r/airbnb_hosts

I have support harrassing me to voluntarily give a full refund to a guest who cancelled last minute because "her dog has arthritis in his knees." Emails, phone calls trying to trick me into giv​ing ​​approval over $48.

Forces me to allow requests​ ​way in advan​ce​. Pushes instant booking aggressively. Removed the strict​ cancellati​on ​policy and yet will charge​ me should​​ I ever c​ance​l​.

I lived in furnished rentals for four years and I know exactly what makes a good Airbnb. The​se ​guests are impossible t​o​ please.

Criticizing the tinest things, like a warped​​ board in the fence or a hole in the yard which had already been backfilled with soil like these are legitimate issues​.​

Saying the frid​ge ​is "filthy" because there are (unex​pired) condi​ments available​ and then leaving a four foot spray of bacon grease​​ all over the stove.​

Giv​ing​ a negative review for "rough sheets" when there are five diff​​e​rent linens to choose from.

Completely ignoring the chec​k​out instructions and just leaving house keys on my back porch.

The company is adve​rs​arial and the guests are morons, I am either gonna raise my rates significantly or go back to medium te​rm​, this gig is not​​ worth it.​

I own a 16-room studio-style hotel property in Noida with large rooms, rooftop lounge seating, and a rooftop 3BHK setup. The property itself is actually very good, but the biggest issue I’m facing is staffing, especially housekeeping and cleaning staff.

Almost everyone I hire comes through references, but I still face major problems with cleanliness standards, accountability, alcohol issues, discipline, and overall trustworthiness. I genuinely struggle to trust unknown staff around the property and guests.

The bigger issue is that many workers simply do not understand what proper hospitality-level cleanliness means. Daily supervision becomes exhausting and mentally draining.

I wanted to ask fellow hotel owners or hospitality operators:

•	How are you finding reliable housekeeping staff?

•	Do you outsource cleaning or keep in-house staff?

•	How do you train staff who have never worked in professional hospitality?

•	Any systems, SOPs, incentives, agencies, or hiring methods that actually work?

•	How do you deal with trust and monitoring issues without micromanaging everything?

Would really appreciate advice from people who have actually operated hotels, guest houses, serviced apartments, or Airbnb-style properties.

Between last-minute trip cancellations, people backing out of plans, Airbnb bookings suddenly changing, concerts getting postponed, and even brands/events getting ‘canceled’ online… it feels like nobody commits to anything anymore.

Hi! I'm a new host and my first guest is supposed to check in this weekend. We put a LOT of work into the house - custom murals and artwork, karaoke stage, skeeball machine & claw machine - it's decked out in many ways. I know at some point things will break and get damaged and I'll learn to be OK with it. The question at hand right now though is --

What do I do about my first guest?

It's someone who has been on AirBnB for years, and it says they have 1 stay but 0 reviews. The communication has been minimal - I sent a nice welcome note and got responses like 'Understood. Thanks.' which is fine.

It's a woman who said they are coming here for their daughter's 21st birthday. A group of 7.

This person DOES NOT EXIST on the internet. Anywhere. Between the 0 reviews, short communication, and 0 online presence, I'm a bit worried. I sent her a note last night that basically said 'hey we want to get a cake for your daughter - chocolate or vanilla,' and also confirmation questions to make sure the Mom would be present, and that we were nearby if needed. I'm waiting on the response to suss it out.

What would you do in this scenario? Is there anything I could actually do? Cancel or contact AirBnB? My gut is telling me something is off, but I might just be paranoid. We do have some other bookings already, and those folks all have multiple reviews and MUCH stronger communication, so I feel more comfortable.

Thank you!!

We recently hosted a lovely couple in their early 20s. They left the place looking great.

BUT... when I checked the coffee maker (Black+Decker drip, with thermal pot) I noticed discoloration through the window of the reservoir.

Turns out that they dumped dry ground coffee into the reservoir with their water and then ran it. Crazy thing: there are filters sitting right next to the bags of coffee.

It took about 45 minutes to clean the machine - coffee grinds and coffee "mud" were everywhere they shouldn't have been.

So I guess there's a generation of coffee drinkers that have only used K-Cups up to now (or Starbucks drive thru).

But still, really?
FWIW: we're in the US, and the guests were Americans - so no cultural thing.

