Brinn Tomes

Guest mined bitcoin off my electricity. No fair-use clause? My bill.

Host walks the yard. Discovers bitcoin mining rigs set up across the property. Probably inside too. He wanted to know if he had grounds to stop it.

A 'fair use policy' clause in T&Cs is the difference between 'you can't claim that back' and 'here's the invoice.' Most hosts don't have one because they've never imagined the scenario.

What's the wildest thing you've caught a guest doing inside your property?

Cobras in the kitchen. Cape Town. Refund demands? Zero.

I ran 100 properties on Cape Town's Table Mountain Range. Cobras came inside the houses sometimes — part of the territory. Nobody asked for a refund.

Now I see hosts demanding refunds because the guest saw a mouse.

You can't control what comes through the door from outside. You CAN control whether you're proactive about pest control.

What's the strangest refund demand you've ever gotten?

If a robot could do one part of your hosting work tomorrow...

What's the ONE thing you'd automate first? Guest comms? Cleaner dispatch? Pricing? Reviews?

Comment below. Most-wanted automation gets a tutorial post.

I ran 100 properties from my phone. For 9 months. Traveling.

The secret wasn't grit. It was the PMS pick — one that exported data via JSON/Zapier. Automated guest invoices, payments, contracts, cleaners, maintenance.

I was free to travel with my daughter while the system handled bookings.

Automation isn't a luxury for 30+ properties. It's what lets ONE owner run a single property like a portfolio.

If you could automate ONE thing tomorrow, what would it be?

30 minutes from a fix. Guest left anyway.

Guest arrives — key missing. Host offers an alternative entrance, says he'll be there in 30 mins. Guest leaves before he arrives, claims unsafe. Later: the second key WAS there. They lied. Host offered 40% goodwill refund. Guest demanded 100%.

When you're actively solving and the guest leaves anyway — you didn't fail. They chose.

How much would YOU refund a guest who left before you could fix the problem?

Speed beats price more often than you'd think.

How fast do you reply to a new booking inquiry? Top hosts reply in under 5 minutes.

Be honest in the comments — what's your average?

Hide the construction. Lose the review. Every time.

Two hosts. Both had planned construction during a guest stay. One wanted to wait and hope guests wouldn't notice. The other was asking what to do.

Transparency upfront beats damage control later. Tell the guest now. Discount slightly for disruption. Protect the review.

Have you ever hidden something about your property hoping the guest wouldn't notice?

If they can't follow one rule before they arrive, they won't follow any.

A host required a code word at the bottom of the house rules — proof guests had read them. One booking took 23 HOURS to send the code. Three weeks later, that same guest asked twice about the same rule.

Red flags arrive before the guest does. Pattern recognition saves stays.

What's the earliest red flag you've spotted in a guest?

Pattern recognition saves stays.

What's the earliest red flag you've ever spotted in a guest? Did you act on it — or let it slide?

Tell me in the comments. I'll share what I would've done.