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I feel like mu house is sign central. I have a sign in the bathroom alerting guests to not leave water on the counter and reminding that its a shared bathroom. I have a water conserving timer in the shower itself to remind guests that my tank is small and 30 minute showers will drain it, as well as create dripping water on the ceiling and permeate the woodwork. I have a sign on the front door welcoming guests and reminding them to remove their shoes before going upstairs. I have signs in the bedrooms reminding them to leave their doors closed so the kitties donāt move in. I have signs reminding them not to let the kitties outdoors. I have signs by the dishes that are not microwave safe. I have a sign on the side door reminding them to pull it closed and double check it.
Seems ridiculous but my side door has been left open multiple timesā¦ kitties have been let outā¦ 30 minutes showers have rusted the metal in the bathroom and drained the hot water for other guestsā¦ everytime I turn around it seems I need another sign. The latest? āDonāt flush wipes, feminine products, tissues, facilal wipes, kitties and puppies or hopes and dreams down the toiletā Just paid $120 to have the main sewer line snaked after guests left and stopped it up wtih all sorts of products.
@Laurie_Ann I hear you about the signs. Are you in Hawaii as well? It sounded like it with the rain tank?
I have a sign asking for water conservation, a sign asking guests not to use the garbage disposal (off limits after two seemingly intelligent people put a whole pineapple rind down it) and signs on the fridge reminding about the house rules and checkout rules.
I am about to add a new sign.
Absolutely NO rinsing of ocean gear inside the house or tub. Including diving, snorkel gear or wetsuits.
Honestlyā¦I am renting a room, not full service ocean rec center. I do not want you dragging your salty gear through the house, running all that salt water down my plumbing and dragging it outside again. It keeps happening. Fed up. My current guests are doing it, despite this being a house rule.
Is that unreasonable? My son said I have too many rules and signs.
I always have my phone with me when doing the house tour. That way if I get any comments about the listing photographs I can get them up right away to show them that the place looks better in the flesh.
I donāt understand how carrying my phone would have helped when the problem was that the guest thought we had one large bed as opposed to the two twin beds we do have.
I think Jaquo instantly shows her listing and itās photoās on her phone in case of any discussion. This to prevent people from carrying on complaining.
Because like @jaquo said you can immediately pull the listing up. To be honest though that person doesnāt sound like they would have admitted they had made a mistake in any case. Mine continued to insist it was misleading even though it wasnāt.
My laptop is three feet outside the guest room door so carrying a phone around would be irritating. As the guests were already stressed, I donāt think that making a point of showing him that he was wrong would have accomplished anything except destroying any rappport we had. As we can see from reading this board, most people hate to be corrected.
Iām sorry that you find carrying a phone around irritating. I have mine with me at all times - in my jeans pocket if not in my hand.
Itās essential to me for the house tour and guest inquiries. One of the most common questions I get from newly-arrived guests is where is the nearest place to buy groceries - I can show them immediately on the phone (on the coral guidebook).
Iāve also shown guests the listing on the phone in circumstances like yours and it certainly doesnāt damage any rapport. Itās easy to say āI wonder if youāre mixing it up with another place you were considering?ā No problems, ever.
The guest didnāt carry on complaining. He and his wife left. I got paid and they didnāt write a review. As the scenario played out as well as I could have hoped I donāt understand why people here are eager to tell me what I could have done better.
The way I see it, there are two distinct types of hosts who post here. Some hosts perceive themselves as landlords, renting a room. Other hosts perceive themselves as being in the hospitality business and try to do as much as possible to accommodate and assist guests within their perception of reason. I am not going to say that anyone has too many rules, but Iāve seen hosts here post about rules that would deter me from staying at a listing. Thatās fine as long as the rules are made clear in the listing. What would be really great is if the landlord hosts and the hospitality hosts would try to understand one another rather than continually telling one another that they are doing it wrong.
I donāt think anyone has told you you could do better. Some have said what they do in a similar situation ā¦ but in fact no-one has said you should carry a phone around. @jaquo said what she does to head off this situation; you can do what you want with the info it was simply sharing what people do in similar situations.
You are probably correct about this. I too have seen some listings with way too many rules. And there are some hosts here definitely in the hospitality business. Even though itās a separate flat entirely, Iām mostly not one of them.
