When we moved to Ventura in 1998, we lived at the apartments on Paseo de la Playa. We had one of the townhouses facing the pool and water and I loved it there. It was a one horse town back then and it’s grown.
Guests don’t read. And don’t listen. For a whole house listing, I may label things and put nice notes on things, such as “Gas grill is quirky, please use the lighter that’s included with the utensils.”
I also don’t want guests feeding my cat her treats (unless I give it to them for her) or people food (she’ll get sick), so I make sure this pointed out to them in advance, in the binder, and in person. Yet people persist in feeding animals anyway. My most recent guest grabbed my cat and picked the cat up - cat doesn’t like that and I mention that, too, during “cat introduction time” during the walk-through. Guest was seconds away from being scratched because guest didn’t listen to Bengal yowls of protest, despite owning 4 cats.
Guests. Don’t. Read. The listing, the manual, or notes.
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yeah, I know they don’t. Their choice. As I said, I also send the info with the check in instructions.
I rather try to make things in such a way there is no need for notes. I don’t provide grills.
Being your house I understand how irritating it is to have guests feed your animals or trying to pick them up without permission. They do what the heck they want anyway.
if there is an item that i care about the most I send a message on the platform before their arrival, just about that. Being short and one item they will read it. For example: I kindly like to remind you that you can park only over there… or… handling my pets without my approval is completely prohibited.
You must have been quick! My Bengal will not tolerate being treated as anything but the king of the household and that includes not being cat (man) handled by strangers and he has a nasty set of claws and is happy to use them!
When he wants attention it is on demand.
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For all those saying leave a bottle of wine… please check with your local laws… I can not leave a designated bottle of wine/liquor for our guests nor can we leave any prepared foods otherwise we are in violation of our local laws. We can leave bottle water, fruit juice or other non-alcoholic beverages that have not been opened. Food we can leave pre-packaged only such as pkg’s of oatmeal, muffins or individual cereals. I know it is a pain in the butt when you want to give a little extra. It isn’t worth it to loose our STR’s because of a bottle of wine.
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Don’t you just love the breed? They’re bat-sh*t crazy and demanding, but they’re amazing love bugs and full of life!
I was standing righthere and just grabbed the cat from her arms and put her (the cat) on a chair and said “she doesn’t like that.” The guest then played with Queenie (not her name, but her preferred mode of address…) I was afraid the guest was going to get clawed - the would ruin the bridesmaid outfit!
I have a hidden stash of very good wines from CA and would bring those out should you visit! 
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I’d hate to receive a review like this from a guest, but to me it sounds quite fair, and it would certainly make me think. At least there was no hint that it was less than spotless inside!
I have three laminated notices, but they are friendly “How to” (ie work the appliances, adjust the heating, when the garbage gets collected) rather than Dos or Donts, and as I always meet and greet, I can explain to guests that we’re happy to deal with their clean recycling and the bins after checkout. The rest of the information goes in the manual left in the sitting room, for them to read or ignore, but when people book, I always ask them to read the listing and the house rules carefully. The cottage is very old (400 years+), wonky and battered, so a guided tour allows me to point out the low doorways and tricky turn of the stairs - all part of why people choose very old cottages for their holiday!
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Ooh I did that and put it on the lawn to dry out! Burned a 16’ x 32’ patch of lawn. Lesson learned. Boy did I panic but a few months later and grass is green and lush.
Good luck with the guest.
I did that for my first set of guests in my summer rental this year. A bottle of red and white. Of course they put it in the review they left me. Now I feel obliged to leave that for every set of guests.
That will be the only arrival gift from now on. I book 6 people or more in whole house rental for 3 night minimums and have sourced a lovely local Okanagan wine from a boutique vineyard that will have a personalized label for my listing. For $18 CAD output I hope the guests will appreciate it. (I get a deal when I buy bulk)
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If I do something special or extra for a guest I ask them not to mention it in the review. A comment like “please don’t mention the early check in because I usually can’t do that since I’m always booked.”
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Thank you fir the valuable tip KKC!
