We’re you reimbursed? Can a host win an extra cleaning fee claim?
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Yes, Yes and yes. IB, no same day because 24 hours between guest. Other than that nothing has changed. I am booked as much as I can be and my guests have been great.
RR
We’ve experienced this too. We’re located 2 miles from a VA Hospital, Emory University & Hospital in Atlanta and a short distance to a popular restaurant and shopping district. Our typical guests are families, guests receiving medical treatment or those visiting loved ones in the hospital. Since the state re-opened, 90% of our guests have been young people hosting parties and damaging our property. As a result, we’ve had to charge (and collect) additional dollars from the last 4 guests.
We now only accept guests who are not local (from within GA) and only have positive host comments. They’ve paid the damage charges because they don’t want to ruin their Airbnb ratings. It doesn’t matter, they have not received 5-star ratings from us. Like many of the comments on this thread, we’ve seen a lot of 1st timers; we’re declining about 10 requests a week now. I don’t care… we’re tired of the disrespect of our home.
It wasn’t until yesterday that I found out from a neighbor that guests from last weekend had a bus drop people off at the house 2 nights in a row to party at the house. I asked why he never called and he said he didn’t want to get anyone in trouble. Aaaggghhh! I told him and another neighbor to call from now on, even if they THINK there’s a party going on. We’ll swing by or call the police. I may increase our minimum stay to 4 days from the current 2. Good luck and stay safe everyone!!
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Yes we were reimbursed. We sent photos of the damage but it was still an arduous process
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Wow. Good to know it’s not just us. I mean I’m sorry you’re going through this but from the comments I was thinking there was something wrong with us. We had two 5 star guests request and we immediately accepted but within an hour they cancelled because their payment didn’t go through. Idk what the heck is going on but we’re through
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You need to raise your price. And if they are paying damages without a fight to get a good review they can certainly pay more.
You absolutely must have cameras in a stand alone home where you aren’t hosting in person. They provide evidence when you have issues and help to deter the bad behavior in the first place.
Get cameras and clearly disclose them in the listing. Raise your price. Charge extra for additional guests over x number. State in your rules that undisclosed guests will result in immediate cancelation of reservations. Make your minimum stay longer. If it’s one night make it two, two nights make it three. Raise the cleaning fee so that longer stays are less per day average. Once you get a reservation have a conversation on the platform making clear that parties won’t be tolerated. All those things will discourage parties and pay for your time if you have to deal with one.
Then you won’t have to decline 10 requests a week.
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Yikes, the bar scene is curtailed (even if open) and not “fun” due to distancing, etc. requirements, and they’re moving the party to your house. What a bunch of selfish jerks. I would be worried about damage collection documented on Airbnb; after some repetitions, they could shut you down as a “party house.” Absolutely raise your rates, but that’s probably not enough to dissuade them; they may well be charging at the door. Obviously you’ve amped up your screening, but easy enough to have out of town friends make the bookings. Concur with the camera recommendation. Good luck to you.
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If I was your neighbour, I am not sure if I’d be too happy to be asked to call you if there is a party at your house when you already know that you have a party problem. Surely it’s not up to your neighbours to address this issue, it’s up to you to fix it. In fact, I can tell you that if I was your neighbour, I’d probably be pretty annoyed. When your neighbour said, “I don’t want to get anyone into trouble”, that’s a friendly way of saying, “I don’t want to sort out the mess that you have created.” Install camera, set up 4 day minimums, raise your prices and do in-person check-in’s and whatever it takes to get rid off this problem. Buses arriving at the AirBnB? For everyone involved, especially your neighbours, that’s a nightmare scenario that can turn into a Channel 5 news segment in a split of a second.
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[quote=“Suntory, post:48, topic:43232”]
If I was your neighbour, I am not sure if I’d be too happy to be asked to call you if there is a party at your house when you already know that you have a party problem.
[/quote].
Let’s consider a change in perspective on this.
- Put in place preventative measures like exterior cameras and a device that alerts when more than a specified number of cell phones are present (7?).
