I don’t really but sometimes I have to remind myself of my mantra: “there are no bad dogs just bad owners”
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That’s a lot of space taken up for the 500 chars allowed for the upfront description. I like to emphasise the things (like the sea view and walks) previous guests have said sold them on the place.
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My one guest with a cat experience. I noticed there was a rope extending from the open door of the house to a tree in the front yard. After pondering this for a while I realised there was a cat attached to the tree end.
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For me less is better, I let the photos do the talking since nobody reads anything anyway.
RR
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I have wooden floors so really should just take the rugs up.
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I want people to know about the sea view, the space not so much.
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I’m a mad old cat lady and travel with my boy, Stanley. Several years ago I had a guest who brought her three cats and, importantly, she brought her own bedding. (A lot of cats like to sleep on the bed with their owners). She was a great guest - no mess at all.
So now when we travel with Stanley we always take our own bedding. It helps such a lot. Most cat hairs we take home with us.
Until our HOA came up with their ‘no dogs in rentals’ rule then we’ve had to comply, sadly. I’ve never had any trouble with either cats or dogs - even from the lady with four dogs.
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I have all tile in the Airbnb room now but in the winter I put down a throw rug unless they are traveling with a pet. I also have the “pet” duvet cover and the non-pet ones. Of course I wash the duvet cover after each stay but in case of damage or any remaining invisible dander I use the old cover. It has a small tear / chew damage along one seam that’s hard to see.
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Before I signed onto Air about 7 years ago in AZ my cats were all over the house and had spent time on some the furniture that went into the rental. I had listed cats on property.
Someone came with a young boy that apparently was very allergic to cats, one parent ended up going to the only hotel in town for the night with the son and they didn’t tell me till the following day. I felt terrible about it. They never wrote a bad review.
Well, I learned that lesson and washed and cleaned everything and the cats were not allowed in the rental.
So, in this venture, once I had the rental set up, they are not allowed upstairs. Also have fewer soft furnishings.
Cats still on the listing and I assume if anyone is allergic that is a red flag.
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I’ve had great cat guests. That said, I always dread them because I also have had cats who are great and ones that are less than awesome ha ha. Why not make your pet policy dogs only, specify NO CATS due to allergies? As long as they don’t book with you … who cares if they’re annoyed by the slight to cats.
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When I had cats I would warn people they might get down into the Airbnb when the cleaner was here or I was doing something. I warned people with allergies but I would still get guests ask if they could stay and said they would take anti histamines because they really wanted the sea view.
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I do now. It’s a pity you can’t specify which “pets are welcome” on Airbnb or which aren’t. Save people the trouble of asking. TBH in the last 5 years I’ve only ever had one guest bring a cat (and one enquire about a rabbit but I had free roaming cats then so said no). Now 2 in a month!
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I’m not anti-snake. I’m not a “snakes are great pets” person either. I’ve never seen one to be “sweet”…Not aggressive yes, but not sweet.
I actually felt a little sorry for an anaconda on Swamp People. The group collected invasive snake species for bounty in the Florida Everglades. They excitedly bagged a massive anaconda. Then one remarked, “that was too easy. I think she must’ve been a pet and used to being handled”. The culling was needed but it was wrong on many levels: Pet dumped, had to learn to thrive in strange environment damaging ecosystem, now captured to be culled—
I like watching Zak Catchem (stage name-gotta be) though.
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Just a word of warning to any host who bravely tells future guests with allergies that their rentals are pet free.
We have two what are now called ‘community cats’ (previously simply strays) and I had an instance of a couple of lovely guests who fell in love with them and during their stay fed them tuna (real human-grade tuna not cat food tuna). I never saw it happen (and I live within easy sight of both rentals) but I’ll be willing to bet that those cats went into the rental.
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I’ve gone back and forth. I’m have lots of people with small dogs and now expecting my first guests with cats. No issues, except one lady who apparently never vacuumed and it took forever to clean. My place is monthly and I have both a lease and charge for carpet cleaning if there’s pets… and I’m explicitly state that they are not allowed on the furniture and guests can be liable for replacing carpet, furniture, wood work, etc if there’s pet damage of any kind. I lean towards dogs only - I’ve had cats my whole life and they all shred furniture.
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I can’t even enforce that in my own home……
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I have turned the old worn out (or chewed/damaged) bedding into the extras that guests with animals can use to put over the furniture to allow them on it with less worry.
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You actually CAN if you put it in your House Rules.
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Would you then book an AirBnB that didn’t allow them on the furniture and bring them along, though? Probably not.
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This is how cats were domesticated 10,000 years ago. Hanging around and being fed from cans of tuna.
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