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We have also noticed a shift in our guests. One house did host a couple waiting for their home to be completed. The other had a series of families that normally would be staying with the parents or grandparents, but couldn’t risk it now. They would stay at our home and visit outside with their older relatives during the day.
It was cute showing up after these families left to see all the outdoor furniture moved from conversation groupings to socially distanced positions. They must have been happily yelling at each other from across the pool.
We’ve had many of these “family visits”, too! It’s great to see people playing it safely and visiting in smart ways. They use our backyard and a popular nearby park to hang out, and stay solo at our listing. So very easy guests to have for short stays.
I love the visual of you guys finding all the evidence of social distancing around the pool!
This is a classic example of the dramatic difference between short term and long term rentals. Although tempting, the chances of being stuck with a “difficult “ guest long term negates the financial benefits, I’ve learned the hard way. When you get a “difficult” short termer, at least you only have to suffer their BS temporarily.
I would purchase headset or buds (his choice) and an extension cable that connects the TV headphone jack to the couch, and tell him that TV is only available on that basis, and will be disabled if sound is turned on. If his wife wants to watch, get a $3 splitter and a second set of cheap buds. (all assuming that plugging in headphone jack cuts out other audio)
I wouldn’t make it sound like a punishment, but rather an accommodation to make him more comfortable (because you don’t want to burden him with worrying whether the TV is too loud for others or too quiet for him).
What would it take for YOU to feel comfortable working in that situation? I could imagine that you could get noise-cancelling headphones and make all calls and video conferences without background noise, and use the same to feed music or white noise to your headset, still with noise cancelling.
If you wanted to upgrade the TV in the rental, you could easily (in most cases) connect wires, or bluetooth, headphones, switchers and splitters for a very modest sum. Convincing them to use it, given their free rein now, might be more difficult. In either case, if you’re detailing expenses for your personal work or for the AirBnB room, those expenses are deductible, and depreciate, providing future deductions. Maybe not worth the paper work, but definitely worth the expense.
This is the business of hospitality. Most people come and go, and a few act unreasonably. I like how this is a place for determining what is unreasonable, the various thresholds, and the various solutions. I think that discussion helps us anticipate problems, and, by being prepared, we are less immune to the consequences.
Have a booking in July - Guests have just requested that I upgrade the BBQ for their stay…sigh…the nice one that is there isn’t big enough in their view.
Considering telling my husband to clean his up and I will swap them for the 5 day stay…evil genius!
Not buy a new one just for them!
I’m feeling that I have been too accomodating in this last case. My guests who have now been here past 30 days are complaining of covid symptoms, and telling me they feel they contracted covid in my Airbnb. I have completed a 30 point cleaning and sanitizing regimen which I do before any stay. They reported that they were staying in a home immediately before my home in which the hosts tested positive for Covid. I have had 2 negative tests for covid, one 3 days after their arrival and another last week. Both husband and wife are convinced they don’t need to test. I have had it with this couple and just want them out of my home, and will be taking a break from Airbnb for the next 30 days.
From a purely personal safety aspect, you need get them out now.
Attitudes like that make them even more dangerous.
You need to contact Airbnb and have this booking terminated, due to you feeling unsafe in your own home. As an in home host, the criteria for being able to cancel a booking, mid stay, are different to whole home listings.
You also need to switch your sympathy meter off, these guests have potentially put you in a health threatening situation.
I would beg to differ. The host has put herself in a health threatening situation by continuing to host a home-share listing during a pandemic.
Most of us with home-shares have closed to bookings since this pandemic reared its ugly head. Those who chose not to have put their own health and lives at risk.
This is beside the point. Any guest can be infected with COVID whether they are aware they have been exposed or whether they show any symptoms. I have little sympathy with hosts who have continued to home-share in a pandemic. They have chosen to facilitate virus spread and put themselves and their guests at risk.
I wouldn’t do it, you don’t do it, but for some hosts the income may be the difference between putting food on the table and not; or keeping a roof over their heads.
Fortunately, neither of us have to make that decision.
This health situation is forcing many folks to do things that, from an external perspective, could be considered reckless.
Yes, I realize that, but there are other ways to make money and plenty of people have had to think outside the box to come up with alternatives in these times.
Oh, c’mon, KKC, I’m not some rich person who is tone deaf about those who have a hard time making ends meet.
But exposing oneself to a possibly deadly virus seems to me to be not worth any amount of money. If it means you are actually going to starve, I can understand taking the risk, but I doubt that’s the case for the vast majority of hosts.
How close are you to losing your house? There are LOT of hosts in that situation. I’m letting my credit rating take a beating, but I have neighbors that can’t afford that’
Seems like you buried the lede. If you’re worried about getting infected, and your guests complain of symptoms, it doesn’t matter where they got infected (your home or the grocery store). Either they take a test which documents that they are negative, or you can simply ask them to leave, a positive test or no test being enough for AirBnB to support you ending their stay.
