List of guests, which you should avoid

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Hi, every one, I am new in airbnb. I would like to share my experience of my first week… In this week i have guests from different countries.

Background of the story. It is the exhibition period, peak season. A bed in hostel costs around 70 Euro. I rent my room in an luxury appartment. Because i am completly new, i don’t know if there are travellers who use airbnb or not, just want to test. So i set the rate 100/ night for 2,3, or 4 People in one room.

First guest a chinese couple from uk (23 years old), they are stundents. They don’t make trouble. Maybe ask you for some dishes or cups, use your private table to have a meal, brush their teeth in your new kitchen, which are not including in the price, I am a litte bit angry but i forgive them. They turn on the heating even it is 22 'C in the room. I think i need to think about if i still want to let some chinese people in in such low price.

Day 2 French guy+French woman (around 37-40). For the 1st day ok. They don’t ask you for something, they don’t go to your private area they won’t use anything which don’t belong to them. Very polite. But the woman take 30 minutes shower. 5 Minutes shower costs 2 Euro. (There is online calculater) I really want to kick her out.

Day 3 Amercian students. They are going to camping the next day but one day before their booking were cancelled from the host (Now i know why, i think the host hat done it well)3 guys +1 woman(around 22-24 years old) The girl takes a shower for 30 minutes and not very polite, looks a bit angry, another guy is very angry. Maybe they are angry of the ex host who cancel their reservation at the last minutes. One of the guy is very stange, he goes to my prive area without asking. I told him to stop this, this is private area, he left…in 10 Minute i found him again to another private area. He said he need to call his mother. I warn him again. Coz i am not sure if he takes the photos of my home and send to crimal or thief or not, i am worried about that. The next morning i found that one of them searched my appartment because i found a dirty cup on the basin. I didn’t allow them to use the kitchen or touch anything in the kitchen. I just hope the don’t work for thieves. Before they leave the room, they make up the room. That is ok. The men took 15-20 minutes showers, the woman took 30 minutes showers. That is not good. I must raise the room price.

Day 4 German crazy guys. It is very strange, that the german guy doesn’t leave their familly name. All other people have no doubt to give the family name. What’s more strang is that 4 Men booked one room, one is over 50, 2 are over 40, one is maybe 35. The 35 is the crazy german guy. He didn’t tell me his family name by booking. After that he brought 3 Men who look like middel east people but borned in germany. After he booked the room he insists called me. i told him to look at the fotos, my room is maybe too small and not comfortable for 4 germans. At the same time i think it is very weird that people at this age need to share a room like that (in my photo there is a mattress and a sofabed). But the Germany guy insist to saying no problem. Ok dann they came. I said the checkin time is afternoon, if they come at 9, the room will not be ready. If he still wants to use it then don’t complain. But they insist to come. I was cleaning. They say no problem , let it go. Then i stopped it. They left the room and came in the evening and said they muss leave and left. After that, the crazy german guy wrote bad comments at airbnb saying that the room is not clean…there is dust everywhere. And he lied by saying that i don’t give them frish bettclothes and i didn’t show him the parking correctly. In fact i send him a pdf to tell him how to drive, that guy didn’t read it and told the old guy. The old guy drove and didn’t find the way and complain and made him get angry too.

After this i cancel another germans reservation. The guy used a female name to book the room. I think it is very strange that a singel guy uses a female name to book something. I asked him to send me an ID or fullname+family name, he refused. I asked him why he booked a room in a private appartment but not a hotel (In that time will a hotel room 20 Euro cheap) he can not answer. I asked him why he booked the room, he said to do a training (As far as i know, there is no train during a weekend). He drove a car, just one person to comme to my city, but why he doesn’t choose a hotel if he has money for the car . I think he is a very dagerous guy and asked him to cansel the booking. I think some people they have very bad reputation and tried to use the local peoples name to book the book. As a host we muss check it. Don’t let them in without checking their ID. If not they can change your lock at night, so that they can with any key come in (My dad did that, he took the pinball in the lock so that everybody with anykey can open the door)

Day 5 Thai girl from Uk+1 Thaimen+one from Malasia Chinese. You know what, they bargain for many hours. I said no. and said if you pay me 50 Euro i let you 8 hours earlier in. They said ok…the nightmare began. In the morning they took 2 times shower (MEN 20 mins, woman 30 MinS) after sleeping at noon woke up, took shower again… before the sleep at night shower again…the girl do her hair with avocado in the room and do her face massage wash her hair many times a day to waste my water…5 times shower in 25 hours for the girl, 4 times for the men. I am sure next time i must raise the price by writting shower over 10 minutes charges 10 Euro for 5 mins and set up a 360 grad security camera to check how long shower they took. They want to use everything in your room without paying.

