Hilarious! I actually have to back pedal a bit on my present guest, who just left. He turned out to be very nice after he’d gotten 10 hours of sleep. He got the hint to wash his breakfast plate. I could tell though if he’d stayed a lot longer he would be a little sloppy, which is ok if they’re nice.
1 Like
Exactly! If you’re nice, you get far! Good for you that he turned out to be nice.
I’m here wondering wether to write to this “businessman/bargain hunter” a message or not. My husband here keeps telling - let it go, he was a jerk…
I used to work for a guy who did estate sales. If a customer was super nice, we usually gave them a deal; if they were demanding and nasty, we would not come down on the price, not matter how much we wanted to get rid of whatever it was they wanted to buy. Being nice is always best.
3 Likes
I did send a message for this annoying guy. I thanked him for the feedback of our family home: we’ve learned that our home isn’t suitable for businessmen and that for now on we should recommend the hotels of the area. We hope his next stay blablabla…
- this is so against my nature, but I must say, I was happy I did it!
1 Like
I u8sed to tweak my message all the time, based on guest’s reaction and behavior. Also based on how I liked them or didn’t. I suppose oftentimes hosting can be a ‘living, breathing entity’ subject to constant changes.
1 Like
As much as it galls you, it’s probably a good idea to let it go. Day before yesterday I had a woman stay for just a night. She had a handful of glowing reviews that I didn’t read, but later did notice she was an Air host with an apartment just a few miles from me near Disneyland. She’s an MD, or so she says, working rotations. Something didn’t add up. Why is she illegally doing Air in Anaheim (the city banned them) at an apartment complex (violation of rental lease to sublet) that’s 30 minutes from where I am?
I didn’t look at her “star” count for my review but the public one was very short. She left a wet towel draped over the back of the sofa; left some strange residue in the bathroom sink, helped herself to my black chia seeds and yogurt and didn’t rinse off the bowl or spoon before putting it in the dishwasher. Am I being petty? Yes! But it was just a little odd the whole deal.
1 Like
Hey, the chia seeds thing is actually a real problem! That stuff turns into glue if you don’t wash it right away.
Yes. And just imagine what it does to your insides! lol I put it on top of my oatmeal.
I just thought it was odd that he helped himself to this stuff because it’s not in the little “guest hospitality tray” on the kitchen counter.
And I know it’s minor, maybe petty of me, but he was one of few guests who never said thank you. “thanks for the dirt cheap but comfy and clean, quiet place to stay…” :))))
I’ve heard of people with whole apartments renting them out, and then staying in a cheaper, shared space Airbnb to make money.
Those med school loans aren’t going to pay themselves. If she’s still doing rotations, then it sounds like she’s an intern or resident. Probably not making much money yet.
That’s basically my plan when my daughter goes off to college – I’ll rent a one-bedroom apartment somewhere but mostly travel, still do STR for my townhome and live there in-between guests (which means, mostly half of the winter months).
1 Like
I am surprised by all the comments, I am a host and have been a guest many times in Europe and American cities. I have all perfect scores from my guests. I set up my rental like a hotel experience, high count linens, robes, toiletries, chocolates, water in the fridge. The rental is clean, uncluttered, has modern furniture, new appliances, washer and dryer and new kitchen supplies, The pantry is stocked with spices, sugar, flour and so forth. I provide coffee and tea. The television has all the channels with a cable upgrade and high speed WiFi. The apartment is air conditioned, has an elevator and parking.
In contrast I have rented Airbnb apartments with threadbare towels and linens, refrigerators with old condiments, no toiletries, no coffee, no directions for anything (like how to turn on lights, or use the washer and dryer).and terrible kitchen tools. One European rental was over $400 per night with no English TV channels, not enough dishes or cutlery for our party of 2. They had no air conditioning, no parking and the apartment reeked of cigarette smoke. The American rentals were over $200 per night and just the same as the European ones. I am a perfect guest, but I have felt taken advantage of and wished I had rented a hotel.
I don’t want an interaction with the host. I don’t want to be friends. I want what I paid for-- a comfortable, clean place to stay as an alternative to a hotel, but this does not mean I want old, shabby, mismatched and funky. I do not view these rentals, either as a host or a guest as a cheaper way to travel. I expect the host to understand that they are in the service business and to meet high standards of hospitality. I don’t understand the attitude of “it is a cheaper place to stay so the guest really shouldn’t complain” or expect more.
