Monica, dont give up. Its not as bad when you get used to it, and develop your own technic, its just another business. Find out who you want to host, and it will be much easier if you determine your rules. Imade a bunch of mistakes in a beginning, and its so much easier now after 19 months of hosting.
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Monica!!! Your guests are running the show because you let them! Think of your high school classes. Do they walk all over you? Hell no. Why not? Because there is such a thing as classroom behavior management. Your students have been given your expectations and know what the consequences will be if they donât follow them. Use the same idea with your guests.
Make your expectations clear and firm and you should have far less trouble! Describe the kind of guest you want to host. I say, âIâm only interested in hosting quiet couples or singles because this is an extremely quiet area, especially at night. If you are here to party please skip me.â
Think of all the things you donât want guests to do and outline this in a nice way in your listing copy and house rules. Do the same in a guest info doc you send to them.
Donât go overboard with too many things unless you notice a pattern. For example, one guest in seven years lit my gas BBQ after putting briquettes in it. A one off. But lately several groups have dragged their dive gear through my house and washed it in the bathtub and dragged them outside and hung it on the line, when Iâd much prefer they use the hose. So now I have to say something in the rules about it.
Yana is right, donât give up, just get tougher!
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My guests who are coworkers (Craigs list), told me last week that since they get paid twice a month, this is how they are going to pay me , twice a month. Exact words: Remember, Yana, we are paid every other week. Which means last week i would not be paid and a week after, only after they get their paychecks.
I said, Why do you want me to remember how you guys are paid? No, you guys figure out your financial situation, and please do not get me involved into this. I need to be paid AHEAD of time. He went on telling me something about his integrity. I said, that i really want to believe in everyoneâs integrity but then i would live in fantasy world. So, they paid me. And we all are good. I just love when people start talking about integrity and at the same time dont want to pay on time and play by the rules.
I learned this: people will act as bad as you let them. They will take advantage without even realizing it at times.
To succesfuly host issues need to be addressed. There is no way around it. If you dont speak, they will continue to misbehave.
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I just had to repeat this. I wholeheartedly second this!
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I give my guests a five star hotel experience and I get one in a blue moon. I wish I could be a great as you.
Your final sentence is intriguing! I want to know more nowâŚ
I am about to lose SH status after 2 years by .6 of a point. If I didnât get that one star from the man who didnât flush, I would be at 4.9.
When I first learned that my status was in peril, I went on panic mode and out of my way to garner those 5 star reviews. Local tours, meals, snacks in the room, etc. And these are very cheap rooms. What it got me was 2 reviews that were 5 star across the board - except the summary, at 4 star. Desperation is a bitch, when you are dealing with entitled young men.
It just stopped being fun.
I am taking a reverse tack. As more and more rooms and apartments are sucked up by Air, I started booking direct. Everyone is over 40 and itâs working out very well. I will keep one room flexible for wrestling SH status back at some point. But my failure turned into my fortune revenuewise.
I wouldnât fret, Iâm fairly sure guests put a lot less weight on it than hosts do.
Itâll come back.
JF
Yes big dilemma about repairs when people are on holiday obviously they are not going to stay home waiting for the cable guy when theyâre on their once in a lifetime trip in Paris.
First of all I would recommend indicating in your house rules that owner, property manager or repairman can enter the property for maintenance during their trip. That way you donât make it their problem to tell you when they will be in. Yes you will access the property when they are not there. Itâs in your rules.
For this you might have to install a safe or at least a locked cupboard where they can put their passports and valuables if they are uneasy.
Second, specify a penalty for missing amenity. For example either if the inconvenience is so bad they can leave and get reimbursed nights not used, or 20 dollars a day max for the problem.
how are you advertising?
if its any consolation apparently people who have lost superhost have not seen any decrease in their business.
it might not be all that important, people see your listing, your location, your photos, your 100 reviews, most guests donât even know what âsuperhostâ means.
many testimonials out there about people not seeing any diff in reservations after losing superhost.
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That was your downfall, as you discovered. People donât respect a grovelling people-pleaser. Fact. It took me a while to learn that in this business. Since I stopped caring so much and adopted a âpfft, it is what it is - take it or leave itâ attitude , I have achieved SH 5 times in a row. Only just, though. Possibly going to lose it soon!
