Two years in, first 1 star

Yes, that resonated with me too. It’s such a restrictive requirement that it should be mentioned in the description, before the guest books. I would not book a place where I had to report my every movement to the host. That’s just bonkers and I’m astonished that EVERY guest doesn’t complain about it.

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I personally would not like to message the host everything time I’m leaving or arriving. It would make me feel like a kid again at home, not freely able to come and go. Perhaps a dog run would be a good investment.

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Regarding the use of noise machines, I provide a fan to my guests. It’s in a closet, but they can use it as needed to create white noise. (I’ve actually taken this same fan on road trips when I knew I’d be staying in a motel and might hear sounds coming from the hall or parking lot!) I recently had some guests with a sick child who woke up frequently in the night. My home is a duplex where I live upstairs and the Airbnb is in the apartment downstairs. The sound of the screaming child didn’t bother me much, but the tuneless lullabies were awful! That’s when I discovered that if I switch the fan on my central A/C from “auto” to “on,” it drowns out noises coming from downstairs! So now I can instruct my guests that if they prefer a bit of white noise, they can switch the fan to “on.” In fact, I would probably be wise to turn it on whenever guests are about to arrive. That way, I can get away with being a little less cautious about the level of noise I’m making upstairs.

I got a nice white noise machine a few months ago, but I have never seen a sign that anyone has used it. However since I bought the white noise machine, I have not had anyone give me less than five stars due to noise. One reviewer did mention recently she could hear me upstairs, but still gave me a 5-star review. I have always provided ear plugs, I don’t think they’re used much either.

I don’t know about towels, I think people forget they’re not in a hotel with a daily turnover. French guy stayed at mine for three days and used three towels. Completely unnecessary.

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And some hosts forget that it’s not their body being dried with the towel, it’s the guest’s.This has been discussed extensively elsewhere but I’ll recap my thinking here too. I also think it’s unnecessaryto have a fresh towel each day and I use my own towel for a long time between washes. But other people have other standards. Most advice on the internet, supposedly derived from experts, says a bath towel can be used 3 or 4 times before washing. If someone is showering twice a day they would need a new towel on the second day under this standard. Some here believe that a bath towel is used to dry clean water from a clean body. (BTW, if it’s clean water from a clean body then why should I bother to wash it? I should be able to leave that towel for the next guest, right? Yet if I advocated that people would justifiably be horrified.) That might be true to a degree with your own body but I don’t know how clean my guest is. I’ve seen plenty of towels with visible stain /dirt/??. Mildew and bacteria on the towel can’t be seen. It’s not hard for me to imagine scenarios in which a towel is not clean after being used a single time. Many hosts have the idea that because they are fine with using a towel with only their own germs on it, guests should be too.

The bottom line for me is that the guest largely decides what is necessary and the guest leaves the rating and review. François could leave a review that says “Tolstoy rations towels to one per day which is completely unnecessary” in his review and that would be perfectly rational (haha, I made a joke.)

Some hosts here follow the philosophy of “my house, my rules” even for something as personal as a towel. Others like myself see this as a hospitality business in which the guest’s needs (within reason) should be met. It’s in that “within reason” that the rub comes. I’d advise hosts for whom this is a dealbreaker to disclose the towel limits in their listing or to say something like “this is not a hotel/we are on rainwater catchement/we are environmentally sensitive/we are in a drought, etc. In my home you get one towel a week. If you need more please choose a different accomodation.”

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Ha! That’s a wonderfully complex analysis of towel science. To be clear my guests have access to nine full-size towels and seven face clothes (what’s the ‘rules’ regarding them?!). As you say ‘François’ can use them as he pleases but still… I just find it a little fussy. I’ve been doing Airbnb now for two years and have become fully conversant with the weirdness that is humanity.

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Hand towels should be changed more often and “face” cloths which are often used to clean the nether regions should as well.

I rent the entire house out, so if guests want clean towels daily, they can wash them in the laundry room. I also have extra towels on the shelving in the laundry room that they can use as well. If that was not the case, I would leave a clean towel for each day of their stay. Sometimes towels don’t dry quickly and they can still be humid when they take their next shower. Why risk getting a bad review for not leaving enough clean towels? I don’t think it’s much to ask. They’re just towels.

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23 reviews is not a lot of reviews so a one star review will carry more weight than if you had 40 or more reviews.

I always give 2 towels per guest as 1 may need to dry at any time. Also it’s a cheap solution as you can get very nice bath towels at Costco for $6.

@cabinhost, in regards the Dohm white noise machine we both love for guests and ourselves, but folks are so hesitant to use. I have Photo on my listing, it’s in my description, and I make remarks about it on the tour during check-in. As we mentioned none of this works to get them to use it! Guess what I have been doing that’s worked for last 4 maybe 5 guests. Nothing! I just have the thing going on full blast when they check-in and they leave it there! I haven’t even mentioned it.

I think they think it’s some sort of air purifier or something, so they leave it going. Lot’s of 4/20 guests here, so I hope they don’t think they can smoke inside or in the room and it will go unnoticed b/c of the “purifier”. No problems yet with that though. (Famous last words).

I had a (great guest/7 nights) from a couple of weeks ago text my mobile and said, “Thanks a lot Yecatsr! I had to buy a damn Dohm machine because I haven’t had a decent nights sleep since I’ve been back!”

LOVE it. :sleeping::relieved::heart_eyes:

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OMG! You looked at my listing! So embarrassing. I need to block a day and spend the ENTIRE day fixing that up. I sound like a fool. TMI, too much repetition. blah blah blah. Dark photos. Not a fan of my listing…Oh well. I’ll get to it. I put the “HO” in super. Gosh, they will promote anyone. JK JK.

You just can’t have too many. Oh the peace and quiet and whhhhhhhiiiiish sound.:sleeping:

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so LMAO right now. And still! I remember those. Makes me feel young again and so minty fresh! Gotta go brush now in fact…

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hahah. Will air screw up the original resolution and make it blurry?

I screen shotted it of of the Amazon listing. I can send that to you so it’s decent resolution. How? You’re probably just kidding, but It’s command–shift-caps lock-4 ,then crosshairs appear to square in the screenshot. But thats on Mac. I’m a big duh on a PC

Sorry forum members. I just got “auto scolded” by forum again for not replying correctly. learning learning. :slight_smile:

I bought a white noise machine for every bedroom after someone complained that they heard some music one night from the nearby town. No signs that they get used, but they are there just in case.

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Yes with twin men in mankinis!

Yeah right. With the ribbon. Who has time for that? I am providing extra towels rolled up though. If they are unused I just fluff in dryer and use for next guests…LOL. Too many 1-3 nighters!