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I currently have a guest whom booked for one. On the 1st night he had 4 people stay over. We know as the security at the building requires all guests to sign in. The security informed our co host they stayed over. I asked the guest via messaging that he would need to update his reservation. His reply was that the guests had left. The security stated this was not the case as people were seen ion the balcony in the morning. I opened the issue with Airbnb and the guest replied that it is not a requirement for visitors to sign out of the apartment via security which is correct. So Airbnb are asking for documentation pertaining to extra people staying over.
In addition we always clean the apartment after 3 days. This guest has stated he does not want any cleaners in the apartment whatsoever which I find very odd. After doing this for 2.5 years this is a first.
I decided to read his last and only review and the host stated the guest violated his rules regarding guests and had multiple people staying over. The host left a review stating this violation and the guest replied that there were cockroaches all over the hosts apartment.
My question is can I enforce that we have access to our apartment for cleaning and also obviously checking everything is in good order. The guest booked for 9 nights.
Why not just ask Airbnb to cancel the reservation and relocate him? If not, you can modify the reservation to add the additional guests but booking guest will need to accept the modification. Do you charge extra for additional guests? If thatâs the case, then the booking guest will ignore the modified reservation.
He doesnât get to tell you how to run your property. You listed the mid-stay âcleaningâ prior to his reservation, or at least communicated it prior to check in (how else did he tell you he didnât want any one inâŚ) Do not let him dictate to you. Do the cleaning, check-in, whatever you want to call it. If he isnât out by then, you can at least assess the situation. (But I hope you have kicked him out pronto)
Iâd call Airbnb and have him out. Immediately. Before he damages anything in a childish temper tantrum. And review with 1s all around.
Cancel the reservation. The guest is in violation of your rules and his review states this is what he does. Boot him to the curb.
Ditto. Boot him NOW and leave him 1* reviews, a âwould not host againâ and broke house rules notes. Do this at the 11th hour of the 14th day so he canât retaliate.
The whole point of hosts leaving reviews for guests is that other hosts can read them before accepting a booking. Kind of useless to read them after a guest has proven to be objectionable.
Not only do I read a guestâs reviews before accepting, I also often cross-reference to see how the guest has reviewed their past hosts.
The guest stated categorically that no one stayed overnight. It was security that stated extra guests stayed overnight. It is a little difficult as the Airbnb is located in a different continent to where we actually live which makes these things a little more difficult. We have a Co-host whom does a great job. Our pricing includes 2 people, we host up to 4 people so it would mean we charge per night for the extra 2 people. I have instant book activated and I recently made some changes as the Airbnb booking system was having issues. People whom are recommended by previous hosts were automatically approved. We had to change this. I will change it back and hope Airbnb have sorted the issues.
Back to the Guest he agreed to have the place cleaned today at 4pm. The cleaner turned up and he now has told them Sunday. So wasted time and money.
I am inclined the let him complete his booking as I have no definite proof he had people staying overnight. Airbnb are asking for documentation pertaining to extra guests so they are of little help tbh. If I actually thought he was doing any damage to the property he would be out immediately without a doubt. I will chalk this up and amend my booking conditions.
The settings on Airbnb were having issues a few months ago. We only accepted instant bookings if the guests had 5* reviews. Also due to the pandemic many people from the same country were booking as opposed to 90% foreign.
I will amend the settings again so only those people with 5* reviews can book.
It sounds like youâre more interested in the 9 days of income than actually dealing with the guest breaking the rules. Air is only a booking platform. So if you expect them to advocate for you for extra charges, youâre in for a rude awakening.
If it were my booking, Iâd boot them today. And charge them on the platform for the cleanerâs visit. They will continue to do this to other hosts, even if you leave them 1* reviews and âwould not host againâ feedback.
Yes, Iâve read other posts where hosts said even though they had those requirements set on IB, guests with no reviews were able to IB. And all kinds of glitches are common on the platform.
But that doesnât prevent you from looking at their reviews as soon as they IB and asking Airbnb to cancel it penalty-free if you have reason to feel uncomfortable with their booking.
Well of course I am letting it out for a fee so I am interested in the revenues it brings in.
However I would not let guests abuse our rules regarding additional guests. I have on many occasions refused booking requests because I was not 100% sure of the guests for a variety of reasons.
The issue is here this guests slipped through the net due to me having to adjust many times the settings on Airbnb instant booking rules as I donât have the time to vet every prospective booking. I will set it back to â guest which have 5* reviews for Instant bookâ everyone else will need approval.
I may be wrong to kick the guest out if the security has made a mistake which I guess is possible, though tbh having read the previous review I doubt that the security has made any errors.
I may well still ask him to leave if he has/will abused the guests rules. I would need to confirm this with the co host and security as after the 1st night the security have stated no extra guests.
I did not on this occasion until the co host stated there were more guests. I usually do not let the booking go through if there is any doubt. Airbnb app has/had issues. I will revert back to only 5* reviewed guests for instant book.
