Omg…I love old houses and yours is so beautifully original without being stuffy or dark. Love all those fireplaces and their surrounds. With original tile yet. Love the original woodwork NOT painted and the newel post is outstanding. Congrats on offering such a lovely place to guests.
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We are old house lovers too! Our home is right next-door and it was built eight years earlier than that one. It also has unpainted woodwork and many original features but not as many as Dasher house, the Airbnb listing. If you ever come to this part of West Virginia you’d be welcome to stay there! Just reach out to me through the forum and I’ll book you in at a special rate. I love when we get old house lovers renting the place.
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How lucky are you! And thank you for the kind invitation!. Afraid my overnight travel days are over…The farm requires me ! There are animals of all kinds (and each kind has a ‘certain’ treatment scenario!) as well as my Airbnb. As my close friends also have farms, one cannot ask them to cover, they have their own version of chaos!
I built a new ‘old house’ here at the farm, and love all the details. Only thing missing is the energy a house gets from early occupants. I’m returning the invite tho!
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@shadowmnt It’s so beautiful!!
I’ll never see it because I have a regular sized dog. I’ve never understood the 20 lb dog rule. We almost always have multiple dogs staying and it’s the little ones that yap, use pee-pads (gross) and show aggression to other guests and neighbors. I most often decline guests with dogs when they have little dogs, so this rule always surprises me. If my dog is well-trained and kept on a leash, why does it matter what her size is?
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Haha. I have them too. I’m an old house person. We don’t have the fixtures but still have some of the outlets with gas lines. We have old gas sconces in the hallways. My husband likes to say that our attic is a “lighting museum” because it’s littered in old gas lines, old knob and tube, old copper wire and plenty of new wiring too.
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Beautiful place! If I’m ever visiting in the area, I would love to stay there!
I have a real collection of “old” lighting fixtures. Duplexalites are my favorite. All the original fixtures (except 2 “transition” scones on the third floor) were missing from our 1905 Dutch Colonial Revival so I put up Duplexalites in the main rooms. This is my Pinterest board on Duplexalies and Radiantfire fixtures. I own most of the Duplexalites shown on the board.
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It has to do with the size of the cabin. I’ve learned over the years that a dog (any size) left alone can sometimes be destructive so I have in my pet policy that they must be crated if left alone. There just isn’t room for a large enough crate for a large dog. Obviously I’m flexible as to that size limit ,i.e. if a guest politely requests to stay with a 25lb dog, or a compact fatty of 30 lbs I’m ok as long as they understand the size limitations of the space. I had to draw a line somewhere. It’s 200 sq ft without the loft, so with furniture, kitchen, bath, gas fireplace all taking up floor space, there just isn’t room to be comfortable. I make that clear and then let the guest decide. It is just too small for a really large dog. That’s the reason for the rule. I love dogs, have three…so I understand people’s love of their pets.
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Oh, this makes sense! I have one unit that is really small too. There was a big discussion about why I couldn’t let someone store 2 bicycles in there, same idea.
A comment, here, about the value of a brief walkthrough. I, too, have a place that has a few quirks that need explaining. Furthermore, as it cannot be assumed that they have read the listing or the House Manual, which is sent in advance, I want to be sure to go over these things plus point out and emphasize key safety features such as the emergency exit and location of fire extinguishers. My place is like a maze, at first, and without exit signs and literal floor plans with arrows on them, the way they do in hotels, people could get disoriented. Finally, and very importantly, in my opinion, the personal contact establishes a mini-relationship which, so far, has resulted in no damage, no cleaning issues, & consistently positive reviews. From what I have read in this forum this may to be the reason why. I try to be very sensitive to the fact that my guests are weary, need to go to the bathroom, and want to get on with their vacation. If it’s late I either send them a virtual copy online, or I leave a hard copy in the apartment for them to read on their own. But I do want to make eye contact with them let them know that they don’t have to worry about making noise (normal laughter, babies crying, kids sounds, reasonable pet sounds) which they always worry about, let them know that they can feel free to reach me at anytime, and give them directions to the beach. Seemingly no matter how many maps I draw, no matter how many directions I put in my manual people cannot find the beach which is less than a mile away. I’m planning on painting a mural on one of my walls of the area so that they will be able to actually visualize it. Whether people mind the walkthrough or not doesn’t matter to me. I need them to know that they need to be responsible when in my property. There are all kinds of statements about protecting the guest, but when it comes to protecting hosts we have our short-term rental insurance, but it shouldn’t come to that. I don’t want a guest to think that they can abused my hospitality just because I have short-term rental insurance.
