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I rent out two rooms in my home and last week I received a booking from a family (mum, dad and their 25 year old son) who had to evacuate their house due to a storm a month ago which took the roof off their home. They have been staying in hotels since then. His message said they were waiting for the next insurance payment to pay for housing and told me they would book in a couple of days time. I felt bad for them, they were super nice and ended up holding the place for them.
Today they arrived, in a huge taxi filled with SO MUCH STUFF! I immediately noticed that their son has special needs with some sort of disability and a speech impediment. I have absolutely no problem with this but I strongly feel that they should have told me. As we were trying to bring all of their belongings into the house he almost took my pictures off the wall with his back pack and I can constantly hear things in his room falling hard onto the floor. He is very friendly although I cannot understand most of what he says. He has came into both my mother and I’s bedroom after being told that is not allowed. His hygiene isn’t great either and I wish I had a better mattress protector / not used my expensive sheets.
His parent’s bedroom is right next to the kitchen and not too far from my bedroom. They went to sleep at 9.30pm and I snuck into the kitchen very quietly to get a glass of water and noticed they were sleeping with their bedroom door wide open - his mother rudely coughed as though I had woken her. I also brushed my teeth in my ensuite which backs onto their room, only had the water trickling and I could hear her grunt.
They have only been here one night out of 39! They’re really quite friendly, I feel bad for them but I really don’t want them here! They’re very negative people who wanted to chat for hours but constantly complaining about the smallest things from years ago! Their son is also so loud, constantly yelling, barging into things. I understand that it’s not their fault he is disabled but I had absolutely no notice of this.
Try imagining yourself with a special needs son losing your home from one day to another, and take into account that none of these 3 people are really themselves at the moment. They must be coping with loads of stress. Stay friendly with them, but make sure your boundaries are respected. Talk to them when needed.
Once they settle down things will probably get a bit better. Too much negativity from your part won’t help things along.
I completely understand that it’s a hard time for them, and I would still have accepted them if they had have told me, but I would have at least like the opportunity to make the room more suited for him and gotten the breakables out of there. I also don’t like not being able to make any noise at all! She said she normally sleeps at 9pm. I am not sure if it’s acceptable for me to still make slight noise and walk around the house at these times?
She said her son will be up at around 5am and he can scream and be quite noisy, so I don’t appreciate such rudeness when I so quietly got a water.
Trying to stay positive I am just getting really bad vibes!
Their 25-yr old son screams?!..and they only mentioned it after they got there? That’s inexcusable in my book and would leave me questioning their judgment.
You should not have to tip-toe through your home. Being conscious of excessive noise is one thing but everyday activities and nighttime visits to the kitchen for a drink are to be expected. Let them know that is what you do and they should consider keeping their door closed after they retire.
I hope they have told you everything you should know about their son’s habits so there are no unpleasant surprises. Undoubtedly, there will be a period of adjustment for all of you.
Regardless of the disability, you have a right to peace in your home and your stuff not being damaged.
It sounds like the mother goes to bed at 9pm because she is woken so early. If that’s her schedule fine, but this family needs to be aware that you will continue on your usual schedule and it’s up to guests when searching for an Airbnb to find one that mutually fits. Make it clear that you go to bed at (whatever time) and do not expect to be woken up exceptionally early. 5am is ridiculous! 7am should be the absolute earliest by most people’s standards. Tell them if they’re unable to respect your usual daily schedule you will need to cancel their reservation.
Call Airbnb now and get this documented, and anything you say to the guests, make sure it goes through the Airbnb message system too
All sympathy aside, this is YOUR house; They adapt to You, not You to Them. Make sure they understand this is words of one syllable. "It’s fine if you go to bed at 9 or 9:30, but we can’t tip-toe around our own home. Close your bedroom door. We sleep from X to Y and do not appreciate your son waking at 5 AM and being loud.
