Hi fellow hosts. First let me say that I believe this forum is the place to find top-notch advice and support from hosts who’ve spent years refining their craft. I also think it’s an excellent source for new hosts who are dedicated to providing excellent experiences for their guests. I do wonder at times, though, if we’re overthinking things? I wonder that for myself, but I also wonder that when I’m reading through some of the posts and responses here. Maybe being an exceptional host (and I intentionally didn’t use the word “super host” because I think you can be mediocre and still scoot by with super host status)–maybe being exceptional requires some degree of overthinking? 
Thoughts?
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Interesting post. I assume this came up for you because of your fridge dent incident, with everyone coming up with ways to handle it, when in the end, as you posted on that other thread today, the guest behaved like a responsible adult and not only didn’t argue or deny responsibility, but was easy to deal with and is willing to pay for the hopefully successful repair.
Personally, I don’t feel I overthink much, although I used to. But I don’t have too much to overthink with just a private room homeshare for 1 guest. I used to overthink why a guest wasn’t responding, but I realized it’s pointless to assume anything, as there always turned out to be a reasonable explanation and an apology when they finally did respond.
I actually find I have overthought more since I started reading hosting forums. The first 2 years of being a host, when I winged it in my own, all the possibilities of what could go wrong, or how bad guests could be never occured to me, as I had never experienced those things.
When my 2nd guest ever showed up with her boyfriend, in a room I only rent to 1 guest, the way I handled it, on the fly, turned out fine for both me and the guest. Had I asked for advice on a hosting forum, I would have gotten all sorts of advice, which might have caused me stress trying to decide which advice to follow.
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I don’t know about others but I’m the sort of person who if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it well.
That’s not necessarily a good thing. I’m super-competitive and even compete against myself. (13,000n steps today? Must do 14,000 tomorrow.)
I don’t think that I overthink but I do want to be the very best at what I do. That includes hosting and hospitality.
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I think most of us over think it because we thrive on providing guests with a great experience.
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Yes some are and some are overanalyzing everything, every time. The vast majority of hosts have never posted on a forum and don’t even know about them. People mostly land here when they have a problem. You see people post all the time that they’ve hosted a long time and never had a problem but now they have one and so here they are.
I looked for a forum like this a few months after I started Airbnb to avoid problems. I stuck around even though I still haven’t had many big problems with guests or with Airbnb.
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@muddy you nailed exactly what I was (wait for it) thinking! Ha ha. But all joking aside, I’m quite serious. I’m 100% sure that I’ve managed to survive off grid fiascos (and I truly mean fiascos that should have gotten me 0 stars) except that I came here for advice and worked very hard to salvage the situation and have never gotten anything but 5 stars (knock on wood). So yes to being committed and competitive and driven and all of that. But I do find myself imagining scenarios and playing out “what if’s” and maybe projecting at times. I think a certain amount of this is necessary to anticipate guests’ needs and deliver great experiences, but it does seem like it can become an endless loop and/or lead me away from the facts. I guess my question is as much about maintaining a healthy level of foresight and scenario planning while still keeping that on-the-fly trouble shooting and hosting that might be healthier and just as effective.
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I find I need to back off from chasing perfection and glowing reviews and refocus on profit margin from time to time.
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It definitely seems to be stress about reviews that is at the heart of many of the issues hosts post about. If you remove concern about reviews from the equation, guests who are acting like jerks, for instance, would be dealt with like we would deal with anyone in our lives who was acting like a jerk, rather than trying to appease them with actions or a refund, wondering and seeking advice on the best way to handle the situation so as to hopefully avoid some 1* retaliation review.
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It seems to me that you have a healthy and productive mindset.
Clearly you need both to plan ahead for scenarios and be the in-the-moment troubleshooter that you are.
But we each have our strengths and our go-to way of doing things. Myself, I think I’m a better planner than I am in the moment when I am more likely to be distracted by thinking I hadn’t plan as well as I could have.
BUT, coming here accessed in-the moment problem solvers. Like last year when I had a problem with our AC and people here discussed just buying a portable AC and returning it after the visit, which I would never have considered. [It turns out I didn’t need to do that because our heating/cooling company loaned us a unit free, which – amazingly – they just picked up last week.]
To answer your question, it’s a balance.
But what I thought might be driving your question was questioning the honesty of your architect-guest. I do think we sometimes here think/feel we fathom the motives of some of our guests, when we really just don’t know, and can’t know.
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I just had a conversation on just that with a gentleman from Marriott’s Corporate staff. They see the same issue with reviews and guests that we do, and get petty complaints in an attempt to get refunds or some compensation.
His attitude is to try to help guests have a good stay and not worry about those few that have petty complaints.
Of course, a single poor review for a hotel won’t damage them if they have hundreds of great reviews.
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“I saw some ants in the cabin. I don’t think I can stay here in this situation”.
With the review concern:
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll call pest control right away.
Okay, the pest control people can come in 2 hours. How about I pay for you and your family to go for lunch at that nice restaurant on the lakeshore while the pest control guys are there?”
Without reviews:
“Some ants? I consider them nature’s cleaners. How many, like hundreds? Oh, about 5? Why’d you book a cabin in the woods if you freak out about a few harmless ants? You want a full refund after you’ve been there for 4 days? For 5 ants that were probably attracted to the food you let your kid walk around with? You’ve gotta be kidding. What planet are you from? Pack up and leave then, like I care.”
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“Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.” Whether or not one overthinks can be a matter of temperament, as in my case. Also, in my case, it is good to visit this forum to gain perspective. I disagree with many points of view, here, but that doesn’t matter. It helps me gain perspective and balance. I believe I have avoided many problems because of the helpful information gleaned here. As long as I keep in mind that the people, here, are simply human and not “experts” (whatever credibility that label lends) prone to human foibles, and that I can disregard anything I don’t like, I’m happy.
