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Just needed a safe place to vent this.
I have an apartment in a beach side suburb of Melbourne Australia. I live here but put it up on AirBnB and stay with my partner when people want to stay at my place. I don’t just do this for the money but because I love the philosophy and love to be able to provide people with a cheaper option about a place to stay for a holiday.
I hosted a young couple last night and have just returned to my apartment.
A few things.
They arrived on the wrong day, but I accommodated them anyway. They were demanding about that, but given they showed up at my doorstep on the wrong day (I work from home) I had to run around like mad to get the place ready (change sheets, set up, pack my things).
Then they kept texting me demanding things like access to my basement carpark of which I had asked them if they needed and they said no.
I have returned and my place is a pig stye.
They’ve been cooking and left burnt on muck in my pots and pans, dishes scattered all over the place. There’s stuff everywhere in the bedroom.
Maybe I expect too much, but even when I leave a hotel, i neaten up a bit.
Other guests i have had left my place looking perfect.
The final bit was that they put my keys back in the key safe but did not lock it. Super disappointing.
How do you overcome something like this, and how do you handle the review?
I think I will remove my listing, which is a shame cos I don’t do it for the money, but to offer a safe, cheap and comfy alternative.
It is a real shame when these things happen as most guests are very nice and respectful, unfortunately, there exceptions such as the guests you had above.
I would not let one case such as this prevent you from carrying, learn from it (as already suggested) and know that next time don’t let guests make huge demands of you and let them see how much it affects you, as by giving an inch they will take a yard as you have experienced.
Hosting is one of those jobs where you are always learning and you are never going to be problem free, you can only get better at diffusing and/or reading a situation before it occurs and knowing how best to deal with it so that it doesn’t shake you up as much as this one has.
As Dcmooney says, read all your past reviews and remember those who you have helped and have appreciated the part you played in their holiday.
It’s easy to say after the fact–it’s all part of the learning curve–but in the future, if someone shows up early, don’t let them in. I’ve had people show up an hour or so early–I told them they could drop off their luggage–and they just come in, sit down and that’s that. They’re in and any cleaning I’d planned to do, I’m too uncomfortable doing while they’re there.
I’ve been dinged on cleanliness a couple of times by early birds who came two hours after my other guests left. (I need at least three hours to clean my place.) I know that you’re new and because of that you want to go out of your way to accommodate, but be very firm about check in and check out times.
Also, give these people the review they deserve. You don’t need to be mean, just say they showed up a day early and even though you accommodated them, they still left the place dirty. Other hosts deserve to know the truth about them.
I once had a group of young people come in for a weekend. They too showed up early by three hours and then stayed late by an hour when I had guests coming. They’d also opened up a bottle of bubbly (or maybe just a shaken beer) and the spritz from it had landed and left drops all over the kitchen walls and surfaces. I had to spend an extra hour cleaning just the kitchen…luckily my next guests texted and told me they weren’t coming until supper time, so I could do a proper cleaning. It was my first bad review, but I felt I owed it to future hosts. They had to know that the young woman who booked didn’t respect the check-in check-out times and left a mess.
All this said, I’ve mostly had great experiences. I’ve met some amazing people and the vast majority of my guests have been great. Seriously, out of about 50-odd, only two or three were difficult.
Yeah, similar story. The only guests we’ve had so far that we couldn’t stand dinged us on cleanliness. Of course, they showed up six hours early to “drop off their bags” - no problem there, but then they pretty much insisted on using the kitchen right away, which we don’t list as an amenity and never have. Then they wanted extra sheets on the bed, and gave us this look like our place was sub-standard - and we were still scrambling to get the place ready when they’d totally disrupted our routine. We learned to be more strict after that, but all of our subsequent guests have been great.
Honestly, I don’t know what I would do in your shoes. I know what I should do, but it would be painful to have to turn someone away. There’s a reason I got into the hospitality business, I’m hospitable! I always say we have to be maids,front desk clerk, concierge, AND security guard, but the last one would be the least comfortable for sure!!
I would leave an honest review on them, and would not give up hosting. I had few bad experiences, but now after almost 80 guests i can say, most of them were great.
Some people are just slobs. They are slobs everywhere they go. I had this guy few days ago. He stayed 2 nights and all floor was covered with things, spilled this and that, some soap pieces that he used was all over bedroom, even under bed, emptybottles, little pieces of something laying on a floor. I cant mess up my room this much even i stayed a month.
Strangely people who demand a lot, break rules, trying to have things their way are mostly the ones who leave bad reviews.
I really don’t get the soap-bits being left everywhere!!! He’s gone, right?
