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We were so nervous doing that which is strongly not advised: hosting without cameras. Are the guests checking in early? Is there a huge frat party going on? Are they hassling the wildlife? Are they cutting donuts on the property?
We had technological barriers to the camera’s installation as I’ve written about in another thread
We did get the camera installed and our first guests who stayed since its installation will be checking out today.
You will not believe what I saw these guests doing on camera.
First they walked around and took in the scenery. Then I saw them sprinkling deer corn for the wildlife. After that I saw father and son playing catch, practicing the son’s pitching. He looks like a nice little baseball player…
Shocking I tell you. Shocking to discover that these are just normal ordinary people obeying all the rules. Good people enjoying family time at our property. Looked like nice folks who really love the area and wanted their kids to experience it for the first time, just like their message stated. it was so heartwarming.
So there you go… finally somebody came to the board just to tell you how great their guests are.
Also: If you don’t have cameras get them right now. Talk about peace of mind.
Yes to this. I only check my cameras when guests check in or out (so I can get started cleaning), if they are alerting a lot or at odd hours, or if I don’t have guests at the house. Otherwise I usually ignore them.
95% of my guests have been GREAT with no need for cameras.
BUT when you have the one guest who is doing something wrong (as I experienced a few months ago) and you’re on the phone with AirBNB, having photos (screen prints of camera recording) is invaluable for getting CS attention and quick action. And also documentation should the guest try to dispute anything that you’ve described.
And even for those non problematic guests there are advantages; Such as informing me of when the guest has left so I know when i can start the cleaning or not around so I can do things in the yard while not disturbing them.
It’s nice to be able to confirm to my local people that the guest has left so they know they aren’t having to escort someone off the property (this has never happened but I imagine it eventually might). Even though this time I had to block an extra day (2 nights total) after checkout because my cleaner has to wait until her backup (my stepbrother) is off from his day job. She has temporary medical restrictions.
Having a trained and experienced backup (who actually cares about us succeeding) is another big peace of mind.
As you well described, the peace of mind is one of the best reasons behind the camera. I’d say 90% of our guests are awesome, well mannered people that I would feel privileged to host again. But, every so often we will get guests that go against our wishes mainly with sneaking in a pet or having more people than we allow (or they said). Being in a condo complex the camera also allows us to see potential issues with other owners units like people parking where they shouldn’t, taking other owners firewood etc. A few of the owners in our complex have put in cameras for these reasons.
I have a homeshare. The “cameras” are fake (but look impressive). More recently I am going to upgrade because of a chap in the area who is deeply troubled.
And now I’m at the “let’s check to see if it started raining yet” stage. (It did! )
We have baby trees being tended by Mother Nature. She has been a very good mom this spring! And I am officially an old boring person watching trees grow.
I have a very nice listing in LA. We get booked by international guests often, and one time we had a guest from China book. Ok great.
Guest starts messaging me on my number associated with my AirBnB account (must have gotten from support) but not the number associated with my listing, emails, etc. Never happened before but ok, international traveler probably contacted customer support because of the language barrier and got this contact info.
I have keyless checkin, and this guest texts me randomly and says “I am here how do I get in” at 11am, checkin is at 4pm. So wtf, annoying but ok go over rules, come back at 4 etc. At this point I have called him and its curious but he speaks pretty good English.
1 day later, we get a call from the local police department. Come here now, open it up, show me your cameras. Ok, we go and walk through with them, they explain that my guest had scammed international home buyers out of their deposits by promising to exchange Chinese currency for American at a better rate than the banks. They set up a meeting and used a knife to threaten the victim to complete the transfer. I have 2 night minimums and my place is not cheap. They used it for 4 hours, and took off with my keys.
I have great cameras on the exterior of my building. All the criminals covered their faces and couldnt be tracked using facial recognition, but they got license plates clear as day because they pulled into my front driveway (if they had read the rules, they would have gone to the back driveway where the camera is set further away).
Wonderful they got the plate IDs.
I am ordering more cameras for my place. They are indispensable.
I have no guests scheduled for the next few months. I have a camera that I keep in my lockout room (big workshop with my life in there !).
Am using it now in the garage to help me monitor the mice traps. Very effective in alerting me when I need to go reset the trap for the next one.
That is why I would like to set a camera out back when I am not around. Saw the prints from a cougar complete with the tail swipe in the snow. Would have been fabulous to catch it on camera…
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