How do you handle children staying?

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More often than not, when we have families stay at our units for their vacation, if the children are young, the parents find it necessary to move items from their locations to higher ground.

Knowing this, there are a couple of decorations that are more delicate, so we have a place to put them when we know children will be there that are under the age of ~10.

Recently, we had a family of five stay. Three young children, I only knew the age of the youngest, which was a year and a half. The guest had contacted us with an inquiry first asking for a discounted rate. I spoke with my brother who owns the unit and he agreed to the lesser rate . We were promised by the guest that they would “leave it in better condition than they found it“.

When we arrived in the unit after checkout, it was a disaster. They moved everything. Furniture, decorations, etc. We found items that were from the living room in the bedroom and items from the bathroom in the dining room. It was a real mess.

That particular clean took me 9 1/2 hours. I will admit that I am slow, I am older, and normally takes me about 5 1/2 to 6 hours to clean my brother’s rental unit. But because of all the things that were out of place and having to reset the unit, it added that many more hours to my clean. And I get slower moving the longer the clean.

So now to my questions.

I would like to know if anyone else has had an issue like this.

Have you experienced guests moving furniture or decorations? Have you noticed that families with young children tend to move things around more than other guests?

I would like to send a preemptive note to families that says something to the effect that we understand that you are trying to keep our items safe from your children or you are trying to keep your children safe from our decorations, but if you move items from where they were located when you arrived that you need to put them back prior to leaving. The issue is not only for me, but if we ever have a cleaner who doesn’t know the unit come to clean and everything is out of place. How will she know how to reset the unit?

Please share what you send to guests with children (if you send anything).

I’d also like to know if anyone charges for this and if so, what would the charge be?

I did leave him a review that was bland, and with lower star ratings for cleanliness and house rules, because in “other things to note” we do have it written that we do not want people rearranging items because it is too time-consuming to put things back". I guess that would be considered a house rule. I also sent him a private message, letting him know that I was disappointed. That he had said that he was going to leave it better than it was. Can’t they tell that it was not left better than it was??? I mean he got a discounted rate and still had the audacity to ask after his checkout and prior to my review if the place was left clean enough. No! It was not.

I also find helpful the Airbnb reviewing process that is a little newer where you click on “something else“ and it allows you to put a little comment in there like “Rearranged everything in the house” or “cleanliness: excessive sand”. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe that those comments and checkmarks about whether they kept the place tidy or they took care of the garbage, those are all meant for the hosts and do not show up on the review unless you’re the host that’s going to host them. I think that helps the hosts tremendously.

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Always leave an honest and accurate review. If the host for this family had been honest in THEIR review you might have avoided this s**tshow…

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I did leave an honest review with matching stars and comments. Not sure if this is good enough in your opinion. Hosts will see the comments and checkmarks. The guest does not.

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But all the other hosts left GLOWING reviews about how clean and tidy he and his family were. If they had left the comments I did, I would have known prior to accepting the inquiry what type of guest I was dealing with.

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But, that’s beside the point. I would like to know if other’s have had dealings like this and if they send a preemptive note to guests who are bringing young children with them.

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THAT was what your review should have said! Hosts want to know the reality. Sorry, the things you thought would be public only go to the guest. The public only sees “communication was great etc etc”.

fail.

ALWAYS LEAVE AN HONEST REVIEW.

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I think any guest who ‘promises to leave the place better than they found it’ is probably going to be a disaster. But I am not sure how you can avoid the issue of parents moving things for their children unless you restrict your listing and state an age requirement, or limit how much stuff there is low down… They ALWAYS move stuff, but only some of them are careful enough to move it back.

It is an irritation that Airbnb demands all the ages of children from guests when they book, but does not pass that useful info on to hosts in the booking details. I was caught out once by the fact they also do not include ‘infants’ in the total number of guests.

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I have read your posts on threads and I know how you feel about reviews. I think we all recognize how you feel. You’ve made it very clear for years.

