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As your guest is a “newbie” too he might be a bit unsure on what’s constitutes acceptable.
The best advice we can give when it comes to guests is to be crystal clear from the off.
Never assume they will know what to/ and what not to do - you will be surprised how easily guests can misinterpret and misunderstand things!
Clear house rules are key, make sure guests read and accept prior to booking and again on arrival. Keep the tone light, you don’t want to scare them off or make them feel unwelcome. But make it clear that maximum occupancy is 1 person and for security reasons you ask they do not invite people into your home during their stay.
The couch thing can be resolved - if it’s a shared living space just mention you would rather him not sleep in his room, just say you aren’t a good sleeper, so sometimes come down during the night to sit on the couch and read (hopefully he will get the hint)!
Thank you for the response. I tried a version of your idea on the couch it worked – I just let him know that my teenage son roams around looking for food at night (all true) and that I would rather that his sleep is not disrupted. The guest grumbled a little bit about how poorly he slept last night in the same bed as his elderly dad but I offered a supportive comment and moved on.
I appreciate all of the help. I’ve decided to give this a summer and then decide if I will return to renting for students on a month by month basis.
Yes it seems so. I am happy that the graduation is over and my two guests leave tomorrow. First he seems to want me to take a virtual tour of his new home he is building. Luckily no other guests are attempting to come over and everyone is. Like Goldilocks now. In their own little beds.
One last update. This AM “the son” indicated that one person would stop by to join in on ride. I indicated that I preferred that the visitor stay outside as the policy is no guests. “The son’s” response was “Really??” I went full ProfessorBossyPants, not caring at all if his father was around to witness me and responded “Yes, really. I am uncomfortable as I feel that I am hosting a reunion which is not what I rented out for”. He looked stunned and the conversation ended.
In reviewing Ring I see that his visitor arrived a full 45 minutes before they finally left. I just turned off the ring and did not answer the notification. Ahh…technology.
My rules never said “no unregistered visitors” until a few months ago. I just rent out a small room about 200 Sq ft including entry area and bathroom. There is one chair in the room and one out on the porch so it’s just not a space conducive to socializing. Non guests who come by tend to only stay a short time.
Funny story: My front door is often unlocked. I was on my hands and knees literally scrubbing the hall floor, braless, in an old t-shirt and hair askew. I heard someone enter my front door. I wasn’t expecting anyone so I got up off the floor and turned around to find a young couple holding coffee cups and a bag of breakfast treats. I asked if I could help them. LOL. They said “is this Mike’s place?” and I replied that no, they must want my Airbnb guest next door and I showed them back out to the porch and the door with the Airbnb logo on it. The female of the two was ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED. She literally covered her eyes with her hand and scooted into the airbnb room as fast as she could.
After that I put in the new rule hoping to discourage visits but would certainly allow them if asked. One difference is that they are not in my space. It seems odd to me that any guest would think it was okay to invite strangers into someone else’s home and yet I’m not freaked out when strangers walk into mine!
I agree completely. The whole thing was odd. This also happened on my third Airbnb rental, which gave me pause about this whole process. It ended fairly well with the guests father coming back after checkout to give me a bottle of wine as a thank you. My sense is that he understood everything that was going on while his son (at least 45 years old btw) decided to remain purposefully clueless. I’ve decided to keep renting for the summer and see how I feel. Luckily the next rental did not come from Airbnb and is for a single person.
The real end of the story. It took me a while to decompress enough to wrap up this story. My guest checked out, Thank God. I hesitated about how to review him as I am new with Airbnb (I usually rent long term to students). Lesson learned. I did not review him. He rated me a 5 on everything, but a 4 overall and stated that "XXX sets high standards for herself and expects the same of her guests. "
In other words he called me a bitch. After fuming for a while I wrote a response in which I quoted his private comments in which he thanked me for helping them so much during a complicated time.
I’m very disappointed in your decision not to review.
This is also something many of us don’t recommend. If anything it confirms what the guest wrote. There is nothing wrong with setting high standards and holding guests to them, especially in shared homes. Maybe the review and response will help guests who are a good match for your space.
I agree. I really should have reviewed him, but hindsight is always perfect.
You never know what will work, but referring to him private message to me seemed to have worked. I was more than friendly and pointed out how kind his father was to bring over wine and that I was sure he knew so much about Airbnb by the last day he was ready to open his own. Another renter who followed him was glowing, which helped.
