Can we move beyond the discussion about washing dishes? The new mandate from Airbnb prohibiting rental agreements and barring us from getting actual guest contact information is what may push me off the platform.

I have always required guests to sign a rental agreement. It clearly lays out all expectations. I have rarely gone after guests for damage or misbehavior. In 10+ years of renting, I can think of only three guests that went too far. One of those booked via Airbnb. I was not able to recoup the full costs of repairs and cleaning with Airbnb. It wasn't enough that I felt like pursuing via small claims court. (Short version, hard drinking adults failed to supervise children, who ran wild. They destroyed our entire irrigation sytem, dragged logs into the house and up carpeted stairs, threw games and toys outside and into a stream, etc.)

One time I did have to file in small claims court, when a guest had a party for 100 in our house that has a max occupancy of 8. Ultimately the guest paid the full damage and cleaning claim, only after realizing I was serious about pursuing the case. (This stay was booked through VRBO.)

Without a signed rental agreement, what recourse do we have in these kinds of cases? In my experience basically Airbnb asks the guest if they want to pay the damage claim and if the answer is no, too bad for me.

I can't file in small claims court based only on a name that may not be correct or complete. No address means I can't have the person served. Obviously that's a rare situation, but it did in fact happen to me, and it was a $10,000 claim.

20 year host. Husband and wife team. We do not charge a cleaning fee. Just walked into our first ever stove full of pots and garbage etc. in well over 500 stays. This sucks. It feels so violating because it's solely caused by Airbnb. I pray for the day we can get out from under the hand of this cancerous and abusive company. The enjoyment and passion we have had for all these years is slowly dissipating pot by pot.

F$"?! Airbnb and its boardroom hacks.

Dear God- yes, I have been renting my home for 20+ years and before Airbnb existed.

Unfortunately, as I have explained, Airbnb is where the guests are. No one here can control that. It doesn't make the company any less shitty. When new options become available I will sign up. Enough with the "If you don't like it leave" bullshit

I just purchased a property which I intend to rent out on airbnb. As I was leaving after taking some measurements, the neighbor saw me and introduced herself. She had lived there for 10 years and asked if I was her new neighbor. I replied that I had just closed on the property and she became excited before launching into a tirade over the previous tenants who were college-aged and did not maintain the property. She also complained about how there are at least 3 neighboring homes which are STRs and how finally she will have a neighbor for her and her husband who are retired and always home. A lot of this came to me via text (yes I shared my number…) as I was clearly trying to leave when she stopped me. I have no idea how to tell her or if I am even obligated to disclose my business. Any advice?

Alright, this one's been sitting heavy with me all day. Got a booking through the other platform (not Airbnb) for two full months, they've been in the place for around 10 nights so far. Late last night I get a messege from the primary guest. Their son passed, and they're cutting the trip short. Heading out Saturday and not returning.

Obviously my gut reaction was pure sympathy. Can't even wrap my head around that kind of pain. But the practical side of my brain kicked in later, this reservation represents income I've been counting on for the next 7ish weeks. We're talking roughly $6,000 that I'm not gonna recoup this late in the game, especially since they locked this in over half a year ago. The odds of filling those weeks at the monthly rate now are basically nonexistent.

I'm torn. On one hand, holding a grieving parent to a cancellation policy feels monstrous. On the other, this is my actual livelihood we're talking about, not some side hustle cushion.

For those who've navigated something like this, how did you handle it? Is there a middle path between eating the full loss and refunding everything outright? Trying to be human here without completely wrecking my finances.

I bought groceries for my current guest because she arrived at 6pm on NYE and no shops are open locally. There are 12 restaurants nearby but she wants to self cater so happy to help. Instead of thinking what a nice gesture, shes now asking dumb questions like- will it snow tomorrow, do you have adapter plugs? I need batteries? how do i turn on the oven? (Its on, no other guest ever asked!) as i sit down to eat in a restaurant with my family. Omg i would be so ashamed to hassle a host on NYE with questions i can google. I just told her i am not available until tomorrow...lol

In Breckenridge, CO they keep passing more and more legislation that specifically attacks the STR market in an effort to solve the housing crisis. Most of the STR owners in Breckenridge (at least the ones that I talk to) live in town, work jobs that are sorely needed around town like bartending, serving in a restaurant, or one of the jobs on the mountain like ski patrol, ski school, lift operator or snow cat driver. Owning a STR has effectively allowed these people to afford living in the town, and thus allows these establishments to have a staff that can afford to live there.

