A host who travels lists their Airbnb hates - now modified to be called "My Pet Peeves"

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Do you actually have anything nice to say about any of the hosts or places you stayed in?

When booking in future send your list to hosts and see will they host you and will they supply all the items you expect.
There are cultural difference and people supply different things for guests. Many eastern european listings would be cheap by western standards and maybe hosts dont have a lot of money for what extras you expect

One of your guests complained about the lack of amenties like soap in your listing. People in glass houses should not throw stones

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32

I knew it would be controversial, maybe take it in the manner it was offered - things that are annoying to some guests.

I have visited over 80 countries and stayed in over 100 Airbnb’s in the past 5 years and they vary incredibly all over the world, so I feel I am qualified to make a comment. I have also been thanked in person and in reviews for suggestions I have made to hosts from a guest point of view.

I only stay in entire homes because that is the type of place I am looking for, I don’t want the home stay experience. I also try to book the self check in places to avoid the meet and greet, when you are travelling in a strange country and you have to meet someone at a specific time it is stressful.

I get 5* as a guest and I have been a super host every quarter for the last 4 years, I leave every place immaculate without so much as a teaspoon in the sink or a drink ring on a table. And obviously I don’t do the things on my list in the villas I manage as I know what guests want. Usually the first thing they want to do when they arrive is use the bathroom, but hosts don’t seem to get that as they go on and on about where you can find the cutlery - put it in writing, clearly and plainly.

I manage Airbnbs that have a turnover each of about $10,000 a month, every month of the year even in the off season, e.g. in the winter, and no they aren’t in the mountains, they are close to beaches and it is freezing. I can manage this from the other side of the world while my guests are blissfully unaware that I am not around the corner.

All that is needed is very thorough, clearly written instructions with headings given to them in 3 places - message form, in their itinerary and in a Welcome Kit in the villa.

I constantly update these with better ways of writing them, and often with ideas and wordings I pick up from this forum, so thank you. I combine this with a fast response to queries through the Airbnb message platform - this is the only way I communicate with guests (80% are 1 night stays).

When you travel for months and months on end (I am regularly travelling for 6 - 8 months), moving every couple of nights or so the same hosts mistakes are annoying and glaringly obvious.

I am aware that this forum is top heavy with live-at-home, share hosts, so you have a very different hosting experience to me. The few times I have tried a home stay as a guest it wasn’t a good experience.

The majority of listings need major work on their photos and descriptions, when you are choosing from 100,000’s of listing every couple of days you get very quick at making a decision.

I also have a great list of all the weird and wonderful things guests have asked for, said and done but that is for another time.

Cheers!

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34

But, you still didn’t answer the liquid soap question! :slight_smile: Or if you did, I missed it and I apologize.

Also, you mentioned that you have tried listings that are owner occupied, but that is was not good. Could you explain what you didn’t like, or what went wrong?

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36

Sorry I did miss the liquid soap, I’m still working my way through all the messages I have woken up to! I understand that liquid soap is better, I use them in my villas, so this is one I don’t follow myself! I think it is just a quirk of me so I travel with my own, liquid soap slips off my hand before it gets to my body!

The owner occupied stays - first one, when I washed up the water poured out of the cupboard all over the floor (the bucket underneath was full) when I couldn’t find the mop, I knocked on the host’s bedroom door only to be told to use the newspaper in the laundry, there were lots of other issues as well!

The next one - they were all smoking marijuana in the lounge room when we arrived and this continued for out whole stay.

Then there was the one where we were constantly woken up with loud sex noises from the next room - you get the picture, we gave up!

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My average price per night was between $60-$70, sometimes more and sometimes less.

I try hard not to book a place with the bed against the wall, it is something I look for when choosing, however I got caught out a couple of times where the photos didn’t show it.

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I am aware that my post came across as harsh, that’s what happens online, people can’t get tone.

Also, I did stay in lots of hotels too, for a one night stay a hotel is better but for 2 nights and longer Airbnbs are better - you want some space and a kitchen, I thought that was obvious.

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41

not only that… I thought you were a man!
So I did not get anything right. -:slight_smile:
the anonymity of the internet !

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42

So you prefer to have your guests eaten by mozzies and woken up with buzzing flys landing on them? Both of these happened to me on this last trip.

There are many, many countries in the world which don’t have fly screens, I would go out on a limb and say there are more countries that don’t have them than do.

I bought my own, fly spray that is!

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43

I have to say, this list is exactly why I’m proud of my listing. We check most all of the boxes…except we aren’t on IB. I will never be until I am forced. And even then I will most likely just defect.

But…I DO put the towels on top of the pillows, but that is because we have two bedrooms and even though we only rent a whole home, multiple parts of families generally don’t like to mix up their towels, so that’s where they will stay. If you were staying with me as a single or one couple, they would be on the rack in the bathroom.

@Poppy if you come to the Chicago area you can stay here! I would be glad to have someone appreciate that I too have looked at my place with a “guest’s eye.” Although my husband still calls it “getting bent out of shape.” YMMV. :blush:

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45

Now my situation differs, as I rent large houses, and not single rooms. But one of my absolute most critical guest(s) was a SuperHost. She booked a ladies getaway.
It was about 5 years ago.
Amongst her private feedback, ( in addition to pointing out that I was not warm and friendly ), was our lack of shower gel soap instead of providing only bar soap.
Of course I listened. I purchased liquid shower gel plus pump soap to keep in each bathroom along with the bar soap.
Two houses / 9 bathrooms. Nine shower gel pump bottles.
Five years , and a few thousand guests later … each bathroom still has that first bottle of the original shower gel I purchased in response to her feedback. ( I did not change my personality however .)
So one thing I can say with absolute certainty…guests - on the whole - definitely prefer bar soap to shower gel.
Some feedback is just personal preference. Lesson learned.

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46

Thank you, I am aware that the way I made the list it came across as demanding.

I was aware that I was probably going to get hated on as that is unfortunately the nature of online forums, so it’s nice to have someone stick up for me.
Thank you.

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48

Nah - guests use the pillows, but they don’t put the pillow cases on.
Better to put cases on the spare pillows.

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51

But I think that people are taking this personally when it’s supposed to be just a general list of compiled complaints over lots of stays, not a huge list for a single place. I personally think they are great suggestions that will help hosts better their listings.

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52

Maybe they are a man. Men have husbands too.

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54

About two years ago I bought a big box of individual small soaps…hotel style. I put a bar in the Airbnb bathroom along with liquid shower soap. That box of 250 still has 200+ bars in it. The liquid has been replaced many times. So I can say without a doubt that my last 300 guests prefer shower gel.:smiling_face::smiling_face::smiling_face::smiling_face:

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55

I thought that too, but sorry to disappoint, I am a girl, I thought Poppy was only a girl’s name.

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58

point well taken and I stand corrected.
Thank you for helping me grow.

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59

Maybe your soap bars are less used because you get a lot of one night stays. So opening a bar of soap for one night might feel wasteful to conscious people.
My minimum stay is 3 nights and many are 7 nights.
Perhaps then guests feel comfortable opening the wrapping when they are using the bar a few days in a row.
I donate all leftover slightly used soaps to our community outreach. Most times the brand stamp is still showing as the soap is so lightly used. Maybe a lightly used bar of soap is gross to some of us, but to the less fortunate it can be a useful donation.

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60

Also maybe you provide nicer soaps than I do. Lol

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64

Thanks I can agree with so much of this!

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