And of course: they just left it for us to deal with.

And in my personal defense: yes, I know a lot of people like K-Cups. But it's my own personal particularly to not use them due the amount of waste they create, globally. So perhaps this is the price I will have to pay from time-to-time.

We have a glamping dome and it's in the Tennessee woods. A dome is really just a giant tent, even if the inside is built to be pretty much like a house. So our listing is very clear that there WILL be bugs and if that's an issue, then this isn't the place for you.

Last night I get a text, and here's how it went...

Guest:

Hello. I’m in a dome, I’m curious to ask but do you have bug spray by any chance?

My reply:

I have wasp spray but I don't think I have any general bug spray. What are you seeing?

Guest:

Just getting itchy and feeling bugs crawling on my body

(At this point, I'm thinking "here comes the scam" because we had just personally cleaned the unit 4 hours before, and there was no skin-crawly bugs, and no bedbugs or anything like that).

My reply:

Do you actually see any bugs? We don't really have any bugs in this area that would crawl on people other than maybe a tick but you'd see a tick and they shouldn't be inside, they would be on bushes and etc outside.

(Now I'm just waiting for the hammer to fall... Instead...)

Guest:

Roger. It wasn't that serious. However, the serious question is may we consume the eggs that was in the dome?

(We have chickens and provide fresh eggs, but they are from Easter Egger chickens and are blue, green, pink/cream color, so some people think they're fake).

My reply:

Absolutely! They are fresh from our chickens. Eat as many as you'd like, they'll make more. Lol. We have more if you need some.

------

I'm not sure what to think about the first part of the convo. I know they're "city people" so maybe it was their brains just playing tricks on them... Or maybe they were trippin'. But they're really happy and even asked if they could buy 5 more dozen eggs! Lol

A recent guest moved our kitchen faucet handle and rearranged a few furniture pieces and I really wish I could give a hosted review.

“Hey nice people. Easy to communicate with, followed check out instructions. Let me know an umbrella broke, all good. But also moved some furniture pieces and did some plumbing work on my kitchen faucet. Weird “

I feel like I can post this in Airbnb as there would be blow back. unfortunate

Team, I don’t know how to review a guest. I thought it would be a 5 but now I am not so sure. Please note I rented my primary residence for a month while I am unemployed and guest agreed that my personal belongings would remain, so it wasn’t a hotel situation. I ASSUMED that knowing it’s not a hotel situation, guest would clean as if they were home. Is this something I should confirm before accepting a booking?

These are the items that are pmo:

- He ruined 4 of my teflon and ceramic pans with scratches, and I have seen consensus on this channel that this is cost of doing business, but what if he ruined the Airfryer basket too? I had silicon utensils for this reason. My airfryer was spotless, I wish I could post pics

- He put wet dishes away, I don’t know how often he did that but the cast iron pan rusted away and stained the white cabinet. Who puts away wet dishes and doesnt know cast iron needs to be dried????

- The tub - lord, the tub. I have hosted for 5 years and I have never ever seen it like this. It’s literally a black ring halfway up. I don’t know how this could be accomplished, I don’t even have a stopper to bathe. I don’t think I ever got a tub nearly as dirty even when I have not cleaned it for 3 months

Reasons I hesitate:
- I wasn’t ready when he booked right after I listed. We agreed check in would be 7pm and I was still cleaning when he arrived. He seemed very understanding and even reiterated he cleans every place again because he is ocd
-He allowed me to go back in 2x to get personal items I needed
-I am unemployed and did this sublet to save money but I am not allowed

Should I say nothing and rate him a 5, say something about the air fryer and tub but rate him a 5 still, rate him a 4 and mention the items above, or not rate and ask him to replace my Air fryer basket?

I’m a newer host and need some advice on how to handle a future guest I think may be a problem.

In short, this person booked my place for a week and cancelled on the last allowable day for a refund. No explanation. Fine - it happens.

I subsequently offered a promotion for those dates as they were a month out. Well… the very next day, I get a booking request from a different person stating that they would like to “book my house again.” I messaged them back only to find out it was the original guest “using their friends account to book.”

This is pure speculation - but I am bothered that this person is potentially booking several properties in the area under different accounts to guarantee a stay and get the cheapest possible accommodation. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t book from his own account given that I was very gracious about him cancelling.

