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I had a two week period between long-term stays and after a couple days, no bites. I’m still at the point where I’d really like more reviews, even if I break even, so I about halved my price. And sure enough, I get a guy and his husky who wanted to stay the entire empty period. I’m sure if you asked him, he’d say he was very chill and mellow and an easy, great guest. In fact, in his first contact with me, he described himself as "easygoing.: And in many ways, yes, he was likeable, he cleaned up after himself about as well as I’d expect for someone with a husky, and left me a great review. He also didn’t break any rules or damage anything, and most everything he did was his right to do/ask- just use of amenities I provide. However, he was the furthest thing from an “easy” guest, ever. During his stay, the following:
His first night: could he check-in, at 11pm, on an hour’s notice? What about, on his final day, ask when check-out time is 30 minutes before the deadline, and scramble to his car “only” half an hour late. Of course he had to return because he took my key and forgot some things?
Did ten loads of wash in the washer/dryer in my home (first guest who asked, took that right off my listing as soon as he did. Heh).
Constantly asked me for things: Did I have an umbrella? Poop bags for his dog? Did I provide slippers for the home? It’d be great if I had a robe he could wear while doing all his wash. I said no to each of these, and he was pretty chill about it, but I couldn’t believe some of the questions. And some things I did provide. Like dog leashes, and dog bowls, since I obviously had plenty.
First guest to use the fire place. And he used it every night. $5 per wood bundle per night.
Went through an average of five Keurig cups per day for ten days.
Went through two toothbrushes, the shaving cream, lotion, sunscreen, etc. I have a good collection of bathroom staples and OTC medicines. And he used more in his ten days than everyone else combined.
Opened every board game I have in there- even the ones for kids. Even the ones that haven’t been opened and have remained shrinkwrapped for months.
Did not have a job and was not a tourist. So around, constantly. He did offer to help once with yardwork. But still.
Asked if it was okay to have a guest over when he first arrived. I said yes, one guest was fine- just let me know the name so I can add it to the listing/insurance purposes. He proceeded to have FOUR different female guests over in a 10 day stay. When I mentioned it he sheepishly said, “I thought you said one guest at a time was ok.” And he had dutifully informed me of each of their names.
Went on walks in the bosque daily, so daily bathed his husky using both the outside hose and the inside shower, causing some predictable messes.
Asked if I had more chocolates I left in his room the first night, because they were so great.
Could I give him my Hulu and Amazon log-in since he doesn’t have one? Listing clearly says I provide Netflix log-in, but due to issues with people buying secure content, etc., you have to use your own for the other two.
In private comments in his review, suggested my internet speed wasn’t sufficient for gaming. I should upgrade.
Finally, asked if he could rent my unit on a monthly basis going forward, indefintely? Nope, sorry. Unfortunately (thankfully) I have more bookings after you. Please leave and take your “easygoing” self with you.
What did he do wrong? I don’t understand. She offers bathroom stuff, laundry, wood burning fireplace and he followed her rules about guests. He asked for some other stuff which she didn’t agree to, and he dropped it [from what we can tell.] He simply used the amenities offered, liberally.
I’ve had a number of great guests just looking to travel at lower rates, but there does seem to be a huge class of people out there who just demand more and more…
But I’ve also had the inverse problem, where people expect hotel concierge service after a certain price point.
I as much as said he didn’t do anything wrong. But he definitely used more amenities as a single guy with a dog than any other guest, by a multiple, which does add up, especially if you’re not paying much per night. And the constant questioning, the sticking around all day, the mess- ten loads of laundry his second day here? He’s just been my most demanding guest in months, that’s all. My experience with guests has been really limited, since they can check in and out independently. I often see them a max of once per stay. And I don’t often feel like they’re trying to squeeze every last penny out of a listing. I just did this time. I wrote him a fine review, and it was reciprocated. I also know it all evens out. He just wasn’t an easy guest. That’s all.
