My guests no longer stain my towels and linens..this is what worked for me

oh my. this is my first time doing this. this thread is very unnerving. are there sites that have recommendations on house rules? do you actually need them? are people so disrespectful that you have to threaten them in order to have them treat your home or vacation property with care? is it necessary to have them sign the forms in order to hold back on security deposits? we live 2 hours away from our condo and will need someone else to look after our vacation property after rentals. do i need an inventory for our cleaning staff to go over too?

this isn’t even the worst one…keep reading the other threads. LOL.

Seriously most guests are fine but it sounds like airbnb might be too stressful for you. But you can learn a lot from reading as much as possible here.

3 Likes

Sue - this is going to completely depend on your market, clientel, type of accommodation, and how many you sleep.

I have heard some hosts say their guests never use nice towels to remove makeup. I was having almost all guest use the nice white bath sheets to remove makeup. But I stopped it. It is rare now.

Larger homes are going to encounter different issues than a place that only sleeps two people. Hosts who live with their guests (god bless them) will have different issues than hosts who are offsite. A host living above their guests is going to have a different experience than a host that might live 2 hours away.

I found that the stricter I made my rules, the better the place was left. You also have to keep in mind the “expectation cleanliness standards” of certain hosts. Some have housekeeping crews and the host believes the guest is great as long as housekeeping doesn’t make a complaint. I think this might be a lot of the reason why some hosts say they don’t understand how a guest got such high reviews on cleanliness, but the host thought they were pigs. Housekeeping crews go in and just take care of business.

Guests seem to “listen and abide” if something affects their pocket book. So in my experience, I love my rules and I am at a happy point (for most things) - still working on improving others. It’s always a learning process. You also need to keep your neighbors in mind too.

2 Likes

This is another example: I used to have to go on Easter Egg hunts for the croquet balls. No more. Without rules, my guests just figured someone else would spend hours finding the croquet balls for the next guests. I also have horseshoe pits and all the horseshoes have all been accounted for (for now).

I don’t publicly advertise this on my listing - as I would be potentially asking for a Federal lawsuit in discriminating against “familial status” - but after I accept the reservation…this section is also in my house notes. The bad kid behavior is so minimal now:

Children: Parents are to properly supervise their children at all times. The home is not child proofed and does not offer “toys.” There is a Dollar Store down the road if you need to purchase toys for your child. Family games are to be cared for and returned to their original location with all game pieces included. Please do not allow your children to use Directv manuals as coloring books. Drink coasters are also not to be used as toys/Frisbees. All horseshoes and croquet sticks/balls should be placed back in their original location and accounted for. Missing items will be charged to the guest. I wish I didn’t have to insert this section, but after several negative experiences I found it necessary to be clear on expectations.

3 Likes

sheesh. this sound like a nightmare. i really like our condo. and dont want to share with disrespectful people.
thanks for that.

1 Like

Don’t be scared. Your place won’t be exactly like my place. There are many people like @jaquo who use instant book and almost all her guests are lovely. She is nearby and checks her guests in (I assume). Again…every place is different.

I will eventually have an efficiency for rent that only allows 2 guests, and I am certain the rules will be different, and may not even really require much for rules…

3 Likes

I furnished my rental with good, but not expensive items, most of the kitchen stuff is from thrift shops. A good rule if thumb is to not leave anything in a rental that would cause you distress if it was broken or lost. Most people are good tenants, it’s the outliers who cause problems and as a result penalize the good guests. I had a pair of deep purple pillow cases that went with a duvet cover, first guest managed to leave a “bleach spot” I guess from makeup, I had to toss them. All my linens are now white.

1 Like

[quote=“cabinhost, post:44, topic:6291”]
Hosts who live with their guests (god bless them) will have different issues than hosts who are offsite.
[/quote] Hey, that sounds a bit condescending! You are right, though, the issues are very different. On the plus side, us lowly gawd bless 'em live-in hosts do not encounter the level of disrespect, trashing and stealing that off-site hosts can experience and we often get to interact with some pretty great people. On the minus side, we have to deal with loud snoring, sleepwalkers and the occasional odd person in our space. I’m so used to sharing my home now, nothing really phases me and I run a pretty tight ship under the auspices of being ‘laid-back’ (it’s an art-form that I’ve pretty much perfected ha ha!). I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable renting out my entire home while I’m away. That’s a high level of trust and I salute those of you who manage to do it successfully.