I don’t want to get dinged for not accepting his reservation, but I also want to protect myself from troublesome guests and a potential bad review. He seemed very bothered that I asked him follow up questions as I was confused when a random account messaged me saying they’d like to book my house again for the same dates. I did not mention anything about booking my property at a lower nightly rate.

So - what are my options? Do I accept and let it go? Is there a way I can alert Airbnb of my concerns prior so there’s documentation in the event there is a problem?

I’ve been hosting over four years and things are just getting to me at this point. I do all the communication, cleaning, and deliver freshly baked homemade cookies to every guest. I have a firm cancellation policy.

My current guests booked over a month ago, and just a few days ago asked to add an extra day to their stay. I informed them there’s already someone checking in the same day they checkout, so I can’t accommodate them. They ask again, explaining they have children and don’t want to have to move to another location during their two night stay — I again explain I can’t accommodate but offer to reimburse them if they cancel and their night gets booked by someone else. They never respond.

The day before check-in, they ask for a late checkout, to which I reply I cannot accommodate because I clean myself and need the time (checkout at 11, check in at 3). They never reply. They check in around 5PM and later that evening at 10:30PM message asking to check-out at 1PM. I again politely decline and explain why, but offer to hold their luggage until 1. They said they needed to drive 45 minutes to the airport to pickup a rental car and will come back for their luggage (makes no sense, but whatever) and ask for a +\- 15min buffer. I offer to hold luggage, free of charge, until 130PM.. I reiterated they NEEDED to vacate the house at 11AM, they confirm.

They end up checking out of the house at 1130AM (after I messaged), and come back to get their luggage at 2:15PM. My only checkout instructions are: (1) make sure all trash is in a receptacle; (2) leave all used towels on the floor of the bathroom; (3) lock the door and windows upon exit. There was food and packaging all over the tables, countertops, etc. and used towels on the beds.

I sympathize with traveling with children and trying to save money, but at this point I feel like actually enforcing my late checkout charge is valid. My listing says $50 for every 30 minutes beyond checkout — so that would be one charge for the leaving at 1130AM and another for picking up their luggage 45mins late. Is this reasonable or am I being nitpicky and should just leave a review reflective of their stay?

Feels like bookings have been a bit slower than usual lately and getting momentum going again takes a little longer than before. Curious what people are doing right now to keep occupancy moving. Are you adjusting pricing, adding channels, focusing more on repeat guests, changing minimum stays, or just riding it out for now?

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 ?

PSA

Just received an email and also see this along with other new feature announcements in the app

Introducing Airbnb Services

Guests can now book the best chef, trainer, massage, and more at your Airbnb

Apparently this has been out for a few months or longer but now just getting released in my area (we're in a tourist beachtown in LATAM)

Hilarious that this is under a Grow Your Business section, more like growing Airbnbs business! Hosts get zero cut of any services that use YOUR property to deliver them, hosts are not notified about any service that guests book, potentially causing damage (that you have to find/claim/deal with, was it the service provider, was it the guest etc), further wear and tear on your property at the least, not to mention possible impact to your review if the service(s) don't go well

The cherry on top is that they're automatically available at your property and you can't even toggle on/off in your rules, you have to have customer service do it. I just spent an unnecessary 15min of my evening doing exactly that, and encourage everyone to do it as well.

Next I'm sure I'll see a notice that my listing is lower in the algorithm because I've opted out.

Fuck whoever rolled this new initiative out.

I manage short-term rentals with another manager for a company that currently oversees 37 properties. There are 3 core people involved: the owner, myself, and the other manager. Owner does not own any of the properties, we are the middle man management company. They do get more referrals, but we all have played our part in acquiring more properties and as the managers we do all the onboarding, staging, listing etc… been with the company since around 10 properties.

The owner takes home roughly $70k–$100k/year, but no longer handles much of the day-to-day operations. They attend weekly meetings, occasionally call owners, and suggest changes, but my coworker and I are expected to implement everything. When the owner takes multi-month vacations, and operations run all the same.

The two of us managers split the schedule 50/50 and are effectively on call 24/7 handling:

• Guest communication
• Owner relations
• Cleaner scheduling/checks
• Maintenance coordination
• Property stocking
• Emergencies
• General operations

If one of us goes on vacation, the other has to work every single day because the owner will not cover. We are technically classified as contractors, but we cannot make our own schedules and have to arrange coverage for any time off ourselves.

