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Received this gem this morning…not only a cat for a profile pic, no reviews and didn’t read the listing. Yup. . Enjoy.
UPDATE: Removing this picture because I ended up booking them! They’re college professors from Canada! Why didn’t they just say so???
I don’t accept bookings for more than five nights in a row. Why? Because once they stay longer, guests tend to feel “too much at home” and start taking over the apartment, leave open the balcony doors etc. This is basic psychology.
I don’t think it makes sense to turn away 50+ guests just because they are less self-sufficient than average. Instead, you could outsource their questions to a virtual assistant. PadPolish.com, for example, is completely free for both host and guest to use, and has presence all over US & UK.
I believe all Bob was saying is what he prefers. To each his own and it IS his place. I am older also (67), and I PREFER middle-age guests, that is my preference.
After 35-odd Guests, we’ve seen it all (er… I hope there isn’t ‘more’ to come…!).
I don’t think you can stereotype by age, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation: - we’ve seen good and bad Guests from each.
Once, a young couple migrating to Oz from the UK booked us for 4 weeks while they sought somewhere to rent long-term.
They had clearly never encountered Venetian blinds (the kind you find everywhere in offices, homes etc.) and did not understand how to open or adjust them.
They didn’t ask for help - they just took to the blinds with a pair of scissors…
Dean
I would love to outright discriminate against people with IQs of less than 40, and in this way, one would think, this elimination would prevent people staying at your place that would cut Venetian Blinds because they couldn’t figure out how to work them. How do you diplomatically say: “If you are an idiot, please don’t bother inquiring?” 
OH NO! Did you take a deposit from them?!
Ackkk!!! That’s just plain stupid. Whatever the AirBnB rules are, I’d have tossed their stuff and changed the door code. If the landlord is available at least once a day anyway - and we’re available constantly. That sort of horror story usually only occurs if the landlord is off-site and not easily reachable. But even so… good god.
I hope you took that to resolution and made a claim on it!!! Please tell us you did!!! What idiots.
I haven’t had anyone take scissors to anything yet, but I’ve had a few guests who don’t seem to know how to use a shower curtain (that the liner goes inside the tub). A friend who use to do apartment maintenance suggested I install a splash guard, but I haven’t gotten to it.
We didn’t raise the chopped-up blinds as an issue - we were new to the game.
Other bizarre things include turning the heating up to full then regulating the temperature by opening (or closing) a large sliding glass door…
Or the Asian couple who arrived from the airport with their own wok - they spent an entire weekend cooking - outside, the smell was great but inside: I wish they’d used the extractor fan - I had to ventilate the place for 3 days!
Dean
Because my rooms are on the lower end( about $50 a night) and two guest rooms have a share bathroom in my own house where i live, for the most part i avoid couples, or two people traveling together. almost every case of it not working well was when there was two people in a room. i also dont take people who are new to airbnb and have never stayed in a hostel or in a roommate situation and just want to save $100 a night on a local hotel room. In my town there are lots of self improvement workshops and I like these guests very much. they have invested to learn something new, are out all day and making like minded friends… its usually a very up time in their lives.
i also careflly access the intiail email and their responses to see if they read my listing and how well they communicate… if i get any red flags i say no. if they have been on airbnb 2 or 3 years and tell me they have stayed with others but have zero reviews, i take that as a red flag and say no. if people send an inquiry, i get back to them and have no response for a few days, i dont take that as a good sign either.
deanm: I took the ‘blind affair’ as you sharing something odd. Hey, today someone called me from my island and asked me where is the switch the A/C with the temperatures hovering in the very low 70’s; after 100 guests I have never heard ONE even mention A/C. LoL
Well, although snacks have been mentioned a couple of times, no one mentioned that I leave wine, red and white, beer, soda, fresh fruit, yogurt, biscotti, hot chocolate, two kinds of coffee as well as two kinds of maker, a variety of teas and dark chocolate.
Since most people seem to be first time Airbnb users, I think they think this is the norm.
go figure.
"Well, although snacks have been mentioned a couple of times, no one mentioned that I leave wine, red and white, beer, soda, fresh fruit, yogurt, biscotti, hot chocolate, two kinds of coffee as well as two kinds of maker, a variety of teas and dark chocolate.
Since most people seem to be first time Airbnb users, I think they think this is the norm.
go figure."
This is why it’s not worth doing!!!
Actually, almost no one drinks the wine or eats the fruit so although I have spent 20-30 bucks, I can eat the fruit and save the wine for the next person. All it costs me is a couple of sodas and beers now and then but the options are there. I am just surprised that no one mentions them.
Boil vinegar or put out bowls of ammonia to get rid of smells. That’s why I dont allow serious cooking by short stay guests.
Now that I’m a little more experienced, I almost rather guests didn’t mention in the review that I offer snacks, coffee, and wine, because then I feel like the next guests will expect it and I only put the big treats out for longer stays. I do have guests thank me for the treats in person that know it is special, whereas yup others are oblivious and take it for granted.
BTW my one-night guests this week took ALL the coffee from the coffee bar and half the tea with them on the road. I thought this was really tacky but feel petty putting it in a review.
Xenia, you should!! Don’t feel petty! They stole supplies from you! That’s despicable… I had guests who helped themselves to all my shampoo and bug spray. It speaks to the character of the person who would steal your supplies. I am kicking myself that I didn’t write it in a public review and just left it in the feedback.
My point exactly. Guests are unappreciative. Why waste your time and money when gifts go unappreciated? I’m a six year host and stopped leaving goodies ages ago. They don’t appreciate it and even criticize them! So just never mind!