Hello and thank you for your time for reading my lengthy post. I am sure my experiences are not unique, and most will find relatable - I much appreciate your replies.
In July 22 we became air bnb hosts for our ensuite room on the top floor of the house we also live in.
While most guests have been nice, I have had some challenging situations.
The furniture has been moved around, I had guests that ask for fresh towels daily for a week, guests that kept bin in the room in a plastic bag that leaked on to the carpet, guests that did not check out and said, "oh I thought that was tomorrow"., and ring marks left on wooden furniture that was immaculate for years and years under our care. it is of course very disappointing as I don't suppose people would do such things in their own home. However, I treated it all as a learning opportunity, confronted no guests, asked for no extra money, or leave negative reviews. Instead, I grew my listing explaining towels can be washed upon request once a week, sending "..as you are checking out tomorrow" reminder messages, asked in house rules coasters are used at all times etc. (last one did not work furniture is still gaining new ring marks and practically ruined at this stage)
However, I now have a situation I don't know how to address. Our ensuite bathroom has underfloor heating and the buttons to control this is in the guests' room. This was not an issue until now however my last guests set it up to 30 degrees for 5 days (their entire stay) and as you all know the cost of this is enormous. I felt very disheartened also as no bill payer would do such a thing in their own home. How do I politely let guests know I am an individual in need of side income and not a cooperation to be ripped off? How do I tell them while making them feel welcome - please do not use and abuse my house? Please do not turn under floor heating on?
Or perhaps I can simplify the question. How do you all deal with cost of heating crises while hosting? We have layers of clothes on ourselves. I cannot provide a tropical house to my guests with current rates which seems to be expected as part of the package.