We currently make a flat $200/day managing. Back in 2021–2022 we made around $35k–$40k/year managing about 20–25 properties. In 2023 the owner added “profit sharing,” which initially seemed great, and our pay increased to around $60k–$70k/year. However, our guaranteed pay has stayed stagnant while responsibilities and property count have increased significantly.

The profit split is:

But this is after our flat-rate pay is already deducted as an expense. The owner also takes an additional guaranteed $2k/month regardless of profits.

A few years ago we also had a dedicated guest messaging employee making about $20k/year. That position was eliminated, and the two managers absorbed all of those responsibilities without any guaranteed raise. The owner’s logic was that the savings “go into the profit pool,” but since profits fluctuate, we only see a fraction of that value while permanently taking on the extra workload.

My frustration is that we’re treated like “partners” whenever profits are down or more work needs to be done, but we don’t actually have the authority, flexibility, protections, or compensation structure of real partners. At the same time, we’re treated like employees in terms of scheduling and expectations, despite technically being contractors.

Meanwhile, our workload keeps increasing while my actual yearly income has stayed flat or slightly declined over the last few years due to market slowdown and the way compensation is structured.

I feel like compensation should scale more directly with property count and added responsibilities instead of relying so heavily on fluctuating profits. I've also been loyal to this company for 8 years now.

TLDR

• 2 managers run nearly all operations for 37 STR properties while the owner is mostly hands off.

• We’re on call 24/7, can’t freely control our schedules, and cover everything ourselves.

• Classified as contractors but treated like employees.

• Property count and responsibilities increased significantly, but guaranteed pay stayed the same.

• Extra duties from a removed 20k employee were absorbed without raises.

• Profit sharing makes us feel like “partners” when convenient, but we have no actual ownership or control.

• Income has stagnated or declined despite increased workload.

• I’m curious if you’d share how many properties you manage (not own), what you make, and if you are solo or work for/with a company?

Hi yall! I’m a little baffled. Last night at 3 am I received a message from Airbnb support saying they’re going to call me to discuss the illegal Airbnb buisness I am conducting? First of all I’m legal, licensed and following all the rules. The dates mentioned was not even a Airbnb booking ? I’m confused what’s happening? Did a neighbor call and complain ? Has this happened to anyone else

Had a guest book for one person and three showed up. Immediately got red flags based on appearance and amount of luggage, as well as not being able to contact the guest, and seeing one of the men leaving with a cigarette in hand on camera.
I asked Airbnb to cancel their stay as we only allow two people max. They ghosted me for days. Airbnb got back to me eventually but only after the guests stay was over. The agent said they were in the hospital and that was the delay. I call BS because every time I actually need something important I get the “my shift is about to end” line.

I was worried what I would find when they left, biggest concern was drugs. Thankfully things were ok except the smell of weed. My cleaner ran the ozone machine and laundered all washables including curtains etc. She charged me $200 for the extra work. I sent my invoice to Airbnb as well as a guest next door saying they smelled it in the lobby.

It’s appalling how difficult they are making getting reimbursement. The receipt, screenshot of convo in Airbnb with another guest and photo of the guest on camera wity a cigarette aren’t enough. They have asked for a photo of video of remediation, a report from a professional smoke remediation company showing the smoke levels inside the listing were above normal levels. On top of it, despite my listing having a clear penalty fee for guests beyond my maximum, they won’t be paying that either.

Aircover is a joke. Getting paid for guest damages is like being on trial. You have to prove you’re innocent while the guest who violates the rules gets away with it, penalty free.

Hosts: what would make you switch from Airbnb to another platform?

Hey, I am new to listing and wanted to pick some host's brains on their pricing. I was wondering what rules hosts are using on pricelabs or other pricing services to set their prices.

Specifically, I am looking at my airbnb listing and seeing that many other listings around the area have a much higher "baseline" price but are offering discounts to have their price still come out to the same as mine. If I am someone looking at booking a place the one with all the discounts looks like you are getting the better "deal" so you would probably be more inclined to book this one over mine. Are there certain settings or rules that other hosts are using that I could create to make my overall price higher but then offer these discounts to make it appear like guests are getting a better deal similar to their listings? Any ideas or help would be appreciated!