Attention to detail, organization and good communication are the key and my experience as a guest has informed me that many hosts do not possess these skills.
For example, my husband and I stayed in a beautiful apartment in Switzerland for $475.00 per night for 18 days. The linen was on the bed for us to make up the bed, the towels were stored away, there was not enough glasses, cutlery or cookware to prepare a meal. The appliances were all in German with no instructions for us English speakers. the TV had only French channels. It was unclear how to use the air conditioning, the WiFi wouldn’t connect (a note was left on the counter with a password) the apartment flooded with 2 inches of water while we were there. We cleaned it up. The host left the apartment unlocked for us to find our way in, no meet and greet, no key exchange, no help what so ever. When we tried to reach the host, the reply was sorry “I’m on holiday in Cyprus”. This was an apartment that no one lives in, it is rented for income and they expect it to rent full time.
I left a neutral review, stressing location, view, how beautiful the apartment was and in the private notes to the host told her more or less what I said above. I know a bad review can really hurt a host. I received a good review from the host.
So the contrast between my rental and the apartment I rented in Europe was astounding. My rental goes between $85 to $150 per night with smart pricing. It is rented all the time. I provide what I anticipate a guest wants. If this makes me a picky American then I am really pleased to be one. I’m just annoyed at the whining by the hosts on this particular thread and take a different view.
@Karol_Stein May I ask how long you’ve been hosting or how many reviews you have?
I ask because if you have 20 reviews or less or have been hosting less than a year then you may run into some problems. And if you do you will find that this is a supportive group. Speaking of annoying, I find people who claim to be perfect quite annoying since that is literally impossible.
4 Likes
Not as long as her post lol! 
Perhaps there lies the difference between how many of us here go about hosting and you do.
1 Like
You are so right. Student loans are a huge burden for many young people. At least his profession is going to provide him with an income that will pay off debt fairly quickly.
That would eat up any profits I’d make. I’ve frequently thought about moving out of here because of dog noise, helicopters, etc., but then I realize that I’d barely break even. Depressing 
You really sound like the cliché of the obnoxious American tourist Europeans don’t want to meet, the one who expects everything to be like in the USA where everything is better. Why do you bother travelling then ?
Housing is not air-conditioned in Europe (except in warmest regions of Italy, Spain and southern France) simply because it is useless 360 days/year, so one should not expect AC in a vacation rental. I can’t speak for other countries, but in France it is even discouraged by building codes to install AC in new construction, for environmental reasons (a building should remain cool enough because it’s well built, without AC). It’s also incongruous to expect parking and elevators when most of the housing stock was built pre-WW2.
And yes, it is expected when you travel that TV channels, instructions and more will be in the local language. That’s part of travel. Not the whole world speaks English or wants to. How many Dutch and Italian channels do you offer with your cable upgrade 
?
7 Likes
I’m sorry, @J-Wang. Some locations are better than others. My situation is unique. I am sending you good vibes for a more profitable venture!
@Barthelemy – so well expressed! When my daughter and I travelled for over three weeks in June in Rome, through-out north central Italy, and the Italian Riviera, we were more than pleased with every place we stayed (except one nightmare Airbnb, which Airbnb got us out of and moved us to a much better place). We watched very little TV (because we preferred to experience Italy) – only when my daughter was ill for a couple of days, and we watched Jumanji in Italian – very funny (and we picked up some new Italian words!). No place will ever be perfect. It is good to strive to give your guests excellent value for their money but, yes – wow, what a perfect diatribe of how awful Americans can be. I only hope that our interactions with the Italians who housed us, and the other travelers we met and with whom we had amazing discourses, that my daughter and I dispelled some of the previous interactions they might have had with US tourists who act so entitled. We really are not all that way.
Thanks for the thought. My little venture here is actually quite profitable because of my location, which is why rents are so high. I’m just going to hang in for the time being and put up with the dog noise and neighbors and save up so I can rent the whole place out and bail. But where? Some acreage in the midwest?
1 Like