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I had a lovely guest, a 28 year old German woman. She stayed for 2 weeks, so we had lots of nice chats during her stay. One day we got to talking about travelling, Airbnb, and home sharing, and how important it was to keep lines of communication open. She told me about an experience she had had at an Airbnb somewhere in Europe, France or Italy, I think. It was a home share which listed full kitchen use. My guest had stayed with her boyfriend, and they like to cook their own healthy meals. So they made themselves a hearty breakfast and dinner, but were otherwise out and about all day adventuring around.
They thought the stay had gone fine, but the host slammed her in the review, saying they “overused” the kitchen. My guest said, “If we were in her way when she wanted to cook, why didn’t she just say something at the time- we could easily have arranged to adjust our meal times so as not to make her feel that we were taking over her kitchen. And why advertise use of the kitchen with no explanation as to limitations, and then expect guests to somehow know that their cooking is disturbing the host? But it appeared that she was secretly annoyed and fuming the whole time we were there, yet acted like everything was fine.”
I had actually never noticed that review for my guest- she was a seasoned Airbnber, and had lots of great reviews, which I only skimmed.
As far as overlooking the small stuff, this guest cooked a lot at my place, which didn’t bother me a bit. She always cleaned up after herself. But she happened to be a very inattentive dishwasher, and I kept finding bits of stuck-on food and grease on the dishes she had washed. If she had been staying for more than the 2 weeks, I would likely have pointed it out, but she was such a charming and respectful guest in every other way, that I just rewashed whatever I found that wasn’t clean when she wasn’t around. It wasn’t any big deal, and I certainly didn’t mention it in the review.
It seems that more and more, hosts are expecting some sort of new breed of guest - a sort of superguest.
You can see it in the forum here a lot. “They didn’t take the garbage out!” “They left their coffee cups unwashed!” “There were specks of blood on a towel!” “There was mascara on a pillowcase!” “They moved the chair to the other side of the room!” “They arrived an hour late!”
Unfortunately, superguests don’t exist. Guests are people too.
In order for Airbnb to work, it’s a two way street. Both hosts and guests need to cut each other a bit of slack, none of us are perfect. If hosts expect guests to take it in stride that the water heater glitched out and it took an hour to fix, without demanding a refund, or complaining about it in the review, hosts need to understand that a family with two little kids might not manage to pick up every cheezie their toddler dropped.
So, you and I are thinking alike here. Why mention the small stuff when the guest is so good otherwise? It would be good feedback for the guest to know that they aren’t the best dishwasher but often there’s no way to say it without risking hurt feelings or a ‘pointing to the spot in the rug’ negative attitude. I know I need to let the little stuff go, and if I think it’s little, it’s really little.
As for overusing the amenities, the Host should surely communicate that upfront. Otherwise how are people to know? I love it when a guest uses more of the features and amenities of the property because then I feel that I’ve really put in place features and amenities that are valuable, and I tend to think that the guests’ stay was more enjoyable.
I understand that it is a little different if I am a home share host and their using the kitchen means I cannot. But as you point out, that’s where communication comes in. We Hosts need to model and grow in our communication skills. Nine times out of ten when a guest does something ‘wrong’ I find that I could have prevented that if I communicated more effectively. That doesn’t only mean to add to the listing or the guidebook (though that’s a start) but also in what I write elsewhere and say face to face.
One thing I’m now doing, even though we are self check in, is always arranging a quick face-to-face orientation (though I offer FaceTime too). I had been just offering it as something that the guest could initiate but now I make it like just a natural step that we ARE going to do. I take the lead to initiate it. I think that is helpful to impart information and increase the guest’s comfort level in asking questions or making requests.
I’m also finding that labeling things is really helpful. Not labels that just say ‘no’ or ‘don’t’ though I have a few of those (actually just one). But labels that are informative and reflect a desire to help the guest. So things like labels on remote controls on what they control, or on pull-out shelves that mark that ‘BBQ Supplies are Here and in Marked Brown Bins Outside’ or ‘Pull/Push to Select Shower/Handheld.’ Yes, these are in the guide and explained in the orientation, but people forget (I do) so I add these reminders to help them out.
While I find post-it notes and such all over tacky, I would definitely appreciate instructions on things like remotes and other appliances. I’m a pretty low-tech, simple appliances person, and while things like remotes are easy for plenty of people to figure out, they aren’t for me. I’ve also never had a dishwasher in my life, so using one isn’t a no-brainer to me. Every year when I go to visit and stay with my oldest daughter, I have to ask her to remind me how to work the dishwasher.
Yes, I could easily have said something about the poorly washed dishes to that guest, and I probably should have, as she was the kind of person who would have been more attentive to it in the future. I don’t find it particularly difficult to say things to people without them being offended. (It would be hard to homeshare if I did) I tend to use humor, and present it lightly, and casually in the course of other conversation, so it doesn’t feel like some big criticism. I probably would have said, with a smile, “Oh, XX, by the way, you either need some close-up spectacles or a dishwashing 101 course- here’s some of the last batch of dishes you ‘washed’ (having some of her dishes with food crusted on out on the counter). Hey, do you want to go to a cool ‘unknown by tourists’ beach today? I feel like getting out today, and was thinking of going- wanna come along?”
No, I wasn’t objecting to either post-it notes or labels, just when there are tons of them all over the place, it can look tacky.
But really, if it’s a choice between anyone thinking it’s tacky looking and a guest not being able to figure out how something works, I’d choose tacky.
For instance, I’ve never used a Keurig in my life. If I had to forego my morning coffee because a host assumed everyone knows how to use a Keurig and left no instructions, I wouldn’t be pleased.
BTW, one of the things you can do, which strikes me as ‘cool’ is to affix QR codes on appliances that would take the guest to, say, a Youtube video. For example, we have a Nespresso coffee maker in which you can froth the milk. I myself forget how to do it but I’ve found a good Youtube on it.
What do you think of that for appliances where the instruction wouldn’t fit on a label?
I’m sure some guests would like it. I wouldn’t. I would be really irritated if I had to get online and watch a youtube video while jonesing for my morning coffee, instead of just spending 30 seconds reading the Nespresso instructions in the house manual, or attached to the machine.
And I can’t stand the flavor of heated milk, so I wouldn’t need any frothing instructions.
Yep, a Cuisinart coffeemaker is pretty easy. Even I could figure out my daughter’s. But as someone who has always been a morning coffee person, I actually don’t like any of those coffee machines. Just give me a french press and I’ll be happy. I just can’t relate to making coffee in something that requires a page of instructions that are difficult to understand.
Boil water. Pour over coffee grounds. Wait 4 minutes. Plunge.
There, I have my tasty cup of coffee in hand and am ready to start my day.
Not to mention it doesn’t take up an entire square foot of counter space.
I have QR codes for a few things, like the espresso maker (although I do have simple instructions for a straight espresso). The beach chairs can be tricky to fold back up, so I have a QR code linked to a YouTube video and post it over the chairs.
I just leave the manuals for every appliance in a file in the closet which I point out to guests during the house tour.
The only time I remember a guest asking me for help was a woman who asked me to turn off the light on the microwave. Admittedly she was from Venezuela or somewhere but the button had lightbulb icon on it…
I have had some super guests who left our rentals as clean as it was upon their check-in. I did praise them as SUPER GUESTS in the reviews. Some guests are just as maniac as I’m, especially towards other’s properties and objects.