I had a professional football player walking around outside one morning, in his bathrobe, admiring the nature preserve by the river. I asked him if he had used insect repellent (which I always admonish people to wear every time they go outside during my initial walk-through because people do not pay attention and then they get bitten up horribly) and he said no. I tossed him a can of spray and said to him that he really needed to heed my warnings and not go out without insect repellent. Then I apologized and said, “It’s a mom thing.” He thanked me and said, “I need a mom.”
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I think another poster said it almost as well as you did! If a guest can’t take a few minutes for me to get to know them slightly and explain my property, they should book something else, like a self check in. Because if that is their temperment I don’t want them here. I think you are spot on to note that this little bit of personal interaction seems to minimize any irresponsible behavior because they ‘know you’, rather than you being some distant person without a face.
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A mural of the beach or a map?
I have cleaned up the cabin piecemeal over the last few days, catching up elsewhere after my marathon guests of 8 days. Amusingly, I keep finding ‘things’ these last lovely folks did. Reminded me of a couple of college kids going into their buddy’s room and moving everything around as a joke. There is so much I’ve discovered gradually as I do my thing cleaning and tidying that I am now convinced without a doubt they were done deliberately. It’s now become a ‘treasure hunt’ as I find these things!
I keep a very nice can of room freshener in the bathroom on the little towel and storage cupboard on the top shelf, along with a pretty, clear box of cotton swabs. Today I found the air freshener on the floor behind the toilet. The little clear box of swabs was on a lower shelf that has wash cloths stacked so it was precariously perched. And one washcloth, unused, but unfolded, was on an even lower shelf all by itself.
The kitchen sink has a old timey curtain across the front to hide the contents (minimal cleaning supplies) and I did notice the yesterday it had been pulled fully open. This morning I found the ajax can with a used, dirty paper towel on top of it slightly back so one could see it unless you stooped. And it didn’t have any ajax on it, was just damp. This was about 24" from the kitchen waste can. So cute. The tv had been jacked with, and am having trouble getting it back in it’s practical spot ( articulated wall mount) but I shall prevail! Who knows what tomorrow will bring, lol?
In my mind’s eye, I’m envisioning an aerial view of the island, which would include the beach but also the road leading to the beach. So both a map and a mural. I have a very large multi-purpose room with a lot of blank wall space. One wall has a large white board. I’ve thought about putting large, framed posters, or wall quotes up. The room is used for extra sleeping (air beds), yoga classes, over-flow eating space, whatever people need. I think it would be fun to do a mural of some key areas of my city. VA Beach usually gets all the love.
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Absolutely agree. I am also a live-in host and although my room is under the house in a secluded laundry area, there are two bedrooms generally occupied with guests and one shared bathroom in the main house. Since most guests read nothing except the price and address, it is imperative that I spend a few minutes with them upon arrival. Sometimes I can tell that they are not paying any attention and as soon as they use the bathroom I know they heard nothing. My few rules are mentioned over and over in the description and twice in follow up notes. And reiterated upon arrival. The guests still do whatever they want.
We do full check ins, I’m not sure if its 10 mins, but its pretty much 10 mins that I have to do, because we are camping and most guests have no idea how to use any camping equipment. They could go to REI and figure everything out, since I list everything we use. But we just do it.
When they are like that, there’s hardly any rescue. If the accommodation is not what they are expecting, even though you have it on your list. Tell them to contact airbnb and cancel, and stay at another location. Because of the assisted check in, we make sure that the fit is perfect for the guest, and that everything is clean, and we show them everything.
