Retiring sheets and towels

Got stained or worn out sheets and towels that need to be retired?  Don't throw them away!  Instead, wash and donate to your local animal shelter.  That goes for blankets, comforters and rugs too.  Most animal shelters desperately need these things and will be glad to take them off your hands.

Of course, if you're not so keen on pets, have a bit of time on your hands and are crafty you can crochet some rugs.

What NOT to do as an Airbnb guest

1. Show up 4 hours before check-in time

My check-in time is 2 p.m. Check-out time is 11 a.m. The guests who just left had agreed by email to check-in at 2 but arrived at 10:30 am (all 5 of them) expecting to check-in.  They let themselves in just as the last guest was walking out the door. Not good.

2. Call with false complaints

10 hours later I got a panicked call and email from these same guests saying the heater wasn't working and the apartment was cold.  The weather outside was extremely cold so I was immediately concerned. I asked them to go to the thermostat and tell me what the temperature read.  70F (20C). This is a case where my programmable thermostat saved me.

3.  Call at 11 pm the night before check-out and ask if they could stay until 6 pm the next day

Well, at least they asked.  The answer was 'no.'

Kids are people too*? Maybe, says Airbnb

A while ago I had these 2 guests stay.  Well, at least that's what they booked the apartment for.  Then they showed up with their 2 young kids.  Now, I'm not opposed to letting young children stay for free if extra beds aren't needed.  But I do like to know who's staying.

So I asked Airbnb about it. Here's the transcript of our chat:

me: I had a recent guest reserve the apartment for 2 people. He and his wife arrived with 2 children, one an infant and the other a toddler of about 4. Are children not people? Usually, I have no problem letting people with children stay without extra charges but they always ask me about it first. This couple just showed up with the kids. What is airbnb's policy about this?


Lindsay W: Is your place listed as family friendly?

me: Yes (Turns out I was incorrect. It was NOT listed as family friendly)

Lindsay W: Airbnb doesn't have an official policy about this. It's up to the host. But since you've listed as Family Friendly, I'd just suggest that you write something in your listing's description that guests need to book for everyone, babies included

me: Does airbnb have a suggestion box? I'd like to suggest they have a separate drop down for people to list the number of children and change the People dropdown to Adults
Also, its not up to the host when the host doesn't know about it.

Lindsay W: We do! airbnb.com/feedback
Dialogue with our users is a core part of what makes Airbnb great. We value your feedback and it is important our our community
And yes, good point



My take-away from that conversation? It's the host's responsibility to tell guests they need to count their children. Which means, by default, that kids are NOT people too.

And I'm sticking by my suggestion which I did submit to them: that the booking form have fields for guests to report number of adults and number of children and their ages, just like what you're expected to do for hotels.

*You have to be an American of a certain age to have seen Kids Are People Too.

Airbnb Open - A Global Host event

Airbnb is holding a live-stream event on November 12 at 10 a.m. pst and plans to announce a new product aimed at hosts.  Wonder if it has anything to do with this.

If you want to attend, you'll need to order a 'ticket' which you can get on their Facebook event page.

Wait a minute Mr. Postman?

Can't blame the Postwoman for this one.

After guests checked out the other day, I went upstairs to start cleaning and found several pieces of my mail sitting on the table.  Weird, I thought. Why would guests pick up my mail?

Several hours later a friend contacted me. She hadn't yet gotten my RSVP to her wedding invitation.  What invitation?  I never got it.

After some checking, I realized that I also never received that month's water and cable bills.

That's too much of a coincidence for me.  The only conclusion is that guests have been picking up and throwing out my mail.  Now, why the hell would they do this?  Don't know but apparently it's another thing you shouldn't have to tell adults that I will now have to warn them about.

Monkey Monkey Underpants*

By far, the most commonly left behind (no pun intended) item is underpants/knickers/panties, call them what you will.  Left on the floor, in the bureau, amongst the bedding.  I've also had people leave discarded jeans, blankets, electronic devices and, in one case, an entire set of their own bedding including pillows.

My policy is, if they want it back they need to come pick it up.  How do you handle situations like this?

*If you were a fan of Gilmore Girls you'll get the reference. Here's the clip:

Lockboxes

Sometimes you just can't be there to meet guest when they arrive.  Or they arrive so late that you don't want to have to wake up to let them in.  Key lockboxes are the solution.

For a long time I used the Master Lockbox. It's kind of heavy and clunky but it did the job.  The only problem was that some guests couldn't figure it out.  I'd get a panicked call and have to talk them through it.  And, honestly, the lock is a bit trickier than it needs to be.  You've got to set the numbers and then hold down the black lever next to them while you pull the lockbox door toward you.

One time I got a call from a guest complaining that they had set the combo numbers correctly but the door to the house still wouldn't open. Of course, they hadn't removed the keys from the box.  They seemed to think the house door would magically unlock itself once the numbers were set (and no, they weren't Americans.)

