r/AirBnBHosts

Would you say it's feasible or worth it to rent out a small apartment on weekends only? It is in a major capital city and good location. Essentially it is a pied-à-terre used Monday night to Friday morning so could AirBnb for 3 nights. I understand would need cleaning services twice but what would be the other things to consider?

I (30F) am starting hosting on AirBnb. I will be staying at my boyfriend's (33M) place when guests are here. In order to make it fair, I suggested I put some of the income into a joint account we have on Revolut, which we currently never fill nor use. To which he immediately suggested I put 50% of what I earn for AirBnb into the joint account, which would make him have 25% in the end since we would both use the account. Does that seem fair ? I feel kinda weird about it.
Thanks for your insights

I have a property that has a whole in the rental for 1 month and 10 day (call it 40 day) between my current long term tenant and future long term tenant. I would like to rent it following the rules in Montreal of renting 32 days or more to avoid the short term rental tag and complication around permits etc. I feel that less people are looking for 32 days or more stays. I know I could rent for 2 weeks at a price I would be happy with to fill the gap.

My idea is the following, open the calendar for 2 weeks in prime time. I know I would be more than happy with the 2 weeks payout which should come out real close to the long term monthly price, then add 2 weeks at no extra cost to the person renting the property to get up to 32 days. Call it extra early check-in or extra late checkout. Would that be feasible? Has anyone had a similar experience or problem ?

Edit to add: I contacted support and this is what they said:

Water left on wood or laminate vanities can cause fast warping, and puddles on the bathroom floor are a dangerous slip hazard.

Since he has actively ignored your direct requests for three days straight, you need to upgrade your evidence strategy and take official action to protect your home from mold and structural rot.

Furthermore, please share the relevant evidence etc…

——-

I rent out rooms in my home and currently have someone staying with me.

A few days before his arrival, he asked if I could store his luggage for a couple of days after checkout. This is something I do as a courtesy for guests, so I agreed.

However, once his stay began, I started having ongoing issues with the shared bathroom (shared between guests). After he used it, I found puddles of water left on the floor and vanity. The first day, I immediately asked him to clean up after himself as a courtesy to my home and OTHER GUESTS.

He was careful for only one day. The following days went back to puddles. This can lead to longterm damage to my floors, and he’s already caused damage to my bathroom vanity.

Today, I brought it up again and told him I would no longer be able to store his luggage after checkout. The other reason I decided on this is because yesterday, he asked me to take a 40 minute uber ride to the airport in 2 days to drop his luggage off. 😳

He rightfully so got upset and said I was changing the agreement and disrupting his plans. He has continued to push the issue even after I said no.

(If you look at my account history, he’s the same guest that asked me for a receipt for dates that weren’t part of his reservation. He had also asked me to install an extra bed for a possibly second guest who would join him. 😳 I said that’s not possible.)

April surprise: $4K owed + underpayment penalty.

I treated Airbnb income like a paycheck. It's self-employment. No employer withholding. No quarterly estimated taxes = IRS wrecking ball.

Same invisible math as expenses: Airbnb reports the gross. The IRS taxes the gross. But you only keep the net.

I was dumping everything in a shoebox and "figuring it out in April." Now I'm trying to set aside 25% per payout so I don't get wrecked next year.

What system works for you? EFTPS quarterly? High-yield savings? Or are you still praying in April?

A guest booked my Airbnb for one night, requested early check-in, used the suite, showered, and stained a towel. Then he filed a smoke complaint with Airbnb to get a refund and walked out.

Here’s the thing: my bedroom is right next to the unit. I catch guests smoking in there all the time and have to send gentle reminders not to “smoke near the windows”. (I try to avoid a bad review by not accusing them directly but it’s obvious when they smoke in the suite.) And tonight, I did smell smoke but it was coming from the guest unit!

I now have to clean the suite and get nothing. The guest got a free stay in the city.

This is a known scam and Airbnb’s policy makes it easy. I had no recourse or time to react.

I am a Superhost and I will be leaving the platform when my current reservations are done at the end of the month. Has anyone successfully disputed something like this? What actually worked? Or should I just be happy he didn’t submit a 1 star rating?

Have any of you dealt with a guest who checked in, the house was verified to be clean, and they placed their hairs all over the house and 2 hours later are demanding another clean?

They demanded brand new sheets from the store and brand new towels which I obliged, then they stated the couch is not suitable for them as it is downfilled (cloud couch) and the occasional feather comes out. They are also stating they want a dining table cloth which is not even advertised.

I have never received anything other than 5 stars for cleanliness and it's mentioned in multiple reviews that the house is very clean. I sent my cleaner over at 7:30 pm and the guest was berating her over every single thing; my cleaner states all of this did not look this way when she left (of course this is the one time she did not take photos).

