I need to vent

[Rachael171]

If I could create a meme on what it's like to be an Airbnb host, it would be something like this:

Host:

Spends hours creating an immaculately clean space and comfortable/hospitable stay. Creates highly detailed listing and guidebook, immediately responds to every guest text. Leaves complimentary snacks. Gives deep discounts for long term stays, etc. etc.

Guest:

*messages host* I found a crumb of dirt and an ant!! This place is a dump!!!!

Host:

*comes to clean after the guest checks out* ...Entire place is trashed.

Guest:

That's bull**bleep**!! I left the place in great condition! I refuse to pay for [fill in the blank]. *threatens host with bad review.*

*****Please share with me your nightmare guest experiences and help me feel better about the **bleep** I've hosted recently. 🙂

[Huma0]

@Rachael171 

I also let the small things go, but you are right. It's "death by a thousand cuts" and brings down the appearance of the listing. The walls of my stairwell (and it's a four storey house) are now absolutely covered with nicks and marks from people bashing their suitcases on them. The minute I repaint, someone marks them again and I do offer to help every guest with their luggage, but many refuse.

My house tour now unfortunately comprises of a lot of, "Sorry, this is broken, that needs mending etc. because a guest recently broke it." It's not just the cost, but it's so difficult to find good tradespeople in London to fix small jobs. I gave up on 'handymen' because, even if they did fix the problem (occasionally), they usually broke something else in the process!

I enjoy hosting for many reasons, but the frequency of damages sometimes really gets me down. I had one guy a few months back who broke three different fittings in as man days and didn't mention a single one to me. Occasionally, you get a responsible guest, like my current one, who tells you immediately that they broke something and offers to pay for it. This one not only offered to buy a replacement but to fit it himself (he is handy as he's renovated a few properties and also hosted on Airbnb). However, it has been 1.5 weeks and he's still not done anything about it! I am hoping he will before he leaves. The majority won't even admit to damaging something, let alone paying for it.

Unfortunately, VRBO/Home Away doesn't appear to cater to shared listings.

[Rachael171]

@Huma0 

You and I get each other!! Maybe I can book your place in London sometime! 😊

I hope the guy keeps his word and fixes what he broke.

Not trying to sound high and mighty or anything like that, by I've found myself when at other people's Airbnbs actually tightening something here or there or tidying something up. I just know how hard it can be to be a host! It's hard to keep things perfect.

I just read your Condom Girl story. Oh my gosh, I have newfound respect for you. And you're making me feel grateful at this moment that I never had to deal with a Condom Girl. 😂

Really, VRBO doesn't do shared listings? It's true, though, now that I think about it I never remember seeing shared listings on there. 

[Huma0]

@Rachael171 

Thank you! You are of course welcome to come and stay 🙂

I never needed to list elsewhere because I got enough bookings so didn't bother trying other sites. However, after all the COVID-19 debacles, e.g. guest being refunded for two weeks they had already stayed (not due to any complaints or request for a refund but because Airbnb messed up and then refused to fix it until I harassed them constantly for a month), I decided to check out the competition.

Unfortunately, when you are a live-in, home host, there are not that many other options out there and the ones that do exist seem to garner minimal bookings. That is one of the main reasons Airbnb gets away with some of the cr*p that they do. They have become a very big fish in a relatively small pond.

If I was an entrepreneur and had the means to invest in a viable alternative to offer home hosts, I would do.

[Rachael171]

@Huma0 

Amen to that!!

[Huma0]

PS I actually had a lodger who was one of the founders and directors of a site in competition with Airbnb, although this was a high end affair (like Plus, but actually delivering on its promises). His site has since become super successful. At the time, I hadn't even considered hosting here but, out of interest, I asked him theoretically if he would consider my house. He said no, not because the house (which he loved) wasn't up to scratch but because the area wasn't in the catchment at the time, but mostly because it wasn't a whole home listing, which is the only kind they do. Sigh...

There are alternatives out there for whole listings, but for homeshares, not so much...

[Debra300]

@Huma0 

I just did a general search for London the first week of September on Booking.com, and below are the property types offered.  Note that they have listings for homestays, and they are rooms in a host's home.  

[Huma0]

Thanks @Debra300 .

Yes, Booking was one on my list of sites to check out, but I actually forgot about it as I was researching alternatives early on in lockdown.

Do any other homestay hosts have experience using it?

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

I use  Booking.com for my guesthouse.  It could technically be considered a homeshare, because the guests used a shared kitchen, laundry, and common entrance to the dwelling.  Like your place, it's multi-level, but the guests do not share amenities with us, and their rooms are upstairs above ours.

Reservations from this platform represent a good portion of our hosting activity.  There are pros and cons with using Booking.com.

