Wow. Makes me sad to see a host do so much and feel under appreciated. Think most of us have learned that lesson at some point 
Great post. Perspective is important. Which is more important the SH status or the joy of hosting (assuming one loves to host)?
But related to the quote can you give an example of âseeing an inconsiderate guest comingâ? I would love to benefit from your experience. I donât seem to have a good read on guests from their requests and from their profiles. For one thing the profiles are sometimes misleading. For another it seems that I have read âbewareâ posts on this forum and have shied away from some guests only to learn later from neighboring hosts that they were great guests.
Any tips? Thanks, but no pressure.
@KKC yep. Nail hit on the head. Probably the thing I hate seeing most when I have difficult guests (rare occurrence mind you) is ah you should have spent more time selecting them. Makes me chuckle as there is no magic formula that you can employ at the booking stage to ensure you only get a particular type of guest. And some of the ones that initially pissed me off at booking stage turned out to be wonderful.
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Yup⌠no way to tell. Sometimes they can give you some signals they will be high maintenance but thatâs not always accurate.
I have had âgoodâ prospects turn out to be crap guests and âsuspectâ ones turn out great.
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Superhost here for a 2nd quarter (only hosting since December) and what you describe is our approach, which we plan to grow, via intersectional educational experiences, one of these days, interfacing with our nonprofit one the social justice community.
Indeed, Iâm having that experience right now. I was dreading the latest guests - one-line communications all the way, no indication that they had read anything, photo showed an elderly person and I was worried they wouldnât manage in my rather ramshackle place. Turns out she is the loveliest guest ever. We just had an hilarious conversation, she loves the place and is happy to be here. Iâm so relieved as theyâre here for a week. So yeah, you never can tell.
Just this week, the gangstaâ arrived. Seriously. His profile picture was like the quintessential Long Island thug. He and a friend were coming to explore Boston. Well, they did explore. The explored the beer of Boston. But, the two of them were sweethearts. Yes, they hung around the house more than I like [usually] but they stayed in their room talking, drinking beer and watching TV. They boxed up all of their beer cans and bottles for recycling. The beds were made. They put all the towels that they used on the drying rack. One of the fastest turnovers ever! And they left a lovely note.
Pictures do not tell a story worth hearing.
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Thatâs a great story @anon67190644! Iâve been doing this a long time and Iâve learned to never assume anything. We all like to think that weâre non-judgemental and open-hearted but airbnb will truly test you! At the risk of going all fuzzy kumbaya, I will say that you get what you give. Ok, seems like an empty platitude but it does seem to work out that way. Be mean and suspicious - you get mean and devious.
And no, there is no cheque in the post from airbnb!
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I found that to be true in public schools as well. I never did learn to judge by looking at them.
I think the general principle applies to any schools or workplaces! Political offices, on the other hand⌠wtf is there some kind of test to ensure that your morals have been cut off and placed in a secure locked box?
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There was a hippie guy here who looked like a typical Kona bum. Older guy, long hair, rumpled clothes, birkenstocks. He married a Thai girl and they lived south of here in sort of the rural hippies area. When he died, the world learned he owned half of Brentwood California and the Thai girl got everything. Never can tell.
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I started hosting a year ago and soon became superhost, athough I didnt even know that existed. Now a year later I suddenly mostly get 4 stars and even one 3 star. I have no clue why I suddenly get this 4 stars. So, yes I think people get more critical. Or guests think 4 stars is perfectly ok.
I am a fairly new Airbnb host who started in Feb 2017 and I was awarded SH status as soon as I could be and have kept it, so far. My concern is the expectations of people seeing this, and also of the good reviews. I asked my recent guests, on their departure, whether the expectations for their stay exceeded the reality - and they said not at all - but it is exhausting maintaining these standards - the extras - the offers of lifts - involving myself in their stay to some extent. I have to have an op soon, and I am concerned that whoever I get in to clean/greet/provide the extras wonât be able to do it like I do because their motivation wonât be the same. This is rather worrying.
Maybe you should snooze your listing.
This is not one of the superhost standards. You donât have to do it, there are lots of reasons not to and very few reasons to do it. If you want to give rides sign up for Lyft or Uber and get paid and insurance coverage.
Iâve been SH for over 3 years, 98% 5 stars and no guests expected a lift. The main thing is keeping the place clean and providing whatever the listing says you provide. If you provide wine and flowers, stop. Take pictures of extras out of the listing. Over promise and under deliver. As for the operation, the snoozing the listing is a good idea. If you already have reservations you may want to contact those people and let them know it might affect your availabilty and offer to let them rebook with someone else. Itâs about managing expectations.
And if you lose the status, no big deal.
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I can absolutely understand about not offering lifts but wonder why you say donât provide wine, flowers etc. People seem to really like them, I enjoy giving them - why should I stop? I know it reduces my profit margin, but it helps me get good reviews.
At this early point in your hosting, you are likely not aware of all your total costs and what your profit margin is. When I compared my pre and post AIRbnb utility bills, it was a stunner. I thought I was making around $100/night in profit but after factoring in income tax and utilities and cost of supplies (TP, soap, cleaning supplies, etc) and the additional cost that I had add to my annual home insurance, I was making around $55/night. Total reality check.
I still supply some drinks in the fridge but no flowers and no alcohol. (Drinks are less than 30 cents a piece but a cheap $8 bottle of wine with alcohol tax would bring my $55 nightly profit down to $46. Screw that.) The AirBNB host guarantee insurance is also voided if you provide alcohol (and my home insurance policy prob states the same). If I had flowers from my garden that were free, I would put those in the apt for special occasions but I canât keep anything alive (besides my children).
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There are other threads where people say it doesnât help. But your results could be different. I know nothing about your property.
I was primarily saying donât offer them while you are recovering from surgery. If you want to offer them and that is your thing then do it. But you canât have your cake and eat it too. Either manage guest expectations while you are not at 100% or risk some worse than usual reviews.
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I havenât heard this before and I canât find it on Airbnb. Do you have a source I can read through?
Thanks chicagohost
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This is absolutely true. I dodged a bullet when I made my claim on broken furniture. I stupidly left vodka in the freezer and the guests partied down and broke things afterwards. However no one asked me about it nor did I admit it!
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