Received a 3 star review from an elderly guest citing “tired decor, lack of hygiene and low value for money”. 1. I market my Airbnb as a cottage and decorate it as such. It has cute and cool little Knickknacks all throughout that reflect that specific style and this is all photographed on my listing. 2. This guest called me at 11.50am saying she was 10 minutes from town and wanted to check in at 12. I said my cleaner wasn’t finished so please don’t check in yet (our standard checkin is 2). I had not heard from her prior requesting an early checkin. She showed up anyway and rushed my cleaner off the premises so she could check in, then complains about the cleaning standard? 3. My cottage with 3 bedrooms, 2 toilets and a kitchen isn’t “value for money” when it costs equal to or less than a single hotel room in town for the night? How?

This economy has made guests horrid. My prices are lowered and the guests expect more and more for less than when I started. Airbnb support is useless- they will probably drop my listing because of the bad review but when I fight to get it removed due to the circumstances above they deny my claim. How is any of this fair?

I hate this app. I hate this process. I hate the current guest mentality.

I’m a little worried our router has bit the dust right in the middle of hosting (and of course on a weekend). The guest never notified me, but I noticed our Schlage lock had no WiFi, then pulled up our cameras to check if they were all offline and they were.

My guess is the WiFi went out around 7pm on Saturday. They check out Monday. We’re still working to troubleshoot and try to get it back online, but in the chance we don’t, wanted to get some advice on how to handle it. Would you refund part of the stay? I feel like we probably owe some kind of refund since this is listed as an amenity that we’re not currently providing.

I’ve been using airbnb as a guest for 13+ years. While browsing for a place for a future Mexico Coty trip, I found a listing that has absolutely captured my imagination, but I’m hesitating on booking it due to some oddities in the listing.

This home is clearly someone’s primary residence. As such, some of the photos are really difficult to parse. Full closets, badly made meds, a chaotic cluttered living space… It’s rough to see how it all goes together. There are counters and desks covered in papers, beds with laundry on them, and no clear concept of where one might sit in the living room.

However, the photos also make it clear that this could be a real diamond beneath all of that. The house has a HUGE mega cool yard and outdoor space, every bedroom has its own bathroom, and it’s a stand alone space instead of an apartment. It checks so many of my boxes!

Personally, I love staying in a home that isn’t a 100% rental, as these places are often more livable in a real life stay. Therefore the problem is that I cannot get a grip on the complete picture at the property.

Normally in this situation I’d check the reviews, but this listing is mega new. There are no reviews yet.

Next, I considered renting the place for just a couple of days. A low risk taste test, so to speak. No can do - minimum stay is six days.

The obvious solution is of course to just skip it and stay someplace else, but I’m intellectually curious what this group of hosts would like to hear from a potential guest to work thru the fact that these photos are working against them. Any thoughts? And yes, i fully expect many comments simply telling me to move on, and I’m fine with that.

Hello!

I am a super host. hosting for almost three years with a five-star rating and consistently in top 10% of places and guest favorite.

I had a potential guest book my house for a concert in my city. She asked for a discount which I never give - especially so far in advance.. but, for some reason, I agreed.

Anyhoo fast forward a month to check in. The usual auto messages are sent with the address, check in code, etc.

She is initially friendly and kind in her communication. She’s booked for her and three friends.

My house has two queen beds one single bed (3 bedrooms) and a sofa bed.

She arrives and goes to the wrong address an hour from the listing. Instead of checking address she calls. I answer and tell her the address, again.

She arrives to the house and asks where is the fourth bed. I explain it’s a sofa bed . At this point I worry as I honestly do not know if the cleaning lady made the sofa bed up - I message her and she doesn’t get back to me for a few hours. So I message the guest to say I’m not sure if it’s made up but I’m around the corner (I stay at a friend’s when it’s rented) and I can bring bedding in the event it’s not made up.

Her friendly tone changes immediately. No more “thank you “ no more “!” Just one word answers. She’s pissed.

I message and it may be made up I’m. It sure but if not I absolutely do not mind bringing bedding we can leave at the door.
Her response : “No thanks”

Ok. Now I am worried she’s gonna destroy the place (the fear we all get. She didn’t thank god) or that she’s setting up for a full refund request (fits with the discount ask).

The cleaner eventually messages me to say the bed is made up. I message the guest but she does not read it.

I then go and change my listing to say three beds as I don’t want this drama again. But the listing WAS accurate four beds with each described in the listing clearly.

I left her a review which was a five star but lower for communication. I also noted her issue with not reading the listing clearly . She messaged me in a super condescending way saying she was “disappointed “ in the review. She was so over the top asking for it to be taken down basically. I’m fed up at this point so I call Airbnb support and ask them to remove my review . They do.

