That’s quite true, but it’s also helpful if the person who is asking is clear about why they would want to know something, as it encourages a more on-point answer.
What does BME mean to you? (You’ve used it a few times and I am sure we don’t use it the same way, lol.) I just want to know what you mean when you say it.
Yes, that’s what it means to me (body modification extremist, which incidentally is primarily about genital mutilation) except for when it means Biomedical Engineering. But it doesn’t sound like that is how @gillian is using it. That’s why I asked, lol.
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There needs to be a translation app for Aussie English. 
You’d think there was some maximum allowed letter count in Oz for written and spoken language with all the word shortenings they use.
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Keeping it short means the less flies get into your mouth. We tend to be blunt and to the point.
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@Coolsheal Our listing says “owner-occupied basement apartment” in three places. It says it is accessed by a steep set of stairs with a hand rail, and that a chair lift is available. So they can get to…the basement. Private apartment, owner occupied, no shared spaces. How else can I put it?
“Owner occupied basement apartment” is strange wording. That would mean you share the apartment with guests.
“Private basement apartment with private entrance, in owner-occupied (upstairs) home, no shared spaces” is more explanatory.
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holy moly, are you people for real?
BME - Best Month Ever. wow, i didn’t realise it was not a common abbreviation everywhere. We use it all the time in my other line of work (where our income can fluctuate in the same ways) and that is with an international group. it’s NOT Australian afaik.
also: BMY best month of the year and WME and WMY (I’ll let you work that out on your own)
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Yeah. Every time you said it I’d start researching it again (because I knew you must mean something else) but I never found ‘best month ever’ (though I did find a lot of gruesome pics, eek). It even occurred to me that it may be so fresh that I just wasn’t finding it so I asked my goddaughter (19 in college) about it during a zoom. She had a friend there and they both said, “that mutilation stuff” (kinda creepy like in unison) and then someone in the background squealed “ewwwww”. Lol. True story.
But your thing totally makes sense! I knew it would. That’s why I asked.
Ok, well, it’s not like I’m dumb or something. These are so easy and so obvious:
WME = Wallabies Mean Everything
and
WMY = Wiggle My Yoyo
Like, duh.
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omg I totally respect what you did here. Although i’m now assuming you don’t know anything about Rugby, and i’m not a sports fan either, but that could have been super relevant - accidentally!
The Wiggles could have been a good Aussie reference too. I think on your part, an accident?
I asked my 18yo daughter if she knew what BME meant and she did NOT, but given she has barely had a job (Maccas* for 6 months) , so asking young people what this means is irrelevant, it’s a finance term. Surprised no one here has used it though.
Anyhoo, this January was bigger than January 2021, and we actually also were open in 2020 briefly (we did half the income and I thought that was amazing), but Jan 2022 smashed it for us.
but to further support my case, here’s a screenshot of the chat from the forums I’m in, where people are whining about low January sales (not accommodation industry)
- just leaving this out there to see who twigs what this might be. I know your USA nickname, even though we don’t use it here.
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@muddy Oh, dear, I do explain it much more clearly in the listing. It does say private apartment with private entrance. It does say no shared or common spaces. It is very clear that it is the basement level of our home and that we don’t live in the space. For the purposes of this particular discussion I was just pointing out that those two features are out in the open, I think the wording is “owner occupied property; basement apartment” and elsewhere it says “this is the basement of our residence”. I will review the wording, again, however, to make sure it is quite clear.
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I was just responding to what you wrote and put in quotes, so it sounded like that was an exact phrase you used in your listing wording.
Understood. Sometimes, after my initial reaction, I remember to take most posts as a prompt to double check my listing. I always learn/see something from a different perspective.
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we are all allowed to have different hosting styles. I offer a great deal to my guests, my rates are 1/2 to 1/3 lower than the nearby hotel. In exchange, they have to be respectful, and not demand hotel-style services. If it doesn’t work for them, book a hotel and pay the hotel rates. If someone wanted a refund, why didn’t they book a refundable rate on Airbnb or a hotel? Because they wanted a discount on a great place. Why didn’t they buy travel insurance? You can’t have it both ways.
My hosting style works for > 90% of my guests, so I plan to cater to that market. My target market is self-sufficient people who know how to read and use google. One who doesn’t ask for free things, weird questions like whether I have double pane windows, the brand of cleaning supplies I use, whether they can smoke, if I can provide them two additional air mattresses, provide hot plate, etc. If I start catering to demanding people who lack common sense, I’ll have to raise rates and my target market would lose. Why punish the good guests in my target market due to all the other weirdos who want 10 AM check-in and want to harass me with questions about a refund even though they booked a non-refundable rate? I did not cancel their flight, I did not cause a snow storm in their area, I did not give them covid, and I did not cause the death of their grandmother. I can’t endure a financial loss because those are THEIR problems, not mine. I provide what I promised to my confirmed guests with a few rare exceptions. If unethical and immoral people want to steal my payout, I will not allow them to do that.
This is a valid point. I have not thought about it. My trick enables me to send messages to them but they cannot message me. But it can have the downside that you mentioned.
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Guests asking questions and a host in response being rude or imperious is certainly a ‘style’. However, we hosts have to deal with the fallout from your crude way of handling your control needs. Thinking a guest who has a question or needs clarification is ‘demanding’ and needs to be punished is wrongheaded and is not the way to make guests feel positive about their bookings.
And fyi your ‘trick’ will bite you in the butt when a guest marks you down to 1 star for communication, or a leaky toilet floods your property.
Adulting is learned and needs to be applied to life issues…
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Guests can ask me recommendations about restaurant, beach, snorkeling, sunset, romatic spots, and I love those. These are normal questions.
But weirdos ask things like:
- can I bring my friend and he can sleep on air mattress
- can I smoke
- I want to check in at 10 AM and check out at 6 pm (I’m cheap and I don’t want to book an additional night)
- can I bring my emotional support animal (who will be left alone when I’m out partying)
- will it rain?
- my grandma died and I want a refund (but I won’t provide you with any proof).
- my boyfriend has covid, can I get a full refund (and asking for proof is a violation of my privacy)
- how quiet is it?
- is it clean?
- can you make the surrounding area bug free (it’s in the tropics, so no)
Actually I’m helping you guys identify the weirdos so you can have more profitable guests.
I don’t worry as much anymore about the occasional bad review since I have 300+ positive reviews. But the leaky toilet is definitely something to worry about.
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You DO know your ‘wierdo’ guests are doing the right thing and should not be punished for asking about these things? Would you prefer guests who just ‘did things’ rather than ask permission?
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Since you have now brought this to my attention, I think it makes sense that they are being good by asking.
The security guard at my building would not allow many of these things to happen, but yes, asking is a good idea.
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