Lots of complaints as of recent from hosts offering the best of deals.

Please:

Take your shoes off! Especially in the winter! A universal complaint.

Don't scatter your socks around!

Take a few lessons on how to use the toilet. A particularly sore point. Will someone tell me how women managed to leave their fluids all over?!

Show up when expected.

Practice your negotiating ability elsewhere. Why the cheaper the offer the more likely prospective guests are to bargain?! And the more of a deal they get the more they shit around?! I have no choice but to urge hosts on this list not to give discounts and to dismiss stories to the effect that the traveller deserves special considerations.

Carry out your garbage!

Don't visit porn sites with viruses from the host's computer you are allowed to use.
Otherwise go to to a specialized establishment that at the staff and resource to clean after you.

Absolutely no pocketing things! Usually missing items are noticed after western travellers invite their Russian friends. No local friends, especially girlfriends! Russia has a huge underclass. Chances are your average off the street acquaintance is not at all the sort your host wants to see. I lost two cell phones that way, one good new external HD, and several souvenirs from my great grandparents' days.

Don't change computer settings if you can't put it all back. I had to install a password on my computer, and it is not at all my style to lock things. Before that the system would require to be re-installed every 3-4 guests.

Don't change TV settings if you can't put it all back as it was. Thanks to some sort of an "English teacher" on behalf of kids who were delighted to view porn channels.

Don't send 5mb pictures of yours. Just happened last night. 5 copies! Received at my dacha via GPRS.

Anybody remembers the $10/night bomb shelter on the canal, within easy walking distance to Red Square? The one run by Katherine? The project was discontinued because of the quality of clients. Otherwise it could have worked! And then I hear complaints that Moscow is expensive. Want it cheap? Don't waste resources. And one of the most precious and perishable resources is the willingness of ordinary people to share available living space in exchange for a small financial contribution. If that does not work we are back to $30/night beds in a room shared by 6-8 in commercial hostels, $200/night apartments, and $400/night hotels! Or private rooms availed on the proper commercial basis, with the cost of maintenance and aggravation built into the rate.

Still, will someone explain why cheap clients are such resource wasters?!