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?