A very interesting differentiation felixcat, and as I think back guests from AirBnB do come across more on an adventurous multi-place trip than those from HA/VRBO. Perhaps the demographics of both services will throw more light on the differences, if indeed there is truly one.
Guests with irritating quirks? Maybe ten percent thus far. Guests I would consider to be problems? That would be anyone who violates the terms (e.g., smokes inside, brings a stranger in, steals something, etc.) the percentage has been zero. I do a pretty good job of screening.
Hi @jackulas,
That sounds great. Do you have any good tips for screening? Iāve thought of asking a separate question about that.
I had to do many adjustments to my rules in a beginning. 3 of these guests were in a very beginning, and now a year later i am thinking that their overwhelming behavior was partially my fault. When i was in college i took a class called āSupervision of qualityā. I really enjoyed that class, as we got to learn about different personality types and how to deal with ādifficultā employees. I should have known how to deal with my ādifficultā guests, but in practice its much harder than in theory. The first thing i learned in that class is to be very specific and stop any āfaultsā from the very beginning. Silence never leads to anything but to more chaos and frustration on both sides.
WHen i encountered my chilian cooks who completely took over the house, spending hours on a kitchen having āpartiesā few hours each day, i was numb and frustrated every day beyond believe. I came to this site as my last hope, If i did not get any help here, i would probably just quit, as it was absoltely impossible to continiue hosting and do a good job being in a mental state i was after that invasion.
WHen i discovered i am not alone in my struggles, it got better from then on. I changed rules every week, adding and deleting. I started speakup, and most of the time thats all that was needed.
I still get from time to time guests that come to my house stressed and unhappy, looking for someone to unload their frustration on. I learned how to recognize it right away. I stay out of their way, and ussually in a morning after they rested and had coffee its a totally different people than the night before.
For me is a big challenge to stay calm when a guest being plain rude. Its funny that depending on which platform i am booked, behavoir of a guest changes. When i am booked through booking.com guests usualy are more demanding and not as happy and easy going as my Airbnb guests. After one british family i got so frustrated that i lowered my price on Air, blocked my calendar on Booking.com and for a whole week was enjoying my wonderful Air guests.
1 Like
Faheem, āvettingā, you mean screening? No, quite the opposite, i am actually on Instant Book. As i mentioned earlier, i can not imagine screening all the people that inquire. My guests dont inquire, they just book, but very few have additional questions and inquire anyway. This German kid last week was corresponding with me a whole week, asking endless questions about proximity to stores, transportation and other things. I understand he does not have car and it was important for him for his 5 days stay. At the same time he was corresponding with other hosts, and ended up not booking me. After him i was thinking, if this what hosts do on a regular basis?? Have endless back and forth with guests and they end up not even booking?? O, no, thats too much work for me.
1 Like
Hi @Yana_Agapova,
Thatās very interesting. So you found this site helpful in a time of need? It does seem a helpful place with nice people, and support is always important. I am sure if and when I run into difficult guests, I too will be asking for advice here.
Iām surprised there are significant differences between guests from different sites. That is not something I would have expected.
Perhaps it would also be helpful to have some large and intimidating young men to deal with unruly guests, bouncer style. 
1 Like
Yes, I mean screening. Iām surprised you use Instant Book. And yes, Iām sure screening guests is a pain. But it sounds like a necessary evil, like other kinds of due diligence.
Unfortunately, Iām one of those annoying people who asks lots of questions, so Iām not really in a position to criticize when others do it, though Iād probably still find it annoying if I was at the receiving end. Ignoring people who ask a lot of questions is always an option - I get that a lot. 
Why else people come here?
Yes i am surprised too, but it think its all about expectations. With Airbnb its all clear: cheaper price, but because its peopleās house its kind of requires more easy going people.
WHy are you surpsied i use IB? Its there, many people use it.
I actually dont think that screening is nesesary. I had almost 200 guests, and all of them booked through IB. I idid not screened anyone. I am probably a bad character judge anyway. I can not evaluate stranger through few emails or by pictures. I have a very detailed description and who is my perfect guest
Personally Iād try to do screening, even if itās difficult, because Iām a control freak. But whatever works for youā¦
I agree with Yana. Iāve tried both ways and instant book makes no difference to the quality of guests. Iāve had good and less-than-good guests using both methods so I guess Iām not good at screening! IB is so much easier though.
The vAnother instant book fan here - not noticed any variation in guest quality.
We let a whole apartment however so it isnā5 like we are living with the guests as a lot of hosts do.
In fact, IB guests tend to be less demanding IME, which is a plus for me.
Problem guests for me are the ones that a least self-sufficient, asking too many dumb questions or struggling to work simple appliances, despite full instructions being left and a demo at check in.
I am always happy to help, and love the integration with people from all over the world that Airbnb brings but a guest that sends me ten plus messages a day during their stay, such as where to buy more coffee, which cycle to use on the washing machine are often the most problematic for me.
