So, I’ve been surprised to see a lot of mean comments, here, and felt compelled to say, there are lessons we learn while hosting on Airbnb, and they’re not all easy. I’d like to think we’d be supportive of new hosts who run into surprises, even if they’re not the most gracious in relating their experiences. Certain guest behavior can be startling, discouraging, even shocking, at first. Hosts come to this experience expecting that travelers will respect the fact that we’re graciously accepting strangers into our private homes, and will at least try to be respectful. My advice to Chen-Susanne is, people function best when the expectations are very clear; when there’s room to negotiate needs, if needed; and when you communicate the boundaries consistently and often. I’ve been hosting five years, and I learned, right away, that I needed detailed rules. I needed to communicate them in my listing, in a followup message after they booked, in person at the check-in, and sometimes, in posted notes and as polite reminders during their stay. Once I did that, 99% of my guests have been absolutely lovely (and many have said how much they appreciate that the rules are detailed and clear). We have to bear in mind that this is still a new and different lodging scenario, and many new guests will naturally draw upon their experiences with hotels as their framework; or, those that don’t may feel really lost in terms of what to expect. Rules/guidelines help them feel more confident about how to show up in your space. They will learn how the Airbnb culture and etiquette differs from hotels only through repeat experiences. The same goes for hosts. Yes, some people are more selfish than others, and they will be annoying & frustrating to people in every circumstance of their lives. But if you calmly and consistently set boundaries, people who respect others respond well, and those who don’t may decide it’s just not worth the effort of having to talk to you about it, so they stop. LOL. People who don’t respect others will be difficult to deal with, regardless, and you’ll usually notice it early in the communication, in time to decline their booking. People who don’t respect others will also tend to avoid your place if you publish detailed rules; people who respect others won’t be put off by your detailed rules. Now, this may be the most valuable bit of advice I have to offer: if something really bothers you, and keeps happening, attach a surcharge to it. Money talks, even tiny amounts of money. For example, I used to have guests leaving dishes in the sink quite often, and when they did, the dishes would multiply because other guests would think they’d remembered the rule wrong, or maybe it wasn’t one they needed to observe, since clearly, other people weren’t. The instant I attached an extra cleaning fee for leaving dishes in the sink (to pay a housekeeper to wash dishes), it stopped. I can count on one hand the number of times a guest has left a dish in the sink since that day. The same strategy has worked for other problems: late check-in/no-show fee ($50); late check-out fee ($25 per quarter hour); overnight guest without asking (double the extra person fee), etc. I’m willing to tolerate certain things I’m paid to tolerate, or can pay someone else to handle for me, and guests are either willing to pay to not have to worry about those things, or not, and in the latter case, they usually find it financially worthwhile to stop doing those things. Hope these tidbits help.