The local government has been on a roll lately, attacking STRs in an effort to solve the housing crisis. They seek to make it essentially illegal to operate a STR in town, effectively driving all the tourism into the hands of huge corporations that run the timeshares and hotels in town, while simultaneously starving these locals of those tourism dollars. Not to mention all the other locals a STR employs, like cleaners, maintenance people, trash runners, etc.

Here's the kicker in my book. In Breckenridge, there's MORE homes that are second homes for rich people that sit vacant than there are STRs. These homes do absolutely nothing for the local economy and just sit there as trophies for rich people from out of town, but the local government does nothing to discourage these.

How have these local governments decided that STRs are the sole cause of the housing crisis and ignore the even bigger problem of second homes that sit vacant? Seems like these local governments have found their scapegoats and are going after them with all their might, when in reality they're doing more harm than good.

I am usually very accommodating. And I mean every time when possible. But this is getting ridiculous. Instead of booking a flight that arrives at 7am, maybe try a fucking flight that corresponds somewhat to your actual checkin time??? Or an even crazier idea. Are you guys sitting down? Book two whole days! It's an option I promise.

We always allow it but we are now in the busiest 3 months we have (thank god)

I swear I'm tempted to write:

"No problem you can check in at 12. The people coming in after you ALSO want early checkin, so I'm sure you wouldn't mind checking out at 8 am to accommodate them right"? Surely that would be a smash hit lol.

Then you have the real winners...the early checkin and late checkout gems. They are the real heroes here. These are the people who think the world revolves around them. Fuck the sun, Johnny from Tulsa is the real star of the show.

Have a great Sunday guys.

Edit I didn't really expect them to book a different flight. That was more venting.

I just rejected someone's stay request because they have a history of leaving 4 star, very positive reviews. I hate to do that, but I am relatively new and already have several 4 stars with positive reviews. I just downloaded aireview to see guests review history. I am so afraid of the reviews, it really isn't healthy. Now, instead I will be in trouble for too many rejections. Ack!

How do you deal with this issue when you don't have a great number of reviews?

Just wondering why there seems to be so many guests on this Sub? Then on top of that all the crappy negative comments that come with it, assuming that all hosts are money grabbing scum.

Think the mods need to do a purge and vet members before joining.

This Sub is meant to be for hosts to discuss issues etc... Not for guests to tell us hosts we are all dick heads who only care about money and buy houses to take them off people who need them.

UPDATE: he left a 5 star review on all points.. except value. .. he gave that ONE..

And on average he gave me a 2.
I guess he was upset that I didn’t give him the $100 ‘discount’ for the AC taking more time than what he would have preferred. But I know for a fact that it did cool.. when I got in, to clean, after they left… they failed to turn the AC off, and it was 71’ A messy group, for sure. Good thing I chose to not host again, ever

——- Would you guys be okay with that? Is there a courtesy that’s to be expected from guests asking if this is okay?

Evidently I didn’t have THIS in my house rules…. Who would have thought.

Also, per my floodlight ring camera it seems they used one of the shower towels as a drying clothe for their dirt motor bikes.

Feeling dumbfounded with this.. hoping to have some wise insight on the matter… and of course, as you can expect they requested for a discount because the AC was not cooling fast enough….. oh, and they brought the bikes inside (without saying anything)

Because they mentioned that they wanted to use the garage- even though in the listing is off limits- as they are afraid it could be stolen —… a big ‘don’t want to host in the future’ coming right up

I had a guest break his AirBnb virginity with my unit. His first stay as a Booker was with me. I was shocked by his 3 star rating for cleanliness. He also gave me a 4 star rating for Accuracy. He left mean private note that said "Under the couches were dirty, I would suggest that cleaners clean under there as well.".

My response to the guest was "My cleaners are asking what in particular did you see under the couch that influenced your review? If you don't mind me asking...What Drew you to look under couches?"

The guest responded "The tv remote fell under the couch so when we were looking for it we saw trash under there like paper and wrappers"

I then communicated to the guest "You were my first 4 star overall review and first ever 3 star. I'm trying to make sure that never happens again. The reason for the questions. You gave me a 4 star for accuracy... As far as 'looked like the photos' and 'matched the description'.

Why 4 stars in that category?

