Listing explicitly says no smoking, yet I have guests smoking in the rooms

[Obinna0]

Any other hosts having similar Issues with guests smoking in the house. and if so, how do you deal? I now plan to start asking guests before arrival if they plan to smoke in the house so I can cancel them. Airbnb can penalize all they want at this point.

[Ricardo85]

@Obinna0 

This situation happened to me once.

Contact Airbnb and report what happened. They will ask if you have any proof that they are smoking in the room. Next, Airbnb will contact the guest with a warning.

It would be interesting to reinforce your complaint that you first communicate the guest via chat that, as stated in the house rules, smoking is prohibited in the room.

Ricardo

[Colleen253]

@Obinna0 You remind them of the no smoking policy. If they ignore that, then you shorten their booking to “Get Out Now”.

[Mary996]

@Colleen253 Yay!! OUT OUT OUT...!! Anyone actually done this?

[Linda108]

@Obinna0   You live and work right there, so I would imagine you can smell the smoke.  I see your listing does have the rule for no smoking but I wonder how you reinforce the rule.  Do you have signs or mention it in your initial message to them prior to accepting or shortly after the booking?  Do you meet the guests and orient to the property, emphasing the location where smoking is permitted?  All these steps can be taken to reinforce this rule.  Unfortunately, unlike a no smoking hotel room, you cannot tag an extra fee for breaking the rule.  All you can do is give a thumbs down review.  Or, as @Colleen253 states, shorten the reservation.  Good luck!!

[Flavia202]

Yes, @Obinna0 had a guest (and his friends) who ignored my no-smoking rule. Didn't find out until check-out.  Needless to say I was not amused. Took me DAYS to get the stink out of the space!  My no smoking rule is explicit in my house rules and I also remind guests on check-in.  Didn't make a difference in that instance, so I mentioned the disrespect in my review.  I have since placed signs in the apartment and on the patio.

(I get guests thru direct bookings as well as airbnb).

[Angela1177]

I just had the exact same thing happen with my place. My guests just left and I can smell marijuana throughout the house. I don't care if you smoke it but my listing and my check-in guidelines specifically state 'no smoking'. I am in the process of trying to get rid of the smell. 

[Inna22]

@Obinna0 

1. have a penalty and a very high one, at least $500. No one should be able to say "I will just pay a hundred bucks penalty so I can smoke for a week"
2. have no smoking rule including the penalty in your listing
3. have no smoking rule including the penalty in your house rules
4. have no smoking rule including the penalty in your welcome message
5. have no smoking rule including the penalty posted inside the home
6. have no smoking rule including the penalty in your house book
7. have the rule apply to your entire property (balconies are off limits)

With all of this you will still end up with an ***hole who will smoke every once in a while but at least you will collect $500 to use towards remediation

[Obinna0]

@Inna22 I will definitely implement your idea of hefty fine though I doubt it'll prevent them from smoking since they usually always locals.

[Angela1177]

I just inspected my property after my guests left and they smoked marijuana in my house. I don't care what you smoke just don't do it in the house. There's plenty of space outside. My listing and the house book clearly state 'no smoking'. I like this idea and will definitely implement a smoking penalty.  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Inna22 I thought Airbnb didn't enforce 'fines' for breaking house rules.

[Inna22]

@Mike-And-Jane0 it does not enforce punitive fines but would if you actually spend it on cleaning. I have had 100 percent success in collecting recently 

[Colleen253]

@Inna22  Airbnb is notoriously bad at approving claims for cleaning. How do you find success? Though most folks probably don’t submit official receipts, and on time. Is that what you make sure to do? What’s your secret to success there?

[Inna22]

@Colleen253 yes, pretty much. I made a post about it

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Smoking-deposit-collection-best-practices/m-p/1373352#

[Katrina79]

@Obinna0 Once you have one guest break the no smoking rule, they leave the smell behind. If the next guest is a smoker they smoke inside because it already smells  and on and on and on. This happened to me with a new listing and the original smoking culprit stayed for 1 month. You have to literally clean all the surfaces curtains etc. I bought a really powerful air purifier and kept it running for over a month and moved it around from room to room. Once the smell was gone, nobody else has smoked inside. Anyone who smoked inside should get a negative review from you mentioning it. I now own the air purifier and it will probably be needed in the future sometime again. It’s one of those risks you take renting short or long term. I purchased some pretty substantial sized no smoking signs I plan to mount near the entrance of my Airbnb’s and post a picture under the listings!