Dealing with the crazies trying to check in

See, the problem with the "interesting guest" room is that the problem people aren't just weird or off putting...So it's not enough to isolate them. They can be drug addicts or thieves who steal from other guests or destroy the room. Luckily though, I find the crazies and crackheads almost never book in advance. They are always walk ins. It is always uncomfortable having to make up lies to turn them away though. I used to be a lot less judgmental and give people a chance if they looked only a little off but now I am EXTREMELY judgemental. If I get even a whiff of sketchiness, they aren't staying here. I've learned my lesson because EVERY TIME I "gave someone a chance" it ended up coming back to bite me in some way eventually. It's pretty easy to see what kind of guest a person will be by their initial demeanour, dress, amount of baggage etc.

Plakian, you are far from a city -- do you get shady characters applying to stay in your hostel?

We did not open the hostel yet (it is under construction), but if you allow me to tell you something from a previous experience in other type of business, let me begin of telling you that I am a psychiatrist, had work in the largest psychiatric hospital in my country (Argentina), BUT the most disturbing people I have seen was not in my office or hospital, but in my previous shop.

I agree that a 6th sense can be developed after a while of treating people, but be prepared for the ones that we are not going to detect. Well looking people, with good manners, can react unexpectedly.