He didn’t do anything wrong, he was just one of those guests. I totally get it. I recently had a couple stay two nights. They seemingly only slept on the bed and used one of the 3 towels provided. They didn’t take tea, coffee or bottled water. Oh, they did eat candy out of the candy box. The next night a guy comes in for less than 12 hours and takes a small soap, a toothbrush, and all the tea and coffee. It’s human nature to be frustrated but it evens out. Just think how much more money you made than if you had just had a few one nighters in this slow period. If it’s not enough to make you feel better just raise your price and never lower it that much again.
I also think my review was honest. You can’t fault someone for taking every (permitted) advantage and asking for a bit more. He was entitled to stay there all he wanted and use all the amenities I provided. Complaining about that- eep, if I were a guest, I’d be pretty turned off. It just made me eager to see him go, that’s all.
The closest thing he did to break the rules was all the different guests, but that was a possible misunderstanding. The rest was all stuff he was entitled to do, it just made him difficult. But difficult and bad guest are different to me.
Enh, I guess people are on both sides on this one. Why am I complaining here, he didn’t do anything wrong. And eep, hope you skewered him in the review. I’m ok with being in the middle.
Law of averages - take his usages and look at it over the the period you have been hosting. He has just made up for all those lovely guests that used practically nothing.
Had a similar thing with a guest who emptied the fridge of every condiment, took every teabag, and all the cooking and bathroom supplies. I just shrugged and laughed at the entitled doctor!
Some people use nothing, some people take everything…but it averaged out.
I recently replaced plastic water bottles with glass ones I can sanitize and refill with bottled water I buy in bulk. One bottle walked out with a guest already. I wrote and asked if they took it and they readily admitted they had. The guest guide said “complimentary water bottles.” They took it to mean the bottle too, not just the water in it, which was what I meant. So I changed the wording to take out complimentary and to explictly ask that they not take the water bottles or coffee cups.
I also meant to say about not to listing laundry as an amenity: You can always offer it later on a case by case basis if anyone stays more than a few days.
I agree with you and someone who previously mentioned that it is just one of these guests who are basically ok, but give you this stupid feeling by using all amenities to the max. However, based on what you wrote, I also think that you offer way too many amenities for your price range and type of accommodation. Shaving cream, toothbrushes, sunlotion? Really? Why, for God’s sake? From my experience, this does not add any value for most of the guests and it is not as appreciated as we would assume. I think in some guests it even creates a subconscious feeling that you’re a kind of host who they can ask for anything and everything. Personally, I removed many of these non-essential small amenities from my apartments, and my reviews didn’t get any worse. On the contrary.
This is one of those ones where I’d leave a review like ‘guest made full use of all the amenities offered’ and a thumbs down. Technically he didn’t do anything wrong but I can definitely see why it irritated you and there’s nothing wrong with a bit of a rant on the forum!
There is something with ranting about someone in a public review if they didn’t do anything wrong. How would you feel if a guest left you a negative review if you didn’t do anything wrong?
I am just musing here. I live in an older house for the USA. Not an old house, of which there are many, just older. Unlike the really old houses, it has 9’ foot ceilings. The rooms are a bit bigger. When it was built, folks were heating with coal. Those Colonial houses had far fewer options and so their architecture was very different. But in 1903, both wood and coal were dirt cheap and readily available. And, folks that could afford a house like this, even though this was a “starter” home, had “people” to care for them and tend fires.
My house has three fireplaces. THREE!!! And I have not checked that little AirBNB amenity box next to fireplace. Why? Why under this sun would I even consider allowing guests of unknown common sense, much less fire knowledge, to use any of these fireplaces? Wood is incredibly expensive. Cleaning out the fireplace is a dirty and unpleasant job. When there is a fire, my expensive central heat is streaming up the chimney with the smoke. And the portions of the house that are not in the room with the fireplace are frigid.
To note, we have actually never used one of the fireplaces. It is in the room where we store all the instruments [violins, violas, cellos] and so we are running a humidifier during the winter to keep the ambient humidity higher than the real world. This is the only first floor room that is off-limits to our guests.
