In your experience, what are the signs that a guest is going to be trouble…
Name them here.
For me it’s their age group. Guests in their early 20s. Also the number of guests in their booking request.
They might not have a party but will most likely be drunk or stoned for most of their stay which means that things will be accidentally broken.
In the past that type of booking has been costly for us: broken kitchen faucet, broken ice maker, broken kayak seats, broken patio umbrellas, misuse of washer and dryer, burnt pots and pans, broken wine glasses, etc.
If I see that it’s a group of friends (6) in their 20s, I will block the calendar. I rather let the house sit empty than to deal with this type of guests and the damages they may cause.
I know that they want to have fun but I prefer for them have their fun elsewhere.
I can’t identify any sure signs of a terrible guest. When a guest doesn’t communicate well or reliably, I often worry that he/she will be terrible, but that’s never happened.
I may wonder about a particular guest for some reason (poor communication, no reviews, no profile, etc.), but none of those things has ever been a harbinger of doom.
None of the things some other hosts have listed have turned out to indicate terrible guests for us. We’ve had no trouble with local guests, young guests, old guests, other hosts as guests, guests who ask a lot of questions, or anything else.
The difference may be that we home-share, so we’re just about always around. Perhaps potentially terrible guests don’t misbehave when the hosts are there to see what goes on. Or maybe we just haven’t encountered anyone who would have been terrible.
I haven’t had any terrible guests. I’ve had about 2% that presented a problem of some sort but it never rose to the level of terrible.
With the ratio of bad experiences being so small I wouldn’t give so much energy to it.
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I’ve never had terrible guests either - and that’s saying something after all these years.
A handful who have been somewhat weird, but never terrible and never any damage worth mentioning.
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Unfortunately, the sign was the guests turning up with an oversized box of “Thai food from my village” that needed to be kept frozen “until the family reunion” I don’t know they got it here from Thailand). Being a Nubie at the time & knowing they’d be in my home for a week, I made room and also offered a cooler & ice. There were no “thank you”s - nor would there be for the whole visit.
Except for said reunion they rarely left the house, and expanded throughout the shared space. The husband was enjoying his American fast food while everything the wife reheated from “her village” contained fish or fish oil.
They required an extra heater plus the thermostat cranked up (stayed in shorts & short sleeves in December) Their “snacks” all seemed to contain fish or fish oil.
On the 3rd evening, wailing erupted from their room. Concerned, ( for them and for my LTR’s downstairs) I knocked on the door and was told that an auntie in the wife’s village had died. She was on the phone all night, emotional exchanges audible upstairs & down. Quiet time or not, I wasn’t able to ask that she grieve more quietly.
So, I gritted my teeth and burned incense, opened windows, picked up sweaters, books, shoes and food containers—and enjoyed the empty house for days after they left.
As if by mutual agreement, no review from them - or from me.
My Thai guests 2 months later - and more than a 100 others afterwards - have been stellar!
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My only group of terrible guests were young 20s a group of 6, I felt pressured into hosting them because of the new host promotion. I almost declined then, but since I have kids in their 20s I thought why not. The neighbor complained constantly, I needed to call a plumber when they left, two pans were ruined and they washed a snowboard in the bathtub causing slight damage. This is my one regret, every one else has been great.
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This is our 4th year of hosting, and we’ve only ever had one group I would call “terrible,” though there were no particular red flags ahead of their arrival. We also have not noticed any pattern as far as age groups or other demographics. (That being said, we rent a guest house and are very clear in the listing that we live on the property, so I think that’s a big deterrent for potential parties.)
We’ve learned to look out for extremes in communication - either not hearing from guests at all, or guests being overly dependent and messaging us with too many questions that are all answered in the listing and our guide.
At the end of the day, the best thing for improving our guest quality has been raising our prices, extending our minimum night stay, and getting more established so our calendar gets booked out farther in advance. I guess in my experience, getting too hung up on potential red flags has just made me anxious about certain guests who turned out to be perfectly fine in the end.
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Can I give this 100 
s?
