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So new guest moved in yesterday. This morning he asked for a refund due to building work next door. He said he needed to rest. I agreed to refund him and asked Airbnb to refund in full, even though he stayed last night and wanted to stay another night, which I assumed was to give himself time to find an alternative. He was appreciative of the two free nights, which I offered due to inconvenience. He actually came to talk to me about it and offered me a free session of what he does (some kind of magnetic therapy) to show his appreciation.
Fast forward an hour and I’m taking out my rubbish and find a lady looking for my address. She gave me the name of who she was looking for and I told her there is no one here by that name. I offered to help her find the person, as I know most of my neighbours, and so I went out to speak with her. Next thing I know my guest turns up and she’s here for him and has come for a session with him!
So he has been planning to bring in clients to my home and take them upstairs even, and work with them here in my house! Of course this will also be the reason he couldn’t accept the noise. He wasn’t honest as he said he couldn’t take the noise as he needed to rest, not to work!
I have also found out that he already has somewhere to go locally (returning to a previous host), so I don’t see any reason for him to stay another night. I imagine that was just to make things a bit easier for him what with clients and moving etc. To be fair he thought he would be paying for it at that point so it was fair enough. It was me who told Airbnb to refund him in full.
I am quite taken aback that he’d have clients turning up here without asking, running his business in my home in his room that I only charge a very competitive fee for.
I let his client come in and they are having their session. But afterwards I’d like to ask him if he can move on today please as I think that was underhand plus there doesn’t seem any reason for him to stay.
Please can I have your thoughts? Am I being reasonable?
I would tell this person he needs to check out today.
You’ve been more than generous and he is taking advantage of you and not being straight forward about what he’s up to.
You’ve given him one free night, no need to make it two.
Ask him to leave immediately. Explain to him that your insurance policy does not cover a place of business. You have a homeowner’s policy not a commercial policy. He’s running a business in a home not a commercial space. He has been refunded so technically, he’s not even a guest any longer. He’s a liability, so are his clients. Get rid of him ASAP.
You are being too nice. When objecting to unregistered guests, visitors, or clients I reference my Airbnb published policy (which says no guests without permission) and say that my insurance won’t cover anyone else. I wonder if listings that cater to business people are running into this more and more.
I would have told him to pack up his stuff and leave as soon as that client showed up. (and why on earth would you let him stay a second night for free?) No way I would have let him do his “session”. Both he and his client are now trespassing.
a) Unregistered guests are not permitted
b) No business may be conducted in my home.
Sadly, you should have cancelled his reservation when he came if he was unhappy, refund him and then have him check out.
Think about your liability - he has no reservation and he is having people into your home. If someone was injured would your insurance pay. Airbnb wouldn’t because you cancelled the reservation and they have no responsibility.
I would ask him to leave NOW.
Also, this summer when I saw the two houses near me were undergoing to construction I mentioned in my description that there may be construction noise from 7 am - 6 pm on weekdays. I hardly hear any noises but I did this to cover myself should anyone complain. I can show them right in the listing that I disclosed this.
Agreeing to refunds while the guest stays in the room is ridiculous. You don’t say what the source of the noise is but I assume it’s outside your control. I assume this is in a city. People in cities should expect noise during the day.
And what if he trashed the room or stole something? If you’re going to refund, don’t do it until the guest is out of the space, you see how long they were there, how bad and long the noise was and what condition the place is left in. Then assess what refund you might give.
With regard to the clients, obviously you got played. In one sense it’s good that there’s noise so you have an easy way to get this person out of your house.
Please inform other hosts that he’s renting office space when you write your review.
Your zoning, your business license and your STR insurance are unlikely to permit running any business from the property apart from the one shown your business license.
Plus, because this man is staying with you for free, it creates all sorts of complications.
The guest knows that what he is doing is wrong but wants to get cheap places in which to work. The chances are that he is unlicensed because otherwise he would offer home visits and not rely on a cheap STR.
Who wouldn’t be? I have rules (which yes, I’ve broken from time to time) to never discount anyone who asks for a discount.
I’ve had similar situations when neighbours have suddenly started construction work without being considerate about it. On some of those occasions, I have given a one-night discount before a guest can ask for it. Other times, a gift card for a local restaurant is better - it depends on the guest and the noise/inconvenience level.
P.S. When I saw the title of your thread, I assumed that your guest was a sex worker bringing her clients into your rental.
Good advice! I learned about the wisdom of noise listing with a lukewarm review. I now tell people that I live on a main street and there can be traffic noise. Sometimes if you live in a place you get sort of immune to the various sounds, but guests notice them.
A friend of mine lives near both an air force base and a small airport. When she was looking to purchase the place, she asked the owners if the planes were a noise issue and they said it wasn’t really under the flight paths, so only occasionally does it happen.
The first day after she moved in, her two young children covered their ears and started crying in fear as a really loud plane flew right overhead. It actually very much is in the flight paths, the previous owners were just used to the sound and didn’t notice it anymore.
For sure she considered that, but they were forthcoming about other things that needed attention on the property, so that didn’t seem to be the case. And in fact, my friend and her kids got used to the sound of the planes after awhile,too.
