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News Preference
I have three remotes. 1 for turning on TV, 1 for channels, 1 for sound. I absolutely hate it but even TV cable technician couldn’t figure out how to sync into one. So when I give house tour, I have to ‘force’ guests to listen to my boring lecture on how to watch TV for 5 minutes.
I explain that Fox, CNN, CTV, and BBC are available. European guests are still half asleep at this point but about half of American guests meet each others’ eyes or subtly mention their ‘Preferences’. I just act lost and move on but secretly I go over News channels on purpose to make my lecture less boring.
Shoes Indoor
I don’t have policy on shoes because half of guests are Americans and they wear shoes indoor even I provide slippers. I once lived in the US and my family also wore shoes indoor so it’s not a big issue for me. But when Non-American guests check in I pretend everyone keep shoes outside or else they would feel disgusted.
Whole Foods
Although there is a Canadian chain supermarket nearby, many American guests drive 20mins distance to shop at Whole Foods. ‘Is there Whole Foods around?’ is a commonly asked question. My wallet is too thin to shop at WF so when guests leave behind WF products that’s the closest encounter with WF for me.
We have a great market a block away from our home that I always mention and I always laugh when I see all the Whole Foods bags left in the apartment. Usually with the receipt still inside. I chuckle at how much less they could have spent by just walking across the street instead of driving across town. Oh well!
I don’t want to sound judgmental: this is simply statistics that I experienced: I never ever had any issue with people from Asia (any country). They are always polite, follow the instructions, take their shoes off and leave everything neat. 100%. If I could have only Asian guests I will be the happiest.
With Americans I had mixed bags: some are the sweetest of the sweet, some are so neglectful and clearly disregard my rules. They stole my soap supplies from the bathroom and the best towels. One party said they can’t wear the slippers I supplied because they were “disgusting”.
I had very little Europeans but the ones I had were OK.
Are you from an Asian county? It could just be that you are used to Asian cultural norms. I probably wouldn’t wear slippers if they had been used by another person too for hygiene issues. Some people complain about Asian guests, but I think a lot of times the problem is really just cultural differences. We get a good number of Asian guests, especially Chinese because my boyfriend is Chinese and I guess they like to stay with someone who speaks their language. We have had one group of Chinese guests that was kind of rude and didn’t follow our rules but there are rude people in every country so I just chalked it up to that. We’ve also had absolutely wonderful Chinese guests that I would love to host again.
No, I am not. I have Greek heritage. I don’t know much about any Asian country , yest they have been wonderful to me. Very polite and follow the rules. I had several guests from several countries, China, japan and India but they all remove the shoes at the entrance and treat the house with utmost respect. which, i’m sorry to say, never happens with some Americans. it’s a mixed bag with the Americans.
OK, so please explain to me the issue with the slippers. what if they have been worn before? I can’t boil them in order to sterilize them. I can’t buy new ones for every new visitor, so honestly whats the problem? I, as a guest, I either go bare footed or I wear socks, in which case I don’t care about the slippers because I can wash the socks. So, really, please do explain to me. I had this complain from America guests before but to me it doesnt make sense.
IYou can get warts or fungus on your feet from wearing shoes that other people have worn. Not to mention they could be covered in someone else’s sweat. Most Americans don’t use slippers around the house anyway so maybe don’t offer them to American guests. A lot of people do wear their shoes in the house and we also often have to tell people to take them off. We have even had chinese people who have to be told to take their shoes off which is strange because that is common courtesy in most Asian countries.
I sometimes shop at Whole foods but that’s only because they carry vegan cheeses and other vegan products which most supermarkets do not carry. I agree, they are pricey but as a vegan/vegetarian sometimes the options are limited at other supermarkets.
Please! Stop with the stereotypes! I have had just as many problems with Asian guests and 80% of mine are. They might be different to European guest problems but all had rule following in common and hygiene.
Why ‘sorry to say’??? If you don’t want shoes in your house. Don’t pretend you don’t care and then judge others negatively that wear them.
