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Oh it’s not all that exciting, but as long as you asked. The first of the 2 oddballs was a young guy from Switzerland who had some decent reviews. I thought, hey, Switzerland? It’s inhabited by all those clean, neat-freak people who make (made anyway) watches. I knew I was in trouble the minute I greeted him at the door. I think he was transitioning into being female. I soon realized he was the type of guest I try to steer clear of: no plans, no direction, and just trying to figure out his next move; and most likely he’d overstayed his visa. And he smelled!
One of my house rules that I word very carefully has to do with perfumes/scents/lotions, which I can’t tolerate but seem to be overly used by the younger crowd. This guy reeked of putrid flowery perfume–it wasn’t Chanel No.5. I asked him to leave on the 4th day of his 7 day stay (my limit) because he spent most of his day applying lotions and makeup and combing his hair. He took breaks and went to the beach and then tracked in tons of sand. The proverbial straw was when I began noticing oily spots on the carpet and bathroom floor (lotion?), and then (get ready) snot blasted onto the side of the bathroom sink and left for all to see. Oh, and a huge blob of chewed gum stuck on a wicker chair and then covered with a pillow. I got the protocol wrong for evicting him: I didn’t contact Air first but instead texted this guy once he’d left for the beach to please vacate ASAP. I hauled all his stuff outside and placed it in my driveway in a secure spot and waited, and waited. I’d called Air in the meantime. Finally, as the sun was setting, I peeked over my balcony to the driveway and saw that he’d come for his stuff. He later texted me with an apology and explained his odd behavior was because his best friend had just committed suicide.
The other problematic guy was another lost soul; very young and recently dropped out of engineering school on the east coast and was finding his inner self by coming to California to be a chef in a vegan restaurant. Never mind the fact that he smoked Marlboros and drank numerous beers every night of his short stay here. There was lots more to his brief stay in California than was revealed in his profile, but I figured out that he’d been booted out of other accommodation that was supposed to be long term. He brought all that long term stuff with him: bags and boxes of crap that he put in my open garage downstairs without telling me. Day 3 or 4, I forget, he tells me that some of his stuff had been stolen from my garage–thousands of dollars worth. I had no way of knowing if he was telling me the truth. Minutes later he was preparing food in the kitchen and broke a large glass beaker, one of my favorite things, and I snapped. I told him to be out the next day, which he did. He moaned, complained, and said it would take him a couple of days. I think Air stepped in to help, thank Buddha.
Because I offer super cheap accommodation in a very nice area, and for just one guest, I attract these types. The lesson I’ve learned is to be extra cautious and to ask questions, a lot of them, before accepting a reservation because there’s nothing worse than having some total creep walk into your home and realize you can’t get rid of them!
Interesting guests you had there. Did they have reviews at the time you booked them?
For your latter guest, I think I read his review. He complained about getting “over $1000 worth” of stuff stolen from your garage. Unless there were two guests with the same experience. But he didn’t say anything about his stay ending early.
Yes, he said he’d had some things stolen from my garage, which may or may not have happened. I had no way of knowing. I live in a nice area but there are homeless who roam through from time to time. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but he showed up with bags and boxes of household goods that he’d brought from the apartment he’d shared briefly with someone who’d asked him to leave. It took 2 Uber loads to get the stuff here! And he never asked me about this. I wasn’t home when he checked in so when I did show up I saw all this junk and assumed it belonged to my neighbor. He’d also just been canned from his apprenticeship job as a sous chef at a vegan restaurant at the end of his first shift! The poor guy was truly in a quandary, and I did feel sorry for him–but not that sorry.
After putting up with his messiness in the kitchen for 3 days and having him scare the neighbors with his standing across the street at all hours smoking–and then breaking my favorite glass beaker–I snapped and asked him to leave. He balked, “It’ll take me a couple of days to find something.” I stood firm and said he had to go first thing in the morning, which he did. “I’ll write you a good review” he said–hoping I wouldn’t trash him with a bad review. I was kind, only because he was actually a very nice guy. I was lucky.
You asked about my checking reviews for these 2 guys. As I recall I did, and they each had just one I think from local hosts who were brief and non-committal. I did, as always, go back and forth with some small talk with prospective guests before I make a commitment and these guys seemed OK. I’ve had quite a few guests since these 2 and I’ve gotten pretty good at picking and choosing. I never rent to people with vague or no travel plans. I get a lot of people coming to our convention center and they’ve always been great. Now, with the upcoming semester starting at the university, I’ve got students booked who will use my place to transition into more permanent housing.
As it happens, I read the review written by your veg chef guest before I read your story about him. You posted a link to your listing in another thread, and I happened across that review. It’s amusing to learn the story behind the review.
Your veg chef guest now has 7 reviews, all more or less positive sounding.
Part of the reason I ask is to get a feeling for how other hosts interact with guests before accepting/rejecting. Specific travel plans are definitely good things. As is good spelling and grammar.
True… People between housing situations are never a good fit as Air guests! Maybe they can’t come up with housing deposits, they have bad credit or other things that keep them from securing housing as regular tenants.
I think it depends on the situation. We have a lovely family staying above our garage who are staying because their new house’s closing got pushed back. Another family coming is military and on a waiting list for family housing. But I’d be really hesitant with a renter, because if they’re a good renter, they would be able to get a week to week extension…
Sarah, Yes, those people you’ve rented to are stable, responsible home-owning folks with resources who are transitioning into a new place. They aren’t going to give you any trouble. It’s the kids, sometimes older folks too, who have come to seek their fortune on a shoe string that are sometimes a problem.
