Don’t be so cheap!

1

May I vent?

We are halfway through a week stay at what could easily be a fantastic space. It is, however, stocked with the thinnest and cheapest toilet paper, one use bottles of shampoo and conditioner, no kitchen towels, no dish detergent or cleaning cloths (and dirty dishes in the cupboards!), nothing for leftover storage or plastic wrap, one tablet for the dishwasher, one tablet for the washer, and kitchen drawers filled with mismatched odds and ends that one would expect to find in junk drawers.

The decor is garage sale quality - throw pillows that are flat as pancakes and threadbare towels.

And so on.

It has been the smallest of disappointments after small disappointments. This place could easily be a favorite of ours with just a little curating and care. Instead I feel like the hosts are hoarding every penny of the thousands of dollars earned from this booking.

I don’t run my homes like this. It just comes across as so greedy.

End of rant.

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Those cheapskates need to join this forum.

Sounds like they haven’t learned the most basic element of being a host. “We are primarily in the business of earning five star reviews – everything else (money, repeat customers, raising your rates, full schedule, pride-of-place, and generally making guests happy) flows from that.”

I hope your rant was a dress rehearsal for a brutally honest review.

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Got a private message from a guest years ago, who stays at Airbnbs a lot, after his stay that said (I’m paraphrasing, but as far as I can remember it’s close to his wording), “That was one of the best Airbnb stays I’ve had, thank you. You wouldn’t believe the crap some people list and have to gall to charge money for.”

@Xanadu What were the past reviews for this place like?

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Early on in our hosting journey, we thought it was all about price. So we were always the cheapest in the neighborhood. And naturally, had to outfit the place that way. And always received bad reviews.

Then we grew up. Now we’re amongst the highest price in our class of listing, and are continuously booked. With all 5 star reviews. Imagine that.

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If you genuinely don’t want to be offering guests hospitality, you shouldn’t be doing this.

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When we travel, especially with my girlfriends, we always try and stay in Airbnb’s. We stayed in an Airbnb a bit ago and they were so cheap as well. The blow dryer was a joke. It had all the power of a tired hamster on a coffee break. I’ve felt stronger airflow from someone sighing. The coffee maker was more of a tiny optimistic suggestion…we drank coffee in shifts. We were a group of four and the coffee maker was for a group of one. We just made due with the toilet paper situation…we were cautious to be honest. Other than that, the house was fantastic, the beds were soooo comfy and the location was perfect for our outings (we chose the location). A few Airbnb’s that we have stayed in have that cheap IKEA decor…you know…plastic grass in a plastic pot…WHY bother. In our Airbnb we strive to do our best. Our appliances are high end and we also provide extras. We offer complimentary fresh baking, coffee/tea & fresh cream upon request (we used to just put fresh cream in the fridge but found most drink coffee black). Sanitary products in the bathroom, and lots of toilet paper. We have a 4.99 rating…we lose points on location…go figure…we live on lake shores of Thunder Lake, with a private beach…and a provincial park as a neighbour…how do we lose points for location, when they chose our place.

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Obviously the number of amenities hosts can provide is basically governed by the nightly fees.

But what is provided should be of decent quality and enough for the number of guests and length of stay. A one cup coffee maker in a listing for 4 people is ridiculous. Expecting guests to go out and buy their own toilet paper because the host only left 2 rolls for a 3 night stay for 6 people is ridiculous. If a host is going to provide coffee, it should be good quality, not the cheapest coffee on the grocery store shelf.

I have an inexpensive homeshare listing for one guest. I provide basics in the bathroom- soap and toilet paper is all I advertise. Of course towels, and every guest gets 2 good quality bath towels, a hand towel and a washcloth. But there is also a basket of “help yourself” items left behind by other guests and which I also add to, where there is usually some shampoo and conditioner, sunscreen, bug spray, ibuprophen, menstrual pads, etc. And I keep a jar I replenish full of Q-tips, cotton balls, tooth flossers and bandaids. These things cost me very little and guests do use them. I don’t provide a hair dryer- I’ve never used one myself and am not going to spend the money to buy one, plus they are heavy consumers of electricity. Also live in a warm climate- guests aren’t having to go out in the cold with wet hair.

Guests comment positively on how comfortable the bed is. I don’t cheap out on decent cotton sheets, or nice pillows.

Guests share my kitchen, are welcome to use my oil and spices, and I provide good quality coffee, cream, sugar, and a 4 cup french press, as well as various kinds of tea.

As my guests know they are getting a great deal on the nightly fee, I’ve never had a guest in the 10 years I’ve been hosting complain about what I provide, or that it wasn’t enough. In fact, I’ve had guests tell me I could charge more.

If a host is going to list amenities that don’t function properly, or are of poor quality, they’d be better off not listing those amenities at all.

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Yes, the location thing :roll_eyes: we often get 4* on location alone, everything else 5*.

We just received a review by a guest who wrote how perfect the location is. She rated everything 5* except location; 4*

What is it about location?

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I absolutely hate ratings, because they are all so subjective. Someone might leave 4 stars for location because they wished it had been right across from the beach instead of a 5 minute walk. Or because it didn’t have a huge yard separating the house from the neighbors. Or because it was too far from downtown or too close to downtown. Or because they didn’t like the skin color of the neighbors or because they saw some homeless people. Or because they decided to follow Google maps instead of the host’s directions and got lost. Or because they think a 5 star location should have stunning views of the sunset or a snow peaked mountain.

I once read a post by a host who had a fantastic place- a beautiful modern house with a pool and all the bells and whistles overlooking a gorgeous secluded pristine beach, with no close neighbors. He said he regularly got marked down on location because it was a 10 minute drive to the nearest store.

I wish they would just do away with ratings entirely, which are a source of stress, and just have written reviews. You can’t trust ratings anyway. Plenty of hosts have had awful guests who had 5 star reviews.

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That’s very true. I had couple guests with all 5* and they were terrible. I also stayed at few listings with amazing reviews that were not even close to being 5*.