Now it is the low season again, i would like to share my experience with you. Conclusion
1 Guests are greedy. They want to use everything in your room. If you say no, they will be unhappy. If you say yes, they will get use of you endless, because human are greedy. Don’t trust hotel management theorie, that is just unrealistic. Just like some bullshit financial experts and professors. They know all theories but they lose more money than anyother people who have no idea about economic in stockmarket. How to deal with such guest; you print a price list-using the washmaschin, kitchen…how much is every thing, show him when he checks in. or put it up on the back of their door.

2 Guests who have fear to tell their name, muss have some wrong or want to do sth wrong. Don’t let them in.
3 Before accept the booking, ask the Guest for his ID, not only his but all guests in the room, to check if there may be guests, who are not welcome.

4 Becareful of old people who didn’t want to pay and want luxury experience
5 Becareful of shower fans
6 Becareful of the "extrem make up " people. They use all money in making up and dress, so that they don’t want to pay much in the room and want to waste your water to feel better.
7 Don’t accept bargain peopel… they will never appreciate your service. They are extremly agressiv and greedy and think you earn too much money.
8 Don’t let them use your washmashine and clothes dryer with extra paying. My roommates did some horrible thing. Every time she put just one piece clothes in the washmaschine and let it run because the fee is inclusive. And she shared her room with me and told me i should do that too… so each time when i clean the table,even i just have 3 pieces of towel i run the washmashine too. And later her boyfriend do the same… I think her host will get angry if he knows that. One other roommate is horrible too. She wash her clothes with 100 C water. She washed every day many hours because we shared the bill.

What are your opion?

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My honest opinion is that I’m not sure that you’re cut out to be a host!

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I think you should set a 2 day minimum and a week or 2 week maximum, set a maximum of 2 people to the room, provide a sink for toothbrushing, etc., provide a nice seating area for 2 people to eat, set a limit of whatever showering is OK with you. Set out what are your standards and never negotiate on them. Perhaps set a requirement that they sign that they have read your rules and agree to abide by them. You will never be happy with bargain hunters or poor people. I’m guessing you are attracting people who don’t have nice accomodations at their homes and that the long showering is not available to them. If your price is higher, that will help eliminate hostel users. We compete with hotels not hostels. Just so you know, I have been hosting for two years with no bad guests. I have instant book. Everyone has been careful and appreciative and often very charming. Your experience is an aberration and a nightmare that you have set up. I hope you get to the point that future guests can be trusted and welcomed happily.

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I’m only hearing one side of the story, so I can only make casual observations.

You seem angry and feel cheated by all of your guests. You seem to believe every issue is due to people being old, Chinese, German, etc. Perhaps the real issue is that you love your home, fear being taken in by criminals, and have a deep need for privacy. These traits are natural and must be considered.

I don’t think you understand the spirit of the Airbnb experience. It’s not for everyone. We’ve been hosting and also Airbnb guests for several years. We’ve had guests from all over the world. Most guests are great and we’ve enjoyed them. A few are extra work, but that’s the risk of human nature. When we decided to host in our home we had to decide to be more flexible, less protective of our home and our privacy.

I’ve never timed a guest’s shower. The cost is part of doing business. We have our kitchen open to guests for coffee, tea, or food they may bring into the house. We have a small refrigerator specifically for guests so that our refrigerator is not necessary for guests. We recognize that small items may be broken accidently, we offer the use of hair dryers, shampoo, etc, we know that we will need to replace items occasionally. I guess we have started looking at things with less attachment and we now have more of a business mentality and we have house rules that are more businesslike and less like being strongly attached to the sanctity of our home.

I hope you can find a balance between your needs and the needs of your guests.

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Wow How is it that you even have bookings is beyond me, you stated two cancelations that should have dropped you way low on the search engine.

You know how we say “they guest is more suited for a hotel” I don’t think you are suited for hosting. The guest may not know the cost of a shower time and they are paying you for the use of it so you must take that cost as part of the business.

Limit the amount of people per room because again each person will need a shower . Some folks like their privacy most of my guest just give me their first names only I have no problem with that because they have verified id.

If your guest feel your annoyance at them it will create bad vibes and your reviews will reflect that, so I suggest to really think this through and make sure you research the airbnb concept better.

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First I think you need to stop with all the anti-nationalist/racist remarks. Not all Germans, French, Chinese, Thai, Malay or Americans are poor guests. Different cultures, different ways of looking at things.

Second you need to stop being so paranoid, and such a cheapskate. Guests don’t know and don’t care that a 5 minute shower costs you 2 Euros. Very few people in the world shower in 5 minutes, even if you do. In many parts of the world a temperature of 22C is damn cold, and I don’t blame people who want to be warm. Heat and water costs are part of doing business. If you can’t afford the costs, get out of the business. Or install a coin-operated point-source hot water heater on your shower.

