A few scenes from the life of a vacation rental agent
Morning, coffee. And the moment when you receive an email from the owner of the villa that you recently accepted into short-term rental, asking you why Airbnb is actually locating his house in the middle… of the Mediterranean Sea, somewhere between Morocco and Algeria.
What you’ll find in the article:
- Villa in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea
- Complicated induction stove operation
- Breakfast with home delivery
- Trip for locked keys
Villa in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea
Morning, coffee. And that moment when you receive an email from the owner of the villa that you recently accepted into short-term rental, asking you, why Airbnb is actually locating his house in the middle… of the Mediterranean Sea, somewhere between Morocco and Algeria. You check, indeed: the address matches, but the location on the map does not. And no one knows why. Airbnb support also doesn’t know, but promises to fix the error. And you, the owner – unfortunate tech enthusiast familiar with tourism system systems, because he’s been creating them himself for 20 years – spends the entire day explaining how dramatically this error affects the visibility of his villa in search results. You feel like a complete fool because you’re blamed for the system error, over which you have no control. Fortunately, Airbnb updates the location within a few hours. Now the villa is in Marbella, and you inform the owner of this, and in response, you get an email saying that it’s perfect, but… why isn’t there any mention of a smoke detector in the property description on Airbnb? Curtain.
Complicated induction stovetop operation
Evening. You get information that in one of the apartments, where tenants moved in a few hours ago, the stove isn’t working. Knowing that the tenants’ English is very poor, you write to them instead of calling, assuming it will be easier for you to communicate that way. In response,you get a video message in which the tenant presents his uneven battle with the induction stove. He turns it on and waits. The stove turns off, and he turns it on again – and waits. You suggest further steps, such as choosing a burner, setting the level of heat – the man states he has done that, but the stove still isn’t working. You wonder whether to suggest putting a pot on the stove, because it feels a bit strange to write about such obvious things, but you do it anyway. According to the tenant, the stove still doesn’t work. You ask if they’ll need the stove today or if you can come the next day to help. So you come. You perform all the steps described the previous evening, finish by placing a pot on the stove, and – miraculously! – the stove comes to life. The tenant says: “that was easy” and immediately adds: “life is easy.” You agree completely. Curtain.
Breakfast with home delivery
Around midnight. A ping from a text message. You read it and can’t believe your eyes, so you read it again. The lady who arrived that day at the tiny apartment in Riviera del Sol writes: “For breakfast we want rolls, butter, eggs, tomatoes, and orange juice”. You pause for a moment, wondering if it’s a joke. You haven’t mentioned anywhere that breakfast is offered… You check your previous correspondence with this lady, because maybe she actually ordered extra services before and you forgot? No. So you politely reply that yes, we can do her grocery shopping for breakfast, and the price for such service is 50 EUR. You also suggest that a shop 150 meters from the apartment is quite well-stocked. You don’t get a reply. Curtain.
Trip for locked keys
4 a.m. You turn off the sound on your phone for the night, but the vibration is enough to wake you. The tenant calls, definitely at a “good” hour. He reports that: when leaving, they locked the door, and all the keys, as it turns out, are in the house. They’ve just realized and ask you to come and open the door with the spare key, which you accidentally admitted possessing when greeting them upon arrival. Cursing under your breath, you get in your car and drive 30 km one way to save the tenants from sleeping on the beach. You arrive, no one is by the house. You knock, and… the guests, excited, open the door cheerfully reporting that one of them got in through the window and opened the door for the others. They feel a bit stupid for forgetting to tell you, but since you’re already there, maybe you’ll stay for a drink? Curtain.
The scenes described from vacation rentals on Costa del Sol really happened. Fortunately, not on the same day 🙂