That way when the issues arise, its easy to sort out, is this a cleaning person issue, or is it a member of the group that has caused their problem. Which we get a lot. They expect us to clean after every single person who comes in and uses something during the stay. Which we don’t know about unless its pointed out to us, as we showed them everything.
Especially since we have an outhouse, composting toilet.
We try to say, hey its not a problem that this is not the listing you are looking for. Airbnb will be happy to help you cancel and rearrange, your stay at one of the available locations in the area. And don’t have them stay with you. That way you don’t have to worry about anything except a resale of the listing, and the time you spent hosting them in. And a better visit. Because they will work your nerves and there’s no reasonable compensation for that.
But even then, they come back and try to hostile review. We just say, reading the listing prevents misfit arrangements. They do happen, and we can surely release them to another listing that is more their cup of tea. Or cup of Kuerig. They do really like having a host run around and serve them like they are at a resort, for less than the price they would pay at a resort, using the reviews as their leverage. I tell them that if they want all those things, those are provided at the hotels, and its a great problem solver to just book there. They are listed on airbnb now.
Welcome Back Coconutz! We missed you.
Oh and momovich. We too get the same thing. The place they all go to in our area, is actually next door to us, but it is 2 miles. We can see it from our front porch where they park. And they ask where it is, and we point at it. Its right there. They can’t find it. We only have one road, and its at the end of the road. How far. I think they just start spitting out repetition useless phrases, because they are not connecting the dots, or they just can’t see with their eyes. I think its an urban burnout. Or its a way they try to tag you. The game part of it, is show me, I can’t see it, I can’t find it.
For the inflatable bed, we get that a lot. How do we put this together. And what they want is for you to put it together. They are grown AZ adults, and can put together an inflatable bed. But they will all stare at you until you do it for them. That to me is gross, mistreatment of the airbnb guesting.
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I find it highly unlikely that they ‘staged’ the disarray. Why in the world would they do that? And who has the time? I had guests who moved stuff all over.
It is odd to me that you would even think that. If you overthink every guest, I am not surprised that you are tired. A good thing to remember is that people are seldom thinking about YOU because they are far too busy thinking about themselves.
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My first guess it would be because they were annoyed with the property, and likely with me pointing out their complaints were covered in the listing they didn’t read.
It wasn’t just me that thought so, either.
I only mention the update as an amusement. I don’t ‘over think’ a guest, I’m too reserved and not inclined to ‘make friends’ of my guests…All the rest of my guests, good and bad, were ‘normal’ in their idiosyncracies. Unless they are destructive, it doesn’t bother me.
I really got to find it amusing as I made my way through the cabin over three days, finding hidden things, and noticing others I hadn’t earlier. And just moving things around wasn’t what caught my eye, and that of a friend, that gave that creepy feeling (and these people were creepy, haven’t you ever had creepy guests ? If not, you will) It was the oddity of what WAS moved, and why and what it was and where it was vs should have been. Why would you take the tin bucket for the dishsoap and put it by the front door? Or put the air freshener behind the toilet when you got in from atop a cupboard? And why would you change the wall clock to 2.5 hours ahead? There were about 15 items like this. Not one or two, as in the actions of a forgetful or sloppy guest. sometimes things are just obvious.
It actually took more effort and time to put these things so far from where they were found and in places that they would not have been used…(you said why would they take the time) so was another pink flag… As I said, individually each thing, just curious…but taken as a whole, as you have to do in a lot of situations it was exactly as one would do to either joke , as with a friend, or just to make this harder for someone because you’re annoyed over something… It doesn’t matter,this is a first and I was merely relaying my most recent oddity. I guess you had to be there, to absorb it and get it. We’ve all had some weirdos ,these were harmless…but weird nonetheless.
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I stayed at a self check in home stay in May. The family was busy but it was simple to figure out. I loved it!
I can do self check in too, especially with experienced guests coming in at weird and wonderful hours. This has worked very well.
I prefer to greet them, but like the idea of picking it up later.
Some guests insist on a tour including a drive around. No worries, but they may mark you down if you don’t!