The more I think about it the more I agree with others that you do not seem to be cut out to be a host for AirBnB or any other short term rentals.

IF you decide to continue as a host, I think you need to look strongly at the wording of your listing so that it does NOT attract the kinds of “bad” guests which you don’t like. Yoiu also need a posted list of house rules which includes areas which are Off Limits to guests. More than two people in one bedroom of an apartment is just asking for trouble, even if that one bedroom is more than a few square meters in size. IMHO this is part of the problem in large short term rentals (houses, multi-bedroom apartments, etc.) that sleep many people. They seem to attract ‘party guests’ rather than quiet couples or small families who want to experience your area…

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Who takes a 30 minute shower? You finish one and it’s time to get ready for bed already.

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Yes, the thai girl… when she arrived she took one shower+washing hair, then slept. When she woke up-3 hours later she takes a shower again and do a hairmask. then went out. When she came back at 8, she took a shower again and washed her hair again… next morning when she wake up, she took a shower again and washed her air again and do hair mask…like yesterday…

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Thanks for your advice, you have right, your ideas are very helpful!

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Susanne,

First of all… your guests are out of control. You must make sure there are VERY CLEAR RULES… because it sounds to me like there are not. I hear you on the 30-minute showers… I am on a rain catching water tank, and long showers/water wasting are against my house rules. So are late night ones (think some people do that after sex, ewww.) That wakes me up and is unacceptable in every way! You have to tell them about it IN PERSON, when they check in… Please, no long showers. Please finish showering by 11:00Pm (or whatever time you set…) It doesn’t stop everyone but it will stop most. As one of our hosts here, also on a rain tank suggested, install a timer on the hot water to four minutes! Great idea and easy to do! You are not wrong to expect consideration where water is concerned. People who waste it just because someone else is paying are just plain jerks.

I’m not racist but my worst shower offenders have been from Asian countries and they don’t speak English well. When it becomes a pattern, well it becomes a pattern.

Second, you are learning some lessons the hard way so that you won’t make those mistakes again (such as surrendering the cleaning and allowing all those men to book one room) You are learning the hard way (as we all did) to recognize the red flags!

As for 1. [quote=“Chen_Susanne, post:1, topic:4319”]
1 Guests are greedy. They want to use everything in your room. If you say no, they will be unhappy. If you say yes, they will get use of you endless, because human are greedy. Don’t trust hotel management theorie, that is just unrealistic. Just like some bullshit financial experts and professors. They know all theories but they lose more money than anyother people who have no idea about economic in stockmarket. How to deal with such guest; you print a price list-using the washmaschin, kitchen…how much is every thing, show him when he checks in. or put it up on the back of their door.
[/quote]

This can all be avoided by having SUPER CLEAR rules… Write it in your listing… write it in a guest info document, tell them in person when they arrive.
Number 2 [quote=“Chen_Susanne, post:1, topic:4319”]
2 Guests who have fear to tell their name, muss have some wrong or want to do sth wrong. Don’t let them in
[/quote]

Very true… That’s a red flag. They’ve received bad reviews before and opened a new account or are traveling on someone else’s. Now Airbnb makes you ID verify, but there are a few “incognito” travelers who got in under the wire. You should grille them and ask for more information before booking or decline.

YES. Decline bargain hunters. They disrespect you by even asking, and then if they still book, will think they are getting ripped off and find a million things wrong.

Live and learn. You can still do AirBnB. Just don’t let the guests run the show. You have to be clear about how you expect them to act. Just like I do with my first grade classes. Set expectations before the day starts or they will run amok and and I, the teacher, will have the day from hell.

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Thank you so much, so great answer! I appreciate it!

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Seriously, is it necessary to call names? I don’t allow my elementary school students to call each other names. Telling her she isn’t cut out to be a host because she is still in the learning curve is condescending. That’s because every person’s Air is not like every other person’s.

YOUR HOUSE, YOUR RULES.

We all had to learn the hard way, and this is her turn. Six and a half years ago, when I started, there wasn’t a host forum to ask. I figured out everything on my own. Now things run fairly smoothly with the very occasional bad or off guest.

IT’S NOT PART OF “THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS” TO ALLOW GUESTS TO TAKE 30 MINUTE SHOWERS. Sorry it isn’t. She doesn’t say where she is, but depending on where you are in the world, water is a costly and precious commodity.

I don’t blame her for being non trusting when guests snoop around. It’s a very real fear that they could be up to no good and casing.

Actually Ken, I’m done answering to your unhelpful, smug and condescending comments. It’s getting to be a pattern seeing you slam the hosts when they have a legitimate concern and/or they are new like this and having trouble and come to us to ask for help.