Or the guest that asked if we could we drop off some bowls for peanuts as there arenāt any in the kitchen - still no idea what peanut bowls actually are.
The ones who asked me the most questions were fellow Airbnb hosts!
2 Likes
I use IB too, Faheem. Most of my guests are from Europe or Asia and contacting me in the wee hours of the morning when I am sometimes asleep. My belief is that you just canāt tell how a person will fit until they are there. Iāve typed this many times on this site, but I donāt mind repeating it. Some of the guests I dreaded the most I loved the most, and some I was excited to meet ended up driving me crazy. One womanās photo was very odd, she was new to airbnb and she didnāt communicate very well. She was a fabulous guest. One group was 5 Chinese and only the young woman (a student) spoke English. I thought it was going to be dreadful. They were so quiet and respectful. It was a treasure to watch how the young woman served her grandparents and parents during breakfast, in a very loving and respectful way. I had an Americanphile from Australia that I chatted with lots before he came. I felt like he was a friend before he landed on American soil. Well, he was a nice guy and all, but ADD doesnāt being to describe this guy, and he was very difficult to live with.
So more power to those that vet and screen and have success. I donāt and I have also had success. The only thing that Iāve changed is, when it is a group of young people, Iām very clear that this isnāt a place to party and I expect them to be clean, quiet, and respectful. Since then, both such groups have been a treasure. Only one group of young people were difficult but they werenāt really bad, just not a good fit.
OH! Right - a recent guest - a very young man from Malaysia coming with four young friends. He had something of a āgangstaā pose with a wall covered with graffiti in the background. I donāt always do this, but I friended him on FB and followed him since I was nervous. He was working in Utah as part of an exchange program (cheap, imported seasonal help) and he and a group of friends had pinched their pennies and now were traveling across the US. The photos of his trip were delightful and revealed a funny, interesting young man. He and his friends were really lovely and it was a pleasure to meet them.
I may, though, have a āpre-screeningā tool in that my guests share my home and I have three kids. ; 0
Yes, I understand control freak - be ready to say good-bye to that - in a good way. Youāll begin to realize to not sweat the small stuff, to take the whole person into consideration, ask questions when you donāt understand why they are doing what they are doing, but again, remembering, you are the boss.
2 Likes
Hi @dcmooney,
Thanks for the comments. Iāll try basic pre-screening for now, and see how it goes.
Yes, I can believe that. But isnāt it possible to determine some basic incompatibilities or mismatch of expectations after some preliminary back and forth? Or is this so rarely the case that itās not worth bothering with?
Iām not sure what this means.
Well, maybe control freak isnāt quite the right term. Iām the kind of person who does his homework before making a decision; tries to check things out thoroughly. I wasnāt always that way - itās evolved as a defense mechanism.
Life isnāt a controlled experiment, but I think this approach does pay off much of the time, though it does also slow things down.
But maybe this kind of approach isnāt a practical approach to short term hosting. For one thing, one doesnāt have much time to think about it.
Yes, I think itās great how much time you are putting into the decision. Very wise!! I jumped into it without even discussing it with my husband first!!! I had no idea it would turn into a business, not a just a hobby. Everything still worked out but I had no idea what I was getting into.
I didnāt intend to say you shouldnāt be taking this time; I was looking at it from a different angle. For me, having strangers in my home has made me stop and think before reacting to what they are doing. My husband is very easy going and nothing bothers him - Iām the opposite. But Iām learning to not be bothered by things that really arenāt a problem.
1 Like
@azreala One advantage I do have with my place is that we are 7 miles apart (distance between mainland where I stay, and island were they stay), so if they are the annoying type, they are totally on their own. 
2 Likes
Oh, about the pre-screening - since my place is rooms in our home, and I have three children, and my profile states that I home school my kids and work for my church - I think it dissuades people who know they want to party. This is just a guess since Iāve not yet had some of the terrible experiences others have had.
1 Like
Hi @dcmooney,
Thank you for the kind words.
Iām definitely a look-before-you-leap kind of person. But there are complicated tradeoffs involved. I wouldnāt necessarily say my way was better than another way.
Checking things out thoroughly takes a lot more time and effort. Itās often not obvious what is important, and good information can be hard to find, though the internet is invaluable (how did I ever live without it?). As a result, one can spend a lot of time going down blind alleys and starting at shadows.
Also, people find it annoying, especially here. I can practically hear people sometimes thinking āwhy are you asking me all these question? Go away.ā And so forth.
India is something of a madhouse, so how I behave is probably (at least in part) in reaction to that. Places where one can take more for granted, people are probably less careful.
Jumping in with both feet does have have the drawback that one can encounter unpleasant or difficult situations one is unprepared for, but does have the advantage of getting things moving, for better or worse.