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Well I thought ID verification was an ABB requirement now?
I have taken brand new, unverified guests all the time and have found them to be wonderful. My two guests from hell on the other hand were both verified with good reviews and gave zero indication that they would be trouble upon acceptance. If I had had a magic ball I would have let them keep their lousy $400 for their lousy 4-night stays. They not only caused physical damage, they caused a weird sort of mental damage in me. The helplessness I felt with that awful Jennifer who took over my place with her godawful drinking and pot smoking, furniture damaging party and the cruelty of that kooky Canadian witch somehow forever haunt me in a weird wayā¦ I think I need a therapist!!
I spend some time discussing the booking, in order to get a sense of the inquirer, rather than be too concerned whether they are verified or not. Then again I have a different type of rental requiring more-than-normal communication.
Hey kona: I may have had āyour Jenniferā come visit my place also here back in April 2016. This royal witch arrived at the island and soundly pronounced āthis is not a 5-star placeā (a private island for $250 a night mind you), and loves to review everything; left 56 reviews after her 2 week visit to Belize, including one on the TACO STAND on the mainland, under the moniker āloudcustomerā. This egoistical piece of human waste caused me to hate Trip Advisor/Flip Key immediately, for life.
Sounds like a combo of Jennifer and Gillian. Gila-Jen!
Jennifer had the party and invited the locals and damaged the furniture;
Gillian complained about the windchimes, stole shampoo and bug spray and wrote scathing abusive feedback!
No, well, a bit sensitive. Weāve had guests before from India that have poured on so much cologne that it was a few days before we got rid of it. I find this to be a common thing in that culture. I was once swimming laps next to a man from India - he had on so much cologne I could taste it in the water. I thought this was very common - is it only me who has had this experience?
I lived in Africa as a teen and had something like this there. Some cultures use cologne in the place of deodorant. We got used to it after a while, but holy moly.
If they have been on Airbnb for awhile and no reviews - this is a sign for me. If they are new to Airbnb, that is different type of āred flagā, as I try to make sure they understand the nature of the service aka āwe are not a hotelā speach. If they reply about staying at several locations and loving Airbnb, but no reviews - thatās a bad sign. I only give reviews to guests that I truly would welcome back.
I have instant book on, and if they ask questions but donāt book - I donāt usually have good results with those people.
You also get a good idea from their first request email. Get an idea of what they expect, why they picked your property, and why they are coming to the area - you will see a pattern emerge in your ratings.
LOL! I just joined the forum - and I started a topic asking for advise on finding a suitable rental apartment for hostingā¦ in New Jersey.
Anyway, the advise āyou can never tellā might be the most accurate.
Why am I saying this? Itās because I see some folks warning against people negotiating cleaning fees. Well, Iāve personally asked to waived cleaning fees - and yet Iād consider myself an A level guest. In one case - where I had asked about cleaning fees I later discovered my hosts were flat broke! So every day of my stay I stocked the fridge with groceriesā¦ and I took one of my hosts out for dinner a few times, etc.
Those hosts were lucky with you because obviously you arenāt a cheap schmuck. But most who ask me to waive cleaning fees send a signal that they donāt respect me or the time I put in for my rental and therefore are guests Iād rather not rent to.
Itās not the money, itās the principle! Says something about your character that you think this is a third world bazaar and you can throw out a lower price and insult me by trying to negotiate. That you donāt want to pay my fair prices for my already budget-priced place.
I see the logic in cleaning fees - but I admit Iām cynical about why the airbnb pricing structure has that broken out as a separate item. After all, hosting a person in your living space is going to require cleaning, so why should it really be a separate charge?
And yes, I suppose its a single charge for each stay, but I still donāt think it should be charged separately and not factored into price - especially since itās not reflected conspicuously when browsing listings - and when youāre traveling with a small mobile device - itās very easy to miss; Iāve had lots of two or three days stays which made it very difficult to compare listings (as some would have cleaning fees that obfuscated comparison).
Finally, I would often leave the place exactly as found (with the possible exception of fresh linens) - or sometimes even cleaner! - and in those case I just plain thought paying a $40 cleaning fee was unjustified.
I ask my guests to leave the space as they found it, and most do, but it still takes me two hours to get my guest suite ready for the next guests. I have a few loads of laundry for towels and sheets, clean every surface in the bathroom, take out the trash and recycling, dust and clean windows, and vacuum and mop (I use the extender to clean under the bed and behind all furniture and appliances). The laundry is the real time suck. I have to do this whole process whether a guest stays one night or a week, so I charge a modest cleaning fee to feel like the one night reservations are worth my time.
Luckily, AirBnB calculates the cleaning fee into your rates if you search by specific trip dates.
Finally, I would often leave the place exactly as found (with the possible exception of fresh linens) - or sometimes even cleaner! - and in those case I just plain thought paying a $40 cleaning fee was unjustified.
Problem with that if you have a cleaner coming in to clean. You typically canāt just have them come and say, āoh sorry, just spruce up for a few minutes and Iāll pay you $5.ā It wouldnāt be fair to them to have them schedule you, block sufficient time and come to your place.
Well, also I think people should be paid for their work. And make no mistake, cleaning is work. It takes me at least 5 hours to clean the studio properly. And the whole while, I am thinking, they are paying for a clean place so I donāt want a single bit of dust anywhereā¦ on a fan top, on a glass slider on a window. I also have a kitchen to clean. So yeah. I earn my cleaning feeā¦ and the guests who are willing to pay what I require without question are āgenerallyā the kind of guests I want to rent to.
Leaving it as you found it is often easier said than actually done. In six years of hosting maybe only two have left it so clean I didnāt have to do much cleaning. Once you have checked out and are outta here, and you didnāt really āleave it as you found itā what recourse do I have?
Cleaning fees are necessary and imposing them has never cost me bookings.
Well, everyone makes good points - just playing devilās advocate a bit.
I suppose another argument is that many travelers think of airbnb as a hotel alternative - and thus cleaning fees donāt jive with the sensibility.
Of course, I only have a guest perspective thus far - as I still donāt quite know how to go about becoming a host (without anxiety ). As mentioned Iām not sure if can find a space to lease - in my desired neighborhood - thatās suitable for airbnb.
If you think that you leave the place as clean as youāve found it, you have no idea what it takes for a host to thoroughly clean a place. You mean that you dust baseboards, picture frames and pendants ? You clean all chromes and stainless twice (wet cleaning, rinsing, polishing) ?