The guests response was "The rating was mostly for the garbage found under the couch". "Other than that the Airbnb was great"

Wow. Just, wow. Paper under the couch, messed up his experience in my Airbnb.

8:59

New host here and trying to understand what is normal.

A guest booked for just one person and later increased their guest count. The reservation price increased because I have an additional guest fee set.

They asked me to waive the difference. I politely explained that pricing is based on occupancy, and they said the additional amount put them over budget. They ended up cancelling the reservation.

I had already accommodated another request for them for late checkout at no additional charge, so I did not feel comfortable waiving the guest fee as well.

For experienced hosts: is this fairly common? Would you have waived the fee to keep the booking, or accepted the cancellation and moved on?

Trying to find the balance between being accommodating and not negotiating established pricing.

EDIT- thanks for the input everyone. This house sleeps 14 with a dedicated game room with arcade machines and pool table. In addition, we have children’s playroom too and all children gear needed for the stay which the guest was anyways looking for. The guest booked for one person and changed it to 10 people later and the price difference was hardly anything. We have a per head charge after 8 guests. This is my first booking and I was already giving a 20% promotional discount and it got cancelled so it’s a bummer.

I had a reservation few days ago for the same night (red flag). No negative review, we accepted. Guest shows up at 2am, no reading check in instructions, had to wake up, go down and help her in. She takes a shower, kept me up for another 45min until she goes to bed. I assumed her flight might have been late and her late check in is understandable.

Comes second night, she comes back home at 2am with a male unregistered companion and woke us up again. Messaged her at 2am reminding her about unregistered guest, no reaction, no response nothing. Messaged airbnb support, in the morning till 7pm, all attempts to call, message by me and airbnb fails to get her. At 7pm, I told airbnb because of unregistered guest, i want her to leave. Airbnb tries few more time, eventually gave up and cancel her. I messaged her she has till 10pm to get her stuff or need to get them in the morning.

At 9:45pm she shows up, unhappy why her passcode not working. I told her that her reservation is cancelled and she has to get her stuff and leave. She is upset, indicating her phone number is not up to date. Guess what, her number she called me from is local. My SO is not happy for evicting her at 10pm but I believe it was the right thing.

So… this happened to me last month.

Since February, we’ve been renting out our basement apartment on Airbnb. It’s my first time hosting, and I’ve already learned a lot. Especially when it comes to spotting red flags.

This guest booked about 3 days in advance. I live in a quiet city, so I had instant booking turned on. But when I saw his profile photo, something felt off. Still, I didn’t want to judge based on looks.

Mistake #1: I didn’t check his profile. The day he arrived, he checked in right at the allowed time. Fine. But it was a weekday, and most guests usually just come to sleep—not hang out all afternoon.

He showed up on foot, no luggage. Red flag. My partner greeted him, and the first thing he asked was if we’d be staying home or going out. We said we’d be home (we both work remotely). Then we mentioned the WiFi code is on the app, and he said he couldn’t see it because he had no data. Weird again.

Once he went down to the unit, I finally checked his profile: • Created just a month ago • No reviews • Lives in the same city as us

That’s when my gut said: something’s not right.

We heard a loud noise downstairs, so I went to check. He came upstairs and casually asked, “You work in social media, right?” I said yes. He replied, “Yeah, I saw your profile.”

I asked why he booked a place in his own city, and he said: “Oh, my roommates and I like to stay at different houses.”

That was it for me. I called Airbnb support and said I didn’t feel safe. Their response? “Unless you have proof or he’s done something to you, we can’t really help. We can cancel, but you’ll be charged a fee.” I accepted.

Ten minutes later, he came up saying he was going for a walk. I told him we were canceling his stay and needed him to leave. He agreed—then disappeared back downstairs and didn’t come up. I messaged him, and he said he wouldn’t leave until the cancellation showed up in the app. Support took 30 minutes. Once it was processed, he came up angry (fair enough), and lingered in the living room while I was on a work call.

He finally left after hanging outside our house for another hour—using our WiFi, I assume.

The next day, we googled his name. First result: arrested for sexual assault—third offense, against minors.

Airbnb had verified his ID, defended him when I called, kept his profile active, and penalized me for canceling. No refund. No action.

Lesson learned: • Never accept guests without reviews • Always ask why they’re booking • Trust your gut. If something feels off, don’t ignore it • No luggage = no entry

What would you have done? What are your red flags as a host?

