I am new to hosting - getting ready to put my house up on AirbNb.
My concern is my beautiful (expensive) baby grand piano. Not only I don’t want guest playing it, but I’m also worried about them trying to open the heavy top and dropping it and damaging the instrument.
I am thinking to put a cloth on it and sewing it together. Then putting a note that if the cover gets removed, I assume that the piano was played (against the house rules), and assess a 500$ fee. Or something like that.
What do you all think? Any other ideas?
You’re going to list the whole house? You are not going to live in the house? Call the piano movers and get it removed to the house where you live!
Cute idea with the cover, but I’d bet it will be hard to enforce the $500 penalty. I can see some idiots removing it just as a dare, and then daring you to try and collect the fee.
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If it is that important to you then put it in storage or if it is a large house/castle with many rooms you might choose one to put your valuables in and a lock on the the door so guests can’t access it. Also clearly marked “Private. No Guest Access” because you’d be surprised (cf Legend of Bluebeard).
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Either put it in a locked room in the house if it is big enough or move it to where you live.
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If it is a whole house rental, simply move the piano and anything else you would rather not have guests touch into one of the rooms like a spare bedroom…
I agree with KenH. Remove it from the house. In my rental I do not have anything that is expensive. It seems like guests break stuff weekly. Remember that people are on vacation and chances are that they’re drunk. Accidents happen.
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You are asking for trouble. Do you allow children? The worst thing about guests damaging or breaking things is when they try to hide it. Don’t take the risk. Remove anything that you care about because guests don’t!
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Like everyone else says. Get that thing outta there! Moved to a (VERY) locked room or out of the house entirely, as well as anything else you do not want people to mess up. I am telling you from experience, people will screw anything up they can and eventually EVERYTHING!
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Well, it seems that plenty of experienced hosts got here before me and all said exactly what I was going to say - remove the piano. The same applies to anything else you have in the property that can be easily damaged.
Please let us know what you’ve decided.
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I’m going to assume that you are living there, at least sometimes. If there is not a way to lock off the room, perhaps even remodel and put in French doors that lock for example, or move the piano to another room, then next option is trying to security the thing in place. Locks like this are one step
Then a cover along with a warning in the rules. Also reiterate the rules when they book. You might even consider a camera aimed just at the piano and not showing other parts of the home in the background if possible.
I am constantly fixing damage from guests and I have nice but not expensive furniture. I can’t imagine what will happen with a baby grand. I have visions of someone getting drunk and deciding to lay on it like a Smokey jazz singer or trying to stand on it and sing like Lady Gaga.
I agree with others on this forum, lock it up, get it out, install additional doors if you have to. All those options can be expensive but will be less than repairing/replacing your BGP.
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I know someone with a baby grand. Teenagers at a party were inspired, and resolved to renovate the interior with body fluids. Imagine selling THAT to the Host Guarantee!
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Wow, I did not expect to expect so much damage. I guess I will have to find a way how to remove this piano. I will be renting out the whole house so I might have to change some furniture to because I have some really nice things.
Most guests won’t damage anything but it will only take one beloved item wrecked to have you wondering why you thought Airbnb was a good idea.
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We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this Billy Joel classic: My Baby Grand
Late at night
When it’s dark and cold
I reach out
For someone to hold
When I’m blue
When I’m lonely
She comes through
She’s the only one who can
My baby grand
Is all I need
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There was once a poster here who was under constant stress with her guests. She describes how she had 400$ sheets and antique furniture and rugs and other luxury household items. Her guests were disrespecting the fact she spent so much money on it and damaged it.
I don’t have a single.item in my rental house which is expensive. All the furniture I bought used, All.sheets, blankets,etc are bought on 80% sale.
If you don’t live there to leave the baby piano with guests is not a good idea. Hope you had option to put it somewhere safe
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Billy Joel is so young in this video. Ray Charles—amazing talent, His passing left a void. I feel that way about BB King, Elvis & John Lennon also.
Thank you for sharing.
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Mate. Nothing you do will protect your baby grand. Do yourself a favour and get it removed. It WILL be scratched or damaged over time. I can practically guarantee that.
Just some of the things that may happen:
- Guests putting objects and glasses on your piano
- Guests who don’t know how to play the piano giving it the rough treatment
- Kids - self explanatory
- Guests having sex on the piano
- Mischief. You only have to jam a key for the whole piano to be worthless.
There are damages in my house of the unimaginable kind, so do yourself a favour and remove it.
There is a tinny-sounding old upright in the local community hall here. It’s a magnet. Sticky-fingered little kids bang on the keys, dads put their coffee cups on top.
But we don’t care about that piano.
Your poor baby grand.
As the others say, it is best to Airbnb a piano-less space.
You just don’t know what guests will do purposely, thoughtlessly or accidentally. You have to do a ‘worse case’ scenario with regards to everything and especially with precious things ie paintings, rugs, vases and a baby Grand Piano! Whilst most of us like the idea of sleeping on £200 sheets and walking on a £1K rug whilst resting a filled crystal champagne glass on a £xxxxx BGP, you will be passed out with anxiety! We have a standard upright piano and it doesn’t matter who walks in our house, eventually they attempt to tinker on it. So please move your BGP out/lock it out of reach.
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