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As you all know, we’ve had our share of door slammers and bathroom flooders over the the last couple of years of hosting. And, thus far I have been willing to let it go, chalking it up to an annoyance but not really a serious enough problem worthy of mentioning in reviews.
Well, after the two I had that checked out this week, I think it’s time to start holding guests accountable for their lack of respect for someone’s home. Three days and nights of SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! Every single time they went in and out of the guest room. And, then my bathroom has a sliding door and theoretically shouldn’t make a slamming noise when it closes. But, oh they found a way. And, it would be one thing if they used the bathroom once, took care of business, and then stayed out until nature called again. These two would go enter and exit the bathroom a couple of dozen times an hour. All the while slamming the doors behind them as they went back and forth. Thank god for 1930s craftsmanship or our building might not still be standing.
And, then the water! I understand that folks are going to leave some water on the basin when they wash up. It’s normal. ANd, they’re on holiday, so I don’t mind taking out my towels and sprucing the bathroom up so it always look like new every time they enter. But, these two took it to a level I had never seen before. Puddles…I am talking puddles on the counter and the floor. We have a ceramic tray with cute birds on it they can use to put their toothbrushes and razors, and they managed to flood that with water. This was like something out of Disney’s the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. We were surprised we didn’t see our poor dogs floating out the door and down the street.
So, here’s my draft review, because I can’t let this go. Feedback is welcome:
Guests X and Y were a sweet and pleasant couple. Self reliant and enjoyed exploring our city during the day. Three days and nights of incessant door slamming did begin to take its toll on our nerves, however. And, while we don’t mind picking up after our guests while they’re enjoying their holiday, we grew tired of mopping up the massive puddles of water that covered the bathroom counters and floor after their every use. Some guests are not well suited for homestay situations.
Awe, my darling Jackalus! I’ve missed you! I, glad you are back but sorry it’s to let us know if door slamming and puddle making. At this very moment, my new guests who checked in about three hours ago, have opened and closed the screen door with force at least 137 times. I just found myself thinking, “only six more nights until check out!!!”!! Yah.
This was in contrast to their predecessors, who were so sweet and dear I wished they could have stayed forever!
As to these guests of yours… Were you able to say something to them about the door slamming? Oh hey, just wondering if you could find a way to close the door a touch more quietly. It tends to shake the house when closed so hard. (Slammed) thanks ever so much!!
It might be time to put it in the house notes… Please close doors quietly as it disturbs and shakes the entire house when closed harshly.
How about when you show them in? Oh, just a reminder to close the doors quietly.
And at last resort… A small sign on every door, “in respect for the household, please close door quietly. Thank you.”
And the puddles… Remember we discussed how some Asian guests are used to running water all over bathrooms? Because in Asian bathrooms there is often a central drain in the middle of the room for this purpose. Not trying to be racist here but just wondering.
As for the review, I would just come out with the bad stuff and not mention that they were nice, but that is just me.
Good tip. Not sure what the point of the positive stuff is. I reckon I am trying to be balanced. Well, I haven’t posted yet. I might just edit before doing so.
My only real question is – Why did you not confront them with the slamming issue and the pools of water issue, rather than until after they left and then venting to us? Confronting them after the first 6 slams and the first puddle mop up might have solved everything would all the repressed anger you’ve got there…
Yikes!!! You would LOVE my girlfriend and me! I would never slam a door, and I always tidy up the sink after I wash or brush. I even go as far as using the tissue to wipe behind the toilet, basebords, windowsill etc. But our experience in a couple dozen stays from coast to coast, always budget conscious, nothing has ever been dirty, usually sparkling clean… well actually one guy had a fingerprinted scuzzy front door. Had he not be home, working on his laptop, I would have 100% taken a scrungy to the door.
