We rarely accept late check outs…but…the guest was stuck on the highway as there was a fuel spill and a fatality on the highway so the road was closed and they had to travel around which delayed them checking in. I agreed to their request to check out at 11:00, check out is normally 10:00. I sent them a thank you at 9:40 for staying with us. They message me at 10:52 to state that they had been trying to make coffee for 10 minutes and it is not working…i sent a few instructions, but in the meantime they figures it out…it is a drip Cuisinart coffee maker. I also stated to them that check out time is 11:00. She sent a flip response “I am leaving now, sorry for using this room for another 10 minutes.” She went on the say, “partner is s bit too chill,I don’t want to rush him too much otherwise I would have left.” She then stated at 11:15 that they were out of the house but they were going to quickly check out the lake and then leave. I went into the suite to clean…the room temperature was jacked up to 28 degrees celsius, normally set at 21 degrees celsius. We have in floor heat so it takes quite some time for temperature to come down from that. Dirty tissues left at the bedside table and dirty tissues on the floor. Coffee maker and hot water dispenser left on & door not locked. I am super annoyed at the disrespect. Perhaps I expect too much or I am too sensitive but I don’t usually get this…guests historically have been pretty good.
I wouldn’t take single-night guests.
We live in an area that isnt exactly a hot spot for tourists, we live just a few mintes off the highway. We traditionally get people driving through to their destination, so if it was a two night minimum policy, we would rarely get any bookings.
Yes, minimum nights settings that work for hosts are quite diverse and subjective. I have always had a 3 night minimum, and because I live in a touristy beach town, where guests tend to come for several days or a week or two, that works for me. I wouldn’t do less, because I have a budget-priced homeshare and don’t want to spend time cleaning for fewer nights- I really wouldn’t be making any profit. But hosts who live near a highway or airport, or attract business travelers who may only be coming for a 1 day conference or meeting, may find that 1 nighters are their bread and butter.
You didnt say you had another guest coming and that you had a four hour clean scheduled for an overnight stay. And did you go in while they said they were quickly checking out the lake and then would leave? Or had they actually left at that point? Do you prohibit people from adjusting the temperature of the floor heat? Some used Kleenex left is icky & annoying. But personally I cant get too concerned about leaving the coffee maker on. ( It does have an automatic shutoff? ) Leaving the door unlocked is rude, but it does happen.
It is not anyone’s business, whether I have a back to back guests or not. We have a consistent 5/5 reviews on cleanliness and promise to ensure an immaculate suite for each and every guest without exception. I clean the same if the person has been a guest for 1 night or 4. I assume every surface has been touched and requires a wipe down (no I do not wipe all the walls down). I do not have 4 hours to clean, I have a job outside of my Airbnb, I am a nurse with commitments. I did not go into the room until I saw them drive away. I would not mention the temperature of the room to the guest, although, almost 30 degrees is excessive and annoyed me, but no we do not prohibit raising or lowering the temperature of the floor heat. It seemed to me that some of these things were retaliatory as the guests had 5/5 reviews from previous hosts. We agreed on a 11:00 check out and it was not 11:00 when they left so I was not happy. Dirty tissues left for the host to deal with is disgusting. The things that are mentioned on this forum for me are sometimes ways to vent, not necessarily for public reviews. None of these things are keeping me up at night, but this was the way of this Entitled guest.
Hi Thunderlake, Im not sure if it’s relevant to your outlier guests behaviour and the disrespect re checkout, snippy comments and hygiene etc which would annoy me very much probably because of the non-cooperative intent and also insurance matters re an unsecured property.
I am noticing lately increased social unrest and some guests behaving chaotically, ignoring house rules re check in (I am an in home host) and expecting exceptions to be made way outside the stipulated hours, and then recently a guest just didn’t turn up at all, didn’t advise a no show and I have been paid for the 2 night stay.
All the rest of the guests are fabulous and the 5 stars are coming in regularly. It is uncertain times and people are impacted by the oil crisis etc so maybe behaviours will get erratic. Hang in there, sounds like you are doing a great job.
This is why I don’t rent to anyone under 33. Just my take.
33? Not sure how you get away with that- you aren’t allowed to discriminate on the basis of age unless your listing is in a complex that has its own rules about minimum age.
FYI I have had plenty of guests in their 20s, who were all lovely, respectful guests. Do you think everyone over the age of 33 is responsible and doesn’t break house rules or leave a mess behind them?
Do you ask them the age before they book?
Of course I don’t think everyone over 33 is responsible or incapable of breaking rules; but I thoroughly vet my guests before ever accepting a booking for my entire house in an upscale area. I find that those in their 30’s and up are more cognizant of other people’s property and are likely homeowners themselves. I require the booking guest (thereby the responsible party) to be that age; not their additional guests. As to your other point:
"Short-term rentals (STRs) generally can set minimum age requirements for booking, but they cannot discriminate based on “familial status” (families with children under 18) under federal fair housing laws. While age is not a federally protected class for seniors or young adults, state/local laws (like California’s Unruh Act) and platform policies (Airbnb Nondiscrimination) may restrict age discrimination, making it a complex legal area.
I require the booking/responsible party to be at least 33. It’s a widely accepted practice on Vrbo for many reasons.
We’re on Vrbo and I participate in a lot of Vrbo forums. 23 to 25 is more like the minimun age than 33 is on Vrbo, as far as I can tell. 23-25 is usually old enough to be out of college and on your own.
Being out of college/on your own and being responsible with other people’s property are not one in the same; based on my experience with younger renters and those who book for them, they are not the people I want in charge of a high-end house. Glad your experience hasn’t panned out that way.
I didn’t say I had experience with younger guests. We have a higher-end property, too, but we have staff there (that’s typical in our area in the Caribbean). We get almost no guests under 30 unless they are with their parents, but I wouldn’t worry about guests in their 20’s, either, because of our staff presence.
My point was that the most common age restrictions I’ve heard talked about on other VRBO forums is in the low-20s, not the mid 30’s. You do what’s best for you, but claiming 33 is the typical minimum age on Vrbo is a bit of a stretch basis what I’ve seen.
A guest who has someone else book “for” them is almost always going to be a red flag. The only way that relates to age/responsibility is if the prospective guest isn’t old enough to have their own Airbnb account (18), or have helicopter parents, who, even though their kid is 25 years old, still do everything for them, in which case the kid probably won’t be responsible.
Otherwise, booking “for” someone else could mean the person they are booking for has gotten terrible reviews, or been booted off Airbnb for unacceptable behavior, failure to pay, etc.
3rd party bookings are against Airbnb policy anyway, although some hosts may accept them, depending on the circumstances, for instance an adult booking for their elderly, non-tech savvy parents.
I didn’t know the person booking was doing so for her younger relatives until after the fact. These 20-somethings left the house a pigsty, overstayed the 10AM checkout time, and left the garage open cuz no one was there to remind them what my rules were. Live and learn.
Wow, a staff…must be nice! Yes, I do what’s best for me, Piton, and it’s worked very well for the most part 8 years now. Cheers.
I also have, in general, great guests, lovely people from all over. I am strictly 2-night minimum; one night is just too much work. Guests typically leave things in great shape but I recently had two different reservations that left a huge amount of trash in the room. I give them instructions if they want to take out their trash, but do not insist other than asking to please separate the trash and recyclables. But these guests really took advantage! Sometimes a guest is just inconsiderate, like letting a gate slam or talking really loudly when passing between our home and the neighbor at night. How do you “grade” a guest for that? Is it worth mentioning in the comment?