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I have large houses. We live at one, in apt, and the other is around the corner. We have been renting for over 12 years now. What I have learned…is that I will never ever accept bachelor parties, mother of the brides are entitled and will ignore all rules, girls groups can be messy and disgusting ( but abide by rules )… and for the rest there is really no way to know! Some of the nicest appearing people can leave the property a mess ( ie: chocolate stains / or vomit / or hidden pee ), …and some of the people you worry about leave everything immaculate. It is a crapshoot. My goal is twofold: …to both prevent any and all major home damage ( we are handy and can repair little stuff ) …and also to never allow any guests to bother my neighbors in any way shape or form. Forefront is to be a considerate and good neighbor.
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When I get the 4th or 5th message full of questions, or when I get requests for something special (all food must be gluten free/vegan/whatever) that requires extra work or extra cost, I begin to get bothered. When messages indicate an entitlement attitude (mentioning being a superhost, wanting a discount, thinking they are special for some reason) I AM bothered.
I’m really wary of someone who wants me to do all their research about local excursions, but instead of booking with me so I can get a commission, goes directly to tour vendor and asks for a discount (my tour vendors won’t) but books with them directly anyway.
I have all fives for cleanliness in my properties.
Had a potential guest repeatedly ask me about how clean it was. I mean twice a day. I asked her what her concerns were. Never answered.
So pleased when someone else took her dates!
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IMHO, the true difference maker is whether you have an on site presence or remote. We’ve had many large groups of young adults with no problems at all. A university men’s national champion frisbee team (they cooked all their own meals, no fast food!), a professional flag football team (giants!), wedding groups, girl’s groups, concert attendees. In addition, special requesters, question askers, bargain hunters, pet owners, all kinds. No real problems. The key, for me, has been clear communication. If they don’t want to answer some basic questions about themselves or their visit they should go to a hotel. My only two real problem people were situations that I learned from and can now accept bookings from because I can better vet (locals, and multiple pets). I’m still pretty new, though. Maybe the bloom is still on the rose.
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This is the beginning of my 8th year and the bloom is still on the rose for me as well. Many people think I’m some sort of fool for Airbnb but I simply have realistic expectations and have had some luck.
On the OP’s topic, I had a first yesterday. I’m pretty sure I hosted my first “booty call.”
Mid morning I decided I could host a guest last night. I opened my calendar for last night only and soon had it booked.
The location and phone number indicated it was local. The picture looked like a high schooler. They just joined in June and have no reviews. The profile had zero information about themselves. They asked for early check in at 2 which I denied. I told them I understood if they needed to cancel. Many of you are thinking “I would cancel this IB using the ‘not comfortable’ excuse.”
They arrived at 2:56 and were at their door at 3. However they entered the wrong code. That was my bad for not updating the information on check in in the listing. I had sent a detailed message with check in instructions and their code which is the phone number last 4 digits now. They called and when I offered to pop out and help they hurriedly said, “oh I just don’t know if I have the right code. It’s xxxx, right?” I took my cue not to pop out the door and explained that I have a new lock and sorry I hadn’t updated the check in info in the listing.
I checked the Ring footage and the woman arriving cannot be indentified as the one pictured in the profile. As previously stated, 10 years and at least 10 pounds a year stand between the profile picture and the arriving guest. They arrived with some drink cups and no luggage. Three hours later they left. I went in quickly to turn off the window AC. I spotted a cup sitting in a pool of condensation and I moved that and wiped the table. I hung the damp towels and backed out of the room. Although I thought they would not return they certainly have every right to do so. I usually do not go into the room until check out time has passed but I just couldn’t bear the AC blasting through the night into the empty room. I can turn it off externally but if they returned I wanted them to be able to turn it back on.
Since I haven’t inspected or cleaned I don’t know if I’ll find something that puts them in the category of “terrible guest” but I doubt it. Edit: I’ve now gone in the room and it’s in above average condition for a one night booking. I would be willing to host this guest again.
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Guests with long stays with id from the same city or town.
Guests that move in with 10+ cardboard moving boxes, and house items
Guests who begin complaining about things that most guests would mention immediately upon check-in if it was a true problem.
Newbie to AirBnB can be troublesome sometimes as they think I’m a hotel. ‘I now send a list of house rules which a guest must confirm they have read and understand’ before I confirm booking.
Sending a long list of expectations. ‘I won’t do high maintenance as I cannot please them’
Will it be quiet at night? ‘I cannot guarantee this’
I have horrible allergies. ‘I have no idea what you may encounter to upset your allergy’
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