Post by High Priestess on Oct 15, 2015 6:33:46 GMT
Andrea shared Oct 14 2015
New Host, My 2nd Reservation is here now! 3 questions
1) My second guest is here now. Single young woman with 7 great reviews as a guest. So I was not too worried. My house rules are clear that the guest should not bring anyone over who is not on the reservation (my place is small and also for my privacy and security). So I am working from home today as usual and she just walked in the door with a male co-worker. It was awkward but I made the best of it while being polite and making conversation with him for about 40min while she was changing in her bedroom for about 25 minutes, them came out and was on her laptop at the kitchen table until they both left. He was here 40 min total. I stood there the whole time and talked to him. He asked me the dreaded questions, "do you own or rent", and "how much did you pay". Really, he was a pleasant fellow. But my rules do say no outside guests and it stole 45 minutes of my work time. I could have turned around and walked in my own bedroom as soon as they came in but I did not want to as I feel uncomfortable having a total stranger, not airbnb guest in my home!!! I am a pretty non-confrontational person so saying anything at the time would have felt really awkward. She has also been fine otherwise. Do I mention this on the review?
2) Her friend mentioned that she is also an airbnb host at her place in Europe! I did not know this. She seemed annoyed that he mentioned it. When I go to her profile I can not tell she is a host at all. there is no listing for her home and there are only reviews for her as a guest. How do I see her place and the reviews she leaves for guests?
3) Unrelated question. I had to cancel a reservation immediately after someone made it (I am new a forgot to block out 1 day I was away). So every since I got the automated cancelled on guest message a week ago, I do not have even 1 inquiry. I was getting 3-4 inquiries a day before that. Now zero for the whole past week??!! Any thoughts? Is it the cancel review or something else. I did reply to the cancel review so potential guest see that I am not a flake (hopefully).
Thank you!!!!
Queenie & Ted (queenie&ted)
1- You need to remind the guest of your 'no visitors' policy before she leaves and mention in her review that she needed to be reminded. You will need to develop some 'confrontation' skills or guests will take more advantage of you than this guest did. In the future,you simply meet them at the door or in the living room (wherever you first encounter them) and gently say ' I have a no visitors rule. Please meet your friend/co-worker/whoever at another location.'
2-You should see her listing when you go to her profile. She must have unlisted or snoozed it.
3-You only have 2 reviews and one of them is a cancellation. That will hurt you in your placement in the listings as well as look bad to potential guests as well. You provided an explanation and if guests take time to read it, your beautiful listing will soon have more positive reviews to outweigh it.
Andrea
Thank you Queenie & Ted, your advice is greatly appreciated!!
Serafina (Serafina)
I agree with Queenie & Ted that you'll need to practice what to do in situations where a guest brings a stranger into your home. If that's not okay, you can politely say, "Nice to meet you. Unfortunately, I only allow registered guests inside, but there's a lovely coffee shop/gallery/park down the street if you'd like to wait there while your friend finishes up here. I believe guests shouldn't be blindsided in a public review, so I'd either say something to her before she leaves about your house rules, or give her the message in private feedback. As it is, you talked to the visitor for 45 minutes without expressing any objection whatsoever, which gives a tacit approval to the visit. It's important not to send mixed messages.
In addition to having snoozed or unlisted her space, she may also be traveling under a different profile. My husband hosts with me, technically, although he travels often alone and so our listing doesn't appear anywhere on his public profile. And we do most of our Airbnb family travels under his profile since he has more travel reviews.
Deborah (High Priestess)
One of the most difficult skills for many new hosts to master, is that of having to confront guests when they violate house rules, particularly if they do so cheerfully and with smiles and an expectation that you'll join them in their cheer and mirth. Can be very awkward to say the least . Mastering the art of confronting guests in a firm but not angry way, is essential to the host. You as the host are in the role of a parent, the guest is often in the role of a child, sometimes a spoiled child who wants what she wants when she wants it, and waaah if she doesn't get it. I don't mean to be disrespectful to guests -- many of whom are older --- just to suggest, that guests will come wanting what they want, wishing to do what they wish, casually ignoring house rules at times, sometimes completely innocently or mirthfully. You need to step in as the compassionate parent who can give guidance and correction in a polite but firm way. This is naturally more difficult for younger hosts, who may not have much experience being parents, managers, owners of small businesses, etc. Historically, proprietors of guest houses were often middle aged women -- young people in their 20's and 30's weren't running guest houses. So for younger folks there may be more challenges, but for all of us regardless our age there are skills to develop which do develop with practice. Regard these as learning opportunities when you have to confront guests, and learn to do it. THe sooner you step in to correct a guest who's violated a rule, the more likely you will be able to do so without built up resentment being involved.
Tracy
I've had this come up, but rarely -and it is almost always because they haven't read the rules. I now quickly go over them (not many - no smoking, no shoes in house, no unregistered visitors) as part of the walk through/tour. Hasn't been a problem since.