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I don’t think that you’re comfortable hosting strangers in your house…

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Kona I understand where you are coming from but Chen NEEDS to state the extra charge for water on her listing. I am on the same page experience wise with a certain culture that loves to takes showers and I have factor that into the costs. yes this will cost me more on water and sewer plus gas on water heater, but that is my costs. I know you are trying to be helpful to Chen when it seems like we are all piling on her… and I am not… but I want her to learn more before she harms herself on airbnb any more.

2 cancelations and a bad review will kill her listing, so we were harsh because she is killing her listing regardless.

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I hear you. I must have missed that she cancelled. My bad. Right…that will kill her right there. It is ok to ask guests to conserve water. I am on a rain tank and if they use 300 gallons of water to take a shower I will be calling a water truck to bring me water in no time. I specifically ask for them not to take long showers and finish by 11:30. It’s worked very well to be clear in my rules and listing. Also I tell them in person and show them the tank so they can graphically see there is a finite supply of water staring right at them.

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I do :slightly_smiling:
Wash body.
Exfoliate body.
Use pumice on rough skin.
Wash hair.
Condition hair.
Shave or use depilatory on underarms, legs and bikini line.
Dry body.
Apply body lotion.
Cut toenails.
Paint toenails.
Moisturise body.

And there’s a lot of other stuff too :slight_smile:

Not that I do all of the above every day but on a leisurely vacation it’s a great opportunity. And sometimes I have three showers a day. One in the morning to wake up, one in the evening before going to bed and sometimes during the day I’ve I’ve been doing yardwork, lots of cleaning or have been in a chlorinated pool. Some fastidious people have showers in the middle of the night after sex :wink:

I’d rather have guests who are obsessively clean than mucky ones!

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30 minutes with the water running, in my opinion, is a real indulgence. Having lived on the West Coast of the US for all of my life, I am perhaps more acutely aware of the need to conserve water. Even when I don’t feel a need to be miserly - I can still take care of business in 15 long and luxurious minutes. I cannot imagine shaving at every shower…? Just an observance.

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Chen_Susanne;
I can appreciate some of your frustration with new bookings, and many replies appear to be helpful. I do not think that telling you that you are not a good host is helpful at all, though!!
What I do think, is that perhaps your arrangement is not the right thing to host guests.

  1. Why are people brushing teeth in your kitchen sink, and if so, that might tell you something about your bathroom arrangements?

  2. Your room and bath may not be realistic for 4 people. Most 4 person arrangements require a separate seating or lounging area. I do not know many places that could accomodate 4 adults just stuck in one room. I would back down to 2 people until you can figure out your room space. Try and put yourself in their shoes. I would not even want to get the kind of clients that are willing to sleep 4 to a room. That spells trouble right there.

  3. You kitchen accomodations might need to be reviewed. People on vacation want a place to prepare food. I happen to have a separate, fully stocked kitchen in my unit, but lots of people don’t … This is fine - just make arrangements to have access to pots, pans, utensils and dishes they can use. Coffee and Tea preparation is VERY important - so have a spot for that. A microwave, coffeemaker, sink and mini-fridge are all some units need.

  4. To get your place up and running after these fiascos, I would contact AIRbnb about my problems, let them know I was taking steps to correct them, and raise your prices to meet the space. Hostel guests are not what we are looking for as AIRbnb hosts. We are looking to share our homes with friendly travelers who will respect the space we offer them and in return, we all try our best to offer them the best we can. (p.s. you cannot legally set up a security camera - it is just not done). If water is such an issue, then be very clear in your booking. And your remark that they want to “use everything in your room without paying” raises the issue that you must remember - they ARE paying to use everything that we offer them - no less, no more. If the water is an issue, write up clear guidelines for everyone, but be realistic. 20 minutes in the shower is on the short side for many people…

I wish you luck in your hosting. But if your are seriously concerned that your guests are caging the joint to steal stuff, then perhaps there is a big disconnect between your clients and your space.

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Können Sie mir bitte sagen wie heißt der Ding, um das Warmeswasser in der Dusch für 4 Minuten halten?

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If water cost that much definitely put it in your rules, no long showers. I stayed in Ireland in one tiny house. Heater was tiny and water did not stay warm more than 10 minutes. I have long hair and it can take me sometimes 15 minutes to shower. But I adjusted. I only wash hair twice that week, rushed through the shower . People can get used to anything. Don’t be afraid to request what suits you.

Guests have no business wondering into your private areas. This is your house after all. I had once guy who did not know I was home, and went upstairs opening doors to the bedrooms. And then he opened my bedroom where I was taking a nap and woke me up. After that I put in my rules that we all need to give each other as much privacy as possible and use the rest oft he house sparingly.

You have to be comfortable in your own house while hosting otherwise I don’t see how it’s possible to continue.
Aggravation will last forever with long showers and other issues until you put a stop to it. You are the boss, it’s your house, your rules.

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