Airbnb Host Explains Why He Canceled His Guest’s Reservation On Check-In Day

Airbnb used to be an almost utopian way to vacation or visit another city. For often much less money and hassle than a hotel, you can stay in a real home with all the amenities you would have on your own.

In recent years, of course, the flowering has rapidly disappeared, mainly due to increasingly greedy and demanding guests. However, one Airbnb host shared a story that illustrates that as annoying as Airbnb has become, many guests are also ruining the system.

The Airbnb host explained why he canceled a guest’s reservation on the day of check-in.

Airbnb host and TikToker @crazyairbnbstories uses the platform to share exactly what his username suggests: crazy stories from the often bizarre world of renting out your home to strangers.

Of course, if you’ve been just about anywhere since the pandemic, let alone traveled, you’ve probably noticed that everyone seems to have lost their minds and, with it, their sense of decorum. So you probably guess what the daily life of the host looks like in front of the public!

A story he shared in a recent video is a perfect example. “I just canceled Airbnb guests,” he said, “because they are very annoying and crossed the line with me.”

The host said the problems began when guests requested an early check-in on short notice.

The host said he had quite a bit of interaction with the guests before their stay, which in hindsight seems to have been a clue as to what was to come. This ultimately resulted in a request for early registration.

He explained to the customer that his cleaning crew would be there until approximately 2:30 p.m. Since everything was already scheduled, he couldn’t give them much leeway like he could have done if they had given advance notice.

“They weren’t very happy,” he said, but there really wasn’t much he could do at that point. So the guests decided to take matters into their own hands.

Guests arrived hours early while previous guests were still in Airbnb.

What ensued was exactly the kind of debacle that tends to happen when people who refuse to take no for an answer decide to do what they want anyway. “They are arriving today at 10:30 in the morning,” the host said, “the other guests are leaving at 11, so they are still here.”

As expected, the host’s phone immediately blew up with calls and messages from people still present. Now, he said, “they feel uncomfortable” and rushed out of the Airbnb they rightfully paid for.

The host then had to call the new guests and say, “Please go somewhere else for the next 2-3 hours.” For example, my cleaning lady isn’t even here yet. Not surprisingly, they refused.

The host then canceled their reservation on the spot after insisting on waiting for hours at the property.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve stayed in a lot of Airbnbs in my day, and none of them have ever worked well with my flying time – you always have to waste a little time . That’s just part of the deal, and it’s no different with hotels, which often have even later check-in times!

Maria Markevich | Shutterstock

But that didn’t matter to these people. When the host asked them to go kill a few hours, they insisted on waiting on site while the previous tenants left and the cleaning crew reset the space.

“And to that I said, okay, I’ll cancel your reservation,” the host said. “Look elsewhere. When you endanger another one of my reservations and/or my housekeeper, I will cancel the stay at your expense.”

People on TikTok were firmly on his side – not only because of the fundamental lack of courtesy shown by customers, but also because of the security concerns the situation presented. “I clean empty Airbnbs for a reason,” one cleaner said in the comments, referring to the fact that guests standing around could be dangerous.

Almost everyone agreed that the host dodged a bullet, because if that was how he handled the recording, imagine how they would have treated his property all week. Something really seems to have happened to people’s brains, where their sense of entitlement has soared at the same rate as their common courtesy has diminished – and no one is forced to accept it.

John Sundholm is a writer, editor and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. It covers topics related to culture, mental health and human interests.