All Forum Posts by: Julie McCoy

@Melissa Bovee Beats having to set up a new PMS, for sure!  And no fun to figure it out because automated messages were missed :p  Hope it fixed the problem!

@Melissa Bovee I've been using YourPorter and PriceLabs and have not experienced any issues!  There's always quirks with getting these different programs to work together and this pairing is no different, but there is supportive documentation to get the two to play nice in the sandbox together, and so far my automated messaging has been unaffected.  

I have a wonderful 13-year-old Papillon who I travel with frequently, so I have empathy for pet owners seeking accommodations that include their pets.  However, the only animal allowed to stay at my properties is MY dog, for all the reasons @Luke Carl enumerated.  (at my first VR, which had a separate apartment I kept for personal use, I wouldn't even allow my dog in the main house.  He would wait at the door whenever I was in there)

Now, the parrot story (I think they were really parakeets, some small bird, but w/e).  This was at my first VR, in a small town by the entrance to Sequoia National Park in California.  I actually did have a PM there, since there was not a lot of infrastructure/resources to address any last-minute issues, he was worth his weight in gold.  Mix of guests (frequently international) who were traveling to see the Park, and weekend stays from California locals from Los Angeles or the Bay Area.  I had one CA family book for a weekend, my PM goes to meet them as is his custom there.  He calls me after:

"Did you know they brought birds?"  "BIRDS?"  "Yes, there's two or three birds in there, I didn't see a cage."

I lost my mind.  Bad enough there were birds in general, but UNCAGED?  I have a hard time imagining something more disgusting.  I immediately called AirBNB, who of course wanted incontrovertible proof that there were birds, which led to a stealth video from my PM, etc. etc. nonsense.  Get the OK to kick them out.

Then the lady calls me begging to stay.  I'm like, WTF, there are NO ANIMALS allowed in my house and you have MULTIPLE BIRDS OUT OF CAGES POOPING AND PEEING IN MY HOUSE.  Absolutely not, this is not negotiable.  She tells some sob story about how care for them fell through at the last minute, and they're very clean people and birds (there is no such thing as a clean bird) they'll leave the place better than they found it, please let them stay.  I'm like, no, the birds need to leave my house this instant.

So she says okay, she will put them in their cage and put the cage outside, the birds won't come back inside for the rest of the stay, is that alright?

Now, it's summer in central California.  That's triple-digit heat.  Putting the birds outside, even on the shaded porch, does not seem like a wise idea to me.  But it was her idea, she's begging, and finally I fold, mainly because I don't want the hassle of trying to actually kick them out.

I will give them credit: my housekeeper said they left the house immaculate.  Apparently the birds survived the heat, as I never heard anything more about it.  But to this day, even though I no longer own that property, I shudder to think of birds peeing on my sofa.  I don't care how quickly you clean it up, there's no undoing that.

@Alex Sabio Congratulations, best of luck on your new venture!

When I decide to do something, I do it.

@Danielle Witte I use Avalara MyLodgeTax to get all my necessary permits and file my taxes correctly and promptly.  Literally could not do this without them, the tax compliance is complex in my area and they make it easy.  I have no problem with a company that makes compliance easier on hosts, who should always be vigilant to act in compliance with local regulations.

 I have to admit I don't have the exact metric but net = 40% of gross is a solid estimate.

@Joseph Prohaska My cleaners are already trained to detect bedbugs, I didn't have to train them.  They trained ME!  Professional cleaners shouldn't need to be trained by owners on things like that.  The particulars of how I like my cabin set up?  Sure.  The particulars of doing their job well?  I fully expect them to be on top of that.

@Justin Anderson I've heard those stories anecdotally and they always make me nuts because first of all, screw their "free vacation", and second of all, it makes me want to bill them for bedbug treatment.  Hopefully all who try that are karmically paid back by bringing the bedbugs home with them.  

I always managed HA through VRBO anyway, they may as well have been the same thing.

Bedbugs suck.  Big time.  But what @Luke Carl said is correct - you cannot 100% prevent them.  All you can do is treat as quickly and effectively as possible.  Your cleaners are your #1 bedbug detection system - they should be checking the sheets and mattresses during each clean for any signs of them, and can save your bacon if they detect them before a guest does!