I was excited to read retaliatory reviews are being removed....
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I was excited to read retaliatory reviews are being removed. And about time! It's so ridiculous to allow those scam reviews t...
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I have the following rule:
"I go to bed at between 8~9pm. The hours of 9pm to 7am are 'quiet hours'. Please limit noise (phone calls, tv, etc.)" I also ask my guests before they book what times they anticipate arriving and leaving on a typical day. My last guest said he'd be in and out at 7a and 7p each day, and I approved the request.
5 days into it, I confronted him on a problem - every night he was leaving the house at 9p. He'd return at about 9:45p, eat a meal in the kitchen (imagine the sounds of plastic bags, dishes clanking, cubboards banging), then at about 10:00 until 10:30, he'd take a long shower in a bathroom that I share a bedroom wall with.
In confronting him, I told him that if this didn't improve, I'd remove his electronic lock access after 9p, since it was disturbing both me and my other guest. (She also goes to bed at aroud 9.) In his review, he told me that I should specifically state that you can't come and go, use the kitchen, or shower during 'quiet hours'.
Is he right? Do I need to define 'quiet hours' better? Should I say:
Do not shower. Do not roam the halls. Do not enter or leave the house. Do not assemble furniture. Do not make loud yawning noises as you wake up. And not pass go and do not collect $200?
I got docked 2 stars for what I thought to be 'professionally' handling the matter. I waited until the problem had escalated (after 5 days, I was losing enough sleep to be unprodicutive at work) and then I told him the problem and the possible solutions. Either change his schedule or book elsewhere.
He got a refund for his unused nights, but left me a pretty sad review accusing me of misstating my rules.
Due to Airbnbs inability to acknowledge my rights as a home owner, I had to take two rooms off Airbnb. I've listed them on several other sites, as a result I now have a long term guest, 5 months, from one sight called places4students. The other room which I finally took off today, after wanting to for weeks, due to dealing with one Airbnb Customer Service rep who told tell me "Guests should be allowed to come and go, when ever they please". Wow, how insensitive, inconsiderate, and blatently ignorant! I had two students, and one doctor, who all had to get up early, and I am expected to cater to one bad egg in all hours of the night? The dog would bark at 1am, or 2am, or when ever and the whole house would wake up. Not worth it, am listing the second room I took off Airbnb on the sites and hopefully I'll do as well.
It's more work with this other room without Airbnb, but so much less trouble. The other sites I've used are much supportive of hosts, and make it easy to have house rules. I still have two out of my four rooms on Airbnb with reasonalbe lights out at 12am, as they are the greatest booking agents, but have now taken several precautions to make sure Airbnb guests understand, accept and agree to have a lights out, because Airbnb does next to nothing to help you enforce your rules. While I can be a lenient for late commers, as long as I am told in advance and its not excessive, I won't be a doormat for a person who can't adhere to the policy in my home.
@Kristine51 I definitely agree that you have the right to have "my house, my rules" especially when you are managing the shared space for yourself and for other guests. You have a lot of information in the listing description which is probably not totally read by the guest at the time of the booking. Perhaps you could add the curfew rule into the "details guests must know about your home" under Booking Settings. This pops up as the guest is booking the reservation. It is meant to highlight issues such as stairs or animals, which can be deal breakers for the guest. Just a thought.
I am not clear what you want Air BNB to do about your situation, however. What is it that other sites provide for you that feels more supportive of you?
Linda, perhaps I miscomunicated. I thought I was replying to Kens comment, not starting a conversation about what I want.
"I am not clear what you want Air BNB to do about your situation, however. "
Linda, what situation were you refferring to?
The fact that I have a curfew/lights out policy? Or, that airbnb seems to regard my home as a hotel, both in their interaction with me and my guests?
FYI You can't improvise in the "Details etc" section, and there is no box provided that applies.
Thank you, however, for your unsolicited advice, I know you meant well, and I do honestly appreciate that you are trying to help.
Here's what I would suggest to Airbnb, if they would listen, perhaps they could put some of the millions they have made into improving the website to better safeguard against these silly and needless mistakes from happening. A simple pop-window prior to booking, reading "I agree to this hosts house rules. Not a novel idea, but tried and true. That might make guest stop and think, and condisder, some homes have manuals/rules. Or, speaking of which, Airbnb could provide a more refined search, rules no rules, that simple.
Look, there are probably a dozen things they could do with the website to prevent these technologically sophmoric issues. Airbnb prioritizing self improvment is not something I am banking on, after having one to many mishaps. Thus, going elsewhere to list half my rooms was a more realistic couse of action. That way at least I don't have all my eggs in one basket.
Yes, there are many, many ways to rent really nice rooms, in a really nice house, with really nice people, on a really nice street, in a really nice neighborhood, in a really nice city. IOW, there is life after Airbnb. As much as I hope things improve there, bedcause it would be nice to be able to trust them with all my rooms, they still have quite a bit of room for improvement.
Please don't get me started on the wild west review reputation Airbnb has earned. You can pretty much say anything, and get away with it. It is really amazing how Airbnb seems to avoid that reality. You get someone who is upset because they did not read any of the description, maybe they are tired from traveling, in a bad mood, or whatever, and voila, your character assination du jour.
