I have my first booking!

They came last night. I’m so excited! It’s killing me to not go down there and ask a bunch of questions to make sure everything is ok lol. I only got about 4 hours notice but was at work until 30 minutes before they arrived :scream::scream:. It’s not perfect, my friends stayed there a couple weeks ago and made the beds when they left. I hadn’t washed the sheets cause I didn’t have a booking for another month. Yikes! The closet doors weren’t on yet (bifold doors), but I think that’s it. They check out tomorrow. I hope I get a good review, I hope I get a good review, I hope I get a good review!

You let the guests stay with unwashed sheets? :kissing_closed_eyes::flushed:

If you are going to leave your calendar open you will get bookings.

If you can’t accommodate same day turnarounds why not use the setting so guests have to book at least a day in advance @Cyndyrr327

3 Likes

I think (hope) she meant she was rushing around because she hadn’t gotten around to changing the bedding yet after her friends stayed.

@Cyndyrr327 I strongly suggest you set “Advance Notice” to at least a day. Getting a booking with 4 hrs notice is not really wise, as you may not have time to prepare. Nor are last-minute bookers always safe bets.

3 Likes

I know!!! :scream::scream: lesson learned for sure!

Yes … normally guests (friends) would strip a bed on departure, rather than make it? Because usually those sheets would go straight in the wash? Have your room all ready for the next person the moment the last person leaves. I know you know this now sorry but don’t understand why the pals made the beds and then you didn’t change?! Did you mentioned the lack of wardrobe doors in listing? Maybe edit now to include that info. Most people won’t mind if told in advance, unless maybe a very luxury, pricey place. Good luck with the stay!

I have two complete sets of bedding for each bed so that I can strip and make the bed up immediately. If you can’t do that leave the bed without sheets rather than with dirty sheets so that you don’t get confused as to whether they are fresh. You will be lucky if the guests didn’t pick up on this and mention it in a review or ding you badly on cleanliness. Did they at least have clean towels?

2 Likes

Not necessarily. In my case, I leave the used bedding on the bed until I prepare for a new guest. That’s because I live in a tropical area of dust, dead bugs and humidity. Clean bedding wouldn’t stay clean, nor feel crisp and dry if it sat there for days, so it works better for me to change it out when preparing for a new guest to check in.

And I never want guests to strip the bed, so I can easily check for anything that needs to be pretreated before washing.

Why don’t you go down there, introduce yourself, offer an ‘orientation’ to their vacation home and ask them if they have any questions? [Please don’t bombard them with questions.]

Let them know that you’re available, that any question is not at all an imposition but is really a favor as it gives you valuable feedback on how better to be their host. I tell them I’m available 24/7 in an emergency, that I usually get to bed by x pm but if it’s urgent it is no big deal to knock on my door. I really emphasize this because when I started guests would sometimes raise a question or remark just as they left when there was no opportunity to truly help them. That doesn’t happen any more.

If the unit has any idiosyncrasies or appliances are possibly not intuitive, please point that out.


There are different schools of thought on when to clean the property, and your decision might well depend on special factors. I like to get the cleaning done right away starting at checkout. That way I know how the guest left the property, can make any repairs, remove stains, etc. And I’m ready for the next guest. The disadvantage is, depending on when that next guest comes, that the property might not be as ‘freshly’ cleaned. I feel that the lack of stress and the greater time enables an easier and better clean, but your mileage might vary.

Congratulations on your first booking!

That makes sense.

It’s not a preference of mine that people strip beds and if I had to choose I’d prefer not also. But I think it’s considered the polite thing to do if you’re a non paying guest, in Uk at least. Might be wrong … but from my experience.

If I detected this as a guest, I would contact AirBnB, demand a refund, and pack up and leave.

With monkey pox, bed bugs, covid, and just general sanitation, you just can’t do this–unless you’re dirt poor in rural Honduras, and I have stayed with such folks and slept on obviously used sheets.

Many of my guests make the bed. I wish they wouldn’t but they do.

2 Likes

If I forget to mention to my homeshare guests on check-out day not to bother stripping the bed, I get all variations- some roll the dirty bedding up in a ball, some leave it folded on the bed, some leave the bedding on and the bed unmade, some have even made the bed nicely.

I don’t want guests to strip the beds. It’s easier to see and treat stains while on the bed before washing.

Same here, with 3 sets of everything - towels, bedding, quilts, bathroom essentials. Makes changeover fast and easy.

Tropical FL here, too. Unless I have back-to-back bookings, I don’t make the bed in between guests if there’s a gap. I do a deep clean weekly so that touch up vacuuming and dusting and toilet duty are quick.

2 Likes

Unless she states in her ad that she meets and greets, I wouldn’t do that with an entire place rental without texting first to see if they are up for a quick visit. Plenty of guests are friendly and wouldn’t have a problem with a drop-in from the host, but it’s risky, as many might be irritated and feel their privacy invaded.

It’s the kind of thing hosts need to make clear in their listing info, so correct expectations are set. And I do think on-site hosts shouldn’t set expectations that guests will have “complete privacy”, as usually they would see the host out in the yard, or in passing.