I have a current guest who moved all the supplemental electric heaters into one room because his girlfriend is cold with the furnace set at 72f and tripped the breaker. I reset it and went to check on them and he had a bunch of bedroom furniture out in the hallway, attempting to turn it into a dining room (we have no kitchen access) . He said it wasn’t in the house rules! I told him to leave my appliances and furniture alone or find another place to stay.
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In my experience it’s also a trait of one’s own family who move everything around in your kitchen because they have never learned where things belong. No matter how many years they’ve lived with you…
My first guests moved the sofas around, and showed me, offering to put it all back as it was - but I liked the new arrangement so much that I’ve kept it that way!
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Could you send her to me, please? I have books everywhere and I tell myself one day I’m going to organize them based on some criteria. This never happened. I buy books and I leave them where I find space. It’s a nightmare to look for a specific book. On the other hand it’s so nice to look for something and find books I forgot I had and start to read.
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Poor girl. It makes me wonder what she does out in public at a store like walmart? Light a campfire to survive?
All the space heaters in the house have been removed due to guests abusing it like this. One time a guest got the room up to 90 degrees. It was so hot and dry that the drywall shrank and cracked floor to ceiling. After a few weeks it actually pushed back together though. Weird! No more space heaters after that though.
They wanted a hotel. No reminder that anyone else lives there. And no consideration if they did. Sounds American.
You know, McDonald’s.
He tripped the breaker again and then moved bedroom furniture into the hallway in an attempt to create a dining room. When I came in to see what the electrical problem was I saw the furniture and told him to put it back where he found it. I backed this with a message to refrain from moving heaters and furniture and his response was that it wasn’t in the house rules! I replied that common sense and courtesy don’t need to be in the house rules. I was one breath from evicting him on the spot.
He left me a three star review with no written response, just entering a period into the review box to allow proceeding with the stars. I had slammed him on his review. Hosts beware!!!
Well could’ve been worse. He could’ve been a journalist!
I use 3M VHB double sided tape on the bottom of furniture feet on hardwood to keep guests from moving in. Its worked so far but hotels usually have it securely screwed down.
I may be there next month, but your place is a little big for a single… 
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It may be a bit big for single but we have had a couple here and there because our price was lower or it was the only thing available. That was back when I did one night stays. If you don’t find something you like within your price range drop me a note, If I have openings we can work something out
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This is an oft heard suggestion on this forum and my listings are proof that rules are made to be broken. It depends on who is coming to your property and why. I rent my home around 130 days out of the year. I am in the Catskills Mountains two hours north of NYC. It it nothing BUT personal and it is exactly my aesthetic and vision that draws folks to the property. Many of my guests are NYC professionals in creative industries - art directors, product designers, web designers, brand managers (whatever that is) but lots of other folks, too. They are drawn to the place for its unique charm. They specifically do not want a generic experience with a middling bland interior meant to appeal to all. Frankly, that sort of Airbnb experience came later. In the beginning Airbnb used to advertise as “unique home stays” - we were sharing our homes. Then the high volume hosts came along with their investment properties and now it all looks like Home Goods, IKEA and Pier 1. Occasionally my guests move something, but considering how incredibly personal the place is their careful and light touch is amazing.
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Exactly. There are still guests out there who want this. I can’t claim my place has unique charm but it is definitely old and a bit quirky. Plus I live there! It seems like us original home-stay hosts are in the minority these days.
So yes, the idea that “it’s best not to personalize a rental place” has zero resonance with me.
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I have the same thing happen! I am a new host and have only hosted 10 groups so far. 6 out of 10 have moved my decor. I thought maybe this was a “thing” people did so I googled it and found this forum 
But not just small things - things like moving my artwork to hang it in different rooms. One person washed all my windows inside and out (they weren’t dirty) and she also re-arranged my whole kitchen. It seems odd to me to stay for a 3 day weekend and spend a whole day washing windows and moving a kitchen around not to mention hanging photos in other rooms.
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Welcome to the forum and to Airbnb hosting.
I haven’t had people do this but I just host a one room guest suite.
May I ask how long you’ve been hosting and what inspired you to start?
We wanted to buy a cottage on the lake and thought this would be a good way to help support the cost while we were not using it. I just closed in December so we just started with Airbnb in June after being shut down May and April. What a time to start! I have a few long term rentals, but this my first short term
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Moving the artwork maybe for Instagramming? Rearranging the kitchen drawers, not so explainable.
I hope I get the window washing guest, lol.
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I know! It was so weird, they were all done inside and out meaning she must have used a chair to reach them? And the whole house smelled like vinegar
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Today my guest send me a message “this pictures on walls are MAGIC or only decoration?” What kind of people are these,yesterday they fire the mobile charger,they put in wrong socket. They damage new sheets by washing on very high temperature. They are here only for few days and it seems like eternity. They sent me message in 12 a clock the evening to reguest a flor mob. Come on,am i new in this bissines and have bad luck or you deal with this things??
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I have had weird guests about 75% of my visits so far. I just started hosting, but used airbnb for years and I just keep thinking “who are these people? I dont act like this right?”
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They left today,and on the table they left dry INCENSE on purpose. As i have heard and read incense flower is used in churches or some ceremony. I think they were trying to chase bad ghost that come from the wall pictures (decorations).
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