I’m sure this has been said here before, but never, ever offer discounts. Stick to your guns when it comes to prices. A friend of mine has a saying “If you discount them, they will discount you.”
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Lord, what a nightmare! I would review her honestly to tell other hosts how unreasonable she is. And never give people discounts! We have learned that the hard way too. If you give people like that an inch, they will take a mile and will complain constantly or not respect your listing at all. I don’t think buying a new trash can was necessary either. Even if there really was pasta, it could have just been washed. If she gives you a bad review, respond with the facts and without emotion if you must respond.
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sorry to hear your wow’s - have been hosting for 8 years - and have noticed some trends - airbnb is squeezing hosts to charge less a method that they created a few years ago in the face of competiton - means the kind of guests who are now using airbnb - are the hostel cumstomers - a shared room in a hostel is now the same price as whole room on airbnb - this means the type of guests staying are expecting alot for nothing - up your prices I have turned off smart price - never really used it - means i get less bookings now but they are as a rule are more respectful - now airbnb sells our homes as alternatives to youth hostels - this is creating a culture of disrespect from guests -
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I suspect a lot of what you say you are experiencing is peculiar to the London market. I certainly don’t have many guests expecting a lot for nothing; quite the opposite, and I’m only 70 miles away. I’m hearing that a lot of Airbnb’s in London are a total rip off; I recently had a couple of New Yorkers walk in and breathe a sigh of relief. They had just stayed in a London apartment that reeked of urine, had mould on the walls, dirty sheets and towels, and was difficult to find late at night. They had paid £75 for one night. The listing photos (which they showed me) were of another apartment altogether.
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yes I have heard similar stories from guests coming to stay with me over the years - booked a place and then found out rough landlord - etc very sad - gives us all a bad name - good guests bad guests likewize landlords its all subjective - the idea is to be honest upfront - airbnb is a place of trust that goes both ways and can and does get abused - sorry your poor guests had to endure that experience
I think that’s probably a rather large generalisation @Antonia_Clare_Grant.
I live in a major UK city and have many friends who host in London. None of us have shared your experience.
Perhaps this is down to the sort of accommodation you offer/how you market your property.
I have only increased my prices since I started, my guests aren’t the type that are choosing my place as an alternative to a share roomed in a hostel and have generally been respectful, lovely people.
that wasn’t a generalisation, Antonia was just saying she has head some similar stories, may have been two stories, and those very few bad apples could potentially give the rest a bad name, as far as those ‘guests with similar stories’ go.
If you are replying to me @Barns I think you are confused.
I was responding to Antonia saying that guests using Airbnb are mainly guests who would usually book ‘a shared room in a hostel’ who expect a lot for nothing.
Not her comment about her guests having bad experiences with other hosts.
Oh yes, I’d assumed you were replying to the post above, I AM confused, sorry x
no worries @Barns it can be confusing but as a general rule of thumb, click on the link for the previous post that someone is responding to above their post and you will see the thread they are responding to 
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I should give that a go!
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