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I’m curious how many people have experienced hosting a fellow Airbnb host that turns out to be a very bad Airbnb guest? I recently had to end a 5 day reservation on the 3rd day and kick out my guest, a fellow Airbnb host, for repeated and purposeful violations of my house rules - bringing over multiple undisclosed guests, multiple times. This is the 2nd time in my 6 years of hosting that I’ve had to kick a guest out, and in both cases, the guests were fellow Airbnb hosts. There really isn’t much room for a misunderstanding of my house rules - here is what they state:
Do not disturb the neighbors. Do not make loud noise and annoy them.
No parties allowed, no loud noise, or music inside after 10pm.
Throw away all trash in the dumpsters located behind the building. Do not leave trash outside the door or in the common areas.
Self wash all dishes when used.
Do not open the windows and run the AC at the same time. Do not leave any window open while the apartment is vacant.
Non approved late check outs will be accessed a $75 fee per fraction of each hour.
Prearranged approved late check out can be made for $25. Inquire before your last day to arrange with the maid if possible.
No additional undisclosed guests, visitors, or friends are allowed over to the apartment during your stay - this includes both overnight guests or even just friends/ family/ people staying in nearby hotels stopping by to hang out or visit you during the day. ONLY paid and disclosed guests on the reservation are allowed in the apartment at anytime.
Unreported guests will result in a $50 fee per day, per unreported guest.
No smoking, of any thing. Smoking inside will result in a $200 additional cleaning fee.
Do not hide, conceal, or fail to report any damage you may accidentally cause. The maid makes a full inspection after each check out.
After noticing the first violation on day 2, I simply message the guest and politely reminded them of the house rules and their obligation to respect them. The guest responded 12 hours later denying any violation and asking me why I was messaging them. The morning of the 3rd day, I again noticed they violated the rules now a 2nd time, incredibly after I already warned them and she denied breaking the rules. I contacted Airbnb to involve them and decided I would wait to discuss the matter with the guest to determine how to handle the situation. We discussed the issue on the phone around lunch time and she was defiant, argumentative, unapologetic, and even went so far as to cite her also being an Airbnb host as the reason she felt my rules were too strict. She never once accepted responsibility & only after I told her frankly that the only solution at this point was for her to either follow the rules or end the reservation and leave immediately, only then did she curtly respond: it won’t be an issue again. Given her attitude and tone on the phone, I should have known better and ended the reservation immediately.
As I was suspecting by her tone on the phone, her promise was broken again 4 hours later when, now for the 3rd time, she brought another undisclosed male over to the apartment who departed 30 mins later. I messaged her and informed her the reservation was ending immediately and to leave the apartment. When I returned from work that evening, after the guest had departed, the entire apartment smelled like weed & left left the windows wide open with the AC turned on full blast.
I’ve hosted close to 400 guests and (without going back to count) I’ve only hosted about 10 hosts. No problems at all.
I would have charged the guest for the additional people after the first violation and made sure it was noted in the Air message thread. I wouldn’t be calling them on the phone if I could avoid it. After the second violation I would have ended the reservation, I wouldn’t be negotiating with them. As it turned out some weed smell and open windows isn’t too bad.
I’ve hosted quite a few hosts with no problems at all. I wonder if someone who is a bad guest is also a bad host? There’s really no reason to expect that the word ‘host’ magically makes a good guest.
I’ve also wondered about these rules that say ‘don’t do this … but if you do, you’ll pay for it’. To me, rules like that are a bit of a challenge rather than a deterrent!
Hahaha. No, an entirely different set of guests. I assume it my City, known for and attracting party people… and it being Spring Break right now so it’s an influx of young adult… and my location being just a few blocks from all the major sights people want to see - so for some reason people feel entitled to bring back anyone they meet & cont. the party inside my apartment. Usually my rules alone are enough to deter bad guests from booking - but then again, who know how many people actually read my full listing.
That’s the oddest part, she’s a Super Host with glowing reviews. On the phone conversation she said to me: “why do you even care how many people come over, I don’t monitor guests at my property, it’s creepy that you’re this strict with people on vacation.” As if her way of running her property applies to mine.
Oh, and the “don’t do this… or you’ll pay for it” part… That exists because of my many experiences dealing with bad guests damaging, stealing, swapping our items & airbnb’s response - Airbnb will only impose penalties against a security deposit if that penalty is stated in the rules - I learned the hard way.
I just hosted some hosts who examined every square inch of my place for where mosquitos could have entered and detailed that in the private feedback. They failed to realize that mosquitos come in when you open the door.
I’m forever weary of fellow Hosts as guests just as much as I am guests who inform me “we are very clean people”… aka, get ready for minut nit picking complaints.
I can relate to the claim about “very clean people”.
About four guests ago, I got this young unmarried couple who volunteered to me in an early email, “We’ll take very good care of your home because we are very neat and tidy.” I thought, “Hooray!”
Later, my housecleaner reported that there were crumbs and wrappings on the floor throughout the apartment and there was a foul smell in the bedroom. She discovered the guy left the nastiest pair of undershorts at the bottom of the bedsheets and she had to leave it wrapped up as she gagged her way with it to the trashcan.
That’s great ~ and it probably makes a difference to be an in-house host. I’m off property but it seems to me that if I were there to monitor, things would be different.
Actually though, my reviews don’t suffer - all 5-stars (7+yrs) except for three 4’s, the last being 3-4 yrs. ago. I’m planning on going down in glory!
Oh really? I always thought maid was the general, gender-neutral term. I guess I could call them “the cleaner”, but then again no one, including the maids, have ever mentioned anything about their title.
Geez, learn something new every time. I’m still using all the outdated terms! No wonder when I told my collegues that I had to take my shoes to the cobbler for repair, they looked at me all confused.
I think I’ve hosted 3 fellow hosts. Two were great - polite, clean, low maintenance. One was just the opposite. Needy, crabby and left the place a mess. So, I guess about the same as non-host guests.
I am going to be a guest for the first time since hosting in two weeks. If my future host is reading this, I promise I will try and be on my best behavior!
