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I think the mosaic tile sounds cool, and this is Airbnb after all. If you don’t want local color go stay at the Marriott and enjoy their industrial carpet. Sheeze.
What is wrong with these guests.
I’ve told everyone many times that I’m a career advertising copywriter. So here is my contribution to Airbnb’s marketing campaign. A new tag line to replace the old one: (“Don’t go there. live there.” )
They are free to use it without compensation to me. drum roll please…
I left it out intentionally because I BELIEVE (not entirely sure) you can’t mention the threat of a bad review in your own review. It becomes a he-said-she-said thing. If AirBnB see anything they don’t like, the whole review will go poof.
Airbnb in practice can remove any review as and when they please. But they do have guidelines, and I don’t believe mentioning a threat is in violation of them. Any more than if you reported that the guest attacked you. And in most cases proof is very difficult or impossible, short of video or written evidence. But people don’t generally write down threats, for example. And most hosts don’t have CCTVs or similar in their homes because guests don’t like them. And they might not be popular with the family either. Basically, if every assertion a host made without proof was removed, most negative reviews would become short or non-existent. :-\
Also, it’s easy enough to prove that he wrote a bad review - just read it. Which, at least in my opinion, lends credibility to the threat.
However, if you think I’m wrong about this, please feel free to educate me.
I hope the review dissuades other hosts from hosting him - that’s really the point. And agreed about not replying to his review. I don’t really know what to say anyway.
I hope you’re right. But there are plenty of non-French speaking jerks in the world.
In fairness (not that he deserves it) I think he meant about the rest of the house, or at any rate the two front rooms, which is what guests have access to. Though they aren’t dusty or dirty. There’s quite extensive moisture damage in parts of the house. That much is true. And it is never going be featured in “Home Beautiful”. We have old and mismatched furniture and the like. But he did his best to make it sound like a dump, which it isn’t.
I like it. Airbnb should use it. It beats their current slogan.
What an interesting statement and so is the question it raises. Many of my guests say: “What can I say that has not been said already”. If they ended it right there, it would be perfect.
Man, I think that really stinks. What an ordeal!!!
One reply I once made (to a bad review as a guest was ) “Though this experience was disappointing for both of us…” So I didn’t explain or 'he-said, she-said" I just made it clear that I wasn’t happy, either.
But most likely best to not respond at all - he review comes across as crazy crazy.
My schedule is very flexible, but… my guests don’t know this, and therefore I can be as militant about check-in and out times as I like, yay, I win! I have lots of requests for early check-ins, and I will allow a few hours earlier if I’m in a good mood but that’s it, and I still make sure to have at least a 2hr window between new guest and previous occupant of the room [I use the room when I don’t have guests]. I give all guests the website and location of the nearest cheap 24hr bag storage, and it’s only 10 mins from my place. In my mind that means I’ve taken care of their need for early check-in/bag storage. Is this something you could do too, Faheem?
I soon realised it was better for everyone if I run a friendly dictatorship than trying to please and bend myself out of shape while getting annoyed at the guest and then myself for being soft. I host 90% of the time and rent out my own sorely missed cozy bed, so I have to take care of my own sanity before anyone else’s needs or else I can’t host. Being strict has made me less stressed all round, and then I have more positive energy for the guests. I also hardly ever look at my star ratings, they’re a can of worms.
Here’s a pushy guest message thread that I was really freaked about at the time, but I managed to stay firm. Men who don’t take no for an answer is a bit of a trigger for me and I was new to hosting and not sure how safe it was. I remember being worried about what else the guest could get pushy about:
hey, would you be opposed if a friend crashed on the floor of the bedroom tonight? He would be with me. well behaved and touring artist without a place
4 Feb 2016
The rental is for one person only, he can rent his own Airbnb I’m sure. I would have listed the room for 2 people in the first place if I was ok with that.
4 Feb 2016
right but even if he crashes on the floor for the night? I’d be willing to give you the bed for the night if we could stay on the floor in the living room
4 Feb 2016
Final answer is still no. He can book somewhere of his own to stay. I’m sorry. I’m a bit surprised about this request.
4 Feb 2016
The nearby railway station, called CST, does have what they call a “cloak room”, where you can leave luggage, but I don’t think it’s a great option. But I’m not aware of another one nearby, and searching online does not bring up anything. I’ve already mentioned that option in my guest guide. The only other people who seem to do luggage storing locally are hotels, and presumably this facility is restricted to their guests.
The friendly dictatorship thing only works if your place is much in demand for some reason. People can easily exercise their choice to go somewhere else. So I try to be obliging and helpful, within reason. According to some, I may be too obliging and helpful. The luggage handling thing is about the only case in which I say no. So do you get a lot of demand, then?
I think your idea of suggesting they book an additional night if they need to leave luggage for hours is a great one. It’s not like your nightly rate is outrageous!
I’m booked 90% of the time, very pleased with that! I offer my guests as much comfort and convenience as I can without causing discomfort and inconvenience to myself
Tend to agree with what you’ve said here, guest needed to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. In the case of medical conditions and incontinence the responsibility to avoid damaging another’s property still applies, what would you consider reasonable if a guest informed you in advance that they may have accidents at night? Would you allow them to stay?
How would you respond if a guest informed you before making the reservation that they occasionally have accidents at night (due to medical problem not getting too drunk) would you allow the guest to stay? Would providing there own waterproof mattress protector be enough?
Yes, I absolutely would allow a guest with incontinence to stay. I believe that having a disability should not mean that you don’t get to enjoy life including travel. It would be great if they brought a waterproof mattress protector and sheets (as our sheets might get stained), but I’d be willing to provide them. I would also assume that someone who has incontinence as a medical condition would wear adult diapers when they sleep. My guess is that we have had guests with incontinence as it is common among older women.
I did have this guest stay with me recently - my 84-year old mother. She has been struggling with some serious colitis the last few years and it has taken a toll on her ability to travel.
However, she did warn me in advance about the types of issues she was likely to have - and that makes all the difference in the world. Someone who knows they have an issue and doesn’t prepare is likely to cause a real problem. It would be worse if they had issues and then didn’t clean up after themselves / didn’t tell you about it and you had to find out possibly days later and then the mess might mean throwing away towels and bedding, and hiring a steam cleaner for the carpet.
When my mother visited I put different sheets and towels out, put out all kinds of cleaning materials, provided her with extra pads for the bed, etc. On her end she brought lots of supplies like adult diapers and foods that were likely to help with her condition. Fortunately, she got through the visit without any serious issues and all went well. But it took work on both our parts to make that happen.
If a stranger wrote to me about it, I would be willing to take them but they would have to be responsible for their own preparations.
drum roll please…
The luggage handling thing is about the only case in which I say no. So do you get a lot of demand, then?