they are staying 5 days or less? - Absolutely YES 

I have in my house rules and listing description that we provide 1 bath towel + 2 hand towels per week. Bed sheets/covers are changed by the host as needed. We don't leave out any extras where the guest has access - we keep all extra supplies and linens in a locked cabinet in front of our (host) bedroom. We simply tell guests when they check in, that if they happen to need extras to let us know. We also have very extensive and detailed house rules that cover EXPECTATIONS for guest behavior such as (1) no food on the sofa or in bed - eat at the kitchen table (2) after meals, do your dishes promptly and leave the kitchen in the condition you found it for the next person who needs to cook - kitchen is shared. Hosts need to use the sink to wash veggies and use pots/pans/knives/cutting boards to prepare meals and shouldn't have to deal with a sink full of dirty dishes and pots that the guest left behind, so guests MUST clean up after oneself. (3) no zoom/skype video chatting in shared spaces - take calls in the guest private bedroom and use indoor voices. (4) while showering anytime (24/7) is fine, please don't turn music on or sing in the shower during quiet time (10pm - 7am) since sound travels and echos more at night when people are sleeping - our home is an apartment, and we ask guests to be considerate of other residents. 

These are just a few..... but my experience is that expectations really need to be spelled out clearly. This won't guarantee that guests will respect all the rules, but it helps when I need to approach a guest about inappropriate behavior or something that makes me uncomfortable in my own home. 

[Anonymous]

@Judi846   I often see hosts saying they wish Airbnb would do more to educate customers about how to be good guests, and honestly it makes me wonder if they've ever actually read an Airbnb press release.  Why would one expect a boilerplate email in vapid corporate doublespeak to be more effective at communicating hosts' expectations than personalized messages from the hosts themselves?

I have to agree with @Gregory87  most of all here - it's really part of our jobs as hosts to communicate and enforce our own boundaries. Unless you clearly state otherwise, many people will presume (and not irrationally) that everything inside the space they've paid for is available for their use and included in their rental fee. They don't see it as "rummaging" to use whatever they find in an unlocked linen closet - they see all of those fresh clean supplies as part of what they paid for, so from that perspective it makes perfect sense to use them all up.

If you're seeing more of that behavior in the past year than before, you're not alone; I think 2 things are going on here:

1)  The pandemic pushed a lot of people who are used to hotels into Airbnb rentals. These guests don't even realize how much they've come to take for granted that they're getting a fresh change of towels every morning - they know an Airbnb is different from a hotel, but old habits are hard to break.

2) The activities that used to lure travelers away from their rooms for most of the day have long been either shut down or made less enjoyable by Covid restrictions, so people are spending more of their time nesting in their house rentals. That means heavier use of utilities and amenities.

Both factors may change over time, but don't hold your breath. Get a lock for that linen closet, and use your words.

[Christine615]

@Judi846We've said that to Airbnb - that they need to remind guests of their obligations. But here's the problem, with so many "investor" Airbnb's out there, the impression of many guests is that we are a hotel equivalent.

So it's up to you to do that. In my listing I make it clear it's my home, that my family uses it, and that I am not a hotel equivalent. People are welcome to book who appreciate the vibe of the neighborhood and will return my home the way they found it. I also screen guests more carefully and make sure they know what I expect at check-out.


Airbnb isn't doing a good job vetting guests so unfortunately, we have to be very pointed about what guests can and can't do.

[Debra300]

@Judi846,

We live onsite of our guest house which has guest suites on the top floor.  We provide the number of linens, towels and household supplies that we feel are appropriate for the length of stay.  Additional supplies are locked in closets and the laundry room.  The suites now have washing machines for guests to use, but previously we'd refresh towels every three days, and bed linens every 9-10 days.

It is the nature of some people to be curious or nosy, and I can tell when guests open the drawers of a rustic buffet cabinet that's in a passthrough room, because they are difficult to slide back into place.  I've observed that a substantial number of guests do not exercise basic etiquette.  These topics are in our house rules, and highlighted in a pre-arrival message, but I still I have to frequently remind guests: use the drinks coasters, and do not put beverages directly on the wood furniture; do not to slam doors, and pull the doors closed by the knob; don't talk loudly while on premises outside of their room; and, close their windows and doors when running the AC.