Thanks for your advice everybody. This is day 2 and I am going completely crazy in my own home. He is constantly yelling things at me, asking me questions ect, although I can not understand him. The mother will not leave me alone. When I am in the bathroom he is yelling at his mother to get me. I only have one broken scotch glass which I found on eBay for $18 and will add to their deposit when they leave.
I have yet to contact Airbnb because they have not left the house, and will not be doing so. I haven’t found the time whilst out so I will hopefully contact them tomorrow.
I am going crazy here! My mother is coming home tomorrow and I know she will not cope as well as I am. Even my neighbour said she is over it the noise!
Will keep you all posted. Again I am completely sympathetic to this family’s situation but I don’t think this is my responsibility to take on.
This is a horrible situation but you MUST contact Airbnb at ONCE. The longer you leave it, the more it can be assumed that you are tolerating the situation. I understand that you are sympathetic towards their circumstances but I’m also sure that you wouldn’t want to inflict these people onto other hosts. Airbnb must be informed at once.
Absolutely contact AirBnB. These people are NOT suitable for a home-sharing environment. Tell (don’t ask!) the AirBnB person to find them an “entire home”.
I think you need to reorganize your priorities. Why can’t you contact Airbnb while you are at home? You can email airbnb as well as calling them. Tell them it’s not going to work out for them to stay in your shared home and that they need to find another place. Don’t wait for your mother to come home and make her miserable as well. If you are really sympathetic to them you will realize the more time you give them to do this, the better. Also document what you tell them in the Airbnb message thread.
Holy Moly!! Hell no. There is no motherfracking way I’m tip toeing around my own house for guests. You need to sit those folks down immediately and set them straight. They snuck that special needs son on you and are now carrying on in your home. That nonsense needs to stop immediately. When they sleep they shut the door to their room or you will shut it for them. You do not engage them in endless chat. Matter of fact, you really just need to kick them out.
A suggestion: Put your emotions and niceness at the bottom of your priorities and think rationally to get them out of there with AirBnb’s help. It sounds like you’re outnumbered in your own home by people who already feel entitled - grunting and complaining in a passive-aggressive way. If you give in more, they will just take more. I highly doubt their house will be ready in 39 days and they could be construed as tenants. Their emergency should not be yours. In the meantime, carry on as you would normally. It’s YOUR home. Best wishes to you!!
I don’t understand why they did not rent an entire home instead of a shared home if they need super quite fairly early (I would say anything before 10 is early) and have a family member who is up super early (I think before 8am is early for noisemaking, not normal work readying, but like construction or screaming ;))
They should have addressed these needs in the pre-booking discussion
What immediately came to my mind is, if you don’t want them there, why are you tiptoeing at 9PM, do your normal thing and maybe they will see it is not a fit?
Also, I would speak to her and explain that prior to 10PM there will be some noises of life happening and that she needs to close her door.
Also, I think you are reasonable to point out that you have heard some things fall in the son’s room and you understand she may have felt uncomfortable moving your things around so you would like her to let you go in there and remove some items so it’s no problem
Just try to keep any emotion out of the discussions, being matter of fact about it
I had a potential Chinese guest who wanted me to waive the credit card payment as she had none. This is typical of the Chinese. She was so sweet and tried so hard to convince me but no way. Who is she? I have no way of knowing if she will pay me and no back up if it is a fraud.
I want the payment and the deposit via Airbnb. I only collected the deposit once in 6 years, which was from a woman went out of bounds and Airbnb backed me by paying the deposit.
Sorry for the hard luck story but robbers are smarter than we and they have the biggest sob stories but we cannot afford to be naive. If Airbnb cannot back us up on the rental its no go.
Further, people try to pay cash to hosts. I say no. Airbnb works hard to find rentals for us. How much do they pay in advertising alone? It is their do to receive their commission.
Your home. Your rules. Contact AirBnB and get them out. A hotel sounds a far better option. Why they would even consider your place in the first instance is a concern. Does not sound right in any way. I also think you have to initiate action. You have plenty of time to post here yet no time to contact AirBnB???