For reviews (since you’re still on that subject and not choosing to address what I am asking on this thread), the public, I don’t care about. The future hosts are who I care about. They are the only ones that see the check marks and comments, not the guests. The guests do not see these things.

The host can make their decision to rent to the guest based on what I have written in the comments under “something else” and the check marks.

Now, please, back to the subject.
Mahalo!

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I always tell the guesrs (most of whom are here for several weeks) to feel free to move things around.

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We have guests with kids once or twice a year – usually for a few weeks each time. The only “head’s up” we ask is if we have kids coming here at Easter we offer well in advance to organize (and supply) an Easter-egg hunt on the grounds. Always fun to see the kids get so excited – esp the first-timers. It also is a perk that helps insulate us from the parents finding a place a bit cheaper before the “no refund” deadline.

(And all this from a couple where neither of has been to church for decades!)

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10

I think if you allow kids in your rental, you should have a child safe rental. I rarely have kids in my rental, but If I do, there are approximately zero changes that I make.

RE the “leave it better than we found it,” I reject most people who say in their initial inquiry they’re very clean or with “non-shedding” pets. The “very clean” people are the ones who leave garbage all over and never actually clean (my rentals are monthly). Non-shedding pets are the worst, fur everywhere. I’ve had two and they took me an extra 4-6 hours cleaning because of all the fur on the furniture, curtains, and going over and over the floors. My pet agreement says pets aren’t allowed on furniture.

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11

It occurs to me that if it took an extra 2-3 hours just to reposition the “decorations”, perhaps there are too many decorations to start with.

I see so many listings that are overly decorated, with vases and knicknacks everywhere. If half the shelves and surfaces need to be covered with useless decor in order for the place not to look barren, there’s probably an overabundance of furniture, too.

Also, that this guest sent an inquiry first asking for a discounted rate was a red flag. To me, asking for discounts is a sign of disrespect. If a listing is too expensive for their budget, they should book a cheaper place, not try to negotiate on the listed price.

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I would consider that unenforceable. It seems with pets, we hosts are either all-in or all-out – and if “in” it should be with pet surcharges that go into a reserve for the inevitable extra cleanup (like professional carpet cleaners).

We decided long ago no pets, but that’s just us.

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13

Well, I’ve never had a guest click the button that it was “too cluttered”. But in fact more often than not, we get many compliments on the decor.

Some may think too much decor (probably you), some would think just enough (all my guests, apparently).

Just enough furniture. Not over furnished.
But this guest thought his children could/should sleep on the floor next to the bed using the living room couch cushions (seat and back), which wouldn’t fit in the space unless he moved the nightstand and the bed.

That’s just one example.

Thank you for your opinion.

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Here’s the link:

Maui-Time

Check the reviews. You can search the reviews for things like “decor”, “decorations”, “clutter”, “clean”, “items”, “furniture”, “messy”. Or whatever.

Look at the photos. Like I said perhaps too much for some, but just enough for others.

Like I had mentioned in the original post, there are a couple of things that are too delicate for children under ~10, so we put those items away.

But anyway, it seems most folks do not say anything preemptively to their guests about putting things back where they found them. And no one so far has said they charge a fee. I will keep moving forward and keep it like I’ve been doing for years.

Thanks everyone who took the time to read my post and commented.

Mucho Mahalos!

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Very nice listing.

So, to me, there’s a difference between “cluttered” and over-decorated. Your place is certainly not cluttered. But an example of what seems to me to be useless decor in a rental is those 2 small shelves covered in purely decorative items (except for the books). Sure, it’s nice for guests to have a few interesting things to visually enjoy, but I just don’t see the point in having shelves that are not useable to guests and are only holders for decorations.

