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Do you realize that if a guest makes it clear that they intend to have a party and you accept the booking, Airbnb may suspend your listing? And that if a party results in damages or out-of-control behavior, regardless of whether you approved a party or the guests had one in contravention of your rules, and you contact Airbnb about it, they will definitely suspend you? (Yes, of course it’s absurd to punish the host for an unauthorized party, but that’s Airbnb’s MO)
Really sorry about your situation, and I have no experience with VRBO, but this woman:
Asked to throw a party, which you probably shouldn’t allow.
Didn’t pay up online, nor even offer to pay you the remaining payment in cash when she arrived, which it seems a decent person would have done when made aware there was a missing payment if they wanted to continue with the booking.
“What? Oh my goodness, I must have totally missed the notification for the 3rd payment. I’m so sorry- what do I owe? I’ll go to an ATM and get it for you in cash right now.”
Then had the gall to be abusive to you, threaten you, and remain on your property when she hadn’t finished paying for the booking.
Ten to one she would have left a huge after party mess and then refused to pay for extra cleaning time.
“Seemed nice” is not something to base one’s trust or decisions on. I’m not suggesting the guest is a psychopath, but Ted Bundy also “seemed nice”. Ever watched the prison interviews with Jeffrey Dahmer? Aside from the horrific content of what he is talking about, he was soft-spoken, articulate and polite. I’m sure those boys he picked up in the bars thought he was nice when they first met him.
It’s actually something most sociopaths are quite skilled at, which is why “nice”, means nothing to me. Anyone can talk sweetly, and most people aren’t dangerous, but plenty of “normal” people speak nicely to get what they want, then screw you over. It’s people’s actions that count.
So sorry this happened. I popped in to say that everyone is telling you to not host a party or if you suspect one cancel. If I had a place in a college town, I would most certainly approve a graduation party once I got a good sense of who was renting. I’ve had two kids recently graduate and we had a “party” if you want to call it that, I guess most people would call it a party, but the reality is a pretty tame group of non-related people for the most part. I wanted my grads and a few of their friends to come by for a short while. Mine all had other places to go and people to see so they were in and out but it was still nice to be able to relax in a home environment and not wait 3 hours at some restaurant for food.
Yes, that sounds totally normal to me. It’s not what I would call a party. I’m in a city with numerous universities so hosting parents of college kids has been my specialty. I’ve always allowed visitors and fully expect them, particularly around graduation. It’s generally what you describe with people stopping in to visit for a bit. But I’ve also had stuff like the entire girl’s hockey team here for dinner too (I was asked beforehand). There have been no issues and I feel that it is inherent to what I am providing as a host.
I have a friend locally looking to rent a home for his dad’s 70th birthday party. It’s a party, he says there will be at least 85 people on the invite list and that’s just local. He thinks it will be a lot of people stopping by, not 80 people staying late into the night.
It won’t be anything wild and I’d trust him to clean up. I think the main problem would be parking.
I told him to try VRBO or search for event spaces.
I’m not sure why people even think that Airbnb is an appropriate place to look for a party venue. Regardless of whether the party will be wild or not.
Airbnb is clearly an accommodation platform, not in the business of advertising event venues. If someone wants to have an event, there are plenty of event venue businesses, from simple, relatively inexpensive local community halls, to event halls in upscale hotels.
If the weather is nice, you could even have an event in a public park for free, although you might need to apply for permission.
Parking alone, for upwards of a handful of cars, would be unavailable at almost all str rentals.
Most large events in most places also require an event license and insurance.
I’ve noticed a trend these days to turn what used to be intimate affairs with a dozen people or less into an excuse for a giant party, from baby showers to birthday parties for 1 year olds. You used to invite 8 kids to a birthday party, mom or dad would drop them off, the kids would play some games, you’d serve cake and ice cream, and everyone went home a couple hours later. Maybe you’d go the extra mile and take the kids to the bowling alley or the local swimming pool.
Now people rent those huge bouncy blow-up things, invite everyone in the neighborhood and the entire kid’s class, all the parents attend, booze is served, and the party lasts all afternoon and into the night.
This is kind of the Airbnb for party spaces. In my market, many " Airbnbs " are listed on Peerspace for parties. I believe they are given different insurance or whatever so the same places on Airbnb that would prohibit parties can allow them when listed on Peerspace.
