Lay My Hat

I've moved to Friday changeovers where I can because it's much easier to get tradespeople on a Friday. So for example, new dishwasher delivered and plumbed in, new mattress, repair to shower all done without having the house off the market or paying weekend call out fees. Have also noticed that peop...

Friends of ours have a house with a spiral stair case in their guest apartment. I'm able bodied but hate it because I can see through between the treads. It's near impossible to get a small roller case up and they keep a second vacuum in the room to save getting it up and down. I often rent houses o...

There is a story in Dingle about the Japanese tourists who took a taxi to the far end of the peninsula to go for an 8 hour walk. When the taxi driver got back they said they had not moved for 8 hours because of the giant rats. Further explaination lead to the fact that they had mistaken the sheep dr...

We have used Airbnb for the past 4 years. They have got much worse during this time as have the guests. I really can't see why they are trying to get more people to sign up when they can already no longer service the hosts that are with them. Nothing is quick and easy any more and it is nearly impos...

Airbnb seems to drop into a hole every summer. I am getting no SMS or email notifications and can only see enquiries and questions from guests by going all the way through my inbox. It's infuriating for all concerned and affects my response rate!

We have a continual problem with our guests feeding the feral cats which makes the farmer next door angry as he needs them to hunt in his barns. No matter how many notices we put up about feeding the cats, people will do it. This has now made the cats so bold that they will now try and jump up throu...

We had a guest ring the cleaner at 5am asking her to bring over an extra roll of loo paper because their daughter had a cold.

I've just turned down a booking from Airbnb because the guests said 'we have posted a picture of our backyard because we don't want people to be able to recognise us on line.'

We had guests who glued the handle back on the teapot. Luckily I spotted it, bit it could have been a real disaster.

I've been plagued this weekend by Airbnb guests wanting to bring more than the number for the house. One guest wanted to bring an extra 5 children! I'm wondering if this is because they are miss reading the site in the way suggested.

I've got very firm about turning down Airbnb bookings where people try to add extra people. Just had very cross group because I won't accept 9 plus two children and a baby for a house that sleeps 8 and which is totally unsuitable for small children. Have offered them a larger house but of course the...

My Bosch did 25 years. Friends who had the same model had theirs for 32.

Say 'no' firmly. You have standards to keep up and they booked knowing what time your check in was. It's not as if there isn't plenty they could go to on their way in your part of Derbyshire.

Boil water on the hob with some spices in it. The steam helps the smoke particles fall to the ground where you can hoover them up. Don't forget to change the hoover bag afterwards.

We get good results for our eco-cottage through Airbnb. I would also try and get in touch with some of the journalists who write about the outdoors and promote it to them. A blog might also help. Have you thought about trying to get an article into some of the adventure magazines? I think it would a...