Just when I feel like I’ve mastered hosting a short term let, a guest comes along that shows I can still make changes. Here’s some things to avoid when hosting on Airbnb or any other platform.
Sure, you’ll never be able to avoid every guest issue and create a place that’s fool proof or faultless. But there are some things you can do for more obvious issues to avoid them from happening.
Overloading guests with chores
Giving guests chores is a sensitive topic within the short term rental industry. The internet is awash with guests scoffing at huge lists of chores hosts have asked them to complete. These are coupled with charging huge nightly rates and cleaning fees. The lists include washing up or putting on the dishwasher, wiping down the counter tops, cleaning the toilets, putting a load of laundry on etc.
My opinion on chores
If I’m honest, I don’t blame them and I personally find giving chore lists to guests a bit cheeky. Even though you’re giving them the rental in exchange for a fair price, I don’t think guests should be expected to carry out any work when they stay.
I don’t ask my guests to do anything chore wise. I don’t ask them to take out the bins, I don’t ask them to wash up, strip the beds or put any laundry on. In fact I don’t even mention any of this before or during the booking.
I feel like it’s sort of a polite unwritten rule that guests will do their own washing up. However, some don’t, and I don’t have an issue with this if they decide not to. Even though it greatly slows my turnover time.
My bookings are both a mix of work stays and leisure, but predominantly couples looking for a night away. As my bookings are short, I find it unreasonable to ask for extra things to be done by guests. Such short bookings tend not to require huge left over chores. Especially when it’s a weekend or weeknight get away.
I can appreciate that in my situation, my rental property is close by. I’m never too far out of the area once the guest leaves. This means I can go over and clean pretty much the same hour that they leave.
When giving chores, is okay
Some hosts may live across the country. Some may not be able to get the place cleaned for a few days after a guest leaves. And in those cases it’s perfectly acceptable to ask guests to carry out minor chores. Things such as switching off any heating, hot water, lights, pool heating are expected. You can also expect them to put the bin bags out to stop the property from smelling etc.
If your hosting situation means that extra work is going to be provided for guests, factor that into your pricing. With exceptions like turning off the lights before they go, a guest won’t expect to pay top prices for chores. Let alone anything that impacts their leisure or experience. And even then, you’ll find some guests won’t turn out the lights when you ask them too. Because of this, leaving lists can be pointless and what’s worse, can leave a little bit of a bad taste in a guest’s mouth.
After all, why risk a bad review by bombarding guests with chores?
Avoid leaving cleaning products you haven’t tested on everything.
I used to leave a small mix of cleaning products under the kitchen sink. I’d so this just so guests can have access to them should they wish to. Sometimes guests spill things and will want to clean up and need to have cleaning products available.
Be careful though with the products that you give them access to. Most guests have common sense when it comes to cleaning chemicals. But I’ve had a guest use a bleach-based kitchen spray on a fabric throw. It dyed a spot that they had tried to clean. I’ve also had a pale green spot on a cushion from a guest who used glass cleaner which had a green tint to it.
Whilst my first instinct was to berate the guest under my breath for not reading the bottles properly, I fully accept that this was my fault for leaving them in reach of guests in the first place. From those moments on, I made sure I removed the offending bottle and any other potentially risky chemicals.
Test your cleaning products
Because of this, the only thing I now leave is a cheap bottle of antibacterial surface cleaner. It’s a clear completely colourless liquid in a spray bottle with a slight lemon scent. I’ve tested this on pretty much all of the textiles in my home.
This includes on my sofa, cushions, rugs and spare bit of carpet. It’s a perfectly suitable spray to temporarily mop up kitchen spills or wipe over units or furniture while the guest is staying there – I can do a proper clean when they leave. It also doesn’t matter if a guest takes it. The cleaning product is so cheap, I can it replace easily as it costs 79p a bottle.
I’d advise never leaving your full stash of cleaning products in reach of guests. Especially ones that you use to clean in between guest bookings. These supplies could be raided and you may find products missing when you come to clean.
This will end up slowing your turnover time if you need to source more products. Instead, I have a small cleaning caddy when I often leave in the back of my car to ferry in and out once I’ve turned over the apartment. This also reduces the risk of bombarding guests with lots of different products that they may have never used before and don’t know how to use, cutting the chances of damage.