Yeah. I also gave farm fresh eggs and fresh baked croissants to another group and they wrote that into the review. Will definitely graciously ask them to not mention these extras as they are random acts lol
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I do not want my beds stripped for that exact reason. And I leave stickies on the light switches, because there are so many of them, that all do different things.
I’ve had no complaints about that
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We used to serve it in business class, so I don’t think of it as a cooking wine. Besides, who would leave an expensive bottle of wine for Airbnb guests?
So @casailinglady how did it turn out with these guests?
Apologies if I missed something, just skim-read.
I know I’ve said this before, but I have to label my switches or guests would never be able to figure out how they work. My older home has some switches that do nothing at all, some that are in a different room from the light they work, and some that are sets of two switches in different places that won’t work unless both are on.
Some of them go to outlets so if you switch them off trying to turn off the light, later you will try to turn on the television and not know why it doesn’t work. The light switch for my laundry room is by the back door. And so on…
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They’re here until Tuesday morning (the 29th). They’re really nice and they explained that the place they said “for her own good” was a cluttered pit and notes were everywherre.
That being said, he is full of “helpful hints” and doesn’t waste a second pointing out the things in my 30 year old home that need attention. He’s a Real Estate developer and he’s very particular. The house was neglected for years before I moved here in 2014 and all I do is triage the next set of projects.
I do think they would be better suited to a boutique hotel, but my funky little town doesn’t have one.
Really nice folks, they’re house hunting in the area, but I’m already exhausted doing projects that are lower on the list because he wants to “help.”
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I had to laugh at this phrase as it is exactly what I am doing.
Is guest actually helping you or just making the suggestions and you are addressing them?
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He’s making the suggestions and then asking where the tools are, do I have caulk and a gun (yes), did I buy enough risers for the stairs I’m repairing (yes), do I have a screw gun (neighbor does and let’s me use, his is like a jackhammer), do I have paint? Did I know there is a speck (speck I tell you!!) of painter’s tape around the bathroom mirror?
I can’t let him do the work - he’s paying to stay here! Plus, liability.
I feel your triage pain. I really do. The house was neglected for many years and I’ve had some huge medical bills, so doing Air helps me do small things to get more bookings, which will allow me to do bigger things… But when the suggestions start to cost more money than the guest’s visit, I draw the line.
Now to get a white noise machine - he’s the first to want one, so that’s on order. At this rate, the visit will be a loss leader! I’ll just ask him to write everything down… I did tell him the story of a friend who came over for a party and made 1,000 suggestions and I told the friend “That’s a great idea! Let me know when you’ve gone to Home Depot and you’re coming over to do the install! How great of you to offer to pay for that!”
sigh…
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@georgiahost I have a long term rental house that has the same situation. I may never remember what they all do - or don’t. If I ever go live there, I’ll have to do the labels just for myself!
My guest suite has lots of spot lights for the art on the walls, and 4 master switches - hall, spots, ceiling and recessed tubes in the overhangs, It is a classic Frank Lloyd Wright house so there are all sorts of unique features. We are also off grid, so we are saving power by choosing what to use and what not to. The 9 extra switches are for controlling which spots to use to light up the art. If a guest doesn’t think this is fun and wonderful, they are not in the right house…
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First - I hope you are on track health wise and don’t have to deal with more medical bills.
Holy Crap!
I would get beyond stressed out with a guest like that.
As you mentioned in the OP in his review from 3 years ago he is bitching about taking off sheets (which I get as he is paying a cleaning fee etc) but if he helps around your place!!! Yikes…
I am just imagining what he could potentially put in the review despite his hounding you to let him fix anything minor !!!
Glad you could see that from a mile away + the liability you mentioned.
As this was my new to me home and first summer entire house with a pool AirBnB I would ask guests for recommendations or if there was something “missing” they could advise on to make their stay better or overall improvements. My only feedback or requests through the 35 nights of assorted stays was I needed BBQ utensils (true oversight on my part and got those pronto) That was it.
If you don’t impale this guest with a caulking gun before he checks out on Tuesday you should be relegated to Sainthood.
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