The earlier comment regarding the way guests book on Airbnb, and how they look at the picture say oooh nice, look at the price and say oooh nice, book it, is the truth. This problematic tendency is primarily because Airbnb wants to be the best alternative to hotels and motels, which is understandable, but they should not bring about those expectations in guests in any way, shape or form. Virtually nothing holds guests back from booking without fully understanding what they are getting into. Airbnb put the lionshare of that reponsiblity on the host, but what good is a decription if a guest does not read it?
To their credit, Airbnb, recently added the question for instant booking, which is the only reason I do instant booking, and my only question is "Did you read the house manual?" So I guess that is one safegaurd. Ha.
@Kristine51 At anytime you are addressing a specific host post and responding to that, you can use the @ and select the host you are responding to as I have done with my response to you. I was responding to your desire to have quiet time and it is a condition of your acceptance of a guest that they understand this. Relatively recently Air BNB did add what you are suggesting, Kristine. As part of the booking process, if a host has specific issue such as stairs, dogs, or quiet time, these conditions pop up during the booking process and the guest must acknowledge that they have accepted these conditions. I thought this might be helpful to you.
I am a regular poster on this site and as such I get the benefit of a wealth of a number of very savvy (certainly more than me) hosts from around the world and have come to appreciate that Air BNB is listening to both hosts and guests and making updates to the platform. This update seems to have come as a result of cancellations by guests who did not know there were stairs in the listig or dogs in the listening or other specific rules that a host wants to enforce even though the host had included information in general or rules section of the listing. I think it is a good idea.
I am experiencing the same kind of problem. Although I think it's a little extreme to ask people to adhere to 'Quiet Time' rules as early as 9 pm, I see nothing wrong with making your own rules as long as the guest knows your quiet time and what your definition of quiet time is before booking. I am trying to get a definition of quiet time from Airbnb but I suspect I am going to have to write my own definition and make sure that people understand and accept this and other rules that are very important to me. In my mind, I don't think it's reasonable to be taking showers, banging around in the kitchen, etc during quiet time. Not so sure that I agree that a quiet time that starts at 9 pm is reasonable, so hopefully if I were to be searching for a place to stay it would be readily apparent that a quiet time that begins at 9 pm was an expectation. Maybe one day quiet times and check in times will be part of the detailed search on Airbnb. I know it can sometimes be time consuming looking for a place, and then you have to wait for the host to approve you, only to have them decline you or you find that there's a reason not to stay somewhere so you have to search again after having lost considerable time searching and then waiting for a response from the host.
Most city and neighborhood statutory "quiet hours" begin at 9PM.
I applaud this host
@Joyce-Ann1 I see that you have had other experiences with hosts that were not suitable to your expectations. Perhaps shared accommodation, while budget friendly might not be the best selection. Or, you could take an extra step to communicate with the host and get a sense of what that host perceives as a proper shared living environment.
@Joyce-Ann1 As you are super displeased with this host, why are you continuing to stay? Why not contact Airbnb to see if they can relocate you to a place that better suits your needs?
It does sound like the host is not very accomodating and has some strange ways, like leaving the doors and windows open when it's cold out. And if there is only one bathroom, it's of course absurd that you wouldn't be allowed to make your need to use it evident.
However, there are also some things that you, as a guest, need to accept if you book a room in a private home, as opposed to an entire place listing. If the host is accustomed to cooking after 9PM, it's her home and she has every right to do so. She also has the right to cook whatever food she normally does- there's zero reason for her to refrain from cooking meat just because you're a vegetarian and don't like the smell of it. If the smell of what a host cooks in her own home might bother you, you shouldn't book shared listings.
And expecting the entire household to go to bed at 9Pm, just because you do, is pretty self-centered. Have you ever heard of earplugs?
I just don't understand why you are continuing this booking if it's obviously not working out for you.
@Joyce-Ann1 This line in your response to a past bad review from a host is very telling : "I have appropriate standards, confirmed by Air BnB. Otherwise they would not have supported me in my request for a full refund."
That's simply not true. Airbnb often unfairly takes the guest's side and issues refunds for ridiculous complaints and even lies. Guest fees are where they make their money, so they tend to be solicititous towards guests and override host's cancellation policies. Being issued a refund is not proof that your standards are appropriate.
You really seem like the type of guest who shouldn't be booking shared listings as your expectations are quite self-centered. You can't book an inexpensive private room listing and expect the host to change their lifestyle to cater to your preferences, nor criticize them if they don't. That doesn't fall under the definition of hospitality. And asking a host to wash the bedding just before your arrival, as if you assume it will be dirty if they don't, is insulting.
Maybe you shouldn't be a host**
**[Inappropriate content hidden - Community Center Guidelines]
Carol, please try not to be too hard on hosts rules. We all host in a different way, some of us host guests in a listing on the other side of the country to where we live, some host guests through a paper thin wall. Just appreciate that we are all faced with different circumstances.
All I can say is Carol, the way a host accepts guests is clearly worded in their listing description so, the guest should know what to expect if they proceed to a booking. If a host has nominated that the listing is subject to 'quiet hours' the guest should accept and respect that if they still decide to book and stay!
Please don't criticise hosts because they have different values to yours.....that is their right, and it really is not up to you to call their rules bullsh*t.
I would never criticise you for finding some hosts rules unacceptable, you have a perfect right to feel that way, but please accept that it is the host who is taking a risk on....this stranger in their property, they have every right to set certain rules on how that stranger should behave!.
Nothing personal Carol, but I had to get that off my chest!
Cheers.......Rob
I applaud you Good Sir Rob👍 🙏!
Maybe guests should read the house rules before booking...