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I think there is some truth to this because I think often what guests consider “exceptional” has to do with a high degree of attention to detail and forethought by the host. Many of the comments in my reviews say things like, “She’s thought of everything!”, and “this Airbnb is so well appointed”. I also think in some ways all the crappy Airbnb hosts give me an advantage because people get used to Airbnb’s that don’t look like the pictures, aren’t squeaky clean, aren’t ready on time, the host doesn’t respond, etc. Then they come to my place, which in my opinion is very basic, just a one bedroom guesthouse, and say “this is the best Airbnb I’ve ever stayed in.” The reason its the “best” is usually because of things I consider to be baseline.
Ugh, yes, although, maybe not a bad thing. Those ridiculous people I told everyone here about requested $195 back yesterday and I approved it. Not because I think they deserved a single penny but because of everything I have been reading here, I have learned it would not be worth it to take a risk with Airbnb customer service that they would be reasonable or even reachable. I do not need my listing shut down and suspended over $195.
Same! I think it’s mostly a good thing but I have also learned to become more savvy at considering times when the “85% solution” is the best option, not letting perfection be the enemy of the good, and the like. I have also learned to get more comfortable to wait and see how things play out, to not feel so driven to “fix” things right away unless that is truly needed. In my welcome message I let my guests know, in a nice way, that I work a traditional 8-5 job so while they can expect me to be responsive, I am not able to “drop all” to come attend to every minor inconvenience, some things will need to wait until my lunch break or after work.
I do this too but I’ve learned its a symptom of my anxiety, so I try to shut it down early on.
Okay, I’m going to need this on a magnet. 
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[quote=“JWK, post:13, topic:58063”] I
also think in some ways all the crappy Airbnb hosts give me an advantage because people get used to Airbnb’s that don’t look like the pictures, aren’t squeaky clean, aren’t ready on time, the host doesn’t respond, etc. Then they come to my place, which in my opinion is very basic, just a one bedroom guesthouse, and say “this is the best Airbnb I’ve ever stayed in.” The reason its the “best” is usually because of things I consider to be baseline.
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My listing is a small private room/private bath, share kitchen. There is nothing whatsover high end, although the design of the room, and the soft furnishings I made myself are unique. And I clean every centimeter of the place thoroughly.
I’ve had several guests say, when entering their room, “Oh wow, this is the nicest Airbnb room I’ve ever had. It’s much better than the photos.”
And one guest, in a private message he sent when writing his review, said “That was one of the best Airbnb stays I’ve ever had. You wouldn’t believe the crap out there some people actually charge money for.”
Which I guess sort of sums it up. I don’t even advertise more than soap and toilet paper in the bathroom, there’s no welcome basket, or snacks (although guests are welcome to use my oil and spices and I do provide coffee and a selection of teas). But I’ve had guests tell me, “You could charge more for this, you know.”
If you aren’t knocking yourself out with amenities, and “luxury” and still get those comments, that just goes to show how many places on offer must really show a lack of care, going with the “easy money” attitude. Or the hosts just don’t “get it” and simply aren’t suited to being in the hospitality business.
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At your price point how many free nights was that?
It was the my portion/payout of their 2 night stay. Again, the point wasn’t that they deserved anything but to keep Airbnb uninvolved.
Speaking of which, I had success recently with getting Airbnb to remove a revenge review! Not for me, but for my son – he booked a place to stay up north for just one night. He booked it 10 days before the trip.
Then, 1 day before check in, the host contacted him off platform (via text message) asking him to send a photo of his credit card so he could charge a $200 deposit. Son asked me if he should. I said, no, that’s very weird. Host shouldn’t be asking you for a photo of your credit card off platform. We started looking deeper into the guy’s reviews and found a recent review from someone who complained that the man had taken a $200 “deposit” on their credit card and, 11 days later, the deposit still hadn’t been returned.
So I advised my son to reply, on app, and say, basically, let’s keep this all on app, and I’m not comfortable sending you a photo of my credit card. The man sent him another text message saying, again, send me a photo of your credit card, you have to pay a deposit in order to stay here. So my son – this time not consulting with me – just cancelled the booking. He didn’t get his money back, he just ate the cost. He was creeped out by the whole scenario. (I think he could have gotten Airbnb to cancel the booking on the grounds that the host was trying to get his credit card information off platform, but oh well, you have to let your kids make their own mistakes sometimes!)
Get this – a week later the host gives my son a terrible review, saying that he booked the room 10 days in advance and then cancelled it 1 day before the trip, making it impossible for him to rent the room to anyone else. After my son had PAID FOR THE EMPTY ROOM that he never stayed in!
This was my son’s first experience on Airbnb and now he was going to have only one terrible review. At that point, I was no longer willing to let him make his own mistakes, so I took over and drafted a message to ABB CS saying that the review should be removed on the grounds that it was a revenge review, because the host was angry that my son had called him out for his off-platform activities.
They removed the review!
Anyway, it sure is a reminder that not all Airbnb hosts are like the crowd here. And that one bad review doesn’t necessarily mean a bad guest.
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There are websites that coach people on how to get free and discounted stays. I wonder if we are doing ourselves a disservice by detailing how scammers can be successful here on our forum. It is a public forum.
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I’m glad Airbnb removed the review, but I’m not that surprised- communicating off-platform is something Airbnb really, really doesn’t like. It’s one of those triggers like “hidden cameras” and “privacy violation”.
The host sounds not only like a real scammer, but a total a-hole as well, and I sure hope this led to some investigation and getting booted off the platform.
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I am personally stoped to accept guest who trying bargain on discount. Few times that I was agree and give a discount the guest want even more, became unreasonable during the stay and threatening bad review.
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