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My suite is in Boston where the night time temperatures are averaging 55 - 65 degrees and mid 70s in the day. I have window Air Conditioning units which I just took out last week. They asked for an early checking in on the day of arrival and I told them I was on my way home from the surgery and could accommodate a 2:45 pm check in. They knew I had hand surgery.
I little while later I got a message from them asking if I could raise the air conditioner temperature. I’m guessing they thought I had central AC. (I left all the windows in the suite partially opened before arrival and it was 57 degrees outside but muggy.)
Their request seemed odd to me and I know I was cranky from the surgery so I’m now agonizing about getting bad review.
Here’s how I responded:
" I already took out the ac and due to my surgery today I can’t re-install right now. There’s a fan in the tv room and ceiling fans in the bedroom and kitchenette. It’s 57 degrees outside so maybe open the windows too."
What do you folks think? Better way to say it? Should I have tried to hire someone to put the ac back in the window? Should they maybe offered to help.
I wouldn’t have mentioned the surgery - as hosts, our job is to resolve guest issues one way or another. But the guest’s request for air conditioning in New England in mid-October (seriously??) is an unreasonable one, IMO. I think telling them where the can find the fans is sufficient.
Humidty is one thing that makes me bonkers. I sometimes use the AC units to dehumidify rather than cool.
Does your listing say which months include AC? If not, maybe add something really specific so they know it’s window units not centralAC and which months they can expect to have them.
In my own listing I’m pretty explicit about them and even show them in photos despite their ugliness. I say that they are installed October-May. Your are further north, though.
I am going to add this to the listing but it’s very hard to predict when they are installed because this spring was very cold so they went in late and we were having a warm fall so I just took them out. New England has very unpredictable weather.
Maybe by “raise the air conditioner temperature,” they actually mean raise the temperature of the house. An air conditioner can be use for any temperature (like in my car, my air conditioner is on all the time, even when I have heat on, because it lowers the humidity in the air), so they might be using that wording for the general heating/cooling system.
I grew up right on the VT/NH border. No one had ACs back then. Now they do. Summers seem to be getting longer and hotter. My grumpy Yankee father who is obsessed with not wasting energy begrudgingly installed bedroom ACs a few years back.
The important thing is that the guests know what to expect. If they think the AC units will be installed and you get a sudden heat wave, they might complain.
Maybe you could discuss it with them when they book.
I modified my listing about Heating/Cooling. Thought?
Heating/Cooling - The heating thermostat is not located in your unit but we are happy to turn up the heat (within reason) if you ask plus there are extra blankets in most of the closets. In the winter, we heat the home at a temperature of 70 degrees during the day and 67 during the evening. During the warmer weather, the king bedroom and the daybed room have window air conditioner units put in once temperatures consistently are in the mid 70s or higher and removed once temperatures are consistently in the 60s or lower at night. The king bedroom and the kitchenette also have ceiling fans and a portable fan is located in the room with the daybed.
You made me laugh. When you replied about discussing temp when they book, I smiled. I can barely get them to hang up wet towels on hooks, or to tell me when they are arriving . (I have self check in so it’s not really an issue but…)
Almost everywhere does. Here in El Paso it’s not unusual to need AC from April until late Oct. Last Friday (10/5) the high was 92F. Monday it’s supposed to be 55F with lows in the 40s. So the Airbnb room has the window AC and a portable heater to supplement my central system.
As luck would have it I’m going out of town so I get to get on the roof today to take my swamp cooler out of commission and get my heat running. The high yesterday was 80, so still warm enough to need AC. It looks like the coming cold front is going to be the end of summer and the beginning of fall here.
I’ve been really hesitant to put a portable heater in the space. I can barely get the guests to turn off the coffee maker or the lights. Have you had any problems?
FYI - normally I would have just put the AC back in the window for the guests but I just came home from hand surgery. I was hoping the guest would have offered to help.
Not with the heater. Yes they sometimes leave on lights or AC, but not the heater. I’ve even had guests who unplugged it. But there are factors here that I might not be comfortable with in another place. Moderate temps, central heat so the portable isn’t in constant use, plugged in in a tile area with no nearby textiles and me right next door.
Your reply sounds okay, not particularly cranky. But their phrasing is exactly how I would ask for the room temperature to be raised, not lowered.
I don’t have ac, and I live in a warm climate. I had to ask a recent host the same thing, the ac was way too cold for me at 73’, and I asked for it “to be raised”.
And there is no way I could consider 57’ “muggy” anymore either. Brrr!
I just had guests check out this morning after a three night stay. My co-host messaged me this morning to say that they had left both a/c units running in the bedrooms (the heat was set to 60, the thermostat read 62 when he arrived). The warmest outside temperature during their stay was 64 degrees, and last night it got down to 39! One of them even had two fleece blankets plus the duvet (has a very puffy, thick insert) on the bed.
I’d like to say something in the review, but I’m not sure what…
Maybe the guest didn’t understand it was on cool vs. heat? One consolation is that the A/C would hardly ever run if the guest had it set to 60 and the warmest outside temperature was 64.