I walked into one guest room and just stood and looked around in amazement. The group had been there maybe 15 minutes before they headed out the door. (I had to fix something in the room). I said to my daughter “they must have worked hard to make it this messy so fast”.
They did leave an impressive array of beer bottles on the floor when they left…
Yes he is gone. I know , I was bewildered also , why in a bedroom?.
He also smelled very strange, like marijuana but in a bad way, hehe. Then I had to dry clean comforter dnd wash pillows . I was worried my next guests will be upset with that smell .
There is not much we can do when a guest this messy. Imagine if they start cooking. I am glad I don’t have to live with someone like that.,
He is totally weird, no social skills, trying it on and sounds like a scam toboot. Definitely a big no no and you were right to report. I’d call Airbnb on it.
thanks everyone so much for your supportive feedback.
I have unlisted my place. I had guests since those ones left and they seemed super happy and it all went well.
I did an honest review and said the place wasn’t left clean and that I had tried to be accommodating of her arriving one day early.
In return she rated my apartment really low. I feel really put off and hurt by this because it’s a nice place and I did my best to speed clean and get it ready when she showed up a day early.
I would try contacting Airbnb about this. I know that the rating system is meant to be helpful to travellers and hosts, but this sounds like an odd situation, what with her coming and going a day early. Why don’t you try telling them what happened and asking for a break, especially since you’re new?
I wouldn’t let this put you off. I’ve met some amazing guests and most of them aren’t like the ones who gave you grief.
But you can not know for sure if its your thing or not. You are giving up after your very first guest, who turned out to be a pig. As all of us are saying, most guests are very nice. As in any business you will encounter people who are miserable, there is no way that everyone are nice and polite.
You are depriving yourself of a very nice addition to your income because of one person, who you will never meet again in your life and soon, it will be just a vague memory of something unpleasant.
I had awful first guests that damaged some of my property, but I’m glad I stuck with hosting, because the five groups I’ve hosted since have been pleasant, tidy, and loved my place. A bad experience can teach you how to better screen guests and enforce your rules.
Don’t let a past guest hurt your future guests. I’m so sorry to hear about your disappointing guests. And for this reason you have decided to un-list your home. We go out of our way to create a wonderful environment for our guests and when they disrespect it, it hurts.
I have learned through almost 6 years of hosting of the demanding guests. Whenever I get a 4 star on cleanliness is because I allowed them to drop off bags earlier than normal check-in.
You will get guests you love and some you love to see go. Take a bit of time and see if you want to come back on your own terms.
BeeCee82\ Sorry to hear of your bad experience. We had to delete our account too after only a short time.
You should seek compo for your pots and cleaning - but like us if you have already deleted your account airbab will snub you.
Ours was worse- threats which continued even after they left - real threats. airbab rewarded them by finding them another place. Police couldn’t do anything about the ongoing calls 5.30 3 am harnessing us etc because only airbab knew there whereabouts.
airban have refused to discuss this- It spoiled our entire Christmas new year and like you we work from home, but thats hard when you have to keep your phone off the hook.
Trust me youv done the right thing for yourself deleting your account- before things get worse- and believe me it can.
imop its dangerous and airbab place especially single women at high risk because they dont even ask for [police checks from guests.! outrageous .
Maybe oneday another company will start something that really treats the hosts with respect.
Stay safe and again sorruy that happened. We copped three night meres in a row! demanding bullying-- and somehow according to airbanb thats our fault huh
airbab as i said couldn’t care less about hosts in our experience so of course we deleted our account.
and those rude pigs that stayed at your place should be made to pay-- but dont ask airbab to be fair…
I’ve just joined up so sorry if this is a dead thread, but I did want to add my opinion to this. We’ve all been there and it totally sucks.
What if you changed your mindset and stopped thinking about this altruistically and start thinking of this FIRST as a money making business, and then secondly as a cool setup that allows you to help people out with cheaper accommodations, meet interesting people, and oh yeah? Make money. I am sure that I’m the exception to the rule here but for me, it’s first and foremost about the money, and all the other stuff is totally bonus and fun. That way, when it’s a crappy guest situation like the one you describe above, it’s a bit easier to take. You’ve earned some money and the cost of earning that money is that you had extra cleanup, ungrateful guests that you went out of the way to accommodate but you’re still left feeling ok about humanity. If you are able to treat it more like a business, and that means that you then write a review about the guest, just like they will of you, you can at least feel like you are doing things in a positive manner (helping future hosts, potentially helping these very same guests who may need a nudge on Airbnb etiquette).
