Airbnb host, was I wrong?

[newmomaboutthreads]

I had a guest stay at my airbnb. He was a bit difficult but one area of contention. Was I wrong?
He WhatsApp'd messaged me (which I hate as he should be using airbnb platform unless it's an emergency but anyway) to say there are not enough mugs and glasses as there are 6 of them. The apartment does sleep 6, in 3 double beds. I asked him what was there and he replied only 5 wine glasses and 4 mugs. I apologised and said some must have been broken and I will get some to him asap in the morning. (He messaged at midnight)
I went out and bought replacements, rung the door bell a few times, there was no answer, so I used my key to put in the missing mugs and glasses.
I then get phone calls and messages later that night furious that I entered my airbnb apartment when he was not in to replace the missing items.
Things like this have happened in the past and guests have never had an issue.
Was I wrong?

There is much more expectation of privacy in an apartment than in a hotel.

Even in a hotel people knock and then walk in and shout "housekeeping" really really loudly so that if you are in the bath/naked/whatever you can yell don't come in before they get too far!

Hotels are a bit different. You know when you check in that people will enter your room and if you do not want that you put up the do not disturb sign and request no housekeeping etc.

This is a totally different situation. It is like a landlord walking into your house just because you were not there and they wanted to drop off something.

You are totally in the wrong both with the lack of glasses/mugs (there should be more than six of everything) and entering.

Yes, you were wrong. You should never enter without a guests express permission. Which makes sense really, what if they were in and naked for example? It also covers you as just walking in with all their possessions there leaves you open to accusations of theft. Air BnB is very clear on this.

The only exception would be a real.emergency, ie if they were in danger.

You should have either left the glasses on the doorstep or messaged the guest and asked if you could drop them in.

There should be double the amount of glasses, mugs. plates and cutlery to the amount the accommodation sleeps.

Ok! Thanks all. Duly noted :)

So what! It's a six berth so should have more than six of everything!

I don't like drinking coffee out of wine glasses or wine out of mugs 🤷‍♀️.

YABU

Firstly you (or your cleaner) should check that there are at least the minimum number of cutlery/crockery/glasses, preferably duplicated. I.e there should be 12 mugs for a 6 person holiday let - certainly not just 4 which is ridiculous. Not even 6 as not everyone wants to be constantly washing up on holiday.

Secondly, letting yourself in during a let is a definite NO - they've rented the house for the duration, so it's theirs! You'd only let yourself in if there was an emergency. You should have arranged a mutual time to hand them over.

But, if you'd have checked there was enough of everything in the house before the let, none of this would have happened.

If I was a guest, I'd be furious too as it's all very unprofessional.

I'd have the hump about the place not being properly supplied in the first place, so that wouldn't help my feelings towards you.

I think I'd expect you to have let me know when you'd be coming or leave them outside, rather than let yourself in, but mostly I'd expect you to have checked before I realised we couldn't all have a glass of wine/cuppa when we got in at midnight.

Yes you were wrong. You should check before every single booking that they have sufficient for the numbers.

Letting yourself in was a terrible decision and I would be very cross about that and probably mention it in a review.

Agree with PP. If it sleeps 6 there should be more than 6 of everything anyway.

You're absolutely in the wrong. I would say around 10 mugs and glasses would be acceptable. Even six isn't enough and less than six definitely isn't, you should have checked everything is in order and if I was the guest I would be wondering what else you hadn't checked.

Letting yourself in is even worse. He is entitled to privacy for the duration of his stay and isn't required to wait around for you to turn up and rectify YOUR error. He has already been inconvenienced. You should have come back another time or waited until someone answered or came back.

If I book somewhere it's often for a well needed break and some alone time and therefore someone bursting in on me would ruin my entire trip. And if DH is there it's likely that we would be VERY busy and even less happy about being disturbed!

Glad to see you've learned something though.

I'll have to take everyone's word for it that this is bad Airbnb etiquette.

Am not sure what OP was supposed to do in that situation, given that adequate inventory hadn't been taken? She had to fix the problem so purchased what was needed and went to restock the property asap. Would it have been reasonable to expect her to hang around all day waiting for the guests to be in?

You were very wrong to not have the right number of mugs plus spare for the number of beds. You very vvvvvvv wrong to enter the property and potentially illegal. It's not a hotel and you had no right to enter it and if I was rented off you I'd be furious and leave a negative review to warn others.

When you're staying in a hotel you know people will be coming in and you have the option to ask them not to.

Sorry I think you are being unreasonable.
He’s highlighted an issue and just contacted you on WhatsApp thinking it was the easiest way.
I also wouldn’t be happy if the host just let themselves in. You could have arranged a time with him to drop off.

I don’t think you can compare with a hotel , I usually put a do not disturb on my door to skip the turn down service. Hotel guests also have access to a safe for valuables if they want to use it. Not sure if you have this available.

Yes.
Its her fault. She already inconvenienced her customer. She should have thought about it before she let an inadequate room without the facilities promised.

I mean, it's not crime of the century, I'm not calling for her execution but yes, she reaps the consequences and learns for next time. And presumably apologies and offers compensation too.

That's business.

She had the man's number so she should have called him and asked him whether she could let herself in, or to find out what time he'd be back to re-deliver.

A full inventory should be done in between guests as standard though, and OP should have a supply of "spares" ready in the event of breakages and losses.

I think items should be checked every time the place is vacated so that this is avoided.

Good point re: safe and do not disturb in hotels.
My rationale was I didn't want to keep disturbing him over these stupid mugs.

But will definitely be doubling the inventory supply. My review rating is 4.85 after 300+ bookings so I never even considered I was doing anything wrong.
I'm very glad I asked!

The excuse about your cleaner normally telling you is a poor one as there wouldn't have been so few of each ofi you'd properly budgeted for 2+ each. Honestly, there should be 2 of everything plus a couple so you aren't 'short ' the instant someone breaks one or walks off with someone. This madness a minimum of 2. Cheap cups aren't expensive so you were incredibly stingy.

I also agree you shouldn't have gone in at least not without messing them first to gain permission.

Mugs work for all beverages, including wine. I don’t really expect proper stemware when renting a kitchen. There needs to be enough for hot beverages though. Those aren’t interchangeable.

it is really frustrating when places furnish to the absolute bare minimum because things do go wrong. Even a guest might break a mug during their stay. It’s not crazy to have a bit extra.

I like renting hotels with small kitchens in the rooms. The provisions are spartan, but they don’t tend to skimp on what is provided.

Yes, definitely a no no to enter without the guests knowledge, it doesn't matter if someone in the past didn't mind, that's irrelevant.

Does the cleaner check all the mugs and glasses each time? If you're in central London isn't it easy to replace really quickly?

I disagree with pp. If I had asked for more cups , toilet paper or whatever and I was going to be out the next day. I'd have expected you to have let yourself in and left the items.

She didn't know they were out. They could have been asleep, having sex, in the shower - who knows.

O but it would've been reasonable to respect the guests privacy and use the WhatsApp details and ask? It would also have been reasonable to not run the lace on the bare minimum, so if an item gets broken they still have sufficient.

As well as your medal for having no glassware standards you can have one for unhelpful commenting, is no one allowed to be different to you?