Instead of being a smooth sailing, mutually beneficial experience, some Airbnb bookings end up being a lesson learned, whether for the guest or the host.
Redditor u/firetothetrees learned his during the first time hosting. After renting a cabin equipped for six people for a family of five, he soon saw something was wrong and spent time and money to fix it. Sadly, only after doing so he learned that it was the guests who were doing something wrong. Scroll down for the full story.
Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and he was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find his thoughts in the text below.
Short term rental is a great solution for those looking for a home-away-from-home
Image credits: pychap (not the actual photo)
This redditor put up his cabin for short term rent and had to deal with some troublesome guests costing him $600
Image credits: Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)
Image credits: firetothetrees
Image credits: voronaman111 (not the actual photo)
The OP took the situation as a lesson and made changes on his property accordingly
Like most things in life, the coin that is Airbnb also has two sides; one of them is a service provided that benefits both parties, the other—annoyances or troubles caused by one of them. Quite often, it’s the hosts that have to deal with the latter, and the OP was no exception.
“The thing I was most upset by was the fact that I wasted so much time fixing a problem that wasn't actually a problem,” he told Bored Panda in a recent interview. “At the time, economically, we had invested a lot of money into getting the place set up and ready for guests as well as a lot of money into solving problems like the water situation, so the extra spend and taking a day off work hurt pretty bad.”
The redditor shared that the experience not only taught him a lesson but also gave him an idea of what could be done to avoid similar situations in the future. “The main thing that we learned was to put an extra security camera on the driveway to see how many people or cars checked in. It was a bit too hard to verify this from the deck camera.
“At the moment we are renovating both of our Airbnb properties and we are also considering having guests sign a separate rental contract from Airbnb that exposes them to more liability and would allow us to pursue them directly for damages rather than using Airbnb as a mediator,” he added.
Image credits: Ian Keefe (not the actual photo)
Stating the rules clearly is one of the host’s main responsibilities
According to Airbnb, there are more than four million hosts worldwide, responsible for over seven million listings. With numbers this high, there ought to be other property owners dealing with difficult guests as well; that might be one of the reasons some people seem to understand the struggles the OP faces and support him.
“I always seem to receive two types of responses to my posts about Airbnb issues. The majority tend to support me and they agree that the guests were completely out of line,” he told Bored Panda, adding that he typically faces criticism from the rest for being an Airbnb owner. The redditor pointed out that they might not understand the effort and financial cost that it takes to start up a rental property.
One of the many things the host has to put effort into is ensuring that rules and regulations are stated clearly and the guests are informed of all they need to know. “It is incredibly important to set the proper expectations about everything related to your place,” the OP pointed out.
“After we accept a booking we send a PDF of our guide book with all house rules so that guests are aware of everything,” he said and revealed that they have had other guests break certain rules—starting a bonfire outside on the property during a fire ban, for instance.
Image credits: Joel & Jasmin Førestbird (not the actual photo)
Hundreds of millions of stays are booked via Airbnb every year
u/firetothetrees’s story is just one of the many examples of guests not respecting the rules and regulations of the property or finding ways to make the host’s life more difficult. It’s important to note, though, that Airbnb is a two-way street, and dealing with some hosts can also be no walk in the park.
However, even with probable troublesome situations in mind, people continue to use Airbnb for their stays away from home. According to Statista, the number of bookings has picked up after the Covid-evoked drop and has now surpassed the pre-pandemic levels. In 2022, there were reportedly more than 393 million overnight stays and experiences booked on the platform.
As people continue to book properties via Airbnb, there might be no other choice for hosts but to state their rules and regulations clearly and hope for the best in order to avoid situations similar to what the OP went through.
Image credits: Filios Sazeides (not the actual photo)
Fellow redditors shared their opinions in the comments, the OP replied to some of them
