Dealing With Potential Hosting Challenges: From Hosting Snafus To Problem Guests
Hosting isn’t always pretty flowers and fluffing pillows. Sometimes the sink leaks, you try to fix it yourself, and the next thing you know the whole bathroom is filling up with water. Guests are arriving in five minutes. And the plumber isn’t answering his phone. Not that that’s EVER happened to me (wink). So, what happens when you mess up while hosting or something major breaks?
What the heck can you possibly do as a host when:
The house cleaner doesn’t show up and the new guests are about to check-in
The fridge breaks or the toilet stops working
There’s an ant infestation, bear break-in, or worse?
The reality is that regardless of how much you prepare and prevent issues, there WILL be challenges with hosting. But, as a host, you can plan ahead and be ready for problems to arise, and know how to fix them. First, before we even get to the problems caused by you OR your guest, let’s look at ways that the problem could have been prevented in the first place.
how you can plan ahead to prevent problems while hosting:
Communicate clearly, consistently, and briefly! Keep a SHORT set of house rules that are very clear, brief, and repeat them in multiple places: your listing, your check-in instructions, your welcome book. Communicate how to use appliances and anything quirky about your space.
Schedule routine maintenance. Every home is different, so what does your home need to be kept in top shape? Our casita needs an annual HVAC maintenance person, so I hire out for that. We also need to change the air filters, clean out the washing machine drain and dryer vent, snake the sink drains, and put ant traps under the kitchen cabinets, so I do those. Put into your calendar the tasks that your home needs to prevent issues.
Keep a list of emergency helpers on hand. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC specialist, house cleaners, fumigators, and a backup host. If you know who you’ll call and if they know you, the problem will likely get solved more quickly.
What you should do if the problem was caused by you (the host) or the home:
Don’t overpromise, but do over communicate. Start with an apology, express empathy, and then communicate what you’re doing to fix the problem, even if you don’t have an answer yet. So, you might say “I’m calling the three plumbers I have on my list and I’ll get back to you in an hour and let you know if I have a time yet when they’ll be here.” You probably don’t know yet how you’re going to fix it, but communicating what you’re trying to do will make them feel heard and will let your guest know that you’re working on finding a solution.
Sprinkle in empathy. The key to this is to communicate that you understand what they’re feeling. You’ve also been a guest, and you know how aggravating it can be when things aren’t up to your expectations. Then, offer a meaningful gift to make up for whatever inconvenience is happening. A few examples could be pizza delivery, homemade cookies, a gift card to the local coffee shop or brew pub, or a discount on their stay.
To summarize:
1. Apologize
2. Empathize (“I know how annoying this must be!”)
3. Share your plan, even if you don’t have the full answer yet
4. Consider giving a partial refund
5. Food, really. Order your guests a pizza (ask first), or bring them a gift card to the local diner, coffee shop or brewery. Wine, beer, coffee are great, too. Seriously, when I asked other hosts how they solve problems - FOOD was the most common answer.
Even with your best intentions as a host, it can still be hard to know what to say to calm a tense situation. You want to show a guest that you understand and are trying to fix the problem, but it can be awkward. Instead of getting emotional.
Here are 8 phrases to say that show a guest empathy:
Tell me more about what happened / what’s going on / what’s broken?
I really appreciate you letting us know so that we can fix it
The least I can do is offer you ____ (one night free, a discount, a bottle of wine, a gift card to our local diner, etc)
I’ll send you an update by 3pm
I know how frustrating it is when ___
Of course you were expecting ___ (a perfectly clean and ready rental), and instead we have _____ (a mess, a broken bathroom).
I’m so sorry. Let’s figure out what we can do to make it right.
This is my top priority right now and here are a few things I’m going to try to fix it
Ok, ok, so the HOUSE wasn’t the problem, but the guest was the problem?
Even though its rare, we hosts know that sometimes you have a guest who doesn’t follow the house rules and you wish they never booked your place.
What happens when your guest invites 20 friends over, has dogs sleeping in the beds and chewing the walls in your no-pet home, or let’s their 4-year-old make strawberry smoothies with the top off the blender?
What should you say when the problem IS the guest?! Here’s my advice.
1. Be consistent, brief, and clear with house rules. No parties. No outdoor noise past 10pm. No pets. Again, you need specific and clear house rules posted in multiple places (listing, check-in instructions, house manual, welcome note) so that you can refer back to them if needed.
2. Don’t get emotional. If rules are broken, don’t rage. Be firm and clearly state the facts. Our policy is ____. State the consequences if the rules are broken.
3. If parties are recurring, state the max number of guests and 'no parties' in house rules and check-in instructions. Airbnb has a rule of no more than 16 guests at ANY rental.
4. If you have a hunch that your guests are planning a party, remind them of the rules. If you can, remind guests “for security, we have an outside camera installed.” And, get that installed before this happens. Always give Airbnb a heads up when you suspect a party is planned.
5. What if the party’s already underway? Remind them of the rules, and that the neighborhood is family-friendly. Ask them to keep the noise down. If they don’t, contact Airbnb to cancel the reservation. Limit your communication with the guest and go directly to Airbnb.
6. Property damage. Charge a security deposit with every booking. Take photos. Don’t clean until you’ve done that. Contact the guest, state the facts of what you found and that they’ll need to pay for damages from the security deposit. Make this request within 2 weeks of checkout, or it's too late. Contact Airbnb immediately to make a record.
7. If damage is a recurring issue, create a separate rental agreement outside of Airbnb. Consider raising your rates to cover costs and the perceived value of your listing.
8. Don’t make threats, get angry, or contact your guest OFF platform. Keep it factual - what you saw, what happened, not how it makes you feel.
9. Respond to a negative review politely. One negative review isn’t a big deal! Keep a high average rating - but don’t worry about one ding.
10. Sprinkle in kindness. We’re all human. Be understanding and empathetic whenever possible.