Seriously, donât give a shit.
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I looked at who my best guests were from.
This is a university and industrial town with very low unemployment. Definitely not vacation types. Facebook, Linked In.
Then look to the posting boards like university websites and local buy and sells.
But the best ones came from public boards like Craigâs list and Kijiji.
They donât hit as often as Air but when they do they can be huge.
The university students can be very thrifty, so stick to your guns. And charge by semester. September is always double.
My long terms snuck in on a so called emergency basis and just happened to stay forever. Mine are all over 40
And are quite reasonable. I can go a day without sweeping.
In a way it is Airbnb backlash that created my customer because as more units are snapped up, you have this huge demand for regular places, in this case, rooms.
You get a choice when you keep pricing fair. So you start looking at attributes like manners, helpfulness, and (dare I say?) a sense of humour.
We also agreed to keep one room flexible. It is for visitors, family, the odd Air guest, and a sanity room.
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This would have been my 5th in a row (sigh). Like many of you I had a successful career but flamed out with C PTSD. SH was my first major achievement, and I am grateful for it. But with this, and highly successful treatment, it was time to move on.
Of course I wanted a 5th go. If it hadnât been for an unconscionably vulgar young man giving me one star, I would still be at 4.9.
But then, you have to wonder what price you are really paying. I could agree that not giving a hoot always works, but in this case it didnât. Sic transit Gloria mundi.
What I do know is that it will never, ever, happen to me or my guests again.
Iâve stayed as a guest with a superhost without having a clue what it meant at the time, but since becoming a host myself and reading the forums, it does explain the superhostâs intense anxiety when something wasnât working when we arrived! The research might show that superhost status increases the bookings, but at what cost to the anxious host?
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wtf!
but I guess up to you to decide, is your market liquid enough that you can easily find a replacement?
are these good honest people who donât damage your property?
We all have to make concessions but up to you to decide what is in your best interest not the other way around.
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Was fun to read my old postingsâŚ
Of course itâs up to you to decide âŚwhat you are willing to sacrifice and what and who you are willing to deal with .
After 4.5 years I am not willing to sacrifice and deal with much to be honest .
I learned that while a nut case is in my house ,there is a perfect guest somewhere out there who is waiting to rent from me .
I already calculated and recalculated how much income I need and can make here.
One of my 3 rooms is empty now for 2 weeks , my pool house is finishing itâs 3rd week to be empty âŚfinally I can enjoy my own pool.
I declined 2 requests from vacationers because I could feel it will end up being a pain in a neck to deal with them .
I am waiting for my perfect guests for possibly month or longer and today I already had an Inquiry.
I am in South Florida so when high season comes thatâs when guest keep flowing in and this season I made enough to not worry that much about couple month during summer .
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iâm a newbie but this seems to be the airbnb business model.
Donât worry for them they have psycho analysts on hire to determine how to best exploit their hosts.
Itâs very fine tuned the review system, perfectly balanced, so that guests get a great deal at the hotst expense, anxiety and effort with airbnb taking the cut in the middle.
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Yana, I would kiss you, but it would start a rumour.
I audited my inquiries and requests over the last 3-months. I have turned down about a dozen in a row. All for the best of reasons, and all without penalty. But it is upsetting. Am I wearing a kick me hat? Who are these people?
Then I followed up to see where they went after me. Only one got reviewed and the poor host was completely furious.
Our,judgement is good. It really is possible to get a dozen losers in a row.
I needed time out. So I jacked my rates up and headed for the beach. I donât need to say what happened next.
I took SH so seriously that I was perpetually anxious, bending over backwards for - letâs be honest - weirdos and parasites. So anxious to fix things that I had no control over. You cannot be measured against horrible people.
Itâs been a hard lesson, but I AM the product. My fault was in doubting it. Sometimes you have to be wrong a few times to learn you are right! 
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HeheheâŚyou did the right thing.
Who else will take care of us but us.
I am glad I finally arrived to the point when I can afford to wait for my perfect guests.
My best guests also come from Craigslist. And you rightâŚussualy itâs longer stays and ussualy itâs people who had problems with Air in a past and never book through the site again .
I never heard about Kijiji before