- Talk to neighbors Host values neighbors and feels badly parties have occurred. Explain screening process and new monitoring in place
- Ask for their help. If they notice anything questionable (not just a party) call the host. Give him a chance to get it resolved before it gets out of hand.
The neighbor is now empowered to take action. They are not helpless against the “evil” Airbnb next door.
The conversation will be difficult but most people will listen to an apology if they were ever disturbed by renters, And a resolution plan. Most people when ask them for their help will give it.
There will always be The risk of a jackass who will act out toward you —in that case walk away.
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Thanks for the great tips, KKC! For the summer, we raised the weekly nightly rate by 16% and the weekend rate, 14% to discourage these types of guests. It didn’t matter…we figured they were just splitting the cost with their “friends”. I like the idea of increasing the minimum stay from 2 to 3 nights.
We’ve known for awhile that we need to install cameras. It’s time. Any suggestions? Will buy this weekend. Again, thanks for the tips. We’re not crazy, “mapuche”! 
I must have missed that part.
So any neighbour not helping this AirBnB host with his/her party problem is a Jackass?
Thank you. We are concerned that we may be labeled a “party house” now. We just put the house on the market last month. So, keeping it in agent “show-ready” condition after each guest check out has made it even more stressful for us. This was a flip for us that we wanted to hold and try out the Airbnb experience. I love it but not for a 3 bed | 3 bath house. Our goal is to sell and go smaller as I do enjoy the Airbnb host experience.
I have a hardwired Ring doorbell that’s right by my entry gate. A pair of tamper proof 24 hour DVR recording cameras (Hi-tek is the brand, professionally installed) cover the entire front yard. The DVR is in my part of the house. I only have a small room but a guest would have to work hard and have a step stool or ladder to block all three cameras.
I’m happy with my Ring and it intregrates with my Alexa but I wouldn’t hesitate to try other brands if I had a different smart home system.
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It seems that your stay is some distance from your residence? So, you need exterior cameras ASAP (and need to disclose such in your listing).
A tiny bit of tough love - it is not your neighbors responsibility to look after your property.
Unless your stay is too far away, we would do all check-ins in person, not provide access codes in advance, and gladly turn away lying guests before they get inside. It will often be pretty clear if there are too many people looking for “party time”, especially if they are from the area, and not “just a family”.
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Anyone who will not listen to an apology without acting out and behaving badly is being a jackass
Anyone who is not Willing to make a phone call to the owner if they see something questionable is foolish. By ignoring it and declaring it the owner’s problem only Demonstrates they aren’t thinking through what can happen if a party gets out of control. More than the rental property can be damaged. An ounce of prevention…
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Oh my goodness, Jefferson. After reading your comment, I feel like I’m having heart palpitations! We have been waaaay too trusting by giving out the code :15 min before check-in. Some people don’t check in until late because their flights are delayed or their driving in from out of state. Oh gosh! 
We’re only :15 minutes from the house.
I appreciate the tough love. You’re correct. This is a new problem for us and when one neighbor shared what he’d witnessed I just thought he would be willing to call us going forward. Yes, it’s not their responsibility. Point(s) taken. Yikes!
Thank you, Annet3176. Wow! I’m learning so much today. I should be following this forum more often than once a month.
- I’ve never heard of cameras that let you know about the # of cell phones on site
- Yes, the neighbors were fantastic while we were flipping the house as they were appreciative of not having to see the eyesore in their neighborhood anymore
We’re slowing running up against pockets of the city where legislation is preventing Airbnbs in various neighborhoods. I definitely don’t want to ruin the opportunity for other current/new hosts.
Thanks again for your suggestions!
I apologize. It is not a camera. It is a special sensor that tells you if there are excessive active cell phones present. I’ll see if I can find/share a link
I’m behind the times —move is now to noise detection & away from counting cell phones. One of the ones listed in the link below is only $39 usd. Cheap party detection
Airbnb is offering discounts on the 3 products
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Awesome! Thank you for the link.