True. The kinds of tenants you are describing are not the ones I mean. The ones I mean are those in between housing because they are down in their luck or have bad credit and an Airbnb is the only thing they can get. Those in unstable situations.
Yes, Sarah. “Those in unstable situations…” as you mentioned can be a problem. I just had a very charming guest stay for a week, which is my limit. He wanted the whole month but I said we’d take it a week at a time, but thankfully I got other bookings so he couldn’t stay. Anyway, he was a 30ish Indian guy looking for an IT job. He spent most of his time on his laptop trying to line up interviews. The morning after he’d arrived I noticed several empty bottles of various kinds of alcoholic beverages in the kitchen trash container. Then I noticed a pack of red Marlboros on the table I have for guests. He smoked a lot, but outside, which I could deal with.
The booze bottles I thought maybe he’d just cleaned out his bags; saving them for the recycle bin? Nope! The next day by noon–before really–there was an empty bottle of wine. Then by mid afternoon another couple bottles of beer–quarts. Then evening rolled around and another bottle or 2. He was a bit glazed looking in the eyes but otherwise was functioning pretty well. I go to bed early, but I noticed that he stayed up into the wee hours and then slept in pretty late.
When the end of the week had come he still hadn’t found a long-term place so I agreed to let him stay a couple days more if he had to. Luckily he found a place just around the corner with 2 women. I was happy for him. But then my phone rang a month later; he thought he was going to stay for several months with these people but “something came up”, a “family issue” and he couldn’t stay. I was pretty much booked so I couldn’t help. He really was a lost soul. Maybe, like the vegan chef who stayed here with all his worldly possessions in tow, he hopefully found a job and a stable living situation.
I just reached superhost status, and a couple of days afterwards, I got a booking from someone who was going to attend the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. That was my first booking since reaching superhost status. I have instant book enabled. She booked and sent me the message “Democratic national convention. We could sure use your help identifying transportation”. I have no idea what that meant to so I asked her. For my listing, it is required you have a car, due to the remoteness of my location. It was clear as day on my listing that a car is needed. Five minutes later she cancelled and messaged “transportation problems”. I’m sure she was attracted to my superhost status and rushed right into booking without reading the listing.
Hehe, the last people i could thought of as drunks were indians and other asians, but then in my travels i met so many drunks from asian countries, worse than Russians.
Its funny how you mentioned vegan chef. About 10 years ago i was very much into raw food, so much that i eventually became a chef myself and was teaching classes for 5 years. I met quite a bit of vegan raw chefs who were exactly how you described:)
I would think so too. When I stayed at an Airbnb in Ireland I carefully read the listing to be sure of the location - I didn’t have a car so I had to be sure it was in walking distance to nearby attractions, or shops and restaurants, and public transportation was available. If i had any additional questions I would message the host.
Oh yes, the vegan chefs. This guy had dropped out of some prestigious engineering school on the east coast. For the 3 nights he was here he cooked stuff, and his style was very…beginnerish? If that makes sense. He even admitted he’d never had any training. None! He just had the revelation that this was going to be his calling. The absolute irony of it all was he, like the Indian fellow I mentioned, sat around most of the day drinking Budweiser and smoking cigarettes, so by the time it was time to cook he was obviously drunk, which was why he broke the beaker and slopped food all over the kitchen.
But back to the Indian and the nationalities we’d not expect to be drinkers. The Koreans I’ve had as guests even admit they love to drink until they’re paralytic. And the odd thing is, there isn’t the social stigma attached to it in Korea like there is here. But I’ve never had a drunken Korean stay here. Just last week I had this very charming, huge Korean man stay for 2 nights. He was great fun, although his English was very limited. He went to a Dodger game up in L.A. on the metro. Good thing he’d booked just the 2 nights because his snoring was probably the worst I’ve ever heard. It wasn’t the snorting/choking kind but instead sounded more like a wind tunnel. Just bizarre! He could do background sound effects for hurricane scenes in movies.
You made me laugh, i needed it:). SO, its true that Koreans drink until they fall??!!
This is the converstaion between me and a cute Corean 27 year old gril who just finished her doctorate in Switzerland which took place in Dublin pub crawl tour:
She: Yana, do you like to drink?
Me: (trying not to laugh): Uhm…well… i dont mind… sometimes…sure
SHe: I love to drink. We Koreans drink until we become very very drunk
Me: Oh… are you saying that i will have to carry you home today?
She: i can promise you i will get very drunk.
ANd, o boy , she did. She peed on a street , we were warned in a beginning of a tour not to do it, Then she literally fell on a floor at the end and fell asleep. One of the tour guides took her home, because she was not allowed into pubs anymore.
And about vegan chef. These are just punks. The browse life without any particular thing to do ,and this is all they talk about: animal cruelty, stars in a sky, and how food is addictive. Noone has any money, and many try to mooch of someone. Its all a bunch of ideas, and nothing else. That one vegan chef actually squatted in my friend’s house for a month, mooching of that poor woman, and never bought his own food. She kicked him out finally literally with the help of her very tall and muscular friends.
Yes I agree about the vegan chef thing. They’ve got the tattoos, stretched earlobes, dreads. Going to save the world by not eating meat, GMOs or other poisons, and I support that completely. I don’t think the term punks is appropriate. While I have to chuckle at the airhead talk, the ideas thing you mention, I think it’s just part of the process that will lead to the reality that: You’ve gotta support yourself!
He complained about getting “over $1000 worth” of stuff stolen from your garage. Unless there were two guests with the same experience. But he didn’t say anything about his stay ending early.