Drifting a bit, but my landlord let’s me use how washer dryer when he’s at work. He’s the nicest guy In the world, but a widower, and, well… I took 3 minutes to clean up the soap spills on his washing machine and did general clean up of the immediate area of his laundry room. Next I’ll take some fine steelwool to his kitchen faucet. I tryed a scrungy, wouldn’t “cut it”. I havn’t seen his bathroom…
Back on topic… Have been a landlord for 25 years, I found out all kinds of “tricks”. I only install hollow core cheaply doors, they’re too flimsy to slam, at least compared to a solid oak or fir door. Same with toilet seat, cheapest plastic seat, less noisy when folks drop it. Some expensive ones have an easy down damper, like kitchen cabinet doors and drawers.
What would I do with your guests? Give them tickets to the zoo, and ask them to stay there!
I think the review is fine. Even if you had approached the guests about the door slamming, they may not have been able to change their life long behavior during such a short stay. And then they might just resent you for continuing to confront them.
Exactly right. It’s not about trying to make them better people. Frankly I don’t care what happens to them once they’re out of my house. I have my $300.
It’s about articulating to other hosts what they are signing up for if they allow these folks to book. And, with all the talk we’ve had about how to manage ‘mediocre’ guests with irritating habits but not necessarily doing anything egregiously bad…well, my perspective is shifting. I don’t think disrespectful guests like this who are unfit for home sharing should be treated like “wonderful guests” who took the time to respect the space they are staying in (and even have the privilege of instant booking with hosts like me who only allow instant booking to those who have 100% positive recommendations).
When it comes down to it, these were not good guests who did not respect my space, and other hosts need to know that.
At the Normandy Hotel, a sweet boutique hotel in DC, I had a room on the third floor. I wanted to use the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, and the door to the stairwell had a nice sign.
“Out of respect for fellow guests, please close this door quietly and don’t allow it to automatically slam shut. Thank you.”
Totally reasonable and I wouldn’t have known to take care with the door had the sign not been there.
Not that I am admitting to door slamming,
HA HA! I have considered such a sign on my door. Of course my concern is that the vast majority of guests who have the common sense to close the door properly might be offended by the note.
Since I know you are all dying of curiosity, here is what I ultimately wrote:
Public:
A very pleasant and polite couple with bad habits that made them unsuited for home sharing. Three days and nights of incessant door slamming (including at very early and late hours) took its toll on our nerves. And, while we don’t mind picking up after our guests while they’re enjoying their holidays, we grew tired of mopping up the massive puddles of water that covered the bathroom counters and floor after their every use. We wish them well on their journeys, but we would not host them again.
Private:
Thank you for choosing to stay with us. Please bear in mind that home sharing is different from hotels, and in American culture, door slamming in someone’s home is considered rude. Please note this for future travels and have a safe journey home.
Ahh so! They are not of our nation. It makes sense and perhaps some leeway is called for, like maybe they live in the most rural of areas and the rickety wooden doors don’t operate as smoothly as our well-oiled hinged doors and they have to slam them to keep the cows and chickens from coming in…and maybe the water puddles they slop around are quickly absorbed by the dirt floor. (ha!)
It’s good to read you again. I got a good chuckle from this post. This reminds me so much of the hotel I stayed in on the Upper West Side in NYC in 2004. It was a shared bathroom place and a good price. Lots of Eastern Europeans working and staying there. Everything was really perfect except for our neighboring room. There were at least three people staying in the room and two doors into their room. Each time someone from that room went to the bathroom there were 6 slams in quick succession. Each night when they came in from their revelry 12-18 slams and again in the morning, dozens of slams.
I have to challenge this! I think it’s completely unfair to slam a guest for behaviour that you didn’t address at the time. To me, it’s the same as guests smiling all nice at the time and not telling you about an issue that you could have fixed and then they bring it up in the review. It’s not nice! I’ve had guests flood the bathroom, do all kinds of stuff out of ignorance rather than malice. It only takes a minute to talk to them about it (or friendly text) and ask them not to do it and explain why. Sure, if they ignore you and continue to do it, feel free to slam them. But otherwise, it seems unfair to me.
My posts are usually presented in a light-hearted tongue-in-cheek nature and that’s the vein in which it was presented (and you would have recognized) had you considered the rest of the text.