It’s mostly pools but pools with cabana areas and patios if they wanted something outside. There are pickleball and tennis courts too and I believe they’re expanding into other party/event-type spaces. Some listings are limited to 4-6 people but there are many who allow up to 100 people too.
Both of these sites are great for hosts who may be looking to maximize their property in new ways.
@HostAirbnbVRBO I’m sure your internal-liability-alert-system is going off right now, so I realize you may not be able to hear me but it wouldn’t hurt anything to have a look at the site.
They provide an extraordinary amount of liability insurance. It would obviously need to be vetted properly but you could make your nightly rate in an afternoon and not have to change any beds. It may make sense to use for orphan days between Airbnb bookings so you could be “booked” but not have a full clean to worry about it. FWIW.
I am so sorry that you had to undertake so much stress. And I definitely can feel what you felt that you really wanted to help the guests but you were so worried that you would get hurt by bad people. I also list my apartment on VRBO with 24 hours review no instant book. I require payment in full on the day they book. I am not doing so good on VRBO though, more than half year, only 6 bookings. But I am not worried, my apartment almost fully booked for this year. I suggest you also change your payment policy — require 1 time payment. Maybe it will drive away some guests but maybe it’s a good thing for you— Only serious guests left.
We have a large property on a beautiful lake with a private beach. One lady asked if they could have a few family members gather on the beach. I said yes because she seemed so nice. When they arrived I thought there was a bit too much luggage but hey…some travel heavy. When I noticed that one of the family members didn’t leave that night I messaged in the morning to inquire if a 3rd person stayed the night. Nice lady replied "Yes, my daughter had a migraine, fell asleep and we didn’t want to wake her. Not sure where the huge husband slept that night if migraine daughter was asleep and was not to be disturbed. I called BS*#%! If I was approached by a nice lady to have a graduation party it would be a quick “Hell No!” I agree with Muddy, nice doesn’t impress me anymore, many talk sweet to get what they want. I think you dodged a bullet here too.
I looked at Swimply recently because they keep
spamming me. I cannot begin to understand how people would do this. There are 3 that pop up in my area and the rates are dirt cheap, hourly, and they allow up to 50 people from 1-8 hrs. Along with use of a grill and fire pit and their indoor bathrooms!
I cannot wrap my head around trying to clean up after a party like that for the low rates they are charging. Just imagining 50 drunk college kids on spring break. Damn.
We get variations of this question from time to time.
I always ask ‘How many would be on the property at one time?’
Usually the reply is ambiguous if not evasive. I remind them that the maximum occupancy, whether overnight or not, is six people. [We’ve occasionally made exceptions when they’ll be just outside, up to 8.]
Typically the person chooses not to book (fine with us) or move the event elsewhere.
Early on in running the property we made the mistake of a few times allowing larger groups to come for several hours. Each time there was damages.
My intuition is that the booking guest just couldn’t monitor a larger group, and the visitors just didn’t have the same respect/attachment to the property as someone staying over or as they might as part of a smaller group.
I stopped using VRBO some years ago. Similar reasons as the OP and that 1-4 booking requests were obvious scams and half of the ones that were not were clearly guests who were used to staying in hotels and were rather helpless on top of being incredibly demanding…. May just have been my bad luck with them.
I finally got time to take a look at this site. There are several with over 20 reviews. I looked a 4 of the top ones and the all had a dedicated restroom by the pool. It looks like they don’t have the whole house but most have spas, toys, grills, etc. One has a guest house so there is a small but full kitchen.
I’d imagine it works just like Airbnb. Good hosts find it worthwhile. Hosts looking for a “quick” way to monetize underutilized assets don’t.
My main concern would be if I lived next door. I don’t think I’d mind an Airbnb. But there is only one pool within earshot of my home. It’s behind me and down about 3 homes. Luckily they don’t have many loud gatherings but if they suddenly had a lot more I wouldn’t be pleased.
I imagine on scorching El Paso days these places do well.
The only one that’s actually on the island has a few reviews. She charges $25 an hour (don’t know if it’s flat rate or per person). She takes up to 100 people and her most recent is a 2. The others are about 45 minutes away, are considerable more expensive and have all 5 star reviews.
A 5 minute phone call after booking came in to touch base with a guest and make sure everyone is on the same page would probably have prevented all this.
Then you could have called w texted her when payment was due.
I always call or verify with an automated message with the guest to make sure phone number is correct.
but it wouldn’t hurt anything to have a look at the site.