Unexpected parties

[Kristen383]

We are new to hosting with 1 month under our belt.  Out of 7 guests so far, 4 have now had some kind of party.  I get sick to my stomach watching the "just 2 couples for the weekend" walk up to our ring doorbell with balloons and discuss how to block our camera to sneak the guests in.  Then left with a house full of weed smoke, damage, and garbage.   I was hoping there would be better experiences than this.  

We have tightened up our expectations of having prior reviews and raised our prices.  But in doing that the inquiries go to zero.  

Do you think this is pandemic related since there aren't events to go to?  How do others vet this situation?   Getting quite frustrated with the quality of people taking advantage of our home. 

Last guest we were able to collect on our security deposit, but I wouldn't expect that to be as easy each time.    Can Airbnb do more to curtail this behavior?

[Elaine701]

Alright. You win.

[Elaine701]

Oh  and there are no neighbours to disturb. It's a "feature". 

[Paul1255]

@Elaine701  I think I’d thoroughly enjoy being treated like a grown-up and having a great stay at your beautiful listing 😊

[Elaine701]

@Paul1255 

Thanks, Paul.

We work pretty hard at keeping it special. And our reviews rather testify to that. 

For us, I suppose that makes it even more infuriating when we're treated with disdain either by dubious guests or Airbnb.

[Paul1255]

@Elaine701  Definitely! Looks lovely and your reviews are great 🙂

Everyone hosts in their own individual way, and I get a good sense of yours and it works for you, where you are and your guests.

[Laura2592]

@Kristen383 here is a thread I did with some tips on preventing parties. Good advice from other hosts as well.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/How-to-avoid-unwillingly-hosting-a-party-tips-red-flags-...

After looking at your listing, there are a few things I might update. Take some daytime pictures. I read somewhere that when real estate photos are taken in the evening, it gives the impression that the home is not in a quiet area. Its a psychological thing. If you have bright daytime shots with sunlight instead of moody nighttime shots, you space may not look as much like a "party pad." 

Make your definition of "party" clear-- it says that in the attached thread too. Put it in your house rules. Call your guests on it if they violate it. 

Leave honest reviews. "So and so was a friendly guest but extra clean up was needed after her stay. She did not seem to follow our rules about parties or unauthorized guests. We recommend her to hosts that allow events in their space." Mark your guests who throw parties under 3 stars in every category and say you would not host again. They will no longer be able to book your space and the community will be warned about their party tendency. 

[Travis206]

@Kristen383 We have had this experience twice now and have a few tips to share that have helped immensely.  Some quick background, we are relatively new hosts and have achieved super host status quickly, but not without some growing pains like you're explaining. 

1) Do not permit auto booking.  Review each request before booking. We have have not really noticed a decline in requests and we have definitely eliminated a few questionable bookings.  

2) Ask very clear questions up front before accepting a request.  How many guests, how many overnight guests, what is the purpose of your stay, will there be alcohol, etc.  This seems a little overboard but it will deter sketchy guests.  Also, if we're comfortable with the guest based on reviews, we don't ask these questions.  

3) Do not allow local bookings.  The vast majority only want want to book your place because they don't want to trash their own.  

4) They will lie to you.  We had two local people who booked our place saying it was just two people to celebrate their anniversary, or just wanted a nice get away.  Both these turned into huge, advertised parties that trashed the place.  Even after we vetted them thoroughly with questions, we allowed a local booking (our mistake) and they had over 70 people in our house partying before 10:00.  We called the cops to break it up.  

5) Install Ring camera.  This is the only way we knew they were having parties and were able to break it up before it got further out of control.  We declare the camera in multiple places and this has deterred people as well (I believe).

6) Lastly, you may want to consider not allowing guests who have no reviews.  We are not to that point yet, but sometimes there is a reason they don't have reviews... because hosts don't want to give them a bad review in fear of retaliation. 

In summary, if you don't allow auto-booking, if you don't allow local bookings, if you install a Ring camera, and you ask your guest clear questions, you will avoid almost all parties OR be able to stop them before they really get going.  

I wish I had this advice prior to our experiences, but we've certainly learned the hard way.  Hope this helps!