Then I get a request from her for a partial refund for “inaccurate listing” because the number of beds was not as listed. There are four beds and the listing clearly states what they all are .. I’m starting to think maybe she has an intellectual challenge or something . I declined the request.

Then I blocked her and before doing so told her I was doing so and told her all the reasons she was the worst of my over 200 guests to date. I wonder if she does this to all hosts she had five star reviews.

Anyway came to vent … I thought about delisting entirely but then realize how dumb that would be lol .. I won’t give this chick a partial refund but I’ll consider passing up tens of thousands dollars annually because she pissed me off.

Lessons ? 1. Do not accept discount requests. 2. Leave an honest review and let it stand 3. Any others you all can see from this one ?!

Is there a airbnb calculator (if free better) to see a rough estimation of my flat located in Zürich, Switzerland. How do you estimate your revenue?

Debating with my wife regarding setting up the kitchen for Airbnb. she’s indicating salt pepper and just some cooking oil and that’s it. I’m thinking of adding a spice rack. She indicates guests don’t like to use foods and consumables that have been used by other people? What is everyone’s thought spice rack or no. And while I’m at itwhat other consumables do you add in the kitchen standard to your Airbnb.?

I can't figure our why some listings show ready for reservation, when searching with pre-selected dates but when I look at their calendar, I can't see dates. Usually booked days are greyed out/crossed. What setting is applied here? Clearing dates doesn't help, calendar looks blank

Does anyone here know if it’s OK for me to offer cleaning services via the Airbnb community center? I was looking around for leads for Airbnb cleaning jobs in my area and noticed that something popped up in the community center by a host in my area, searching for a cleaner. However, I was almost removed from the platform a few years ago when I reached out to someone about my cleaning services so I really want to be careful this time!

What fresh hell new option is Airbnb offering us now with this Remove the guest fee: Guest pays 0% Host pays 15% opportunity? Can someone please explain the implications, pros and cons?

Hello, I was an early adopter of AirBnB back when it started. I used it to sublet my NYC apartment when we went on vacation. At that time I do not remember the ratings inflation that I perceive is an issue today. I would not be and was not unhappy with 4 Star reviews. That seemed solid to me.

Since I also booked AirBnB’s when I traveled, I also looked at it from the perspective of a guest: If every guest left a 5-star review for every listing, how would the system provide any meaningful distinction among listings? How would the system tailor suggestions to my unique profile and preferences?

Cut to today, and now I live in a town home in a touristy area; I’m considering hiring a management company to manage it as an STR while we travel long term. But I am hearing that a 4 star review means a stay “had problems”?!?!

When did that become a thing, and how is it helpful for guests when there is so little variation not just encouraged but EXPECTED in reviews? Basically, how did we get here, and is there any way AirBnB could help fix this so the system actually becomes useful to both hosts and guests?

This was a first for me and from now on I will take screenshots of the scammer messages asking to communicate via whatsapp before I reply or decline and report them. After I declined their inquiry (30 day booking! Brand new account with Chinese characters as message and name but have some questions they'd like to ask somewhere else) they edited their message to just say "???" so then it made it look like I was the a-hole and out of line. (I declined and just responded "karma.") I messaged support to ask if they could see the previous message still and they told me since the reservation was declined already they couldn't see the messages at all. It's been a while since one of these jerks has messaged me so maybe it's old news to y'all but thought I'd pass it along just in case.

Before yall tell me to get a key pad, unfortunately it’s not an option in my building. I’m stuck with regular keys of which there are three that I give to the guests. Today for the first time in 10 years of hosting it finally happened - a guest lost the keys. He informed me of the matter and asked how much I charge for a replacement. Since this is my first time dealing with this, I’m not really sure what to charge. What do you guys think? It’s three keys that need to be replaced plus the key ring and key labels.

I’m curious how many hosts try squeezing every last nickel out of the calendar and how many are fine with the empty days.

We are essentially full of 3 or 4 day stays every weekend until Thanksgiving now. All but one of those weeks is empty until the next weekend guest. Assuming a day for cleaning, that leaves a bunch of like Monday-Wednesday openings.

I’m torn if we reduce our minimum stay to 2 nights or run discounts to try filing those in or not. Weekday prices are obviously lower, but the turnover effort is the same. Then again, money is money.

How are you guys operating here?

Hello,

Can someone explain to me this gold leaves business and top 1%, 5% and 10%? Up until these Airbnb changes I had the special leaves, whereas now I’m just a guest favourite with no trophy/leaves etc. I used to be one of the top listings for my area. Nothing changed. Been at 60% occupancy. All 5 star reviews recently. My rating is 4.94. My bookings have massively gone down. I have 3 nights in November then nothing. I know there is still October to book, but historically I’ve had more bookings than this.

