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We have a two family flat, we live in the main level apartment and rent the upper apartment on Airbnb. Last year we were closed due to covid, but are hosting again now. My question is regarding Halloween decorations in our yard. We really enjoy decorating for the holidays and Halloween is one of our favorite. We spent a lot of time making all of our decorations. I should add there isn’t anything to gruesome. There’s a small cemetery, a couple somewhat spooky scarecrows, a big spider and web, and tattered curtains and lights on the porch. There are no decorations in the apartment, just the yard and porch. Most of guests have given us positive feedback and commented on how unique they are. However one of our last groups to stay in 2019 wanted to speak to me about them, and ended up asking that I remove them all because of their religious beliefs. I said I would turn off the lights and could easily take down the tombstones, but the rest would have to stay because it was just too much work. They thanked me for being willing to work with them but refused to stay because I wouldn’t remove every single item.
Now that we are back to hosting again, and it’s almost time to decorate the yard for Halloween I’m getting a little nervous about the decorations. My thought has always been that guests are renting the apartment, not my entire yard. What do you think?
Personally, I think that sort of stuff is a bit tacky, but that’s from a European perspective.
You could disclose it in your listing, along the lines of “from blah date until blah date, there will be Halloween decorations in blah”. Stick a pic up of last year or something.
Really? Someone who believes that ‘praying’ to a bearded man in the sky gets you things; in ghosts turning water into wine and that anyone who does not believe what they do goes to eternal damnation says that Halloween is against their religion? You are lucky they left. The Christian versions of Sharia Law are haunting us daily… Supporting ‘religion’ is never a good idea…
You can’t cater to everyone and anyone who is offended by Halloween clearly isn’t the type of guest you want to attract.
Decorate your way. Don’t be bullied, but be sensitive to others. Sounds contradictory, but IMHO you handled that guest perfectly. You expressed a desire to make them more comfortable, you offered a compromise in your own home, and they said “no.” It worked out fine. Do these people go to hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. demanding decorations be removed so their sensitivities aren’t offended? Probably. Bullet dodged.
Speaking of that, I had someone request to book (I’m IB). They didn’t have a verified ID. Thanked them for info on why they were coming but said I realized they were new to Air and that I had guests “verified” (for what that’s worth).
They wrote back with ID included and also asked if I needed them to send their vaccination records. First time anyone has asked that and I told them I didn’t need them.
I have in my listing that I’m vaxxed and like when guests are too.
Sounds like a good way to weed out people like them. The gall. It could be part of your belief system but they don’t consider that. It’s your house. There has to be a boundary somewhere.
I rent a suite attached to the home I live in. I’m putting out my decorations tomorrow which are mostly a skeleton theme including a “Dia de los Muertos” sugar skull style inflatable. I also board dogs in my home and I’ve never had a complaint from either pool of clients. From a business perspective I see it as it is my home first, a business second. If it were a stand alone rental of course I wouldn’t be decorating it.
I also don’t want to host these kinds of people so I’d be happy to have them leave and I wouldn’t be refunding any money. The nerve of some people is stunning.
I agree that they are renting the apartment, not the yard unless you have listed the yard as an integral part of the rental. I decorate, as suggested below for Fall, but do put jack-o-lanterns etc out a few days before Halloween. You might mention the decor when you confirm Fall reservations. The only item I would question is the graveyard. We have people who come in to visit sick relatives, go to funerals, and close up houses for family members who have died. I also know that the year that my father died just before Halloween all this stuff bothered me, but I saw it as my issue. I was a hospital administrator once and my kitchen staff proudly decorated the cafeteria including fake gravestones with the initials of board members on them, lol. They thought I was a dud for making them take it down. I also do a lot of winter decorating with a definite Christmas flair, just not in the guest suites. They must be really confused when they see my buddha statue in the garden and the gargoyle in the hall.
I agree with you in the my home first opinion. I was just amazed that a group could make such a big deal out of it. After the request to remove the Halloween decorations they then started trying to “save my soul” and began trying to quote bible versus to me and hand my a bunch of pamphlets. I just told them politely that I needed to get back to work and closed the door. Some people…
@KKC That reminds me that when I lived in SE AZ, a friend that came to Tucson in the winter told me about the Dia de los Muertos procession in Tucson. It was one of the amazing experiences I had living there. Went on for hours and there were stunning costumes and painted faces. It was at night so made it all the more incredible.
I like it that you make all your own decorations. I hate the mass produced stuff. I would add a photo of last years Hallows Eve decor and caption it accordingly so as not to have to get in that position of sad guests again.
I often forget to do anything for fall except a pumpkin or 2 or Thanksgiving table decorations if we are hosting that meal.
The thing is, they consider anything other than their own belief system to be wrong. They have no respect for others’ right to their own beliefs.
I’ve told the JoHos that come around wanting to foist their Awake magazines on me just that. “You know, by trying to convince other people to believe as you do, you are either assuming they don’t already have strong beliefs of their own, or showing disrespect to them for whatever they might believe.”
Sigh. Pretending you know all about someone because you know their faith is just wrong. Christianity goes from liberal & accepting to conservative, fundamentalist. A range of the fundamentalism to some level of liberalism is common in most religions.
Decorate as you like, include pics in your listing & caption as “how I decorate in October” for whenever you decorate. The guests will then know what they are booking & can decide to book or not.
If you don’t have pics from last year, I’m sure you can find something on the internet to use until you do.
