In case you’re unfamiliar with Airbnb, normal people can rent their own home (of any size) while not using it, or even an extra room while they are there, to complete strangers. On one side, owners can make some spare change when out of town, and on the other side people can live in a fully functional home, outside of the constraints of a hotel. Yet, whichever side of the table you’re on, the etiquette of Airbnb is something we must all agree on. So, before you bunker down on a coastal dream home for the weekend, or studio in the city, check out my top three quick and dirty for Proper Airbnb Etiquette:
Tip #1: It’s NOT Your Normal Hotel
When you stay at a hotel, you can technically be as sloppy as you like, without a getting in trouble. Not the most mannerly thing, of course, but you can get away with it. From leaving towels on the floor to not making the bed, hotels are like a teenager’s paradise. In fact, I have friends who work at hotels and tell guests, “No, don’t clean that up—we’ll get it for you!” as if every guest is the Duke and Duchess of York. Now, as much as I appreciate the concept of being a good host, as hotels are judged on, an Airbnb room is NOT a hotel. In fact, Airbnb fancies themselves as the alternative to a hotel and, with that, do not have to abide by the same rules and guidelines. One of those major guidelines is the fact that you’re dealing with personal property, not a corporation’s property. And regardless of where you sit on the whole “corporations as people” debate, in this situation, Airbnb is a corporation, and the places you stay are very much personal. That bed you sleep in, the couch you watch TV on, and the carpet you run around, are all the property of a willing party that has to use that same property once you leave... and call home. With that, you can’t approach an Airbnb stay the same way you would a hotel room.
Take Joann from DC, who Airbnb’d her condo to a four young guys in town for Memorial Day weekend. Turns out, despite their buttoned up LinkedIn profiles, the boys were anything but class acts. The laundry list of things they did wrong is too much for this episode, but from Joann’s email, trust me, they weren’t winning Airbnb's Guests of the Year Awards. Put it this way: Joann learned that it takes three rounds of professional cleaning to get her place back in shape. Sure, she had to file a complaint with Airbnb, but that didn’t fix her situation of having to clean up after improper Airbnb guests. Maybe in a Hilton, the guys could have gotten away with being incredibly sloppy and ungrateful, suffering maybe a ping on your credit card, but not with an Airbnb. If you prefer to be an unmannerly Airbnb guest, it could come back to you in many more ways than a charge on your card. See, Airbnb owners, don’t have to suck up to you like a hotel does. If they get mad at you, they can ruin your life! In fact, one Airbnb owner (not Joann) took to a guest’s Facebook page to vent about their lack of respect for the Airbnb owner’s property. In the end, if you plan to stay at an Airbnb, make sure you remember there is a real person who owns that lounge chair you are sitting on while you eat pizza.
Tip #2: Nothing Illegal
Needless to say, no one in Mannerly Nation would dare use an Airbnb room for illegal purposes, but apparently other people feel that an Airbnb room is your own personal escape. In an article about bad Airbnb stories, I uncovered a plethora of even worse Airbnb guests than I could imagine. From a pop-up meth lab to fraud and even a brothel of sorts, Airbnb rooms are being used for much more than your normal ho-hum weekend getaway. So unless you want to become the topic of a crime scene investigation, or secure a prime slot on the local news, I highly recommend not improperly using an Airbnb room for anything other than rest and relaxation. Despite the Law & Order SVU style mishaps of some Airbnb’ers, when you’re a guest at an Airbnb, it’s improper to even slightly test the limits of what is considered “against the rules.” Be it rules of the house or rules of Airbnb, when you’re a guest in an Airbnb room (as I said in Tip #1), the rules of what you can get away with, are not the same as a hotel.
One situation where things can cross that thin line is when Evan and his girlfriend rented an Airbnb room while visiting San Diego. They had a beautiful apartment on the water and invited some friends who lived in town to their place. Well, turns out their friends invited some other friends. However, in the midst of the gathering were some college kids that were not 21 but that didn’t stop them from enjoying some adult beverages. Now, I’m no square, and I do realize college kids drink, but here you are using someone’s house for an illegal purpose. If this was a hotel, it could probably go unnoticed (which doesn’t make it right) but with an Airbnb room, there are neighbors who do not rent out their place yet have to tolerate the one person that does. Now the issue was dealing with technically legal activity that could put said Airbnb’er in serious hot water. Like I said, an Airbnb is not your house or a hotel, it’s someone’s personal property with neighbors that can easily sniff out anything shady going on in their neighborhood. Bottom line, if you’re showcasing sketchy activity in an Airbnb room, there will be many eyes on you. As well, if you throw a massive party, you’ll be caught. So, if you want to play the roll of a rock star and live it up, rent a pent house at a hotel and have at it, but in an Airbnb you have to party responsibly.
Tip #3: Choose Wisely
On the surface, Airbnb is an open door to an affordable dream vacation. Seriously, go online and take a look at all the choices out there. A beach front property on the water, a log cabin by a lake, or the hottest block in Manhattan, all cheaper than a standard hotel, and all at your fingertips. With that, people can get a little overzealous with the room selection only to have an Airbnb room of their dreams resemble more of a fixer upper than the cover of a postcard. Problem is, you’re stuck with it. What you click is what you get. Unlike a hotel, you can’t call the front desk, list your complaints, and get upgraded. Sure, you can rip the Airbnb owner on a review but once you’re moved in, you have to buckle down or take it as a loss and rent another place until you get your money back (even if you do). So, before you select what seems to be paradise, make sure your needs are properly addressed by thoroughly vetting the Airbnb room.
Here’s a unique difference between a hotel and an Airbnb room: an Airbnb room has an active body behind it, trying to dress it up to be sold, whereas a hotel room is one of several hundred in a chain of several hundred buildings. Knowing this, hotels can lose sight of each and every room while an Airbnb owner is highly invested in making their one room look like Shangri-La. In turn, some places may not be as glamorous as you would expect. Keeping that in mind, it’s always proper to highly investigate the room the reviews and go off suggestions of others. After all, “walking distance to Central Park” can mean many different things. And if you do find that you’ve been taken by an Airbnb owner, it’s perfectly proper to take your grief to review boards. You can’t let Airbnb owners get away with tricking people with descriptions just to make some extra cash at your expense.
As always, if you have another manners question, I look forward to hearing from you at manners@quickanddirtytips.com. Follow me on Twitter @MannersQDT, and of course, check back next week for more Modern Manners Guy tips for a more polite life.
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