Dear all, hope everyone is well and ready for the holidays season. Here is my story: I have a guest who came in from another state in the USA with hefty suitcases and a backpack.He arrives and park in the lot of my building where I live on the 3rd floor…the last floor. He calls from downstairs and asks if there is an elevator and I said no. It is stated on my profile that you must climb stairs.He then asks me to come downstairs and help him bring the luggages up and I said no I cannot do that.Mark you this a younger guy and lam a lady in early 60s. We have never met before.He comes up with the first suitcase.,no hello , nice to meet you, walks straight to the guestroom flips the covers on the bed , looks at the pillows. Shakes the headboard and asks if that is solid enough and if the mattress is strong enough…mattress is new about a year old, complains rudely of the smell of the chemical ( bleach) that I use to clean the bathroom…l will forgive him that. It’s about 9 PM on the East Coast and he asks " where do I eat" I gave him the name of some eateries in the area.He comes about 10: 30pm and sent me a msg via Airbnb that he wants to cancel the two days out of three and would he get his money back? This guy came in with an attitude from the start.About the cancellation, I told him to go ahead contact air to cancel because my patience was running out. Of course when daybreak came I woke to find him ready to head out. Oh his reason for wanting to cancel was because the job he came to do in my town has been canceled which I realized the next day that it was a lie since he did not cancel his reservation and that he was going to stay the two remaining days. I am supper with air now for almost two years with great reviews and 5 stars always.l keep a very neat and organized apartment. I have never had a bad review and never given a bad review to the wonderful guests l have always had. How would you handle this type of a rude guest ??? The aftermath of this is the review…How do I review him? Please help ! Sorry about the lengthy post.
A few things:
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You mentioned that your listing does say you will need to climb stairs, which is great. I might consider being even more specific than that. “Please note that the accommodation is on the third floor and there is no elevator. Guests will need to carry their luggage up xxx flights of stairs.
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You will get bad reviews. Breathe. There is nothing you can do about it, and one bad review in two years of hosting is not going to make much difference.
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If the guest doesn’t break any rules, and otherwise is a decent guest apart from being rude upon arrival, I would probably say something like, “Unfortunately, this guest did not appear to have read all the information regarding the listing.” This could work well if you decide to write a reply to his review as well. Above all, be factual, clear, and concise. No lengthy explanations or arguments of defence - those often make the host look even worse.
Just move on. Put your energies into your next guest. It happens.
For the sake of your fellow hosts, review him succinctly, honestly and unemotionally.
Thirty-something Guest didn’t bother to read the listing and understand that we’re a third-floor walk-up with no elevator. Wanted me (early 60s) to carry his bags. It all went down hill from there. Poor communications. Very rude. Cannot recommend – probably better suited to an hotel than Airbnb.
Ken I usually agree with your reviews but I’m not sure I agree with including the ages of guest and host. Seems irrelevant and ageist.
I don’t see it as irrelevant or ageist. I understand it shows the mentality that the guy has about his own responsibilities.
I appreciate that no one refers to my age in reviews. If I ever do get a review that insinuates I acted a certain way due to my age I will try to have it removed.
Even if it is glowing?
In my experience most of my problems are with older men but I would never state that in a review. I say someone arrived early. I don’t say “this 70 something man was rude.” Age is irrelevant whether glowing or demeaning.
Review:
" Entitled and rude behavior from the moment this guest arrived until he left."
What went south was a man showing up with a lot of luggage for a third floor walk up, walking in without introduction, and assessing the furniture.
You did nothing wrong. What if you had been disabled, or pregnant? What did he expect?
As our other hosts say, put this behind you. And write a chill but honest rebuttal.
Chin up! 
I would tell them that they are welcome to cancel, they will need to contact Airbnb and that the refund policy will be given in accordance with your refund policy. Do this all in writing via Airbnb messaging system. You are going to get a poor review so their is no point in refunding the guest. It honestly not your problem that the guest is entitled.
I totally agree with the advice from @daniellealberta re: being VERY clear about the 3 story walk up. As a guest I often go through dozens of listings to find the right place for a stay. We prefer a king size bed and there is no search filter, so I end up reading a tons of listings. Recently we met another couple and one has mobility issues, so there was no way we could access via a walk up (he can walk up a few stairs, but not climb a full flight w/ luggage.) We rented Airbnbs in 3 cities, so the number of listings I went through was staggering.
