AIBU to ask you to read a host’s description before you book on Airbnb?

[Frannyhy]

We’re not hoteliers. If we say check in is until 9pm, it’s because we work outside the home in the day. Planning to arrive after midnight is not acceptable. I won’t get up and come to the door. If you know you have a late flight arrival get a hotel for the night. (Transport does get delayed, I know that and will suck it up. But if possible let me know.)

If you book a room in someone’s house, kitchen use is a concession not a right. Despite me saying my kitchen is to be used to make a hot drink only in my house rules, every other person wants to cook.

I have cats. I have pictures of them on my description with photos. I still get people coming here and whining that they are allergic to them.

Don’t bring extra people or children if the accommodation is for a single person. Hosts will turn you away.

Yet again a guest has asked to move because of my cats. Yet again she has lost her money (over a hundred quid) because I clearly say I have them. Airbnb sided with me and wouldn’t allow them their money back.

Read the whole listing and house rules please. I say won’t tolerate smoking or a stranger in my house and I mean it. If you pick up a fucking partner and bring him or her back here and I wake up, I will kick you out no matter what time it is.

On the whole airbnb has been a positive experience. Thanks to the lovely people who do read the details before booking, you’d be welcome back anytime.

Where is the Travelodge that costs £30 a night? Certainly none that I look at. They used to be cheap but they certainly are not now.

As I said before, we get a flat or house for less than a Travelodge. In fact we stayed in a 4 bed detached house last week which cost £52 a night. The nearest Travelodge was £70 on the weekdays and £90 at the weekend.

Why would we chose just a room when we can have a large house with fully equipped kitchen - tea bags, proper coffee, bread, milk etc all provided. There was sky tv and Netflix, a dvd player with dvd's to use if wanted, a cd player. We had a large living room, dining room, utility room, kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a downstairs loo. It was wonderful. Bigger than our own house!

But, your rules sound very inhospitable - and if you dislike having people stay in your house that much that you can’t let them use the kitchen, maybe it’s not for you?!?

No! I'm with you Op. If people don't like your rules, then let them stay somewhere else! I've heard a lot of horror stories on both sides. Unfortunately, there are a lot of rude, entitled and ignorant people out there.

travel lodge is not cheaper the £29 rooms are as rare as hens teeth unless you book weeks ahead if you want a room tomorrow night it will be £60-100 airbnb vary depending on what you want OP's rules sound like most traditional B&B check in after 4 before 9 or10, leave by 10am, at a B&B you don't expect use of a kitchen you expect a kettle in room a few leaflets or advice on where to get an evening meal, and most have rules about not taking extra guests in, in fact most hotels do too it is just harder for them to police it

I expect the listing to tell me check in and out times, whether there is parking, wifi, tv, tea&coffee, shared or ensuite bathroom, non smoking or not and whether they provide a cooked, continental or just toast breakfast or indeed none

the OP is venting surely if the place has cats it is clearly stated then you can't complain re cats, i guess she says 9pm latest so if there are traffic delays it should be 10pm but if she said 10pm some would be pushing for 11pm

You aren't being unreasonable or inhospitable. Your rules are normal for air bnb. The people saying this must not know what it is like to run an air bnb. People take the mick and don't read the description all the time. I think this is par for the course in the service world, sadly.

@Isatis you’re quite right I wouldn’t book the OPs for a long stay, however im making that point that kitchen use is attractive to many people - and saying that the ‘use of kitchen for hot drinks only’ could be seen as ambiguous.

When I was looking for an apartment in Lisbon loads of the listings had “WE ARE ON THE FITH FLOOR. THERE IS NO LIFT. ACCESS VIA FIVR FLIGHTS OF STEPS ONLY” and then there would be bad reviews saying “apartment was lovely but it’s on the fith floor and no lift and it was awful getting up and down”

😂

The one we booked had a thing where you had to tick the confirmation button saying you understood it was a fourth floor no lift apartment.

You sound delightful op

You say you’ve hosted hundreds OP. Unfortunately, as you see from some of the replies here, when you deal with the public at large you’re always going to get dim or unreasonable guests amongst the very many who are totally satisfied.

Your house rules look fair and clear enough to me.

"I can't believe people pay to stay in someone's spare room for a night"

That's what B&B has always been. Not everywhere has a Travelodge.

The thing is it is not a choice between hotels and B&Bs, there loads of other agents for self catering accommodation such as booking.com, & Lots and lots of self-catering sites of all sorts. I absolutely loathe AirBnB because I find the search function annoying and the information given quite variable. I would never stay in someone's home with them there so I only look for empty apartments/houses etc and I also tend to look for the ones with extra assurance about the quality etc. In my experience , they are not much cheaper on AirB&B than on booking.com for example .