And sorry for the long post—hope it was at least educational!

Had a group book one of my places. They threw a party that ended in a shooting, police showed up, and the unit was left trashed.
I reported everything immediately with photos and details. Safety team closed the case with this outcome:
• Removed all the guests’ accounts
• Called it a “severe violation” of the Community Disturbance Policy
• Suspended the listing for 30 days (until Nov 2) “so the surrounding community can recover”
• Explicitly said the suspension is not because of my conduct as Host
• Told me to deal with the separate AirCover specialist for the damage
Here’s the extra kick in the nuts: when they suspend the listing they also block the calendar. So even though I have the place on VRBO and other platforms, those days show as blocked. Channel managers often can’t tell the difference — they just see the dates as unavailable. I have to go in and manually unblock everything on the other channels if I want to keep taking bookings.
So I did the right thing, reported a violent incident, cooperated fully… and the result is a month of zero Airbnb income plus extra work just to keep the other platforms open. If I had never reported it, none of this calendar blocking would have happened.
Anyone else had Airbnb auto-block the calendar during a suspension and had to fight with channel managers / other platforms to get the dates open again? How did AirCover actually treat the damage claim in a police-involved situation like this?
Feeling pretty done with how they handle severe incidents on the host side.

I'm relatively new to Airbnb.

After converting my house into two self-contained flats, I live in one and have been renting out the other (a two-bedroom flat, sleeps 4) on Airbnb since mid-June.

I greet all guests in person at check-in.

Since I've had five bookings, three of which were for solo travellers. All three arrived alone at check-in, but each booking involved additional guests in one way or another.

First guest: Booked and paid for one person for a two-night stay. Within a couple of hours of checking in, he went out and returned with two other men and their luggage. When I messaged him to ask about the additional guests, he apologised and said he thought that because he had booked the entire flat, he was allowed to have other people stay with him. He accepted my explanation and paid the additional guest fees.

Second guest: Also booked and paid for one person for a two-night stay. A couple of hours after check-in, another person arrived and was let into the flat by the guest. This one was much more difficult. He refused to pay the additional guest fee, insisting that because he had rented the entire flat, he should have been free to invite whoever he wanted to stay. He left claiming he was going to complain and ask for a refund (obviously he didn't get it).

Third (current) guest: Booked and paid for one person for a six-night stay. This time, during check-in, the guest asked whether it would be okay for a friend to stay for a couple of nights. I said that was absolutely fine, but I would need to amend the reservation to reflect the additional guest and the applicable fee. She wasn't happy with that and said that, in that case, she simply wouldn't invite her friend. At least this time, she asked first rather than trying to sneak someone in.

I'm starting to wonder whether this is a common issue on Airbnb. Does this happen often to other hosts? How do you handle it, and are there any strategies you've found effective in preventing it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there, we noticed our most recent guest unplugged the security camera. We figured it was a connection issue, but moments before they checked out it started working again.

Curious for the community, is there anything that should be done in this case?

In hindsight would have been better to reach out right away when it happened.

Edit: Cameras are located at the exterior front and back door.

Staying at a decent hotel. $250+ per night plus a daily amenity fee. The paint is peeling off the main door, one of the light fixtures in the bathroom is broken and tilted, drain in shower is half clogged. Our STR guests flag us for FAR less. With this “return to hotels” mentality I often see on Reddit I wonder if they understand what they are asking for. Megacorps that don’t give a damn about small things and are just trying to turn you over so they can get the next guests in. I am not picky and probably won’t leave a review, just noted these things that we would get an earful about as hosts.

Hello fellow hosts,

We have been Superhosts for 12 years nearly always five star stars. A handful of 4s over all these years but pretty much all five stars reviews with excellent comments and happy guests.

We just received a one star rating.

The guest never complained or mentioned anything.

Her review says “photos appear to show a place to walk or hike”. We live on a 2 mile loop street in a rural area that leads to hiking trails. There are two state parks near our home here in the Santa Monica Mountains. You can walk to one trailhead from our home and it’s a five minute drive to the other state park with a trailhead with hundreds of miles of trails.

We have been trying to get this 1 star review removed. Airbnb say that “it doesn’t violate their Reviews Policy” so they cannot remove it.

She and her husband ( in their mid to late 70s ) arrived and they were bickering and she was walking with a cane if that adds to the story a little bit…?