Avoid candles
As lovely as candles are to set a mood, they’re terrible for distributing soot. Even burning one for a short time can make surrounding surfaces dirty without us realising. Not only that, they’re bad for your respiratory health too – even soy wax candles.
If you’ve ever tried to clean a bathroom after someone has had a bath with candles burning, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The steam currents mix with candle smoke. In turn it coats every surface in steam moisture. When this dries it leaves the entire bathroom with a very fine layer of soot.
This travels literally everywhere, even inside cupboards where it cools rapidly and leaves dirt marks. This can’t always be seen to the naked eye and It’s only when you come to wipe the surface that you see the extent of the dirt left behind. Tiles, Taps, walls, ceiling, everything.
Buy Fire Safety Equipment
My place is often used as a weekend getaway for couples. Supplying candles as part of my standard decoration is just encouraging them to be lit. I don’t mention or refuse guests bringing candles in my house rules beforehand but secretly I’d rather they didn’t. This is mainly because of the cleaning aspect from the smoke and soot but also because of the fire risk.
If I ever light a candle, I’m pretty careful to remember to blow them out before I go to bed or go out of the property. Sadly, I can’t say the same for every guest that comes to my property. As extreme as it sounds, I would hate for the place to get burned down.
Because of this, I’d recommend a mini-CO2 fire extinguisher. Mine takes pride of place in the kitchen on the countertop. It can be used to extinguish small fires from cooking or candles. I also provide a fire blanket. It looks garish to have a bright red box stuck to the wall. But for the peace of mind it provides, it’s invaluable.
Nowadays, if you absolutely must have a candle for guests or for decor – battery operated candle lamps are the way to go. They have flickering glowing flames that actually look more realistic than ever before. Some even look identical to a burning candle and set the same mood.
Leaving extra toilet rolls
My property is suitable to sleep 2 people and my bookings are never more than 2 nights. I supply one roll of toilet roll per night so two in total. One on the roll holder next to the toilet and one under the sink just in case.
Before this, I used to store all of my multi packs of toilet roll under the bathroom sink. I noticed quickly that one night bookings were often using up to 5 rolls of toilet roll during stays!
Miraculously, when I only started to offer two rolls of toilet roll, it hardly ever got used. Now there’s always plenty left over.
One roll per person per night is more than enough and for long stays. You can even offer a starter amount and let the guest purchase more of their own. Alternatively another suggestions is one roll per person for every 2 days of the booking. Even then, Nobody craps that much…seriously, nobody. Providing more, or giving plentiful access to toilet rolls will cause you to burn through more than is truly being used. If guests see an opporunity, they will take them home.
Leaving sentimental items
Following on from the above, one thing I’ve learned renting on Airbnb, is that people in life can be opportunistic. That’s just human nature. Most people are taught from a young age not to steal. Sadly there are people that will see something they like that and take it, without personal conflict. Even if it doesn’t belong to them.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m just not built this way. I’m pretty sure most other people aren’t either. I guess I should consider myself privileged that I’ve grown up and never felt I’ve had to do so. It’s one thing to take food or even toiletries for ‘survival’. But taking decorative items with no physical value that do not belong to you, literally just makes you an a**hole.
Because of this, don’t supply any unnecessary items with a strong sentimental or physical value to guests. Accept before you start renting that things are going to missing and will eventually need replacing. This can either be through damage or theft.
I don’t doubt that some decorative items or gifts from a loved one, really do look perfect on your rental home’s mantlepiece. But I guarantee there is also a guest out there that thinks it would look good on theirs too. If it means too much and you wouldn’t want it gone, don’t leave it around accommodation. Keep any precious items away from where your guests have access. Better yet, lock it away somewhere safe when you have a booking.
Avoid one of a kind pieces
The same goes for vintage or unique and hard to obtain furniture. Some of it is priceless to us or may have been passed down within your family. Furniture that can’t be replaced by an identical piece from a trip to IKEA may not be suitable for a rental. Vintage furniture is notoriously hard to price as it already has an age to it so you won’t get the true value of it.
In summary
These are just a few things that spring to mind. I’m sure there will be plenty more that crop up as I continue hosting. Keeping things as streamlined as possible will make you a much happier host in the long run.