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New here and enjoying the posts. We have a 400+ studio entire unit and have our first long term (18 night) guests. We just did our second cleaning for them and saw that they have hung Redi Shades (without asking) on our painted wall. They are first time airbnb guests and have been really, shall we say slovenly, partly because they have way too much stuff for this small place. They are clearly breaking house rules, too, like they have brought candles though we say no open flame–and we provide fake candles for ambiance.
They have 6 nights left and I’m going to message them about the candles, but I’m also concerned that peeling off the Redi Shades will peel wall paint. Anyone have advice for me about schooling these first time airbnb guests? They are paying a pretty penny for their stay and have been really nice otherwise. It’s making me question whether we should every do stays of more than 7 nights!
That’s just weird to hang shades on a painted wall. What were they thinking. If I were you; I would ask them to take them down and let you know when they are finished. I would then go over and see it there is any damage. If so, get an estimate for the repair right away and submit it to the Airbnb Resolution Center.
Regarding the candles; I would have a very serious discussion about your no open flame policy. Tell them that they will have their reservation terminated for one more violation.
Regarding schooling the guests; It’s not your job. They are adults.
What are redi shades? Sounds bad! Esp if you have to repaint.
It’s not cool that they are breaking house rules. I mean… even when you are in Kindergarten (I sub school K-12) you know and follow rules.
I would suggest making sure it’s in your house rules online but also put it in a document that you send to them upon booking.
Don’t hesitate to scold them about the candles. When I was a new host and didn’t know better I even left candles in the room so they could have ambiance. Well one day a guest burned a hole through the tablecloth and then left a candle unattended outdoors.
Right about then I went on a firefighter ride along and the FF told me that next to kitchen accidents, candles were THE leading cause of house fires. Just never ever again… EVER.
Oh if the paint has damaged the wall, make sure to open a claim.
Thanks, EllenN and konacoconutz for your advice. I will not hesitate to make a claim if there’s damage and they will be on notice that we’re looking closely for it. I don’t know that I’ll have them take the shades down now but I’m advising them there should be no damage or adhesive residue. The candle use must stop pronto!
Thankfully we just did our second cleaning for them. I would have hated to see the place after 18 nights without cleaning.
And then there’s the matter of how to review them . . . .
The reason I advise you to have them take the shades down immediately is that Airbnb is from what I hear very particular about the format of repair estimates. If it were me; I would get the process of making a Resolution Center claim started in case I had to ask the repair person to tinker with the estimate.
Very true with kitchen accidents. I was responsible for burning down my kitchen when I was 13 on Spring break from public school. It is a long story and still don’t know what exactly caught fire. The only reason I was not punished is because my dad said “well at least the insurance covered new appliances and work we needed, and no one was hurt” It’s like he secretly thanked me.
The fire was started out so small but I was taught by American public school to exit immediately and then call for help. I allowed the fire to grow! What a joke!! Especially when neighbors says “hold on…hold on.”
cabinhost, this is a brand new remodel so burning the place down wouldn’t help us. Plus we live upstairs! And, for the record, we have pleated shades on the windows but apparently they just aren’t dark enough for the person who wants to sleep in. Not a problem for our sightseeing guests as they’re up early hiking and touring around. That’s why this has us rethinking longer stays for those with other business in town. Maybe too much wear and tear on the place.
We got black out curtains for the guest room. I like to wake up in a light room, but our guests really appreciate the room being as dark as a cave. They were inexpensive on amazon.com.
It depends on the paint and how carefully they are applied and removed. In my experience, even those horrid “removable” hooks with the adhesive backing rarely come off the wall without taking paint with them.
If it’s a textured stucco wall you may get away without it looking like crap with a quick touch up of paint, but otherwise it looks awful, especially if the adhesive is left behind which makes water based paint bead up.
I’m expecting the worst. I did not, as wise OPs suggested, ask the guest to take down the shades right away. I told them to remove them before check out, which is thankfully in 2 days, and to remove no paint and leave no marks or residue.
I cannot even understand the thinking (or lack thereof) behind this act. I would buy an eye mask before taking the liberty of potentially damaging someone’s new paint job.
I’m sure these people actually believed what is probably a claim made by the makers of this product that they are “effortlessly removable…blah blah…” but don’t realize that they usually are not.
I wish you luck, especially since the paint is new. Even for a worst case scenario: paint comes off with the adhesive backing; it will be an easy fix–just time consuming and a general pain in the neck. I also would not bother with a claim unless there are a half dozen of these shades around the room. For one or two I’d just get out the 220 sandpaper, dust and touch-up paint.
As an aside, I put in my description to “bring a sleep mask since there are no curtains in the living room, so you will most likely be waking up to the bright Southern California sunrise…” And it is bright, especially with a skylight.
I was surprised when a Spanish guest told me that all rooms and all homes have black-out shades on the windows. The fact that I just had blinds was surprising to him. It made me think about it and wondering how I could offer something guests could put on the windows at night - like little hooks and some black fabric.
Or maybe people work/play at night and sleep during the day?
I don’t even sleep with my blinds closed - I like it all open.
For anyone interested in how it turned out . . . the shades pulled the paint off! Lots of little points of peeled paint as well as general marks.
These guests were slobs. There’s a red wine stain on the brand new sofa. They left food in the microwave, moved furniture, food smeared on coffee table and remotes. There are marks on the new pleated shades. I think generally speaking, relaxing is a good idea but I’ll just say that everything in there was new. It is new construction, paint, furnishings, appliances, dishes, etc. I don’t care about anything that’s just needs cleaning because we charge a cleaning fee and do not specify that the place must be left in any specific state of clean.
Definitely making a claim because of the combination of the sofa stain and the paint; that could be all but I couldn’t bear to do more than a cursory look. Any recommendations on timing of claim, communication with guest (do I need to give them an opportunity to make it right first?), and review?
Try oxyclean on the wine stain. When you make a claim it goes to them first anyway. Communicate and file ASAP. Take pictures of everything and review honestly but wait until the 14 days is up.
Plus we live upstairs! And, for the record, we have pleated shades on the windows but apparently they just aren’t dark enough for the person who wants to sleep in. Not a problem for our sightseeing guests as they’re up early hiking and touring around. That’s why this has us rethinking longer stays for those with other business in town. Maybe too much wear and tear on the place.