We have a high occupancy in the apartment year round so the last thing I need is issues with guests. If there is any doubt other people always book.
Itâs good that you do this with other guests and itâs something that most of us at this forum do, but itâs not good that you have to ask.
Can you enforce it? Of course you can, itâs your property and youâre in charge. So either you or your cohost maybe should have been a little more forceful. Youâre the boss.
âWeâll be refreshing the apartment for you mid-stay. Weâll bring you fresh towels, change the bed and so on. Would you prefer Wednesday or Thursday? It will only take an hour or so. We can do it when youâre in the apartment or when youâre out. Which would you prefer?â
No closed questions. No mention of cleaning. If cleaning is mentioned youâre giving the impression that itâs okay for them to make a mess because the place will be cleaned. If the guest says they donât want it ⌠âIâm afraid that our insurance (or HOA or condo board or business partner or whatever) insists on it. How about Wednesday morning? And do let me know if you need any extra supplies such as loo paper and weâll be sure to bring them for youâ. All nice and pleasant and helpful but firm.
Sorry to be the one to tell you but it does not work that way. The checkbox in the IB settings to the effect of âonly accept guests with positive reviewsâ ACTUALLY means the following:
The Guest Must NOT have a review where a Host hit NO for âwould you host againâ
The Guest must have at least one review
Unfortunately, Star ratings do NOT factor in at all. A Guest could have any mix of 1 - 5 star reviews. This is very intentional by Air. They want hosts to THINK it works differently and have more control. The truth is contrary.
In case you do not have it, get the âAirreviewâ plugin for chrome - and if needed use your âwe are not comfortable with this guestâ cancellations.
Thanks for all your input into these issues: It seems due to my rules Airbnb will not support an eviction without having my rules adjusted. The guest as far as I am aware has only one guest which according to my rules is allowed. This Guest is from over 12k miles away so whilst evicting him is within my rights I would not do it lightly.
I have updated my listing which states in the rules:
âno unregistered or unauthorised guests are permitted to enter the property at any timeâ
âRefresh/Cleaning will take place at 11:00am 3-5 days after check in.â
I am guessing previous hosts would tick â would not host againâ so this is some protection. I may have to consider removing the IB however it has only gave me a few issues in the past. â We do not feel comfortable with this guestâ could save the day. Am I correct in believing this is only an option if IB is disabled?
No, itâs the opposite. You get 3 penalty-free cancellations/year if you use IB by saying you are uncomfortable with the reservation.
If itâs a request to book that you accepted but then donât feel okay about due to something the guest might have communicated to you, or that they simply ignore all your messages, etc, you have a much much harder time getting Airbnb to cancel it penalty-free. The assumption is that with requests, you have the opportunity to check a guestâs reviews and communicate with them before deciding whether to accept them or not, which you donât have if you use IB.
THATâS the red flag. You already knew heâs a liar. Now you know he will threaten you with false reports of vermin infestation and fake reviews. GET HIM OUT NOW.
Just call Air, tell them youâre uncomfortable with him, that he continues to violate your House Rules and to lie to you, and you want them to find him another host at the same price, get him rehosted, and get him out. Then pray that they havenât caused damage.
If you havenât been over there, take a nice big heft witness with you to record what happens on video. Send the âyour stay has been terminated and you must leaveâ message, then take your witness/videographer and building security and go tell them they have to leave. After they have left, take lots of video of any damage they may have caused. Inspect carefully, photo and video all of it.
You can be sure that heâs going to try all kinds of tricks, so keep all communications on the Air platform.
With IB Enabled, you have the option for âwe are not comfortable with this Guestâ. You are supposed to get 3 free cancellations per year with this. Even still, if it comes to that, calling Air is preferable to just doing it on-line. We do not trust their system AT ALL to protect our stats in such a case.
In the past, with IB enabled, we have left all checkboxes open. BUT that was before Covid and the RAMPANT Capricious Guest-Centric policies. We expect these to get MUCH worse now that Air will only Give a S*** about shareholder value.
Also be sure to go in your amenity settings under the âlogisticsâ tab and select the option for cleaning during stay. I believe that will guarantee that it shows in the house rules that the guest must accept prior to confirming their booking.
The guest has not since the 1st night had any additional people over. As I said he comes from 12000 miles away so kicking him out is a last resort. Part of hosting can involve difficult guests which we would rather not have but reality is reality and you will have a % whom are difficult. In addition I accepted his reservation so must bear some responsibility.
I expect to get a negative review however I have over 150+ 5* reviews so I do not worry about the occasional negative review as long as they are factual. (which tbh most negative reviews are not)
Thanks for all the tips which I have implemented.
I still have IB on, however what happens now is I have to approve all the booking. I had someone book yesterday whom has 25 reviews 5* but I still have to approve. Strange that instant book is enabled but you have to approve.