New Host, My 2nd Reservation is here now! 3 questions
1) My second guest is here now. Single young woman with 7 great reviews as a guest. So I was not too worried. My house rules are clear that the guest should not bring anyone over who is not on the reservation (my place is small and also for my privacy and security). So I am working from home today as usual and she just walked in the door with a male co-worker. It was awkward but I made the best of it while being polite and making conversation with him for about 40min while she was changing in her bedroom for about 25 minutes, them came out and was on her laptop at the kitchen table until they both left. He was here 40 min total. I stood there the whole time and talked to him. He asked me the dreaded questions, "do you own or rent", and "how much did you pay". Really, he was a pleasant fellow. But my rules do say no outside guests and it stole 45 minutes of my work time. I could have turned around and walked in my own bedroom as soon as they came in but I did not want to as I feel uncomfortable having a total stranger, not airbnb guest in my home!!! I am a pretty non-confrontational person so saying anything at the time would have felt really awkward. She has also been fine otherwise. Do I mention this on the review?
2) Her friend mentioned that she is also an airbnb host at her place in Europe! I did not know this. She seemed annoyed that he mentioned it. When I go to her profile I can not tell she is a host at all. there is no listing for her home and there are only reviews for her as a guest. How do I see her place and the reviews she leaves for guests?
3) Unrelated question. I had to cancel a reservation immediately after someone made it (I am new a forgot to block out 1 day I was away). So every since I got the automated cancelled on guest message a week ago, I do not have even 1 inquiry. I was getting 3-4 inquiries a day before that. Now zero for the whole past week??!! Any thoughts? Is it the cancel review or something else. I did reply to the cancel review so potential guest see that I am not a flake (hopefully).
Thank you!!!!
Queenie & Ted (queenie&ted)
1- You need to remind the guest of your 'no visitors' policy before she leaves and mention in her review that she needed to be reminded. You will need to develop some 'confrontation' skills or guests will take more advantage of you than this guest did. In the future,you simply meet them at the door or in the living room (wherever you first encounter them) and gently say ' I have a no visitors rule. Please meet your friend/co-worker/whoever at another location.'
2-You should see her listing when you go to her profile. She must have unlisted or snoozed it.
3-You only have 2 reviews and one of them is a cancellation. That will hurt you in your placement in the listings as well as look bad to potential guests as well. You provided an explanation and if guests take time to read it, your beautiful listing will soon have more positive reviews to outweigh it.
Andrea
Thank you Queenie & Ted, your advice is greatly appreciated!!
Serafina (Serafina)
I agree with Queenie & Ted that you'll need to practice what to do in situations where a guest brings a stranger into your home. If that's not okay, you can politely say, "Nice to meet you. Unfortunately, I only allow registered guests inside, but there's a lovely coffee shop/gallery/park down the street if you'd like to wait there while your friend finishes up here. I believe guests shouldn't be blindsided in a public review, so I'd either say something to her before she leaves about your house rules, or give her the message in private feedback. As it is, you talked to the visitor for 45 minutes without expressing any objection whatsoever, which gives a tacit approval to the visit. It's important not to send mixed messages.
In addition to having snoozed or unlisted her space, she may also be traveling under a different profile. My husband hosts with me, technically, although he travels often alone and so our listing doesn't appear anywhere on his public profile. And we do most of our Airbnb family travels under his profile since he has more travel reviews.
Deborah (High Priestess)
One of the most difficult skills for many new hosts to master, is that of having to confront guests when they violate house rules, particularly if they do so cheerfully and with smiles and an expectation that you'll join them in their cheer and mirth. Can be very awkward to say the least . Mastering the art of confronting guests in a firm but not angry way, is essential to the host. You as the host are in the role of a parent, the guest is often in the role of a child, sometimes a spoiled child who wants what she wants when she wants it, and waaah if she doesn't get it. I don't mean to be disrespectful to guests -- many of whom are older --- just to suggest, that guests will come wanting what they want, wishing to do what they wish, casually ignoring house rules at times, sometimes completely innocently or mirthfully. You need to step in as the compassionate parent who can give guidance and correction in a polite but firm way. This is naturally more difficult for younger hosts, who may not have much experience being parents, managers, owners of small businesses, etc. Historically, proprietors of guest houses were often middle aged women -- young people in their 20's and 30's weren't running guest houses. So for younger folks there may be more challenges, but for all of us regardless our age there are skills to develop which do develop with practice. Regard these as learning opportunities when you have to confront guests, and learn to do it. THe sooner you step in to correct a guest who's violated a rule, the more likely you will be able to do so without built up resentment being involved.
Tracy
I've had this come up, but rarely -and it is almost always because they haven't read the rules. I now quickly go over them (not many - no smoking, no shoes in house, no unregistered visitors) as part of the walk through/tour. Hasn't been a problem since.