The guest is now using my bath towels to clean my front porch...

I mean I could be wrong but in 2 years of hosting and multiple 5 star reviews (4.77- lower rating came in from construction in the area causing some road closures yet) and all of them gave 5 stars for cleanliness. I am still waiting to hear back from support

I've offered to the guest to reach out to support and they can cancel Thursday and then all of a sudden they said that they want to stay and everything's fine?... what do I do here? It's a month long day and I have no idea how this is going to go and I'm worried about retaliatory reviews if I don't give into her every demand....

I have a townhouse with a hot tub and sauna it is located fairly close to AT&t stadium where the games will be. I want to capitalize on the $750 bonus that Airbnb is giving to first timers during the World Cup. I do have a dog , should I get a cheap short term rental for the month or just stay in a hotel for all the days that get booked? I don’t have any friends I can move in with so I would have to find something temporary

My account was suspended and removed by airbnb due to a last minute cancellation and 2 retaliatory reviews. I had over 700 5 star reviews for 12 homes across 6 years. Customer support was of no help. I have been trying for month to resolve the issue. Anyone else in this situation? Any other contact point? I’m desperate this situation is crazy and my homes are sitting empty. Thanks

We just launched our first rental this month. There's a lot to figure out, and so far it has been fun. Using Lodgify + PriceLabs and doing everything on my own (for now). Our property is in the Grass Valley / Nevada City, CA area - Tahoe National Forest. Two questions:

1. How do you estimate the expected value of adding an amenity? Pool and hot tub are the biggest gaps. I know we'll get them eventually, and if I had confidence about an increase in bookings or ADR then I might pull the trigger faster. I'm sure there's no exact formula here, but I struggle with even back of envelope estimation.
2. The only "Essential" amenity we're lacking is a TV.

I had originally asked “should I get a TV?” Was leaning yes but now feel pretty convinced. Only question is where to put it. I think I’ll ask people if they want it out and put it on the fireplace shelf if they do. There’s really no other logical place for it.
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I rent a room inside my house on acreage in the country. It's a hobby farm. People enjoy the quiet setting. I have good reviews.

I got a request to book from a person who identified themselves as a fellow Airbnb host. She said "as a courtesy" she was informing me in advance that she would be bringing her service dog. And she said "As a fellow Airbnb host I'm sure your aware that hosts are required accept reservations with service dogs despite preexisting No Dog policies"

I wrote her back and let her know that we have 3 dogs on property and 1 of them is reactive to other dogs. She never responded. It's a tough situation. I called support and they said to keep a screenshot of the message where I told her about the on-site dogs.

It's going to be non stop barking. I have real misgivings about this. This lady comes on strong and assertive. She gives an uppity vibe that she is going to escalate if I push back at all.

She has a very public online presence and there's no images of her with a service dog. None of her previous reviews mention her service dog.

Has anyone rise run into this situation? How did it work out?

Hi folks,

UPDATE: fixed just in time before the guest arrived!

I need some advice as it’s my first time this is happening, as a new host of only 4, 5 star reviews , I’m unsure about the next steps I need to take, without loosing a significant amount of money and getting a 1 star review.

Guest is checking in in 4 hours for a 5 night stay, been trying to get the water heater fixed but we are in Thailand and things are notoriously slow, so it doesn’t look like anything is gonna get fixed anytime soon. So basically guests will be without hot water in the showers for god knows how many days of their stay, maybe all 🤷‍♂️ Any advice how to break it to the guest? And what to offer? Help is much appreciated 🙏🏽

Looking for some insight from other hosts. We just had more damage in one night than in 2+ years total...

We just had our first guests of the season after shutting down for winter maintenance. Every offseason we repaint, repair, and refresh everything, and this year we spent 30+ hours refinishing our outdoor spa area — cedar ofuro soaking tub, rainfall shower, cold plunge, sauna, cedar decking/fencing, etc. We scrub every surface, re-treat the wood, pressure wash, and generally put a huge amount of care into keeping the place pristine.

Our listing clearly states the property is not accessible or wheelchair friendly. There are multiple sets of stairs, narrow clearances, and nothing about the space is designed to accommodate mobility devices.

The guest did not disclose they used a motorized wheelchair. When they arrived, we initially thought they were unloading an ATV in our driveway because they brought heavy-duty metal loading ramps. Those ramps were then placed spike-end down onto our steps, decks, and doorway thresholds.

