Thanks everyone. I am definitely not interested in curtains, so doubling up doesn’t work. I will consider people’s varying opinions about shades but, as nobody seems to think it has cost them business (even if guests mention it), I will probably not get the blackout shades. It sounds like people like them, and there are perks to having them, but that their absence is also not likely to keep me from filling the rooms.
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I personally would not book a room that did not have dark shades. I need a dark room to sleep, and this includes moonlight. Moonlight is great but not while I sleep. I must be a vampire or at the very least I have very thin eyelids!
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Quite a few people need that. I’ve had people unplug a nightlight that’s around the corner from the bed but which would cast an indirect glow into the sleeping area. I’ve had people turn off or unplug things with glowing leds (microwave, surge protector) and I assume it’s need for darkness. I remember one host (@Xena?) relaying a story of a man buying cheap black out shades and putting them up and damaging the window frame. I stayed in a home this summer that had shades and curtains in all the bedrooms except mine. Mine had a sheer curtain only and a window facing east to greet the morning sun. Luckily I’m not someone who needs absolute darkness for sleep.
Obviously the guest should read the listing and take responsibility for choosing a listing that meets their needs, but if they don’t, the host suffers.
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I travel with an eye mask for emergencies like this! (I prefer not to wear these though, I find them uncomfortable.)
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It wasn’t my guest, though I remember that story as well.
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Maybe also have a look at this tread: POLL: Blackout curtains - Please help me decide on my new curtains It’s a poll I made when we needed to decide on what window-dressing we would put in.
We opted to put in blackout rolls and have been happy to have them. We combined them with glass curtains for privacy (city environment) during the day. We love the flexibility the combination offers. Rolls don’t block out the light 100%, some light seeps in on the sides, but they do allow the rooms to be relatively dark. People who want a bit more morning light can raise the rolls according to personal taste.
Guests have mentioned them in their reviews as a positive. One couple complained because they hadn’t seen them 
and just slept with the glass curtains. Since then, we point out the rolls to guests when giving the house tour 
.
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Hi @Guthend, I haven’t seen you around here for a while - hope everything’s okay. 
If that’s not possible, or if it’s been a couple of years since you spent the night there, it’s also very useful to go in early in the morning (for instance when guests have left for an early flight) or in the evening (when your guests aren’t arriving until late).
You’ll see things that the daylight sun doesn’t reveal. 
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Sometimes it’s through necessity, roll home at 7am and OH teaching in the morning…
JF
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Where have you been @GutHend? I think many of us have missed your pithy input a great deal. Has all been well for you recently?
Sod the blinds. Just glad to hear from you once more!
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What’s that then? Occupational Health? Am I being dense here?
But obviously no snoring problems your end. I can’t recall when I last rolled in at 7 am, but I have slept in my rental rooms through necessity, and when empty, when Mr Joan has had a skinful… And I’m told OH = other half. Got it!
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My guess was Other Half.
Yes, sorry. Simpler than saying “my darling dearest wife”, or more commonly about the house, “she who must be obeyed because she’s usually right”.
JF
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I provide eye shades - I have a pack in the bathroom. Since then I have had no complaints about my louvre blinds.
Yes, I’m perfectly fine . Thank you both for worrying 
. Since the beginning of the year I was looking for a new job in my home country and the 20th of May I started a new job that has been very intense. It has been kind of a career switch that has involved lots of reading, learning… and working VERY hard: I came into an office where one colleague after another had to stay home because of “burnout” 
. Just today I worked from 6am until 9pm 
. But I can assure you, it has generally been great fun.
As for AirBnB, as some know, our AirBnB is taken care of by my MIL for the moment. I still do most pre-arrival communication, but all in all the BnB thing has become less present in my life. And by consequence also this forum. I still come to read regularly, but often I don’t find the time to thoroughly participate. It also makes me a little bit sad that a lot of the funny regulars seem to have left 
. This forum used to be better fun, but luckily it’s still a great source of information and advice 
.
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This is good news indeed and sounds a very exciting move for you. But make sure you don’t follow your colleagues down the burnout route.
If you are troubleshooting a troubled organisation (and working 6am-9pm sounds like it) it can be hard to spot burning out until you’ve sorted the mess, and the adrenaline levels suddenly drop.
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I have three separate entire house AirBnBs. I have blinds on the windows–the 2 inch horizontal slat ones. No blackout blinds or drapes. I’ve had about 150 bookings in the last year. No one has complained, in a review or in private, about the lack of blackout shades or drapes. No one has suggested I install them, even though I ask people for suggestions for improvement. All three houses are in town where there are streetlights. I do provide eyemasks.
I see several people have suggested these. Do you provide disposable ones? Is it an item people take home with them? Or is it something you can wash between guests? I’ve never used them before.
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You can get a big box of them on Amazon that come individually wrapped. I provide them as well but also have blackout blinds. They don’t get used very often, but it might be because of the blackout blinds, not sure. I’d be willing to mail you a bunch if you wanted to give them a try!
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Even with my high turnover I’m not going to be buying anymore “big boxes” of anything for my Airbnb room. I got a box of 250 individually wrapped soaps 4 years ago and I still have 200+. I bought a small single cup Keurig this summer that most guests don’t use. I’ve already started giving away the k-pods I bought at Costco.