@Carmen
The first time we booked as a guest I just said we were hosts and for how long. Then I just said the purpose of our trip to visit the art a fair in Laguna beach and that it would be myself and my husband. They accepted us with no problem.
Too much information is a red flag!
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Faheem, as a professional writer for 30 years (donât judge me by my posts here. 
), I would say you speak and write English far better than most native speakers!
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Right⌠but it could be taken the wrong way. If I saw mention of a SH Iâd be worried youâd be overly picky! Let them see the SH for themselvesâŚ
The less said the better in framing the inquiriy⌠something like âCan you accommodate my husband and me with a private bath?â But ONLY if it is not clear from the listing!
Cuban cooking sounds amazing! Are you able to go back to Cuba now that it has opened up? I know Cuba is on everyoneâs bucket list!
Glad I am divorced. My ex husbandâs stories were so often cringe worthy! Glad heâs the problem of the new squeeze!
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Are you one of those people who corrects anyone who speak a language with mistakes?
I would rather speak all these languages with mistakes then speak only one perfectly. I dont even speak my own perfectly because i live in US longer than in my home country.
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Given half a chance, yes. But most of the time I ask first. And I only really speak one language. And pretend to speak anotherâŚ
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I speak English and French and some Spanish and Italian and I love when native speakers help me by correcting me. But, I also agree itâs just fine to speak at all than be intimidated by not being perfect. Most of us arenât even perfect in our native tongues! And I got an A in English in school and I would be hard pressed to explain the grammar!
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Yana, you also speak wonderfully! I love your accent. You are very expressive and use lots of funny phrases!
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I love it when Yana says she rented to someone who is a fan of laundry, or when they really do laundry to the extreme then they are addicted to laundryâŚlol.
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Wish we could meet up in person and have a drink. Yana is so well traveled and interesting! Cabin is so well spoken and intelligent. 
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@Carmen, since you asked for feedback, I must say that itâs way too much unnecessary information. As some of the others have mentioned, all you need to do is read peopleâs listings and determine if there is a private bathroom, period, end of story. I might be wrong, but Iâd say most people are not comfortable with too much information from a stranger. Less is more.
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Regardless of how long your husband wants to talk, it is always advisable, with ALL guests, to ascertain at breakfast whether the guests intend to leave the house for shopping, sightseeing, visiting relatives, etc, and WHEN. I always ask guests what their plans for the day are, and also I ask them if they need any suggestions regarding travel, sights, shops, museums, etc. I provide guide books and maps of NYC as well as subway and bus maps. If an ad does not specify private bath, ask the prospective host directly. Since we reside on the premises and provide breakfast we do not allow guests kitchen privileges except storing juice in the refrigerator. Nearly all the complaints on the list pertain to OFF SITE
apartments with kitchens, not to guest rooms on premises with the hosts present. I have never had any of the complaints listed on this site, with one exception where the guest stayed three nights without complaining and then told Air BnB that our ad misrepresented the premises, demanded a full refund, and got it from AirBnB,which then said I owed them the moneyâŚBUT they just reversed their decision and said I do not owe them money. I suspect they did this after a NY Times story by a guest with the exact same problem (guests inventing problems that never existed).
As for rejecting guests, I have never done it. My guests are either relatives or friends of people who live in my neighborhood (especially grandparents visiting newborn grandchildren) or foreigners, who love our historic home, love to talk over breakfast if they have time (I really enjoy chatting with foreigners about their work, etc.) and offer to put the breakfast dishes in the sink! I tell them NO, YOU ARE MY GUESTS AND THAT IS MY JOB. They have use of our washer and dryer (I usually do it myselfâŚnot a big deal). Iâve never had anyone leave a mess or dirty sheets or towels.
They have a wastebasket in the guest room and bathroom and I empty it after they leaveâŚNot a big deal either. If they are paying me, it is my job to do these small tasks, not theirs. But those of you who rent an entire apartment are in a different position because that apartment is only a hotel room to the guests so they will not act the same as they would in a private home like ours. And if you are raking in big dollars, then there is no reason to complain about a mess they leave or other things. Of course your ad and you personally must be very clear about some things so there is no misunderstanding, such as firm time of arrival and departure. I never confirm a booking without the guest assuring me he/she will arrive at the house no later than 9 pm (we retire early). This can be a problem with foreign guests arriving on late airport flights and going through immigration, customs and then getting to our house. For me, having guests at breakfast in the morning is fun! Sometimes, however, I have to sleep late but I always prepare the table the night before, putting out butter, jam, bread, telling them juice and milk are in the fridge, and I set up the coffee maker so all they have to do is press the switch. I really enjoy hosting and talking with new people. With that one bad experience now out of the way, I am re=listing with AirBnB this fall. I think guest problems come with the territory when you
rent out off premises rooms or apartments. But if you get lots of money, then thatâs the trade off. Renting a whole apartment becomes a business, a strictly commercial venture. For us, it is a social experience with quite minimal
effort and low risk. And our rates are reasonable but not low, so we get good clientele. And we always try to ascertain the purpose of the guestsâ visit. Thatâs probably the most important part.
Well I followed all of advise I read her and simply stated my reasons for the stay (trip to NC to visit family) and who were (a couple in our mid 50âs, non smokers or drinkers and that we would be out all day)
The Savannah and St Augustine trip got booked just fine, my NC part of the trip One stay accepted only to decline the next morning. Sent another request yesterday at 2pm no reply until now âdeclinedâ.
I am going down the instant book route now which is harder to find place a private bathroom option.
You know for all the complaining we do about guests from what I hear an awful lot of hosts suck too. Not only do I search by instant book first but I avoid anyone who has cancelled a guests stay. I donât care what the reason is, I just donât want to take that chance.
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