As far as hosting kids goes, children are very observant and curious. While it makes total sense to move or remove fragile items within a child’s reach, that doesn’t mean they don’t notice things which are out of their reach that look intriguing to them and want their parents to get it down for them. Having raised 3 kids myself, I think some parents might just find it easier to put everything out of sight that their kids are going to bug them about playing with.

And the couch cushions on the bedroom floor- yes, they should have put them back, but there isn’t really anything odd about parents letting their small children sleep in the same room with them in a strange place. (And getting 3 kids up on check-out morning, dressed and fed and packing up all their stuff to vacate by check-out time, while certainly doable, might be overwhelming for some. Add in typical little kid stuff like,
“I want to go swim in the pool.”
“We don’t have time for that this morning, honey- we need to pack our stuff and go home today.”
“But I want to go swimming!”
If the kid is bratty, he’ll then have a tantrum the parents now have to stop everything to deal with, if not, it still takes time to deal with little kids.

I used to just love it when I’d get one of my kids all dressed up in their snowsuit ready to go out somewhere in the winter, and as you’re walking out to the car they say “I have to poo.” :roll_eyes: So back to unlock the door, take off the boots and mittens and snowsuit and then go through the whole thing again.

BTW, I have certainly seen listings where the house rules state that guests are not to move furniture or that if they do, it needs to all be put back before checkout.

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To each their own. You like books and I don’t like large empty walls of boring, so the shelves with beachy decor are a nice addition - and they’re high enough to be out of the reach of little hands. They are above a table where people can put their own items, such as purses, phones, keys, etc., and out of the way. Plus there was already a set of art spotlights pointing to that part of the wall when we purchased the place.

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Yep, that’s exactly what I have. But do people really read all the stuff in the listing? That’s why I was thinking of sending a little note when they book to say exactly what I have in “Other things to note” section. And I just wanted to see what other hosts do. Maybe I’ll just point them to our “Other things to note” section. And now I see that I don’t have “furniture” in that bullet point, so I will change that now.

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Here’s our other listing:
Maui-LICIOUS by the Beach

My nephew painted the whales on the wall.

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The whale wall is great. Definitely makes your place unique.

I don’t see anything wrong with reiterating things that are in your listing info when messaging with guests. And depending on the demographic of guests, sometimes what would benefit from reiterating might be different. I also use “did you notice in my listing info…” in messages to guests when their initial request message doesn’t give me a sense that they’ve really read the listing info, for instance if their message is super brief and doesn’t really give me any info. If they answer, “Oh yes, I saw that, it’s fine” then I have some clue that they’ve actually read through the info.

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I don’t mind when guests move things around - they often do so. But my apartments are both small, so putting things to rights afterwards isn’t a problem.

Once or twice, I’ve approved of the way a guest has moved things and left them that way.

Aside - there’s one item in both apartments that almost always is moved and hidden. (Can you guess what?)

To me, and to most English people, having a plastic washing up bowl in the kitchen sink is essential. (Is that ‘dishpan’ in the US?)

Many American guests though seem to see them as being completely unnecessary so hide them away - the top of the fridge, deep inside a kitchen cupboard, in the closet, in the cupboard under the bathroom sink… I’m often baffled searching for them.

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We have a small SFH (2 bed/1 bath) and often have children so I understand your situation.

I don’t say anything preemptively if I see that kids are coming to stay except to ask if they need a high chair or crib for an infant. We have the same note “please don’t move or rearrange the furniture” in the House Manual.

I have lots of books and games and most times the items are in their place when guests check out. Occasionally I have to spend 10-15 mins of tidying those things and get them back in their proper place.

I have one ceramic donkey that I move to a higher shelf when I know young ones are coming. We have a basket of teabags that are stored on a lower shelf and sometimes that is set up higher when I arrive to clean.

I didn’t look at your rental but I could think it would be helpful to remove some of breakable decor. As a host and someone who has travelled with young kids, life is easier when there’s not many breakables or decor. It’s really finding the right balance of decoration vs hassle (for everyone).