The resulting damage is extensive:

gouged and split deck boards and stairs

damage to door frames, fences, and spa walls where the chair was forced through spaces it didn’t fit

a broken bathroom cupboard door after forcing access into a very small powder room

deep grey gouges etched into the porcelain of our in-wall toilet bowl from metal contact

additional cleanliness issues including food debris throughout the kitchen, loose pills left behind, a dining chair left in the shower soaked and covered in soap and hair as a makeshift shower chair, and a sheepskin soaked in dog urine

What I’m struggling with is how to approach this appropriately with both the guest and Airbnb without it being framed as discrimination based on disability.

To be clear: I’m not upset that someone with mobility needs booked the space. I’m upset that major structural and finish damage occurred because the property fundamentally could not accommodate the equipment being used, despite the listing explicitly stating that.

We plan for normal Airbnb wear and tear - stained towels, broken glasses, missing cutlery, etc. This is on another level. We’ve now had to block upcoming nights while we assess repairs, source and buy matching materials, replace damaged deck boards/steps, open drywall to remove the wall-mounted toilet, buy a new toilet, drywall and re-paint the bathroom, and rebuild custom cabinetry.

I’ve documented everything thoroughly with photos, but I honestly don’t know how to price claims for things like hours of hand-sanding deep gouges out of cedar walls/fencing or replacing custom-finished materials.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Specifically:

best way to word communication with the guest

best way to approach Airbnb support/AirCover

how detailed/contractor-based the estimates need to be

whether Airbnb handled accessibility-related damage claims fairly

Not looking for “screen guests better” advice - obviously hosts cannot ask guests if they use mobility devices, and these people had 20+ 5 star reviews. I’m more looking for guidance on how to navigate this professionally and successfully. I've only sent a claim once - their pet shredded a duvet to dust - so it was very straightforward, not emotionally charged for either party, and easy to put a price on. This just feels like a can of worms. Many thanks in advance for any advice - I hope y'all had a better long weekend at your properties lol

Edit: I mention the big spring clean to emphasize that there was 100% no existing wear n tear marks or damage before their stay.

Hi there, 

I am a host managing 4 units, but I’ve run into an accounting issue. Two of the units I manage are owned by my parents, however they are set up on my Airbnb account with 7 years of good reviews. My accountant brought up that tax wise, it is not correct to have my VAT number attached to the Airbnb income from the two units owned by my parents. However, Airbnb support said that I cannot add any more VAT numbers to my account. How do other hosts or rental managers handle this situation?

It has been 15 days since I registered as a host, and I am still not verified today. This is despite the fact that I’ve had to deal with what feels like every single clueless man on their support team. They even verified my account and bank details, and told me over the phone (after I was passed around between roughly 15 different unskilled agents) that everything would be sorted out within 72 hours. It has now been two days past that deadline, and I am still not verified.

I keep messaging back and forth with complete unskilled agents, but getting my verification finalized is still nowhere in sight. Today, I wrote to them giving them until the end of the day to get this done, otherwise, I am leaving their platform. But I am posting this review anyway. My nearly three-week-long frustration is horrific.

Guys, can you explain to me how this platform even makes money? Why don't hosts try to advertise on other platforms, or why don't they start more of their own? This stupid Airbnb system is just ruining people's nerves.

I’ve been sharing my fight against a clearly retaliatory review left last September.

A guest booked for 12 nights, showed up, immediately tried to get a full refund he wasn’t entitled to, barely stepped inside the cabin, and left a 1-star review attacking me for enforcing Airbnb’s own Firm Cancellation Policy.

Despite Airbnb’s explicit rule prohibiting retaliatory reviews, they refused to remove it.

I took the case to arbitration with extensive documentation — including proof of the severe drop in bookings, the stark difference between a successful 2024 removal and this denial, and evidence that Airbnb has largely stopped enforcing its own policy.

Just now, the arbitrator ruled completely in Airbnb’s favor.

• No review removal.
• No removal of the false “Stayed over a week” metadata (for a guest who never actually checked in).
• No damages.
• Nothing. After days and weeks trying to fight this when I could have used my energies better in other directions.

The system is badly broken. Hosts are left unprotected while guests can weaponize reviews with impunity.

I have some big decisions to make — whether to mothball my spare cabin and protect the quiet life I built, or try to pivot to longer-term rentals.

I’m not sure arbitration is always a waste of time, but in this case it certainly felt that way. Many of you who advised to just move on, cut prices, rebuild, or exit the platform were probably right.

Thanks to everyone who followed along and offered support.

Earlier links:
https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1of6g03/some_pointers_on_seeking_arbitration_us_for_a/

https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1qwx0kp/wow_just_wow_im_sure_my_arbitration_judge_will/

https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1s1jrf2/any_airbnb_whistleblowers_around_who_can_shed/