This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Just had a newbie first-time Air guest checkout and our entire house smelled like they smoked weed or something much worse, it was a terrible permeating smell everywhere that took us 10 hours of airing and cleaning to get rid of, we have a no-smoking policy. We nicely reached out to the guest to ask the source of the foul odor and they ignored us until we put in a payment request for the extra cleaning involved…and then they went nuclear on us. They denied smoking anything and attempted to deflect by saying our house smelled of animals and that we were lying in order to make more money off of them.
We are superhosts on Air and Premier Partners on Vrbo, we have hosted over 200 groups in the past 3 years and never had an issue like this nor have we ever asked Air to intervene because of something like this.
I’m less concerned about the extra $200 for the cleaning that we requested and more concerned about the terrible review that she wrote, we haven’t seen her review yet as we haven’t written our review for her yet but I’m expecting a retaliatory 1-star from her.
You brought the review on yourself by asking for $ before the reviews were written or the review period was over. I get it, they made you mad but you said it aired out, why the $200? I would have NOT let on, messaged them thanks for staying and that I strive to offer a 5 star stay and will review you this afternoon. Put them off guard, then slam them on the review and THEN ask for the money.
It was predictable you would get a bad review the way you went about it.
Perhaps, but that is the challenge of the Air policies. We contacted Airbnb first and they told us to request it at the earliest of: 14 days or before the next guest checked in. There was a strong possibility that we were going to have a new guest check-in later that day so we were looking a short window of time for this request.
It typically takes us 3 person hours to clean our home and that is what we charge for, this time it took between 10-11 hours to clean it and mostly rid it of the smell. We never request extra funds when things are a bit messier than normal and take us a hours more, but this was the biggest exception that we had.
I suppose the passive-aggressive approach might have been to wait until day 14 to write a bad review and move on but it doesn’t seem like the right way to handle it. And for the record, I am not mad at the guest, just disappointed in general that this small slice of humanity thinks that they can do such things in other people’s homes.
The 14 days is for DAMAGES, the CS person did not know wtf they were talking about.
We have to be the experts on the TOS since the teenagers they hire are not.
Honestly unless it was really serious, broken furniture or something I see no upside in involving Air
Hopefully they mentioned the request for money in the review, it would be a violation of the TOS and cause to get it removed if they mention a dispute that air is moderating.
I can air out the smell of marijuana in my turn-over window (4 hours) or less. They may have smoked tobacco inside. Did you see any evidence of either in the trash?
We see quite a few hosts here who do not review bad guests, which is likely why you are being urged to leave an honest review.
Personally, I would never wait 14 days to ask for money especially after leaving a good or neutral review. To wait seems scammy. You either know up front there was a problem or you don’t.
Please, tell us how you manage this magic. I had to close for over a week because of my guests who smoked their weed (illegally because FL is not a reciprocal state) and kept their super-stinky weed in the room and then left their stinking clothes on the bed and barely bathed the stink off . I did everything I could - washed walls, furniture, cleaned the area rug twice, aired mattresses, kept windows open, put out bowls of vinegar (that was the best hint from someone here), and it STUNK.
I thought I was going to have to trash everything in the room (antique family furniture from the late 1800s!!!) and paint with Kilz to get rid of it. I was almost in tears, I was so angry.
Yeah, we’ve all been there, getting a 1* retaliatory review.
You could complain to Airbnb but you see, unlike a physical damage smell is hard to prove to Airbnb. It’s very likely they wont remove the review.
Review her honestly, so no future host will receive her - I know I wouldnt - and move on.
Welcome and sorry about your experience with the odour.
Curious though. What extra cleaning did you do beyond the airing to get the smell out?
Asking because I was in a similar situation with a smell and horrible odour. At first I thought someone had blown chunks in the house when I entered the foyer. One of the 3 bedrooms smelled of it worse and even the dishwasher steam from the batch of dishes had the malodorous scent !! I had a same day arrival so I opted to air out the house (-20cel brrr), change out the mattress padded protective pads and put all the duvets out on the balcony, to air before I put the fresh covers on. It seemed like it was coming out of their skin?! They were European and it seemed like a lingering naturopathic smell so may have been a salve or ointment.
I don’t really have any secret besides open the windows and run fans. I can usually get the smell out in an hour, unless they lit up just before leaving.
I’ve had a harder time getting rid of the smell of food burnt in the microwave. I microwave a bowl of vinegar.
I am able to clear this odor too. Two Air purifiers running. Treat everything wood with Biokleen Bac-Out floor/surface cleaner (floors, tables, shelves, chairs, etc). Replace every linen possible with clean ones (we have extra throw pillow covers, blankets, shower curtains etc). Spray other cloth items (upholstery, rugs, drapes) with Biokleen Bac-Out Fabric Refresher (don’t give into Febreze, it won’t last and has its own weird smell). Boil vinegar on the stove. Clean every window and hard surface (tub, counter tops, fridge, stove) with a vinegar/water solution. If you have AC or heat with filters, change them out for new ones - you can get some with charcoal in them to help with odors, it’s worth it. Do multiple treatments for each room with Ozium spray. Leave a chunk of a Bad Air Sponge in a ramekin or something in a couple of out of the way spots (behind dishes on a high shelf, behind books) but label it as air freshener in case someone comes across it.
It sounds like a lot but it works.
Edit to add: Supply List:
Air Purifiers (amazon or Bed bath and beyond with a coupon)
Biokleen Bac-Out Floor/Surface Cleaner (Whole Foods, Co-ops, some Walgreens)
Biokleen Bac-Out Fabric Refresher (Whole Foods, Co-ops, some Walgreens)
White Vinegar
Ozium spray (Walgreens, Walmart, head shops)
new filters for HVAC systems
Edit to add: keep the windows closed for all of this treatment. The fresh air will only dilute your treatments. But, do air it out for about an hour before the next guests to rid the Ozium out.
Well, well, I never knew Europeans smell… Oh dear, if you took an ancestry DNA test you might found out you might have European roots so I wouldn’t dare make such an affirmation.
In my case, the most I had to put up with was Indian cooking. Worse than pot. As much as I like to eat Indian food, the smell of their spices in my kitchen was comparable with having a skunk as a pet. Had the windows and doors open and the ceiling fans blowing for 5-6 hrs and scrubbed everything. Boiled vinegar, sprayed Febreeze.
Oh my !?! I surely hope I am mistaken and you are not eluding to me being racist or prejudice based on an observation of an odour… it was only an observation on the smell and guests country of origin with the assumption that they are using a salve or ingesting something to create the sour smell.
It has since happened to my daughter since she took over my ski resort AirBnB. Another European group that left that same “aroma” and it is definitely a herbal tincture of sorts. Very long term lingering in the mattress and she had to steam clean one mattress in an attempt to get the stink out.
FYI I am proudly a mix of Polish, Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, and I am sure the list goes on.
No DNA test for me thanks. I don’t need some outfit collecting and storing more data on me.
Thank you for the tip on boiling vinegar! Never heard of that.
My smelly-body-weed guests were Eastern European immigrants (as were my paternal great grandparents, so I’m not bashing) and they were very “naturopathic” in their bathing and deodorant uses. Plus, their clothes stank of weed and they closed themselves in the bedroom.
Let’s face it, different people from different parts of the world have different criteria for personal hygiene and sometimes they stink, American “noses” or not. My Japanese friends say white people smell like rotting meat. So there you go…
We host people from all over the world because we want to meet people from all over the world and expand horizons. But smoking in a no smoking home and smoking weed (and bringing in kilos of stinky weed) when those things are forbidden in the HR, well, ding 'em and review so we don’t get them!
