THIS. This is why I value forum like this. Until I started reading responses from hosts as guests, honest to goodness, it never occurred to me that a guest might assume that self check-in meant they wouldn’t have to deal with me! I hate to irk people! I note in my listing that I will greet them & do a quick walk through, the purpose of which is two-fold. It reinforces the guests notion that this is not an impersonal hotel with unlimited resources where they can bleed on all the towels and use up all the soap. It also allows me to introduce them to the things in the listing that I know they missed and will be calling me about. I give them some treats and I’m on my way.
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I think where you run into discrimination is if you allow it sometimes, but not others… I have a strict 25 to book, we also require the person booking the home be with the group staying. We live 1300 miles from one of our STR, that one is set at 25. We also have one next door to where we live, that one is set to 21. Our main concern is under aged drinking, the property set at 25 also accommodates up to 13 guests, us being out of state does not allow for monitoring the situation, except by cameras in the driveway so we can see how many guests arrive. Our property next door is small and only accommodates 4 guests. But to stay consistent, and not run into problems with discrimination, we do NOT make exceptions on age. We will make exceptions on number of pets on occasion, or check out times, but never age to book.
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We allow any adult to book, no restrictions. Sometimes they are worried we will not confirm them, and they tell me their ages. Last year I got the job history and grade point average from a requester, his young group (max 4) was so nice. We are not self check in, there is no way for people to find us so they do not have that choice. We have only had a few who requested check-in outside of check-in hours. I guess we are losing out on some people who prefer self check-in, but I could care less.
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We do the same. We’ve had plenty of 18-year-olds and plenty of local people. No problems with them at all. We live in the house and make that clear before guests arrive. Like you, we are always here for check-in (unless it’s a repeat guest).
I remember being uncomfortable about one inquiry, by a man who wanted to use a bedroom to photograph “a girl.” When I asked him about her age and the purpose of the photos, he stopped communicating. We now have a rule about photo/film shoots.
I think being here in the house helps encourage guests to behave.
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