@Gillian166 Why would you feel like walking on eggshells if a host leaves a note saying, "Please don't put food down the drain. There's no disposal."
"Please only flush TP down the toilet, we're on septic."
"Please don't use Benzoyl Peroxide. It bleaches towels and sheets"
These are the "numerous notes" with the "many dos and don'ts" that my guest complained about. All Three of them.
Well, ok, I do have a note instructing guests how to operate the DVD player because it's not intuitively obvious.
And I do have a note explaining the hot water system. Again, old farm house with quirks.
Oh, and the note on the washing machine telling people where to find the laundry pods.
None of these are telling guests what to do. They are explaining how things work.
How would this make you feel like walking on eggshells? Have you read some of the signs on the back of hotel room doors?
@Anonymous As for the information on reviews, it's an article published by Forbes Magazine that explains how the review system works. I figured having an unbiased 3rd party write up explain that the stars do not equate to Hotel Ratings would come across as informative vs if I personally wrote it, it would come across as begging for a 5* review. This article has been in my Welcome Manual for 5 years and this is the first complaint.
The WiFi situation is disclosed to guests prior to and during booking. In rural areas, WiFi options are limited. I make it very clear if you're expecting to stream movies or have Zoom meetings, my home won't work for you. When you have a WiFi hot spot, the more devices you connect, the slower it goes so yes, I ask guests to disconnect devices they're not using. I discovered this was a problem early on in my AirBNB hosting life when a truly lovely couple from great Britain came to stay and reached out to me that the internet was suddenly slow. I looked at my network and in addition to my computer and my BF's computer, there were three Apple Phones (for 2 people?), 3 iPads (for 2 people??), and 2 laptops all connected. 8 devices for TWO people. I asked if he and his wife were using all 8 devices and he said he was not. I asked him to disconnect the devices he wasn't using, and voila! we all had good internet speed. Silly me. I figured by pre-emptively explaining too many devices will slow down the internet, people would simply understand this is a "fix it" before things become a problem.
How should those of us with "quirky" properties deal with our quirks? Let the guests find out the hard way, or explain how things work ahead of time? People are literally resenting me telling them how to get the best use of an amenity.
After multiple towels and pillow cases have been ruined by Benzoyl Peroxide, I am going to ask people not to use it. At less than $100/night, I can't afford to replace complete sheet and towel sets for every guest. If this request gets a guest bent out of shape, so be it.
@Helen744 The drapes have been in my AirBNB for 5 years. And in my home for 10. They worked fine until one recent guest abused them and caused problems by yanking hard on them. The window is a custom, oversized window. I can't just order a new rod on Amazon. I am looking for someone to fabricate a new system for me. Until then, having a sign you literally cannot miss instructing guests not to force the drapes will have to do.
Most importantly, everything my 2022 guests are complaining about has been in my place since 2017. Same welcome manual. Same signage, Same internet. And while everyone has the occasional guest that just doesn't feel complete unless they find something to complain about, in 2022 this has become the norm instead of the exception.
