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.