2 Likes

Yes, after three weeks or so on Airbnb I realised that I’m hopeless at judging guests from their profiles or reviews. One guest who had terrific reviews was really very sloppy when it came to leaving the apartment in good shape.

So knowing that I don’t have the gut feeling that other hosts do. I switched to instant book and it’s been great. Yes, almost all my guests are lovely and the less-than-lovely ones aren’t that bad.

But as @cabinhost says, every host and every rental is different.

I’ve used IB ever since it was introduced and never had a problem either. I found it was rarely used by guests, most of them seemed to prefer to enquire first. That’s all changed now, though. My calendar for Jan - March was so empty I decided to do something drastic. A few weeks ago I changed my IB settings from “Only guests who have been recommended by other hosts” to “anyone can instant book”. Within 48 hours I had five bookings, all on IB. They all sound like ok guests too. I used to think that I was very good at screening guests but I’ve learned that you can never really tell. Many of my guests do not speak much English (primarily Chinese and Korean) so initial communication often appears very direct and unfriendly. But 99% of them are absolutely lovely in person.

1 Like

Thank you! A great checklist! Will steal it :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Thank you! We rent a 2BR house and a 2BR townhouse, but only switched to a short term from the long term about 5 months ago. I was thinking of having our guests sign a contract, as most of them come not through airbnb but from local sites and stay for 1-3 months (they are visiting scientists and new hires at the major employer in town). But I was worried it will put people off. What is your experience? Do you have anybody choosing a different place if you offer to sign a contract? Did you write your own contract or bought it online?

Thank you so much for your help!

This is in comment to the original thread about make up on the towels.
I just returned from a European holiday where the hotel had white towels and bad me used them to remove make up. However, they will not stain if you immediately rinse the make up stain with hot water and soap before hanging up. Anyone who doesn’t try to get the stain out before discarding the towel is just plain lazy and disrespectful. I can honestly say I didn’t stain one single one of their towels.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk!! - Lol. I am so glad you posted this. When I first started renting out I asked a bunch of women how they remove their makeup (I don’t wear makeup) and almost all of them said they don’t use towels to remove it. I guess they each had their own removal routine. Only one person said she does use towels - can’t recall if she had certain towels at home for this.

So…what do you use at home to remove makeup? Since women who wear makeup, are likely to still bring that on vacation, I couldn’t figure out why they would also not bring the makeup removal routine. Or do you just have designated stained towels at home??

Please do share :smile:

1 Like

Well… Not to sound like an old lady, :laughing: but I love using Noxema to remove makeup. Washcloths are the best because they have the terry cloth fabric. What I did was go down to Ross and buy the little cheapie pack of washcloths in pink. I use them only for make up and toss after a while, because for some reason, even the strongest laundry detergent cannot get the Noxema fragrance out. Bad me, I just leave eye makeup on. I use waterproof mascara because of how much paddling and ocean sports I do! LOL!

1 Like

So did Noxema take a trip with you to Prague too? Or did you leave it behind? - I had no idea that was some sort of old lady thing. Boy the years must be passing quickly - lol.

2 Likes

No. I used a travel size make up remover in Prague. Not sure if Noxema is old lady or not but I won’t pay Clinique prices for remover unless it comes in the free promo gift bags. Noxema really gets all of it off really well. But something in it will linger on the towels.

1 Like

Great list.
About guests stripping linens off the beds. I also prefer to strip the beds myself. Makes it easier to count sheets, pillow cases etc.
The AirBnB house has all new mattresses so I don’t mind if the guest see them nekkid if they strip them.

What is your purpose for no stripping of beds?

1 Like

I find it so much easier to scan the sheets to see if I need to pre-treat stains. If the guest already has them piled in a corner on the floor, I have to quickly half ass remake the bed to spread the sheets out.

1 Like