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I had a guest check in yesterday and I bent over backwards to let her check in late.
This morning I got a message saying that my cat meows too loudly and “can this be remedied”, and that it is unsustainable for her to be woken up by a cat. WTF does she want me to do, put a muzzle on my cat or lock her in my room? It’s all over my listing that I have a cat and most people love the cat and praise her in the reviews.
I updated my “Pets live on property” section to state that the cat meows and that this is not the place for you if you need complete silence. Is this section one that guests must specifically agree to separately before the booking or is it just mixed in below my house rules?
What can I do about this unrealistic guest? She’s acting like I’m supposed to wipe her ass, as she’s made a bunch of other demands while I’m at work. I’m already expecting a bad review but would like to mitigate the situation if possible. She’s still here for a few nights unless she cancels.
What about ear plugs for her? I am curious why your cat meows all the time ?
I stayed with a family for quite a bit of time and they had a cat. She meowed only when she was hungry but once fed she just slept all day.
Then one day she started meowing again …for couple hours . She climbed on my stomach and meowed and meowed .
It was weird…I never had a cat as a pet before .
And then soon after she had 3 cutest kittens .
Unfortunately my cat likes to go in the hall outside the guest rooms and meow. She does it outside my room, but more so at the guest rooms (perhaps because she is curious about the new guests). The food bowl is always out and full, and the meowing always occurs in the morning hours when she wants people to be up (not a problem for me since I work early, but for guests on vacation who aren’t familiar with cat behavior, I can see that would be an issue).
Thanks @Debthecat! You understand with having a cat. Cats are vocal! This guest definitely has hotel expectations…she was complaining that my kitchen was cluttered (if she’s talking about my small kitchen appliances on the counter, there’s nothing I can do about them), and then I came home and found all her dishes in the sink as if I’m supposed to load them in the dishwasher.
Funny thing, she is a host herself and one of her reviews comments that there is a lot of cat hair. Really??? And she’s complaining about my cat?
I board dogs here and state that in multiple places. I also have a picture with a bunch of dogs. Now people are disappointed when there are 4 instead of 8. LOL.
It doesn’t matter if it’s required that they read and agree or not. Guests do what suits them. I have this wording in my listing:
I have quiet hours of 10pm to 6am but this is not the best place for day or light sleepers. I live in a neighborhood with typical noise starting in the early morning. Your room is attached to the house but completely separated if you don’t care for dogs you’ll never see them but you will hear them. The window AC may vibrate, the mini fridge compressor makes noise. I provide ear plugs but complete silence here is impossible.
Underpromise and overdeliver. But what do I know? I don’t have cats and I’m home all day.
$19.99. We have 4 of them and there is no noise in our house. That’s why they’re there - many people require noise to sleep. This thing has various sound tracks to choose from. We love them. Will drown out your cat with the sound of a babbling brook (no pun intended) or whatever.
Interesting, something to think about. It may be a lost cause with this guest due to the high maintenance nature of some of her other demands, but that might help. Or offer earplugs.
People who have tinnitus will love you for it.
People, like my husband, who can’t sleep without a fan on will love you for it. That’s why we started with these. He couldn’t sleep without a fan on (a noisy tabletop fan). I can’t sleep with that racket. So the machine was the compromise for a happy marriage, years ago. We got a 2nd one for the 2nd home, then added 2 more for the other 2 rooms for our guests to enjoy. They’re so inexpensive, why not.
I hate earplugs and would not consider that an acceptable solution. I love cats so that isn’t the issue - but if there was an annoying noise I would not be happy with ear plugs. A white noise machine with a variety of sound choices would not only work, l would be intrigued with it. We do offer one to our guests due to a neighbor dog who barked late into the night. As soon as we bought it the dog either learned to be quiet or moved.
What are her other reviews like? @GardenFairy. To be honest it would also annoy me as a guest if she came and meow’d outside my room in the early hours. I sleep really lightly and I know from family cats this would wake me up Can you have the cat sleep in a room with a closed door so she doesn’t wander the place at night? . Having said that she sounds like an unreasonable pain in the XXX.
You could tell the guest that your kitchen is as pictured in the listing and unfortunately the cat does meow at night. In your situation i would offer to ask Airbnb to cancel penalty free. She doesn’t sound like a good fit.
If you do have her stay as others said white noise machine or ear plugs. And remind her she needs to clear up after herself when she has finished.
@GardenFairy, at least with respect to the cat, I’m afraid I’m on your guest’s side on this one. I have not one, but two rather vocal kitties and I consider it my responsibility as a host to provide a quiet and restful place for guests to sleep.
Both my cats, depending on the day (I think they have a schedule worked out between them and have decided to take turns) will do the same as yours and howl outside closed bedroom doors, either mine or guest’s. My solution is to keep them both in my bedroom with me overnight. That way, they only wake me up. I keep a litter pan and water in my ensuite bath so they have everything they need.
I do draw the line with guests who come to my house and declare they either are afraid of, don’t like, or are allergic to cats, as it is clear in my listing that they live here.
I agree with all the comments about white noise machines. Every Airbnb guest room should have one.
I guess you should expect this sort of thing when booking a shared home. Not sure what the guest was thinking booking a shared home with a cat then complaining about it.
