I think there are ways to market yourself to appeal to different age groups. I hate to speculate on what those ways might be. Let’s just say I’ve seen some listings that I think would appeal to the under 40’s and I’ve seen some that seem old-fashinoned and have features that would appeal to older people.
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Interesting, I find my American Guests are pretty good but the Asian Guests (not Asian American) never read the listings or think the house rules don’t apply to them.
My all time favorite was the fellow American host from California who knowingly continued to break my house rules, then upon my cancellation of her reservation, demanded a full refund and messaged Airbnb arguing: I’m a host and know these house rules are unnecessary.
Yeah, I once had an Airbnb host try to play a game to get a refund too. I filed a report on him and they removed his account and needless to say his did not get a refund.
About 80% of our guests are this demographic and long may it continue! They’re mostly from The Netherlands, France, Germany and the UK and almost without exception they’ve been friendly, polite and appreciative. Not always amazingly tidy, especially the Brits, but nothing serious.
Actually I find that as I get older I like young people more and more - at the age of 71, one of my best friends is 22!
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I hate to say it but the older folks aren’t my favorite guests either and I’m 60. I’m an exceptional guest and I hate to think of hosts seeing my reservation and thinking, “Ugh,” but I can’t blame them. I just hope that when I’m no longer willing or able to continue being a welcome guest I’ll have my wits about me enough to stop traveling or inflicting myself on hosts and vacation at places designed for my needs.
I agree about mother & daughter though in the three bad cases I had they were English and the mother was visiting to see her daughter who had decided to stay. So not someone who would normally choose to fly across the world for 24hrs to Australia. My guess is Hyacinth Bucket decided she didn’t like Australia before she got on the plane. I had one complain there were bed bugs and when I checked all I could see were some grass seeds because we live next to a field and hang the washing out on that side to dry. I feel sorry for the daughters but can also see why they might have decided to not go home.
Have to admit I don’t get the Bourdain reference. Bit of a hero of mine so sad to hear of his death.
He was American and a very respectful traveler who appreciated and enbraced the culture of the places he traveled to.
Ah! Righty. I get it now.
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I’ve found that I can’t always hang the laundry out, and if I do I hang it out and I then toss in the dryer before putting on the bed due to insects landing on it and staying there.
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Ahh yes, but more revelant - was he a host ?
My worst guests have been Canadien and Chinese. But I digress… I don’t think it is an initiative issue. I have guests who sit down and have planned ZERO things to do and expect me to hold their hand while they plan their day. That to me is zero self-reliance and initiative. They had an issue with your lock and they got lost. Is this really the first time someone has had problems finding your location and working the front door? Sounds like they were stressed out, and he might be high strung because he has a stressful job. If you frequently have people not knowing how to do something, check your instructions. Is it clear enough? Is there something hinky about the door that most people don’t know? I WOULD NEVER SUGGEST IGNORING YOUR GUEST"S CALL. That is just rude. I had guests jamming their key in the wrong lock and they said " This lock is broken" I went over and showed them the correct key to use, I then color-coded the keys so they can match the colors to the locks. And I smiled and chuckled when I showed them the correct key to use. Adding a little light-heartedness and injecting a lighter mood to make your feel guests more relaxed goes a long way.
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Well, it’s an automated lock with explicitly stated instructions that, to date, not one non English speaking guest has had a problem with. The address of my building is displayed prominently on the front facade & front gate. My experience with these guests was very similar to all my problem American guests, they simply don’t read, expect everything to be done for them, and lack any sense of self reliance. They literally called me on an iPhone a block away to tell me they were lost. Hello - google maps. Hello - the address is right on the building. It’s not rocket science. They had been using the lock steadily for 4 days straight… I’ve actually decided to start waiting to respond to see how it works out, so far it’s been fine - had a couple ask me how to turn the AC on. 5 min later messaged me to say they figured it out.
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I have people get lost all the time and I think my listing is pretty obvious and easy to get to. When I get frustrated like you are describing, I give myself a bit of a break to reset. You can control your reaction and can control what you choose to get annoyed with. Sorry you have such a problem with American guests. Take a deep breath and realize that these people aren’t TRYING to annoy you.
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Interesting the generalizations about Americans. Ask any southerner what is like to work side by side with some one from New York City and while not bad it is different. Ask someone from Maine about working with someone from California; I promise they will say “it’s different”
I can promise people from the USA are not all alike
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I love that. I had to enlarge the section for my area (South Florida) because I couldn’t read it - it says ‘Part of the Spanish Caribbean’. 
I have always believed that South Florida isn’t really part of the United States.
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