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We rent a bedroom/private attached bath suite in our home. It’s on the first floor, with the other bedrooms in the house being on the second floor.
We got an instant book 3 night reservation for a youngish couple for an anniversary weekend. I responded to the booking with my standard thanks and can’t wait to meet you message.
I got this in reply:
That sounds amazing! We are looking forward to meeting you as well…although, I will admit that my husband does have a little bit of concern about renting a room instead of an entire home. He’s worried about privacy… is there anything that you could tell us to help him with that issue? We’ve never done a room rental before. And this is only our second rental on Airbnb. The first experience was awesome. I have no doubt that this one will be as well! Any help would be wonderful:)
I’m really just not sure what this woman wants me to say. Is she trying to tell me they plan to boink like bunnies all weekend long? If that is the case, and you’re worried about privacy, then why did you book a room in someone’s home? I suspect it’s because booking an entire place in my area during the time they want to stay is really, REALLY expensive. However, I don’t want a bad review because they were too cheap to book what they really want/need, and I don’t want to pretend I don’t exist in my own home for the duration of their stay.
So, questions to my fabulous forum members. 1. If you were me, would you consider cancelling this reservation? 2. Any thoughts at all on how to reply to her question?
What a completely annoying message. I suppose they want you to say, “Oh, tell your delicate husband not to worry, I won’t be around at all in my own home and I’ll be sure to tip toe around and try not to even come home as much as I normally would so that you’ll barely notice that this is a shared rental except for the fact that you are paying 60% less than the cost of a private unit which you’re both unwilling to pay for your Anniversary.”
I would try to get them to cancel if I were in your position. Less because I’m worried about the poor review and more because the guests already sound annoying.
As the reservation was made via Instant Book, you might want to use one of your three annual penalty-free cancellations. As the guests are celebrating an anniversary weekend, the husband is concerned about privacy and the wife wants you to assuage the concerns; it sounds like an uncomfortable stay.
I would say something like this, “I’m not sure what you would like me to say. You’ve booked a room, not an entire home, so yes, there will be less privacy. You might consider renting an entire home instead.” I would tell her if she cancels immediately you’ll refund her money (if your cancellation policy is set so they would lose any). I would really try to get them to cancel as they sound like they’re going to be pains in the you know what.
I wouldn’t cancel because I think that the husband is fairly reasonable in having qualms about it. I’ve never stayed in a private room in someone’s house - we always stay in entire places. I don’t even like being a houseguest in the house of a friend or family member so the thought of staying with strangers really doesn’t appeal to me. (And we’re not ‘bunnying’ all night )
I’d reply along the lines of ‘please reassure your husband that the room is completely private with its own bathroom and is on its own floor. I can understand his concerns but during your stay, you will have the area completely to yourselves. I’m often on hand to help if you need anything but I completely respect my guests’ privacy. In fact, it’s more private than staying in a hotel… etc’
I don’t think I’d cancel but hope they did. So like Arlene I’d offer a full refund. But I’d also answer more along the lines of what Jaquo said than what Arlene said. To me the issue is, how quiet is it? Can you hear the toilet flushing, the TV, them walking around, the bed bumping? If you can, disclose that. If you can’t hear guests upstairs, then I don’t see what the issue is unless part of their anniversary ritual includes sex on the kitchen counter in the morning.
It might also be a good idea to ask her if her husband has any specific concerns. He might have seen the Airbnb ads and thinks that he’ll have to joyfully make omelettes and crepes with you while sharing a robust local red wine.
I had a guest request to book once (not on IB) and say, we are looking forward to your amazing place! But we do have concerns about being downstairs. How much noise is there from upstairs and are the walls soundproofed?
SOUNDPROOFED??? Like any house in Hawaii has soundproofed walls!!!???
I wrote back and declined, saying that while the apartment is quiet, I’m quiet and the neighborhood is quiet, I didn’t think it would be a good fit and I cannot guarantee soundproofed accommodations.
Another time, someone wrote and requested but wanted to make sure I had blackout drapes as they liked to sleep in. I wrote back declining, stating basically the same thing as above. Get a hotel if you are looking for blackout rooms and soundproofing. Sheesh.
I would not cancel.
Dont make their concerns your concern. They booked a room and only AFTER they asked.
Though i like to accomodate my guests as much as i can, but in this case there is nothing you can do about their privacy. I personally dont find this guest’s question absurd or totally unreasonable. She just does not know and not well traveled. Thats why all the concerns.
I would not want them to feel bad or feel silly asking all these questions. I would say this:
Dear guest,
You are right , it s not the same privacy private room vs. separate appartment. I can reassure you that room is completely private and i will never access your room without permission. The private bathroom is completly yours and noone will use it during your stay.
However if you worry about us hearing sounds, the truth is that YES, we will hear you. :)
And let them to decide what to do without organizing anyhting else. Now, they know they will be heard during nighttime activities unless they are very quiet. Noone wants to be heard doing it, so now they know, and either they will “behave” or will cancel and book separate place.
My guests are having lots of fun when in my introductory speech i tell them that we hear EVERYTHING, and i mean absolutely everything. Usualy they start laughing and reassure me that they will be superquiet, hehehe.
Never ever should you feel like a guest in your own home. A certain behaviour when you have guests in a house can be altered like no cooking in a middle of the night, or shouting at 6 am, but other than that we should just live our normal lives like we always do. Guests know they are just guests not owners of the house, but if they think the opposite its time to learn the truth:)
I don’t think the husband’s concerns are unfounded at all. I just think they should have thought it through before they confirmed a reservation in a home.
I answered with the truth, which is that we’ve hosted dozens of couples and never had a privacy or noise complaint. I explained that during the late evening and through the night, homeowners and guests are on separate floors and for the most part, can’t hear each other, but that they will be aware of us moving around on the ground floor in the morning if they’re awake.
We have a strict cancellation policy, but told them if they think our place isn’t right for them, they can cancel and we’ll refund the remaining 50% if and when the room is rebooked.
One of my reviews says something along the lines of ‘nice room, but not very soundproofed’
Well, no, of course not. It’s my guest room, not some kind of secret bunker
I get about 20% of guests trying to get me to guarantee things that I cannot possibly guarantee. Once that starts, I try to actively downgrade my listing to get them to cancel in a strong way.
The moody ones will cancel while everyone else seems to realize how dumb their questions are.
Response: “Unfortunately I cannot guarantee that *a pizza place will deliver to you. All that I guarantee is listed on the house information when you requested the booking.”
@Yana, the fact that it would be put like that to me as a guest, would really make me feel uncomfortable. I know there are places with layouts that indeed make you hear everything. When faced with such a layout I would already feel a bit uncomfortable, but I would adapt to, and accept the situation.
But if my host put that much emphasis on it, I wouldn’t even feel comfortable to go to the toilet . Maybe your actual words are a bit more subtil, but please consider that you might cause people to feel uncomfortable without good reason.
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. Maybe your actual words are a bit more subtil, but please consider that you might cause people to feel uncomfortable without good reason.