The key items that I like vs. Airbnb: 

1. You can display all of your spaces on one listing page, but still make individual changes as necessary. 
2. The ability to control the total financial transaction.  This includes a payment deposit, and obtaining an actual security deposit or credit card information for incidental costs.  
3. The guest has to work with the host to resolve issues, and cannot make unsubstantiated claims and demand a refund.
4. They cannot deduct or refund your earnings.
5. The ability to cancel a reservation if the payment isn't authorized, and the host is not penalized.  
6. More options for cancellation periods.  This is really helpful for reservations made several months in advance of the scheduled arrival.  For example, our cancellation policy is the guest has until 30 days before arrival to receive a full refund.  The only similar policy at Airbnb would be the strict 48 hour cancellation window.

Things that are more work at Booking.com:

1. Booking.com charges 15% commission on all reservations.  This cost must be incorporated in the room rate.
2. All reservations are instant. There is no opportunity to communicate with the guest before booking, and no guest reviews to see past travel behavior.
3. The site's marketing motto that no credit card is needed results in several bookings made with invalid credit card details, because the guest is just window shopping (and blocking calendars).  It takes 24 hours after reporting an invalid card before the reservation is canceled, and the dates are re-opened on the calendar.
4. The host is required to obtain a credit card processing account and other online payment accounts, e.g., PayPal, Google Wallet.
5. The credit card and payment processing fees may be more than the 3% that Airbnb charges.
6. There is a $300USD limit for deposits that can be collected (this amount may be different for UK and the EU).  We don't actually collect a deposit, but keep the credit card details.
7. You are responsible for paying all of the appropriate taxes.
8. There is a learning curve to becoming acquainted with the site's functionality.  There are some items that only Booking.com can change, e.g., only they can assign individual cleaning fees to each room (otherwise it's one standard rate for the whole listing), or can change the tax rate.

[Ute42]

.

@Huma0  

Right post Orinda some kind of verification paranoia started at airbnb and bookings went down. A couple of fellow hosts in Germany have started to list with booking and some of them have shared listings. They say it works. Actually some of these host are now getting the majority of bookings through booking . com. I can't say anything about it bc I'm not listing with that company.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

Thank you so much. That's a really useful insight and a lot to take into consideration. There certainly seem like plenty of pros, providing you can adapt to the site and adjust prices etc. accordingly. Definiltey something to consider.

[Sammy35]

@Debra300 @  this is a really really helpful post.  just wanted to say thanks for sharing and weighing in.  

If you had to say yay, nay in exploring which direction would you suggest?  I'm sooo over ABB and since this is hobby and travel money not income, and I can't hobby or travel right now anyways, it might be time to re-evaluate

[Debra300]

@Sammy35 

For homeshares, there is extra work to vet guests.  Based upon some of your posts regarding recent inquiries you've received, I would recommend it only for your whole home listing.

Since Booking.com (and similar OTAs) does not support pre-screening reservation requests, and every booking is instant, hosts may experience difficulties with communicating with the guest prior to arrival, because there isn't any incentive for guests to do so.  This is my recommendation for getting a non-responsive guest's attention.  If a guest has not responded to a host's messages within 24 hours, the host has up to 72 hours after the reservation was made to notify Booking.com that the credit card was declined.  Then the guest has 24 hours to provide another form of payment, or confirm the number that was entered is correct (this would be by responding to your message asking for confirmation).  If you have a guest that is sincere about the booking, they will respond promptly to the Booking.com message, and most likely the host's messages.  If the guest doesn't respond, the host has the opportunity to cancel the reservation.

Booking.com does have a message system that enables potential guests and hosts to communicate prior to booking.  I've received only a couple of messages, and they asked questions that were answered in the listing details.  In my experience, Booking.com is used more frequently used by EU and Caribbean residents, and Expedia.com is utilized more by North Americans and UK residents.

[Nima11]

Thank you Huma.  Very good information and this is a good time for considering different options.

[Huma0]

Oh and @Rachael171 , I do believe my current guest intends to fix the breakage, even though when he initially told me about it I said not to worry as it's a small thing, because he brought it up again and apologised for not fixing it yet. He just seems super busy all the time...

As for Condom Girl, well I guess I should have chucked her out earlier (there were plenty of red flags) but it has to get quite extreme for me to do so. Who knows what can of worms it could open up with Airbnb CS if you get a less than knowledgable/helpful rep on the line?

[Jacqueline848]

I feel you Rachael. I live in the Netherlands and lately, since 2020, I have a series of (usually very young) guests who write positive reviews but they translate their words in 3 or 4 stars. It started with a guy who said he was too tired to go out to a restaurant. I felt sorry for him and gave him all sorts of food for free. He took it all for granted and rated me with 4 stars.

It is bewildering me what the **bleep** I am doing wrong, because I still spent hours cleaning until I am absolute positive that the whole place is spotless, and yet these bitches rate my blood, sweat & tears with 3 or 4 stars. I guess it must be because my place is not looking like the latest hotspot on instagram. And these kids are completely devastated that they - THEY - must sleep in a dump. But in the meantime these kids make me loose my superhost badge.

My response today is to raise my prices. If they decide that my value is only 4 stars, I might as well give them less value as well, instead of more. Then the whole deal feels more balanced, at least for me.

I hope you feel a bit better now, after a few nights sleep.

Love, Jacqueline.