Weirdest/Most Insteresting/Ballsiest Guest Request

[Alexandra316]

I had an inquiry this week that really made me scratch my head. The guest sent an inquiry, asking if they could check in late, at 11 pm. I said absoltely no problem: we have self-check-in, and you can check in anytime that suits you after 3 pm. They went ahead and booked, adding a second night to their reservation. Then I got an email from them, saying oh no, we weren't asking if we could check in late, we were asking if we could check in the night before at 11 pm. I was gobsmacked, and responded that it wasn't possible, because we have someone staying the night before they arrive who will be checking out at 11 am, and the earliest they could check in would be 1 pm on the date their reservation starts. I also let them know that if that wouldn't work out for them, they were welcome to cancel the reservation, as the free cancellation window is still open. 

I just can't believe that someone would ask to check in the night before they booked for, and I was wondering what kind of weird, interesting, or cheeky requests you've received from guests, and how you've dealt with them. 

[Fred13]

Precious answer. 🙂

[Ann10]

I had a nasty one like this. He asked me what my best price was so I went down a couple of hundred. Then he said he was sorry but someone else was going to give him their place for another $200 less than what I offered. So, I said, I don’t want to go down more. A few hours later I did what I should have done when he tried to get me to go down $200 more. I said my offer is good for 10 more minutes. 

I don’t know if he waited to come to NYC from South America until he got the deal he wanted or if Airbnb is really 72-96 hours slower than real time, but about 3-4 days later I got the “not possible” thing by his message so I  guess he found someone who went lower. I don’t want to host people like that. I hate having to pre-approve someone I don’t want just to keep the acceptance rate up. Such manipulation by Airbnb. Making us accept people who are not a good match isn’t good for the hosts. Bad business!

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

We had a guest book our private room for her wedding weekend.  She said her sister and BIL were going to stay there - okay 1st, no 3rd party bookings....then,

"Since you are so close to the venue, we'd like to have all the bridesmaids get ready there the morning of the wedding"

.... um, really?!

"We're willing to plan a bridesmaid brunch for you but be aware that your guest room only has one bathroom and one mirror."

"Isn't there another bathroom?"

"Yes, it's our bathroom."

"Can't we use it?"

"Our listing is for just the one room and one bath.  If you want both baths, even for a few hours, we'd need to negotiate a price."

"And what would the price be for brunch?"

"It would depend on what you want to have." 

"We'll bring in our own food."

"And  your own plates, glasses, silverware, etc.?" 

"No, don't you have those things available?  It says so in your listing." 

"We don't have those things available for a party, only for the 2 guests staying in the property."

"But if they use 10 plates, isn't that allowable?"

"If you want to discuss costs for a party, use of the entire house, cost of an event license, linens, serveware, and cleaning, we can discuss it. None of that is covered in the price of the nightly rent for our guest room."

"If we do this, will you be there?"

[like seriously we're still talking about this....]

"Yes, we will be here.  It's our home.  We live here full time."

"Let me talk it over with my sister." 

<< cancel >>

[Alexandra316]

@Alice-and-Jeff0 So they wanted to host a brunch and have all their bridesmaids get ready in a room for which they had paid $45 a night? Those are some brass balls they've got. I can well understand why they'd want to get ready at your place, because it's gorgeous, but to expect you to be fine with it for no extra payment is pretty shocking.

[Ann10]

I’ve had guests ask if they check in after midnight if they can only pay for the calendar date after midnight. I have to explain no that won’t work because then I wouldn’t be able to book the night before. I also tell them that if they go to a hotel they have to pay for the night whether they check in before or after midnight. The nerve of these people amazes me. 

[Ann10]

What’s with Instant Book guests telling the host what time they will arrive? Can’t they see the check-in and check-out time? When you do IB are you agreeing to let them come and go as they please? 

[Victoria567]

No air bnb are not agreeing to let them come and go as they please.

instant book guests let you know because as part of instant book they must tell you their time of arrival, also along with who is coming with them and reason for visit to the area 

[Yulianna0]

@Ann0, they can say whatever they want. If it is within your established time of check-in/check out, that is perfect. If no, you can say, that you will be glad to see them from.... and that check out hour is... Some will cancel their reservation, for others it’s ok to wait. But only one out of 20 will mention your kindness of making early check-in:) 

[Huma0]

I get quite a few requests for photo/film shoots (mostly students or amateurs). They often go something like this (with my translation added because I work in the industry and KNOW what it's like):

"So, we'd like to shoot at your house for two days and there will be around 15 of us, meaning there'll really be 25. We'll arrive at the crack of dawn and stay late into the night. We'd like all rooms of the house to be available to shoot in and are going to use industrial amounts of electricty and have the heating on full blast while we leave all the doors and windows open. We'll also need somewhere to do hair and make up, somewhere for costume, somewhere to store lights and equipment, somewhere for catering, parking for a truck etc. We'll repeatedly leave your front door wide open, move all your furniture and things around, be eating and drinking all over the place, only half clean up and will leave a mountain of trash...We'll probably break a few things, but no, we don't have any insurance. Oh, and seeing as we're renting the Airbnb bedroom, some of us will stay overnight in there too because we might as well take advantage of it...Sorry,  what do you mean you won't do it for the room rate for one person on Airbnb? We don't have budget and your listing says £45 a night. Why can't we have it for £45?"

At this point they usually tell me that some other host is willing to do it for the room rate. Good luck to them I say...

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

Wow!  @Huma0, I'm going to keep what you wrote in mind in case anyone asks about filming at our property! Love the way you can read between the lines and know what they might really be saying!

[Huma0]

@Jim-and-Marcia0

A good tip if someone books your place for a shoot is to ask them to send you the Call Sheet. You will often only get this last minute, but at least it gives them an indication that you know what you are doing. If they don't know what that is, then they don't know what they're doing!

Unless the person you're dealing with is very crafty and sends you an 'edited' version, the call sheet should include the names and contacts of everyone attending and the Call Times (arrival times) and sometimes the Wrap Time (end time). Not that they will necessarily stick to the latter. I now try to make it clear from the outset that they have to stick to both the number of people and the start and finish times.

I had one bad experience with a group of film students and learnt a lot from that!

[Sarah977]

@Huma0   That was hilarious, thanks for the laugh.

[Sandra126]

@Huma0, I sent one a special offer of $1000 which is closer to industry rate. Didn't hear back.

[Huma0]

@Sandra0

Sorry, can't seem to tag anyone at the moment. Not sure why.

Yes, that sounds about right. Here the going rate the hire the house for a photoshoot would be around £1,000 a day (not including any overtime), but a LOT more for a film or video shoot.

I'm not adverse to having photo shoots here (not the scenario described above - experienced that once and decided never again) and I don't ask them for anything near the industry rate. I understand that the people who are looking for loctions via Airbnb can't afford agency rates, otherwise they would have booked that way in the first place.

My house is actually listed with a location agency and I only ask for half of what I would get through agency bookings and that's not even consindering the 20% commission the agency would add on top. I think that's more than reasonable, but so far I've only had one taker. He was a professional photographer, so he knew he was getting a good deal.

It just amazes me that people would think they could pay the same as a guest who is just staying the night, taking a shower and then out sightseeing all day. That is not the same as having a photo/film crew take over your house!

[Gray-And-Ally0]

Had an enquiry a couple of months back asking for a 6pm checkout at no extra cost because he wanted to invite his friend over who lived nearby and relax in our pool!  Normal check out time is 11am, it was winter here and we don't have a pool.