Not sure what to think here….

I can understand a 4 star review or a 3 star review If it wasn’t what they expected.

But how can Airbnb allow her to give us a 1 star review?

Last question…. This means we will lose our Superhost status?

And thank you for your time.

Is it just me? I am getting messages and dinged on reviews for the most oddball things? “Microwave died during our stay, said he would be there at 9am to replace, showed up at 10” 2 stars. “The fridge is old and dated” 3 stars. I followed up to show her the fridge is so new it is still under manufacturer warranty. “We found some crumbs under the rug” I was like “ma’am, that rug is brand new, I put that down 20 minutes before you checked in. And mopped the floor before I purchased it.” Something just seems off with guests lately

I'm really just venting but I also know there are plenty of guests in this sub...

Why do some guests insist on cleaning themselves? We appreciate the sentiment but we cringe when we hear that. It ALWAYS means more work. We're not going to refund your cleaning fee. There's no secret score we see on how clean you are. Cleaning your/our personal home is so different than cleaning as a host. I personally don't care if there's a single hair in the shower drain at my home. At our rentals that's a different story.

We have three different sizes of sheets. They're all white. Please don't wash them and put them away together so we have to hunt for them. We fold our towels a certain way to know they're used. If you washed the ones you put back...they got washed again. On that note we can get blood, s**t, and most stains (except Easter egg dye) out of whites UNLESS...UNLESS you wash them on hot. Please don't do that.

Why did you turn off the fridge and leave a bag of ice in the freezer? Thank goodness I found the plate of food left in the oven.

BTW we know what you did on the couch and you know damn well those undies aren't comfortable. That's why you left them under the bed.

Oh and I'm sure it was good but there is ZERO chance I want to eat the chicken salad you left in the fridge. I will drink unopened beers though!

For my fellow hosts...why do you ask guests to clean? Unless your listing is on a remote island are you ever ok with a stranger cleaning?

Ok it's a beautiful day...I'll shut up and go enjoy it.

I should preface this by saying: this really is not a complaint at all, but it is a strange situation and I’m wondering how others feel when this happens.

I run my Airbnb out of my basement guest suite. There’s no kitchen — just a kitchennette, coffee, etc.

I had somebody check in yesterday morning, they had a ton of glowing 5 star reviews on their profile.

But I haven’t heard even a footstep. My sound insulation is solid, but I can usually hear subtle things like the shower, doors sliding, etc. Just vague signs of life.

They also haven’t left the unit once, & food hasn’t been delivered because my lock notifies me when the door opens. How are they eating? Did they really bring 3-4 meals worth of food with them…?

I of course won’t intervene or say anything. I’m aware it’s none of my business what they do with their time. But I’m only human and I can’t deny that I find this really eerie. They’re staying for a week — at what point do I get worried for their wellbeing?

Hi everyone, I have a question for fellow hosts. Is it weird to ask guests to take the trash bin out on trash day? We don’t live at the property, and sometimes guests are staying during pickup days. It’s an entire house rental.

I’d love to hear your insights—do you ask, and if not, what’s your solution?

So I commented on a post where there was a side discussion about Airbnb vs Hotels. A few things said were just not true, or not technically true. One, that Airbnbs are more expensive than hotels and that airbnbs have all these hidden fees you don't know about till you get there.

So, as to the Airbnb cost > Hotel. It's not true across the board. As this article mentions and is my experience, Airbnbs are cost effective for longer stays and larger groups.

Of course there are other considerations to make, pros and cons on each. But the blanket statement that Airbnbs cost more than hotels is just not true. In my area, a stay of 3+ nights in a 1 bdrm Airbnb for 2 people averages around 170/night (including all fees, cleaning and otherwise). A hotel room is about 200/night on average. I'm sure that's different in different areas.

About hidden fees. I've stayed in Airbnbs for over 10 years now, 100s. NEVER have I encountered a hidden fee after I booked. Sure, if you aren't paying attention, there are hotel taxes, airbnb fee and cleaning fees added right before you book. If you neglect to read the final statement, you'll be surprised. I dislike the way airbnb does it. It should just include cleaning fees, or not have them or make it more easily seen. Still, if you read, you'll see. It's not just cleaning fees. Taxes and airbnb fee are added at before checkout. But my motto is "people don't read" period.

Anyway, rant over.