

Less obvious: It's a really, really good idea to ask before raiding the closet for linens and towels. It goes without saying: When it comes to Airbnb guests, thou shalt not steal. Do not rate it based on the standard hotel star-rating system.Ĥ) Take Things Without Asking-Especially Linens And Towels Airbnb star ratings are effectively binary: Five stars is great, and anything else is really bad.īottom line: Rate your stay based on how well it met your expectations based on your needs and how the listing presented itself. Seriously: The site sends hosts warning notices if you rack up too many four-star reviews, and four-star listings may even be delisted. What these guests may not realize: Four stars may be totally great for a hotel, but is pretty much an unacceptable rating on Airbnb. When the above reviews occur, I often ask guests what I could have done to earn that fifth star, and the answer is usually something along the lines of: "Nothing! The stay was great and four stars is really good! I imagine five-stars being like the Ritz."

This is every Airbnb host's nightmare review: "Great stay! Everything was perfect! Four stars." Problem is, many guests view the Airbnb star-rating system as analogous to hotel stars, which have nothing to do with how well a stay met expectations, and everything to do with indoor swimming pools and on-call concierges. And I always appreciate the honesty.ģ) Rate Your Stay Based On The Hotel "Star" System Ask! If a guest is upfront and honest, I'll do all I can to accommodate their group-even if it means bending my own rules. If it looks like your cousin is going to be joining you at the last minute, tell the host. That limit exists for a reason: Whether it's common sense (maybe it's a small place), an insurance mandate, a building rule, or simply a desire to not host parties. Again, this is wrong for so many reasons. The other big reason for the sneak-in: A desire to bring in more people than the host might allow as a max. I promise you we're not trying to rip you off with these fees, it's simply more time, hassle, and expense to host more people. There's more wear and tear on the house, greater utility use, possibly greater insurance costs, more laundry and associated expenses, a greater chance somebody will spill red wine on a white rug, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

But the fact is that more people tends to equal more problems. Of course, avoiding these fees is probably the most common reason for the ol' sneakaroo. Hosts may also charge an extra-person fee for larger groups. A host's insurance may also have strict occupancy limits, and exceeding that can create liability issues. Besides the deceit and lack of decency, guests who aren't part of an official booking may not be covered by Airbnb's customer service, meaning if something goes wrong, things can get real bad, real fast. There so many reasons this is a bad idea-even if your intentions are innocent, and your goal isn't to throw a rager.

If you don't tell them that your arrival time may have changed, you may very well keep a good person waiting for hours.Įvery host is going to deal with this sooner or later, but there are always guests who have no problem bringing five people to their two-person booking. The fact is that a lot of hosts juggle Airbnb duties with the rest of their busy lives, and there's a good chance your host scheduled your checkin between work, family, and fun. If you told a host you were checking in at 3pm, and it looks like traffic or a flight delay is going to bump things closer to 8pm, for the love of all that is holy: Tell your host! A huge number of guests-particularly ones more used to hotels-think they can just show up anytime after (or, even worse, before) the listed checkin time and somebody will be waiting for them.
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What many guests don't realize is that Airbnb has its own unwritten code of conduct, and that following a few basic rules will make life easier on a potentially stressed host, while making it more likely they will go out of their way to make sure you have the best trip possible-and leave you a good review. As a longtime Airbnb host, I've seen it all.
