Do you get more unhappy guests during the holiday period?

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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Do you get more unhappy guests during the holiday period?

The reason I am asking this is because I feel I do...

Source: Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

 

Now, I know that I live somewhere which is dark and often cold, wet and miserable during the winter months and guests are therefore less likely to be cheerful than in the summer, yet I have always found Xmas/New Year to be a particularly problematic period compared to the rest of the winter.

 

Perhaps it's because guests spending time away from family and friends at this time are more likely to be lonely and unhappy. But, what about the ones that have purposely chosen to travel elsewhere rather than be with friends and family? What about the guests who come from cultures where they don't celebrate Xmas, or have a different New Year, and therefore it's no big deal? 

 

While I have had some lovely guests stay over this period, every single year, without fail, I get problematic guests and the ratio of bad v good guests shoot up and my ratings go down.

 

What is this about?

 

And yes, I have tried the Xmas cards, gifts, treats etc. to make them feel more at home, but the type of problematic guests I am talking about rarely appreciate these gestures. In fact, many will leave the cards unopened, throw the gifts and treats in the bin etc. and certainly not bother thanking me or mentioning it in their review...

1 Best Answer

@Huma0  OK, well, it is not easy to motivate depressed people, but, maybe it would be helpful if you go to tourist info center and pick up some brochures about events, fairs and festivals during Christmas time and leave it in their room.  Every year I browse and print all free events with locations and dates and a short description for my guests. I also make a map of the city center in Illustrator and mark all recommended locations where something is going on.  My guests appreciate this map more than some welcome basket and it is usually the first thing they grab and look to when they arrive.  Maybe you could try something like that next year 🙂

 

My friend is renting the house to Erasmus students. There are 12 of them at the same time. She brings Christmas decorations and make them decorate the house. They also have to make Christmas cakes with her , she says they are always enjoying this "family atmosphere". 

Maybe it would lift your mood as well 🙂

 

 

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34 Replies 34
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

What can one do to avoid these less than happy guests and their lower ratings, other than to simply not host guests during this period?

@Huma0  I hate to be fatalistic, but I think holiday woes are just one of the sober realities of hosting. My cleaner has bemoaned the clear spike of grouchy, destructive holiday guests for 20 years.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Pat271 

 

Good to know! At least I know now it's not just me...

@Huma0 

 

Must be a world wide problem I had a belly full recently as you saw from my other post,

Even my cleaner commented after the last guest, This is too much now, 

I have guest on their way from the airport right now hoping for a new start, 

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sudsrung0 

 

That's very interesting. How is the weather at that time of year in Thailand? I have been there slightly later in late January and February and it rained quite a lot and, even when it wasn't raining, was mostly grey skies. That didn't stop me having a lovely time, but I can see how it might make some people grumpy...

@Huma0 

 

Last year was a strange year November we had real monsoon weather into December but then it cleared, Christmas and NY was good yesterday the humidity was high then it cleared by lunch time the only rain we have had has been in the night, 

Normally from now until the end of April it should be good weather not much rain,

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sudsrung0 

 

Well, if it's not the weather, then it's definitely something to do with the season. I remember one very mild winter a few years ago when it was 18 degrees C and sunny on Christmas Day. I still got a miserable guest that year...

Gillian166
Level 10
Hay Valley, Australia

put your prices up too high. We listed our couples cottage at a crazy high rate, and in the end only got a one night booking on the 25th. I'm not upset with that. 

 

@Pat271  is correct. there's a lot of holiday woes over xmas.  NYE and January beyond (in Australia) are just delightful summer family vibes. 

Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Definitely get more cranky, and especially more sloppy guests during the holidays.

 

I can think of some additional reasons why, like:

- infrequent traveler “vacation of a lifetime” syndrome - any less-than-perfect occurrence becomes a tragedy

- parties, even small ones, produce waste that sometimes doesn’t make its way to the trash bin

- in many cases, free-flowing alcohol brings out the worst of personality traits

- holiday reunion stress - grandmas, screaming babies, insufferable egotists, and all the black sheep of the family gathering together to rehash their dysfunction

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Pat271 

 

 

Yes, all of these sound like very valid reasons as to why guests might not behave ideally during this period (perhaps they are lovely at other times of year). However, maybe only the first one would apply to my listings at this point because:

 

1. No parties, big or small, happen in my listing as I live here.

2. I find that very few of my guests drink at all...

3. I only host solos now (but used to host couples/pairs of friends) so there are no family reunions.

 

I guess though there could still be just a general malaise with travellers around this time.

Ruth413
Level 10
Moreton, United Kingdom

@Huma0   I opened up once for the Christmas period and it was so bad that I have refused to do it again. 

 

I stupidly was excited about having guests in over Christmas, because I always find this a special time.  I put in a real Christmas tree, decorated it.  Put presents under said tree for both guests and one for their dog and made them a Christmas treat hamper with homemade mince pies etc.  

 

After guests arrived we found out that they were away at Christmas time, so they wouldn't have to spend Christmas with any of their children and their families.  Hmmm, maybe alarm bells should have rung, but I get it that some people just don't do Christmas.  

 

Anyway outcome was that I got a 4* review and got marked down in value.  And the reason they gave for this was there was no cheese grater !   One thing that I always mention to guests is if there is anything they need which isn't in the cottage, just ask and I will pop over with whatever they want from our cottage.  

 

This was at the start of my hosting journey and it upset me so much at the time (I have toughened up now!) that I have since decided to close over the festive period.  It just isn't worth the stress.  At Christmas time our home is now filled with family and friends and most of the time stress free !  I can drink as much mulled wine and champagne as I want.  We can laugh raucously at charades without worrying about whether the guests might hear and I don't think I will ever open up at Christmas time again.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ruth413 

 

Yes, I hear you! I was also excited my first Xmas, but it was a bit of a fail. I had a lovely guy from Mexico, who mostly did his own thing, but he was very sweet and no hassle at all. However, I had two girls stay in another room and they were my first truly bad experience with guests. Luckily, things were a bit different with CS in those days and so CS removed the reviews and ratings (their suggestion) because they felt they were kind of outrageous and clearly retaliatory. 

 

Oh, well, I just assumed it was a random thing. But no, every year, around this time, there are problems. I do get nice guests too, but guaranteed there is a higher percentage of awful guests. 

 

I decided ages ago that Christmas Day itself would be blocked for check ins because, even though guests would confirm they could come early so that I could make my family dinner, invariably, they came late with no apology and didn't bother to even keep me updated/respond to messages. 

 

However, I have thought very seriously about not hosting at all over that period, and actually didn't last year due to COVID, but because I host long term guests, it can be a bit tricky to block off that period and lose a month or two month booking. Let's see. I will reconsider what to do next year.

@Huma0. Why not just extend the minimum stay during xmas to say 2 weeks or even a month?

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Frances3408 

 

My minimum stay is already 28 days. Some of the examples I've given on this thread were from when I was still hosting short stays though, and I would say there has been an improvement over all since I switched to long stays, i.e. I have a much smaller number of guests staying over the holidays and they are not usually holidaymakers, so there is less pressure.

 

However, I still find that usually there is some sort of issue with one or more guests in late December/early January. It just seems harder at this time of year.