I can’t tell you how often I was ready to make the booking, when I read in reviews about the walk up - then when I went back through the listing it was either buried or not disclosed at all.
I know you said you disclose the fact, but I would suggest a photo of your building with your unit marked and in bold letters “No Elevator - 3rd floor walk up”. I assume you have it listed in your important items that guest has to agree to acknowledge before booking. Good luck!
Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. I just want to make it clear that most people are hard to please no matter what. It is definitely stated on my listing that guests must climb 3 flights of stairs but because most don’t bother to read all about the listing before they book, they miss on important info on the listings.Even so, how many of you including men and women would ask a woman you have never met before to come downstairs to help carry your luggage upstairs ??? You don’t know whether this woman has a a disability of any kind or not.Please someone tell if lam the crazy one.
Definitely not the crazy one! I might have missed the walk-up part, but wouldn’t expect a host to haul my bags, whether it were 2 flights or 10.
There are a couple things about my home that would surprise guests who don’t read. In my confirmation e-mail I thank them for reserving and the bottom of the message has a couple sentences of fair-warning. It’s worked well to inform and give them a chance to cancel if they didn’t take the time to read before booking.
This listing is the second floor of our home in downtown TOWN. Your suite does not have a full kitchen (no sink or range; just enough to prep snacks and beverages). It is small (X sq ft/meters), private, and separated from our downstairs living space by an interior door. You’ll hear us going about our daily lives and see us, pets, or friends in the yard. If you find anything in the listing or house rules that is a poor fit, you can cancel penalty-free for 48 hours from booking.
@KarenWV, I know exactly what you mean. I can’t do a flight of steps. And many listings simply don’t disclose that there are steps involved, anywhere at all in the text.
I have had to scrutinize photos, looking at views out windows (for treetops), obvious basement windows, slanted walls (upstairs in a Cape Cod-style), etc. Any indicators that steps are involved.
When I can’t figure it out from text or pictures, I have to message the hosts.
In too many cases, I’ve ended up finding out that the bedroom is up a flight of steps, and the bathroom is on the floor below, or something equally impossible for me. Or I find out that the house itself is up 18 steps from the driveway.
I wish all hosts were specific about these details.
Because of this situation—and the fact that my 6’4” husband needs a king-sized bed—there are major cities where we have been unable to find an Airbnb at all (Portland OR and Seattle). Like you, I end up looking at hundreds!
@KarenWV and @RebeccaF These are accessibility needs. Is there any reason you aren’t using the filters under “Accessibility”? All of these requirements can be searched for. But do note that, for example, if the “no stairs or steps to enter” doesn’t show as choosable then that means nothing in the map view has that feature and you’ll need to zoom out. But it should save you a lot of time at least.
My house is 3 stories, which is typical of the region and doesn’t have an elevator, which is also typical. These are just regular houses, no one has an elevator. For my second floor apartment description, the first two words is "Second floor, …). It’s never occurred to me to include “up the stairs, no elevator”. I’d get laughed out of my neighborhood. I’m sorry but it would be impossible for us all to list what we don’t have which is why there are accessibility features that can be listed. I know that the rare single-story homes I’ve looked at in my city, though they are definitely not in my centrally-located neighborhood, but further out, do list these accessibility features and surely they do well with them because it’s so rare to not have stairs in the area.
Also, forgive me if you already know this but a Queen bed is the same exact length as a King bed (and as Twin XL for that matter). Only a California King will get you extra length.
The filters don’t always weed out those with steps. In many cases, the host hasn’t documented the steps in any way—either in text or under “Accessibility.”
My husband needs a king because of how he has to fold up to sleep. Even a California king isn’t long enough for him to stretch out. But with a regular king (much more common than a CA king), he can manage. That’s what we have at home.
And then there’s also the issue that quite a few listings don’t specify bed size. I realize that bed sizes in other countries might vary from what I consider standard sizes in the US (twin, double, queen, king), but I see US hosts whose listings don’t say what the bed sizes are, in text, in photo captions, or in the checkbox selections.
But they easily can, like this: (what you call checkbox selections)
Airbnb could require this but I guess they don’t?
I guess they don’t, as well. Far too many listings I look at haven’t checked any of those boxes. I wonder if those are older listings that haven’t been updated since the bed size boxes were there. I don’t think they were there when we first signed up as hosts in the spring of 2017.