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to find an easier lock.  After some searching around I found exactly what I wanted. The Vault Locks 3200 Key Storage Lock Box is small and very easy to use - just set the combo and pull the box towards you. I bought 2 of them and use the other to store a spare set of my own keys.

Even though I have the option of using a lockbox, there are times when I insist on meeting the guests in person - usually when there is a large group of students staying.  My experience has been that they don't always reports the true number of people in their group.  Once they know that you will be there waiting they suddenly have another friend who decided to join them.

Oh, one other thing: I change the lock combination after every guest and set the new combo to the last four digits of the guests phone number. I thought that would help people remember but no guest has ever recognized it was their own number.

People who shouldn't use Airbnb: Craig

Every now and then I browse through the other Airbnb listings in my area.  It helps me make decisions about what to charge and is just a good way to see what guests like (or not) in other places.  Occasionally, you read a review that seems completely out of line.  Here's an example.

Meet Craig, who's description reads "My wife and I divide our time between Kent, CT and Greenwich, CT. We are semi-retired investors with a great love of travel. We are devoted parents of a 12 year old girl and 15 year old boy."

Okay, good.

Now here's his review of Affordable, Cosy and Private Escape.

"I was not going to leave a review at all because I didn't want to mess up Alicia's business, but then the requests for money for broken items started arriving. That was odd since we decided not stay in the apartment at all.

As we approached Alicia's townhouse, my son noticed signs in bodega windows notifying customers that the police would be called immediately if anyone entered the store while wearing a hood or mask. The R.I.P. gangster wall murals also created quite an impression.

Top 10 lists

Top 10 lists can be fun to read.  These two offer advice for both guests and hosts.

1. 10 Ways To Be A Terrible Airbnb Host
2. 10 Ways To Be A Terrible Airbnb Guest

I don't agree with everything in there, especially providing food and (especially) liquor for your guests, but that's a subject for another post.

Here's something I really don't care about - 

Airbnb Launches Celebrity-Themed Promotion In LA

And here's something that has the potential to turn hosts into real hospitality professionals.  In my mind, that is the real threat Airbnb poses to the hotel industry. 

Back from summer hiatus

No, I wasn't away on vacation.  I was just super busy with my full time job and having my best 2 Airbnb months ever. And by best I mean the most lucrative.  Also the busiest.

Many of the guests stayed the minimum 2 nights.  That meant cleaning every other morning.  But one great thing - 2 solid months of really excellent guests where nearly everyone exceeded my expectations. Also, at least 70% of our guests were from France.  Not sure what that's about but it's definitely been a positive experience.

I caught a break for the month of September, with a 2 week stay at the beginning of the month and a 3 week stay starting a week after the that. I've used the extra time it's given me to do some sprucing up around my own place and get some projects done.

Check out this story from Nashville Ledger correspondent and Airbnb host Jeannie Naujeck,
Want to rent your space through Ainbnb? Some tips for success
My project for the upcoming months is to download and analyze my Airbnb hosting data.  I'll be presenting that towards the end of the year when it's ready.

Programmable thermostats

One of the smartest things I did as an Airbnb host was to have a programmable thermostat installed. And not just any kind of programmable thermostat either.  First, it needs to be one that will allow you to set high and low temperature limits.  What does that mean?  It means that guests can't turn the heating above or the cooling below the limits you set. Second, you should be able to lock it using a PIN/password. This is sometimes known as a landlord's thermostat.

A regular old thermostat like this will
wind up costing you lots of money

A thermostat like this doesn't need to be expensive.  I chose a Robert Shaw model that cost less than $100. Of course, the one you choose will depend on your heating/cooling set up so check with you HVAC contractor if you're not sure.

Ok, so why do you need this? Do I really have to explain it?  Because without it guests will turn the heat up or the air conditioning down as far as it will go. And leave it there.  Even while they're out all day.  Not all guests, mind you, but enough to cost you plenty. Your current thermostat lets you set the heat as high as 90F (30C)?  Then some guest will set it there.

Before switching, the worst problems I had were with Brits who set the air conditioning to 59F (15C).  One didn't bother closing the windows either.  So while a programmable thermostat won't solve the window issue, it will at least help rein in guests and help keep your utility bills under control.

Airbnb Hell

Yes, that's the name of a new website and FB page where guests and hosts can share horror stories.

The site is new, the first entries are from early July. The underlying complaint behind most of the postings is the bad customer service provided by Airbnb.

From the site:

What happened to good customer service?

AirBNB has grown too big and corrupt to care about the guests and hosts it is supposed to be supporting. Read airbnb reviews and complaints here before using airbnb!

I look forward to watching this site and will be cross-posting when they have something particularly good.

http://www.airbnbhell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AirbnbHell

Also worth a read is the story where I found the site, Lifehacker's "How Can I Avoid Getting Screwed on Airbnb?"

