Many of you need to get a grip. I am both an owner of multiple properties and a frequent guest. I am so confused by all of the hosts out here who take such an antagonistic view of guests and/or expect them to earn the right to pay you for a night’s stay. Too many hosts treat PAYING guests as if they are doing them a favor by renting them accommodation. These are not friends crashing in your guest room. Like it or not, you are in the hospitality business, be hospitable.
After 4 years hosting, I recently got my first bad review for an issue that really was a bad guest experience. The guest got a refund, new accomodatoin, and left a bad review. I didn’t like the Airbnb policy that allowed both a refund and bad review. After some thought though, I was ultimately happy that the guest had a satisfactory experience renting on the platform. Hopefully they will use it again and another host won’t be punished for my management company’s mistake.
Our competition is hotels. So, yeah, if a guest treats your property as they would a hotel, that is wholly appropriate. If they are egregiously filthy or damaging, fine, issue a complaint or request for renumeration. I see too many hosts on here who expect their properties to be treated with absolute kid gloves. Charging to replace stained towels? Are you kidding? Bleach them and keep extras. It’s part of the cost of doing business. Are you not writing off your expenses?
If you spend any time on travel forums you know that Airbnb sentiment is bad and getting worse. The #1 complaint is the huge list of checkout chores when we also charge a cleaning fee (far in excess of what they perceive they pay at a hotel).
My point is that hosts should either treat this as a business or get out. The more you demand of guests, the more people will go back to hotels. That hurts everyone who is trying to make a go of this hospitality business.
If you didn’t enjoy my Ted Talk, go ahead, down vote away. When Airbnb loses its paying client base and all of our utilization rates go to hell, just understand that we have no one to blame but ourselves.
– Comprehensive_Link67