I try to eliminate one rule if I add one. The ocean gear rinsing has my rancor up right now. I really donāt want them doing that. The water conservation is a must as well as the rubbish disposal. They must not move furniture as twice furniture has been broken by guests moving it. And then there are the expected ones about smoking, partying and have additional guests over. Other than that I try not to go overboard. I honestly only had one guest say there were a lot of rules, and she wrote the nit pickiest review Iāve ever had. She said she was only trying to save future guests from having to read my listing copy, so she was going to (graciously) provide them with a list of cons, LOL. In fairness she agreed to edit but the review still sounds like there are a lot of downsides to staying here when I know she didnāt mean it that way. She left a handwritten note that was one of the best I ever got.
Yet it is a ROOM for rent, separate from the main house. I offer an amazing personalized experience to help them with their holiday planning while here and things to do as well as things to avoid. The Big Island is very big, there is a lot of driving and you want to minimize backtracking. I have mentioned before I write for a major New York publisher of travel guidebooks with a name you would know. So I know what Iām talking about in speaking to guests about sightseeing and things to do. Iām constantly complimented on this by guestsā¦ but the value added features of staying with me doesnāt consist of late check out or luggage leaving. ( I hardly ever get asked for this anyway. )
I am not inside my personal home sharing space with guests. I am not sure I would be cut out for that. Yet I admire the ones who can and seem far better suited for that type of home sharing than me, and maybe this is where to hospitality thing comes in. That said, the most consistent compliment across the board I get is from people saying I am a phenomenal host! So I must be doing the hospitality thing correctly as well?
I guess getting burned after doing favors like late check out though did not sit do well with me and makes me more inclined to be less accommodating for favors unless I really like the guest.
The only reason I carry my phone on the meet and greet is because my over 40 eyes need the flashlight to show them all the details of the giant island map I have posted in the room.
Ha, I do that to find the keyhole in the rental door when the sun isnāt out. My eyes are older than yours.
But I have so many local apps and downloads on the phone. So no matter what strange queries guests may have about local attractions, events etc., I can usually answer them there and then.
For example, I had guests recently who asked me during the house tour where they could play golf. I showed them on a local app and just had to click on the phone number to book them in for a game the following morning. I know that some hosts would say it was āgoing above and beyondā but it only took a minute.
Iām not saying that anyone on this board doesnāt do hospitality well. I think that the fact that we care enough to share ideas shows that we try hard. What Iām trying to say is that we have different styles and that it would be nice if we could embrace rather than criticize each othersā styles. Early and late check in are a perfect example. I allow early check in and late check out. My circumstances permit it as I rent a guest room so reasonable guests understand that other people might be in the common areas. I am home a lot so I donāt have to schedule a time to meet people to pick up their luggage. L.A. is sprawled so it would be more inconvenient than in other locations to stash luggage elsewhere. I understand that for hosts who rent whole units they canāt store luggage as the next guest expects to have the entire listing to themselves. I also think itās fine to have lots of rules as long as they are clearly stated before the guest books (or to put it more graciously a more structured listing). Again I just wish that people with many rules wouldnāt be critical of those with few rules and vise versa. In terms of whole house vs. private room; I understand why different people prefer each. Personally, I enjoy the connection with guests and learning about their culture, but Iām very much an extrovert. I understand that others need more time to themselves. In my eyes, the downside of a whole house is the surprise messes when the guest checks out. I clean throughout the guestsā stay so I only have the guest room and bathroom to deep clean when they leave.
Interesting observation! I think itās difficult to be a landlord type when people are sharing your space, easier if itās a separate rental. But there are so many differences between airbnbs that itās hard to make fast rules apart from the obvious. I also think that location is a major factor - people looking to take a cheap place in big cities and/or high tourist destinations seem to be far more critical and demanding. Right now I am being Mrs Bend-over Host (kona would spank me hard, ooh err lol!!) as Iāve just posted some earrings that a guest left, free of charge, and Iām allowing a guest to rest up in the room tomorrow because sheās not feeling great (obviously only possible because the room is empty tomorrow night). They are all really nice guests and very grateful and it doesnāt put me out. Other guests would not necessarily get the same treatment, Iām not a complete pushover.