Again 80% if my guests are Asian and I’ve been doing this for 3 years. None of my 5 star reviews suggest they are ‘disgusted’ by my shoes of ugg boots inside, many wear theirs when they know it’s totally fine.
I’m American and I always take off my shoes when I’m home, so do my children. My husband, on the other hand, does not because he’s diabetic and needs to protect his feet at all times. However, I do not post it as house rules for my guests. I have hardwood flooring so it’s easy to mop. If I had carpeting, then I would have a “shoes off” policy for Airbnb guests.
I’m an American, but I’m not “every American” because this is a huge, diversified country with different accents, norms, etc. As a whole, i can say that our country is more used to staying in hotels or B&B’s where you never take off your shoes. In fact, many don’t trust the hygiene at hotels, so that is a reason that I would never wear used slippers without socks. In fact, i would never wear used slippers unless i knew the owner had clean feet. Warts, fungus, etc. Yuk.The slipper use here is not the norm. Period. Put in your listing that shoes are not allowed, and to bring slippers. Just that easy. We can read, too. Stop putting down a culture if you don’t understand it. Even better- stop renting to Americans. Problem solved.
Hi everyone, and thanks for your input. I didn’t mean to stereotype people. I just said these are MY statistical observations based on the guests I had. perhaps the asian part has nothing to do with the race per se but with the fact that most of the guest were graduate students, I don’t know. And yes, thanks for enlightening me about the slippers issue, which in all honesty, I couldn’t figure out. It is also true, if you read my message carefully, that I said many Americans were very sweet, extremely nice and polite.
Although I do have hardwood floors everywhere I would not accept street shoes inside. I communicate this to guests before their arrival and many of them bring their own slippers, which is totally fine.
Just like people are afraid of catching fungus, I don’t want all these nasty germs carried in from outside on my floors. I am curious however if people in US wear their street shoes inside their own homes. I don’t think so. So, why do it in my home? I am not a hotel. Of course the diabetics have to protect their feet. but they also can bring their own slippers too, right? And i’m totally cool with socks.
My mom wont allow shoes in the house either but allowed the guests to keep them on. However the guests would insist on taking them off. But listen, there are people with severe allergies out there. I got questions from prospective guests if I ever had pets in that house. I personally did not. never lived there, did extensive remodeling, sanded the floors and stained them, but the previous owners did have dogs. I didn’t get the booking. So to me, outside dirt pose more threat than a dog. Nevertheless i don’t allow pets either because I cant scrub the entire house after every dog for the next guest who might have allergies.
I think it is becoming more common everywhere to remove shoes on entering a house. It is instinct for me (British) possibly after living in Russia for some time - there’s no way you want those sodden boots tracked through the house mid-winter! The one thing I can’t stand, though, is people who don’t seem to know what is a doormat.
Or a coaster…
I do wear my street shoes inside my home as do most of the people I know. I do it for two reasons: one I keep dogs in my home so my floors aren’t especially clean or sanitary. The dogs go out the dog door and back in at their leisure. Two, I have trouble with my feet and need to wear shoes with padding and arch support. Even my slippers are expensive wool German ones with good padding and support but in the summer it’s too hot here to wear them. Perhaps someday if I have no more dogs I will develop better habits.
Amen to having dogs and not worrying about being too sanitary! lol! Me too. I’ve lived in 5 states, was born in the 60’s and never once considered taking off my shoes in the house. It wasn’t the norm. Folks with kids and animals didn’t buy white carpet. Kids today don’t play outside as much today. They don’t build up their immune system. Anyway, I use a wheelchair and track all kinds of stuff in the house. I’m a rolling disaster! Oh, and many houses have mud rooms.
I don’t think you need to apologize. There are like 5000+ threads about Chinese guests and I always find it hilarious when someone actually wants to discuss American guests and all of a sudden every topic related to American-ism is hands off subject matter.
