Guest showing up 1 day early

It’s truly unbelievable the way that guests sometimes don’tread, isn’t it? Our listings are so obviously separate apartments but we still get messages asking if the bathrooms or kitchens are shared.

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Even when they do read, we’ve had at least one group show up and give us a two star review saying they felt like they couldn’t cook in the kitchen because it was shared and that they had to stay in their rooms the entire time because we were in our living room. It’s unbelievable.

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So they wanted you to hide in your bedroom so they can stay in your living room??. It is unbelievable

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Thank you for the support.

In this case she is an educated woman who is here on co op. 95 percent of the time it’s great. But the decor tends to attract princesses.

Of course, acceptance goes both ways, if you savvy.

But I could be worrying about nothing!

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Hi grallian,

It sounds like you are on the fence about quitting. I do recommend highly if you aren’t going to quit that you require ALL of your guests to have a profile photo of their face. We have had a lot of problems with third party bookings so we make sure we know who is coming into the property and their face matches the one on the security cameras. If not, they get the boot. Send them the Airbnb help link to explain this to them further. Tell them Airbnb requires it and so do you. If they won’t supply a photo-you don’t accept their booking. Period.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/67/why-do-i-need-to-have-an-airbnb-profile-or-profile-photo

Um … no …

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I just hosted a group who’s profile photo was a picture of their cat. Great guests. Cute cat too.

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Why on earth arent these people going out anyway! I must always remember to ask for purpose of visit where its not forthcoming. If its anything like watch tv or cook in someone elses kitchen, reading between the lines, its a no then. Do that at home.

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I have no idea especially since they cane from overseas.

I think it’s always a good idea to let your neighbours know that you are doing Airbnb, both because it’s the courteous thing to do, it can help allay concerns they may have and because they can alert you of any concerns if you host remotely.

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My neighbours only just found out I do Airbnb after over 3 and a half years! This was because of gossip and the guest was a friend of a friend of the neighbour (to be honest that wouldn’t have happened if the guest had not broken the rule of not giving out my address to anyone, and I would mark her down for that). I take it as a point of pride that my Airbnb activities are so quiet the neighbours don’t know.
However if you’re a host of a self contained unit that is different and I think it’s a courtesy to give the neighbours your number as a safeguard for them. I also think the landlord who rented a house with antisocial behaviour from students opposite me should have done that as well. It’s all good practice with property management. If we don’t manage things well ourselves, the council and the law will come in to do that for us! That landlord has now been forced to sell as her poor management has bitten her on the backside.

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All that money for the flight get under someone feet in their living room and kitchen. Airbnb really needs to clarify the meaning of a private room better. People wouldn’t dream of that in a normal hotel or bed and breakfast. Fingers crossed my guests have been excellent about respecting space for months. I hope I don’t get the forum jinx!

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I agree about letting the neighbors know especially if in a typical neighborhood with next door neighbors. Luckily our place is pretty secluded so it generally does not affect the neighbors. We are on heavily wooded 1 Acre lots and each property has a long driveway and steep hill. The neighbors have a slight view of our driveway through . They live across 2 different roads from us. The neighbors mentioned the owners before us lived there 5 years and they never met them! There is only one other house up the road from us and it looks nothing like ours so guests should not get confused and end up there.

I did feel bad that the guests ended up at the wrong house and we added tons of pictures to our check in instructions. We have had over 60 guests and this is the first time it had happened luckily. If it happens again, I may limit check in time to before 10pm. We stress to those checking in late now to look at our pictures including our driveway and to call if they get lost. We added a welcome bear to the bottom of the driveway also.

We have security cameras on the outside of the property so we would know if there were any extra guests or parties happening. We are in the middle of nowhere and our guests luckily are nature lovers or families in for a wedding. Most of the time we just rent rooms out as this is our primary home.

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I’ve never had guests show up a day early, but I once had a guest show up a day late. When they didn’t check-in, I contacted them and they had mixed-up their dates. Luckily the next day was open despite the next two months being fully booked solid.

Hi jaquo,

The link I provided is still information available to everyone from within the help menu on Airbnb’s site in the U.S. When they do move to a “Booking Model”, then we will have to comply with their new rules. Until then…

… until then guests will continue to upload images of flowers, guitars, cars, boats, babies or whatever as their profile images. As do some hosts.

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They do inasmuch as they can really…
" Private rooms

Private rooms are great for when you prefer a little privacy, and still value a local connection. When you book a private room, you’ll have your own private room for sleeping and may share some spaces with others. You might need to walk through indoor spaces that another host or guest may occupy to get to your room".

And

" * Private room : Guests have their own private room for sleeping. Other areas could be shared.

  • Shared room : Guests sleep in a bedroom or a common area that could be shared with others.

As a host, you’re responsible for accurately describing your listing. Pick the choice that best describes your place so guests know what to expect."

Some hosts cook breakfasts and love to entertain their guests while some don’t allow any kitchen use at all. They could perhaps make this a drop down menu function where you choose one out of three options, for example, but that could prove somewhat restricting and I fear that many people, yourself included, may not get booked, if guests were forced to choose an option.

Personally, I wouldn’t like my holiday to be so regimented and cafeteria style in that I am provided the same option daily. I would probably like one morning of a breakfast and a good chat and then other days be left alone.

Four options I think: unlimited guest access to kitchen , restricted access, no access, host prepared breakfast /meals. I would be in the second category. Great idea.

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I would have cancelled them if their

I’m more of a dog person

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No photo no booking - period!