However, op YNBU because the person making the booking knows what they are paying for when staying with you and I am sure it costs a lot less than a lot of other options. They are definitely CFs.

But, your rules sound very inhospitable - and if you dislike having people stay in your house that much that you can’t let them use the kitchen, maybe it’s not for you?!?

What a load of rubbish. She is not 'hosting visitors', it is a business transaction and I assume the price of the accommodation reflects the fact that there are restrictions on the use of stuff. The op clearly states her rules and if you don't want to go that is fine. People booking and then complaining about things that are clearly stated in the information is way out of order.

"It never once occurred to me that I could have free use of their kitchen"

Why? Air Bnb is usually self-catering.

The beating heart of hospitality and warmth

Where you lost me was use of the kitchen... if someone has paid to stay in your house you should let them use the facilities of the house including the kitchen.

I get that people can be really inconsiderate - and a lot of what you mention, particularly around people bringing partners back, sounds really reasonable - but if you want the income that letting out rooms in your house can bring you need to be flexible on checking in times and use of the space. You can't just take peoples money without expecting a reasonable level of inconvenience, you are providing service after all.

To be honest this attitude is why these day I'd rather pay a bit more to not have to put up with difficult AirBnB hosts.

Why are you even on air BnB?

But, your rules sound very inhospitable

Don’t turn up at midnight, don’t drag randoms back, kitchen isn’t for full meal cooking, I have cats.

Doesn’t sound bad to me. I wouldn’t choose it because I don’t like cats, but other than that, those rules sound fair enough to me. If I didn’t like them, I would choose somewhere else.

I just can not think of anything worse after pleading to be allowed to check in at 9.03pm I am then surrounded by your cats, told off for warming up a ready meal in the kitchen, and spend the evening perched on the bed waiting for the morning to arrive. It does not sound like an experience I would be desperate to repeat any time soon.

The type of trunchball landlady is springing to mind op. Your reviews must make for mixed reading.

if someone has paid to stay in your house you should let them use the facilities of the house including the kitchen.

If you stay in an hotel, do you expect to use the kitchen? You are paying OP for a bedroom and use of a bathroom. You want a kitchen, book a whole house let.

Yes the price is set way below that of local hotels at this time of year, and it does reflect the no cooking rule.

My current guest is lovely, as are the majority of others.

Odd as it may seem to some of you, I have just achieved Superhost for the fourth time in a row, and have a five star average on reviews. Written by guests who read the whole listing and know what they are booking.

I live in a house of stairs, and have an open fireplace which I use in winter. That’s why I say no children. Yet I had a woman say “I’ll decide what’s safe for my son.” WTF is that all about when I clearly state I don’t accept children or babies here?

YANBU OP.

I have been helping my parents rent out their self-contained annex on Air BnB. Their rules clearly state one person only, no kids, yet lots of people try to book for a couple, want to bring a baby, etc.

Lots of people just don't read the rules properly.

Those rules are fine. I have done Airbnb & chose one precisely because it was a lovely, huge old house in a quiet sidestreet & she had cats which for me was a plus. I didn't need to cook while I was there: so the kitchen thing was fine. Only an idiot wouldn't read the blurb. It's weird what people like tho, I showed pics of my beautiful, huge room with sash windows, original fireplace etc to a work colleague & they looked down their nose at it.

The beating heart of hospitality and warmth

You sound delightful OP

The OP isn’t hosting friends, this is a business transaction. All of their rules would apply in most hotels that don’t have a 24 hour reception, I honestly don’t see what the problem is.

bella Generally people tend to want to be made welcome, if you are host the clue is in the name, 'super' host even more so. It is not a supermarket transaction! If you are going to be in the business of hospitality of any kind then it making guests feel welcome, meeting their needs and being flexible is all part of the job.

Maybe you would be better with a lodger op, one that works very long hours and doesn't need to eat food.

If you are going to be in the business of hospitality of any kind then it making guests feel welcome, meeting their needs and being flexible is all part of the job

But the OP has all the house rules written in her listing. Is she really supposed to be “flexible” because adults can’t/don’t read the listing and then expect the accommodation to be perfect?

I would wonder OP if the way your rules are written need to be clearer? Also is the issue that cats are going into the guests room, and there is cat hair in there?
I dislike Air bnbs who act as if they are doing me a favour and want me to be invisible, while taking my money.
I too now avoid them. I never book except with superhosts, and some of them have still just been meh.

Am using Airbnb for the first time this summer and am now feeling nervous....

I use Airbnb a lot. The OP sounds absolutely fine to me. Why should she let people mess up her kitchen when the room fee only covers cleaning of the room? When you search on Airbnb, there are boxes to tick for the type of accommodation you want - why the heck do people still expect to cook in her kitchen?