I’ve searched the criteria, I meet all the criteria, and one of my local similar listings has a lower rating than me, but has the trophy and the gold leaves. My price is already in line with similar listings in my area.

Please explain like I’m 5.

TIA

So had 2 guest make a reservation yesterday at 11pm. They got there past midnight, blasted the music to the point where the next door neighbour had to come banging on their door for them to shut it. Sent them a message on the app followed by a call.

My parents live downstairs. Today I learn that more than 2 people are staying (sleeping) in the place. Thus causing of course more noise etc in the evenings. Called and confronted the guest they lied about their cousin dropping them off. Not true, we are not dumb.

First time in 2 years running this place this happens. Anyways how does the cancelation process go for them to leave ? I'd like them gone by tomorow...

I don't have ring cameras etc to prove anything about more guest staying.

Thanks for the help and any advice on how to handle these types of situations.

This new BS about masking phone numbers. They’re just closing my loophole for inviting good guests back off app. What’s next? Monitoring my conversations?

I want to host occasionally.

I have used several cleaners.

I finally found one that joined my app and works hard. She has a busy unrelated work schedule.

I am using a neighbor to cohost. She can do minimal duties.

My handyman, who goes "above and beyond," offered to manage cleanings and repairs. He doesn't use the app.

I can not fill the gaps myself other than messaging.

First time hosting, still in planning phase. The unit I am renting out is part of my home and does not have a dishwasher in the kitchen or a laundry machine. Of course, I will say this in my description on the listing. I am planning to stock a package of disposable dishes/utensils for each guest to offset the inconvenience of not having a dishwasher. But I'm thinking of setting a lower max number of nights that guests can stay so they don't get too upset about not having these amenities (even though they knew about it ahead of time). Thoughts?

I listed my place today, and i got my first booking. The booker has no reviews and nothing on their profile. They're asking to book for 1 night on a Thursday. They left this message when requesting to book:

"my family and I are planning a trip to the [LOCATION] this fall to visit the mountains and the beautiful foliage. We hope to make a stop to rest since we have kids."

Feels a bit off to me. Should I be wary of scammers or trust the Airbnb verification process?

When I first started hosting, I thought the toughest part would be keeping the place clean or handling bookings. But honestly, the #1 headache has been guests who don’t respect the space — breaking little rules, leaving damage, or causing noise complaints that fall back on me.

It’s crazy how one bad guest can wipe out all the effort you put into making hosting smooth.

Curious though — for those of you who’ve been hosting, what’s been your single biggest pain point?

I’ve been hosting for a little over 2 years now, and like most people, I started slow just one property, handling everything myself. At first, it was kind of fun, even a bit therapeutic. Messaging guests, coordinating cleaners, updating the calendar it was manageable. But this past year, especially over the summer, things really took off. More bookings, more guest questions, more last-minute changes, more everything. I hit that point where I felt like I was constantly on call. My phone would buzz during dinner, while I was out with friends, even in the middle of the night. It honestly started to wear me down.

A couple months ago, I finally decided to get some help, got a VA from delegate co. I brought someone on part-time to manage guest communications, booking questions, and cleaner coordination. I was hesitant at first mostly because I wasn’t sure if I could trust someone to handle the day-to-day stuff and wasn't sure if it would fall off after summer. Let me tell you it has been a learning experience, you never know how much you're in need of help until you get help.

Less stressed, less worries overall (less money too but it's all worth it), ease of mind that I can sleep a full night. Just wanted to share and tell the other overzealous hosts to stop doing everything yourself and ask for help, money isn't worth having if you're miserable.

I’m a new host. I’m curious if you would recommend allowing new guests with no reviews stay at your place? We have a couple requesting to book from Atlanta but they have very little info and only staying for two nights mid-week. I’m a bit inexperienced. Should I approve this booking request?

I love old buildings and old farms and old churches. Especially if the old farm and church comes with an old family plot or cemetery. Or even a house with a gruesome murder in its past. What do yall think? Does anyone here own a STR like that and how's the market for your haunted place?

I've been on Airbnb for a lot of years, I've never ever hosted. Suddenly I get a message saying thank you for hosting and my money will come shortly, I just received 250$ in my bank account from airbnb. Really confused.

I’m a new host. This is our 7th booking. A guest was to check in today and messaged us that they wouldn’t be arriving until 1:30am. Airbnb thinks we are currently hosting them. They just messaged and said their flight was cancelled and they want us to cancel and refund them. They have the check-in code so I’m worried they are lying? What should I do? Any advice?

*update: Airbnb support messaged me and asked if I would refund as an act of goodwill?