Two years in, first 1 star

That would be a really nice touch. I’m new and have been lucky thus far with only a couple items gone missing from my home. Small silly things, no bigee. Do you rent from a separate property or within your own dwelling?

I would actually love to do this, I so far have had women with all but one booking and lots of gal trips on the way. Do we market this some way in “the space” description? Or just place somewhere thoughtful in the room/bathroom as something unexpected and appreciated? I think the latter.

Good call. Closet is huge with a large shelf. I’ll just roll up a couple of sets, maybe bind with a ribbon (I have lots of ribbon, it will be like Christmas!) and rotate with the next booking if they’ve not been unrolled. I like it! The less they need to ask for the better, right?

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I also agree with the guests and all replies here. The texting before opening a door is weird, and you were unlucky in the spat about the towels, but some people will want more towels (and some people will be rude about it). I know people are warned about the quirks, but that seems like it maybe too late, if they’ve already booked. However, in your defence, if you are a SuperHo, most guests understand.

I fell “up” the stairs on Saturday whilst drunk and going to bed. I scraped my shins badly but didn’t notice until the morning. Yup, I stained the sheets. My shins are a worse mess though; too late to put the skin flaps over. Ho hum.

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What kind of noises do ducks make? Inquiring minds want to know. I hope you aren’t going to say they quack, because that would be just too predictable.

And do you own ducks?

Exact same story as the other response to your post. And, coincidentally, I have the same white noise machine she does.

One of my guest rooms, though off in it’s own little corner to some extent, is basically right off my kitchen, just down a very short hallway. I BEG guests to use the white noise machine I provide, but 98% of them will not. And I’ve heard the same excuse. “Oh, I’m a VERY light sleeper. I need things to be totally QUIET!” This makes getting the continental breakfast set up at 6:00AM a rather excruciating process, because I need to be as quiet as a mouse.

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Hi @cabinhost,

They work to a limited extent. If the external is too loud they are not effective. I’ve found them effective, for example, with dog barking. That’s often not a loud noise, but human brains are wired to respond to that sound, so it tends to wake one up, whether one wants to be woken up or not. But white noise machines can drown out barking quite effectively, as long as it isn’t too loud. (This is, as you might guess, based on personal experience.)

“shut the duck up!”, I typed very carefully

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Yes
I had one “footsteps above” noise complaint.
I immediately bought a white noise machine, and also a box of individually wrapped ear plugs to give every guest fresh ear plugs each time.
They can use both, and I have never had a second mention of any noise problem yet…

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I suspect you are not charging enough to make needed important improvements to your place.
1/3 the cost of a hotel during a convention may indicate that you could improve…or it may indicate that this guest was blind about the fantastic bargain and low pricing you offered. I have found that many time ratings are dependent on rates…she may have not cared about the low rate, but only the features. ( not fair ).
Is it possible to raise your rates during in demand times in order to purchase and provide:

  • more towels
  • extra spare set of sheets for emergency
  • a white noise machine
  • earplugs
  • a doggie enclosure or blocked doggie area ( I have the Same issue ! I have a fenced area for dogs on the opposite side of the house away from guest area ).
  • Muzzles for the teenagers ( I can not imagine that you will be successful in moderating their behavior ! )
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I have mostly one night guests. When I have guests for more than one night I leave a couple of extra towels out or I leave the closet door where I store them in the room unlocked. I tell them if they need more to help themselves. No one has ever abused it and I’ve had close over 500 guests. However, I also live in a very dry climate where a bath towel used in the morning will be completely dry by evening if it’s hung up to dry.

A friend of mine recently used an airbnb for the first time in Annapolis, MD. There were five of them for a week in a basement in-law suite type set up. She complained about the towel situation. She said there were plenty of towels but no where to put them. So they would use them and they would still be damp when the next shower came. So they would get another one but there was no where to hang towels and let them get dry so they started piling up. They also had the situation of a relative coming over and yelling at the grandmother who lived upstairs and they were alarmed and texted the host (who doesn’t live on site). Overall she liked the experience but it was less than optimal. I told her next time she’s looking for an airbnb to consult me.

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How many dogs do you have? Instead of training the guests to have to text you when they come and go, train the dogs.

No matter what spin you put on that, it is more than awkward.

Use an anti bark collar, perhaps first on the dog that is leading the barking behavior.
My dogs modified their behavior just by the simply putting on the collar, without it even on “On” and while it certainly is not 24/7, it certainly helps.

And perhaps especially on new Airbnb users, better communication might have mitigated the situation. Your guest did not have a good number of towels, while Karma’s friend had enough, but no hooks … but also did not have the heart to raise this with the host.
It is never easy, but with Airbnb spamming one’s inbox about falling below 4.7, you just don’t have much wiggle room for all quirks that should be totally acceptable. Also, I forgot the exact number of 5 Star reviews to make up to that one 1 Star valuation, but it is a lot.

Not all humans are. My next door neighbors have a dog that barks way too much and it’s especially annoying when it starts up at 5 am almost every morning. I can’t believe the neighbors on the other side haven’t complained. I don’t complain because, as you know, I board dogs here and while it’s amazingly quiet here I feel I shouldn’t be pissing off neighbors about dogs if I can help it.

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Apparently I do a very good job of being silent. People mention in reviews all the time how peaceful and quiet the house is. So, if you read my reviews, you would probably book my place.

Yes, same here.

Even if the place is generally quiet someone will need to get up to use the bathroom or whatever. Thats what happens when you share space with a host. I think it would be easier to be quiet when renting in a big city where the hum of traffic on a busy street is unavoidable.

Discovering the white noise machine was a godsend for me, personally. I usually travel with one.

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My mom had great luck with the humane citronella type bark collars-she had three yippie Jack Russels. All she had to do after awhile was wave the collar at them and they would promptly shut up!

Gotta watch those stairs!

It is hard to write the sound ducks make without using the obvious but more like “waaak, waaak” than quack quack. Though my defunct FB page was called Aquackulture because I filter the water through reeds and return it clean to the pond. It’s a thing okay.

And it is female ducks which make most of the noise. Is anyone surprised? :japanese_goblin: And yes I currently own 3 Indian Runner Ducks. My previous ducks were taken by foxes when I left them sleep overnight on the farmer over the back’s farm. They had given me three broods of ducklings which are a lot of fun but grow very quickly and crap everywhere. The first lot I brought up in my spare bathroom. Never again!

Here they are with my chickens. That used to be lush grass till they plucked every last blade. Now it is mud and poop and AirBnB guests are verboten from going out there.

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Hi @JamJerrupSunset,

Nice picture. So you have three ducks? And do you just keep them as pets, or for the eggs? If that’s not a dumb question.

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Both though they have only just started laying. I made the mistake of taking all their eggs not knowing, which they had laid with the chickens so they panic when they all go at once thinking a fox has found their nest and then lay somewhere else, which I now have to find. The previous duck just let them drop in the mud next to the pond and I had about a dozen I could see in the bottom of the pond where they rolled in. They are good for cooking, not that different from chicken eggs but with a tougher membrane. I have a male so hopefully some ducklings in Spring which I give away when they are fully grown at 2 months.

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