In other related news:

After Home-Trashing Incident, Airbnb Builds an In-House Enforcer Team

Airbnb Slows its Pace as it Focuses on Customer Experience and Safety

Annoying things guests do

We're not talking major infractions here, just small stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder why.

Unplugging all the lamps
You might chalk this up to people being conscientious about energy usage.  But given that the same people will go out and leave the ceiling lights on and the heating turned up/cooling turned down, I don't think that's it.  And no, it's not to make room for their rechargers because each outlet has a free socket.  Any ideas?

Going through the linens closet
I've had guests leave the linens closet looking like Macy's after a major sale: everything in disarray. And often they don't appear to have taken anything out, they just wanted to have a look through your stuff.  When guests do help themselves to the linens you've got a problem on your hands - not enough clean towels/sheets for the next guest. Putting a 'Private' sign on the door helped but didn't completely stop the behavior.

Rearranging the cupboards/furniture
This might be more understandable with longer-term guest, but I've had the contents of the kitchen cabinets completely rearranged by people staying only 2 nights.  I find dining chairs in bathrooms and out on the deck but the problem hasn't been as bad with the furniture, probably because it's heavier.  Still, it's no picnic having to return to the living room (by myself) an armchair that it took 2 people to move to the dining room.

Running a full dishwasher cycle for one cup, one plate, and one fork
In my experience, it's only Americans who do this.  Also annoying, leaving a sink/dishwasher full of dirty dishes or leaving their cleaned dishes for me to put away.

Leaving the front door unlocked
Okay, we're moving away from the annoying to the potentially dangerous here.  Do you really need to tell grown-ups to lock the front door in a city?

So, what's the most annoying thing you've had a guest do?

Get out! Now!

Maybe you don't say it exactly like that but how do you get guests to leave?  You know the ones, one to two hours past checkout time and they're still there.  The last time it happened (20 minutes ago) they said 'Oh, we're leaving today.  Where's a good place to get breakfast?  Can we leave our bags here for 2 hours?'  Uh, no.  I'm already late for work.  You've got a half hour.  All done politely and they responded politely too.  But why should I have to tell them?  It's in the description and also in the instructions I sent the day of their arrival.

Have you been in this position?  How did you handle it?

News round-up

• Airbnb Vows to Fight NYC Ruling Against Room Sharing
• Airbnb co-founder: 'We believe it's time for our invention, and it appears the world agrees'
• How To Be More Like Uber And Airbnb
• Will Berlin follow New York and rule Airbnb-style sites illegal?

Someone left the chair out in the rain

This past Sunday it rained steadily all night.  One of those moderate but soaking rains.  We desperately needed the water - all my plants were showing signs of stress.

Guests left on Monday morning.  Everything in the apartment looked fine until I found one of the dining room chairs out on the small deck. One of the guests had carried it up a flight of stairs, used it outside and left it there overnight.  This is a molded plywood with veneer chair and it soaked in the water. This, in my mind, is an excellent argument for why you shouldn't buy anything other than Ikea for airbnb rentals. Better a ruined $40 chair than a $200 one.

Now I'm giving it a chance to dry out to see if the veneer settles down. How things turn out will determine whether or not I ask for a deduction from the security deposit.

Outlaws, crackdowns... the backlash begins?

NY Court rules against Airbnb host

• Airbnb Stays Are Illegal In New York, Court Rules
• NY official: Airbnb stay illegal; host fined $2,400

Here comes the backlash

• Let's Stop Pretending Hotels and Airbnb Exist on Different Planets
• Why Hotel Industry Lobbyists Want A Global Crackdown On Airbnb
• Quebec cracks down on Airbnb

Hosting while ill

I guess it was bound to happen - I got sick as a dog during a fully booked month.  It's taken 2 weeks to recover, a few days of missed work but not one day of cancelled reservations.

How did I do it?  First, I asked guests to follow a self-checkout procedure.  Then I gave myself extra time to clean and took breaks as needed. Fortunately, no one stayed past checkout time or I would have had a tough time making the check-in deadline.  Then, to reduce the chances of infecting guests, I left the (sanitized) keys in a lockbox for them.  The result is that I didn't get to meet my guest for 2 weeks but, hopefully, I didn't pass anything on to them either.

Thank goodness the apartment is private and not shared.  What in the heck do you do when you host guests in shared living space and you get sick?

At my worst point I had a true friend volunteer to come over and help me with the cleaning.  Don't know how I could have done it without her.

Creepy guests, legal woes, scared hotels

At the top of the news pile is the article from the New York Times' special Sunday travel magazine titled Su Casa Es Mi Casa.  This is the kind of guest you hope you never have to deal with: Someone who invites complete strangers he met at a bar over to his Airbnb place to look through the owners things.  Revealing quote: "The voyeuristic frame gives some Airbnb experiences a kind of erotic charge" Yuck.  Take a cold shower, get a girlfriend, stay away from my apartment.

