Airbnb situ - thoughts?

[supercee]

I Airbnb my spare room. I used to do it as a entire flat let but it was too much of a hassle moving out so now it's spare room only.

Whenever I have occasionally booked a private room myself when away on trips (have only done only 1, 2 days max when on a tight budget) I use it for just that, to sleep, wash, bathroom and out. No imposing etc etc.

I have Airbnb folk in at the moment for 2 nights. I didn't meet them the first night but met them tonight when they came in and said hi and the usual pleasantries and announced they had a family member who they had travelled to see round for dinner. I had literally put the oven on and laid out all my prep but they went in and started on theirs. Fair enough, I'll wait until they're finished. I was a bit at the invitation of family member for dinner but hey ho.

An hour later they finish and ask if they can sit in the living room to chat with invited family member whilst they drink tea (I am currently in there watching tv), i.e. me leave.

I did the whole 'sure, of course!' They did say they hoped they weren't putting me out but I did think, well yes, actually you are. There goes my Saturday night plan of sitting watching the telly. All my other Airbnb-ers when booking a private room have used it as a base to sleep in, wash, do a bit of light cooking, use my coffee machine if they want, I provide milk for tea, coffee and I rarely see them.

I'm not precious about anyone using anything kitchen wise etc but I couldn't help thinking for the purposes of what they were there for, a entire place rental would've been better and they've got exactly that for the fraction of the price.

I guess it's more an AIBU feeling a bit put out but without the flaming I'd potentially get over there 😄 I eventually just made myself scarce.

To be fair, I don't explicitly state if I'm in then living room out of bounds and other 'rules' I've seen on other listings when it comes to private rooms, I just think if it had been me I wouldn't be inviting unlisted guests round and effectively kicking the home owner out their own living room to take up the whole space on a Saturday evening.

Or am I being a cow? They were perfectly nice.

Unless they're psychic they're not going to know any of this. Just tell them.

I agree with you , I think they overstepped the mark. You need to amend your info so everyone is clear.

Guests like that really annoy me. I used to be like you, really nice, letting them use the kitchen and TV, letting them check in and out when they wanted, bending over backwards for them. But a few people acted like they owned the place once they'd arrived. Cooking for hours, letting their kids make a mess in every room, spending all day in front of the TV, several people even went through my cupboards looking for things to eat! It made my life really stressful.

I've now made my rules much stricter. They can only be in the house between 7pm and 10am, no matter how many days they're staying. This is only a BnB, not a holiday home. No using the kitchen or living room and no additional people to enter the house. Only if I really like them, do I relax the rules. My new rules don't seem to have impacted at all on the number of bookings I get.

@KurriKawari I know, maybe I've assumed wrongly they know Airbnb etiquette. If it is indeed etiquette, maybe it's only etiquette to me! I've been Airbnb-ing a long time.

@AntiHop yes definitely, will be making it explicitly clear.

@SlightlySleepy They had been in my room! I had definitely shut the door prior to me leaving and when I returned, my door was wide open and the bathroom messy. Ok have a nosey but at least shut the door! I know where you are coming from. I'm going re-write the rules.

You don't need to be psychic to know that you don't behave like that in an Airbnb. Clearly some people don't have the social awareness and need it spelling out.

Sounds like you need to be clearer, and learn to say “ No, that doesn’t suit me.”

I know, I need to be more assertive. My response just dribbled out my mouth before I could properly think 'eh hang on..'.

I think just make it really clear on your information.

I wouldn’t do that but I can understand that some people might think it is ok.