Legal Matters

• Airbnb Case Inches Forward. Waiting for the outcome in this NYC case of an Airbnb host who wound up on the wrong side of the city's Dept. of Buildings.  Airbnb company representatives are involved. 
• Landlords beware: Airbnb is booming in big cities, but many users run legal risks

Should the Hotel Industry worry about Airbnb?

• AirBnB Flexes Its Muscles: Is the Hotel Industry Scared?
• Airbnb could disrupt supply-demand equation
• Airbnb: More Than a Threat, It’s a Great Disruptor To The Hotel & Travel Sector

Too bad for your wrinkly ass

One of the amenities I provide to guests is a travel iron and ironing board.  Well, not any more.

For the 2nd time in the few months since I made the iron available, a guest has used the $2,000+ bedroom dresser as an ironing board rather than the actual ironing board provided.  This time they left the iron sitting on the dresser and let the steam water dribble all over the top.

You would think people who's kid is graduating from the University of Pennsylvania would know better.  Apparently not.

For this I'll create a new category: Things you shouldn't have to tell adults.

Here's a suggestion for getting an iron burn off a dresser.

ADDED NOTE: If you're questioning the wisdom of spending that much money on furniture for use in an Airbnb apartment, I wasn't even thinking of Airbnb when I bought it.  It was for my own use in my own apartment.  Had I known what was in my future, I never would have spent that kind of money.

One's an accident, two's deliberate?

Had 2 washcloths disappear after the last guests checked out. I can see one being taken by accident but two?  And yet I have a hard time believing a nice couple would deliberately steal 2 washcloths (albeit, nice cotton/bamboo blend ones.) And, yes, I do remember putting them out.  I've checked in drawers and under furniture.  Even checked the linen cupboard to make sure I put them out. Yup.  Gone.

Now the 2 towels are missing their matching cloths. So, what do I do.  Eat the cost?

ID verification coming to Airbnb

Just caught this in the news: Airbnb is starting to require offline ID verification.  It will link offline and online identities and make sure that someone who misbehaves can't just start up a new Airbnb account. Part of me likes this idea; I already require that a potential guest has a profile, a photo that shows their face and at least 2 verifications. This seems to weed out 95% of potential problems. On the other hand, I'm not crazy about them storing scanned copies of my ID.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/04/30/airbnb-adds-identity-verification-in-big-step-for-sharing-economy/

The check-out checklist

Besides the normal things such as changing the sheets and cleaning, there are some less obvious tasks that need to be done at check out time.  I haven't formalised this into a written list, until now.  Here it is:

In the Kitchen:
1. Check that the garbage disposal is working
2. Check the refrigerator and freezer for left over food.
    Throw out anything you find.  In my experience, no future guest will ever use it.
3. Check the dishwasher.
    Unfortunately, guests sometimes leave the dishwasher full of clean or, worse, dirty dishes.
4. Count the forks
    Knives and spoons never seem to go missing but forks have a habit of growing legs.  Don't know why this is.  For this reason I keep an extra set on hand and replace pieces as they go missing.
5. Check inside the microwave.

Living room:
1. If you have sofa cushions, look under them.
    If someone spilled something they may have flipped the cushions so you won't notice. Now's the time to find out so you know who to hold responsible.  Or they may have left something behind. To date, I've never found money but I did once find a brand new unopened box of Maldon salt flakes!
2. Check the settings on the TV/Cable system.
    Sometimes people tamper with the settings which screws things up for the next guest.

Bedrooms:
1. Open all the dresser and night stand drawers to check for left items. Wipe out as necessary.

Make sure any small appliances like hair dryers are where they should be.

Do you have a check list?  What's on it?

There will be hair and other unpleasant things

There will also be urine, semen, flecks of shit and occasionally, yes, there will be blood.  There will be used condoms, the aftermath of travelers diarrhea and waste baskets full of bloody sanitary napkins. The most unpleasant surprise I've come across was a waste basket full of poopy toilet paper.  This made absolutely no sense to me until I traveled to South America where this is a common practice in places due to the limitations of the waste treatment systems.

If just the thought of any of the above makes you queasy, maybe you should rethink the whole Airbnb thing.  Or at least pay someone else to do the cleaning.

I worked my way through college cleaning people's apartments and houses so I've seen most of it  before. Now I do my own Airbnb cleaning for 2 reasons. 1- I want to maximise my income, and 2- I don't trust anyone else to do as good a job as I do.  But there are times when I wish I had someone else to fall back on.  Where do you find cleaning people when you can't offer them a regular cleaning schedule?  And what's a fair price to pay?  I'd love to hear from anyone using a cleaning person/service.