I’m sorry, you’re wondering why a guest would say a place was dirty when it wasn’t? Those of us with homes that are a little older and don’t look like they are straight out of architectural digest are all rofl right now. lol!
We have the joy of being an open-air house (no glass over the windows - just heavy louvers that are secure but don’t stop air and critters) on a Caribbean island in the forest overlooking the sea. We love it - and most of the guests do, too, but the floors are dusty within minutes of being mopped/vacuumed. There’s no way to keep critters out. The windows didn’t even have screens when we bought it - the prior owner didn’t understand why you’d want screens when the doors are frequently left open all day long to enjoy the view.
So I call it the “Outdoor-Indoor Lifestyle” (a little like glamping). We’ve been lucky so far - most of the guests understand the situation as soon as they arrive at the house.
1 Like
Sorry, I wasn’t clear - I generally do all my Airbnb work on my laptop. Whilst I can message on my laptop, it is not always convenient to message this way, as I don’t carry my laptop with me at all times. I thought by using text message it would give the guest an instant way of communicating with us if anything went wrong. My fault - I didn’t realise it would be so frowned upon by Airbnb. lesson learned!!
I use a laptop most of the time - but I made the mistake of thinking that communicating via text would give the host an easy way of contacting us if anything went wrong. Had no idea it was so frowned upon by Airbnb. Lesson learned. And yes, I have now freed up space on my phone! Thanks 
2 Likes
It’s not that using texts outside of the platform is frowned upon by AirBnB, it’s that it’s NOT VISIBLE to AirBnB, i.e., non verifiable heresay. Not helpful to your case.
If I’ve learned one thing during my years of dealing with the public, it is that to protect myuself, I need a paper or verifiable electronic trail because without, I am at risk.
2 Likes
Some people think a opportunity to make a review grants them the right to become a professional critic. How many people wipe walls everyday. I’m sure they dont. I would post a response to that.
There’s nothing wrong with texting with a guest- I do it for some things, like them texting to let me know they’ve arrived in town (most of my guests arrive by bus and I pick them up at the bus station, which is easier than them trying to find my house) and I’ll text back saying I’ll be there in 10 minutes.
It just isn’t a good idea to use texting or phone calls for anything that might prove to be contentious, because there is no documentation for Airbnb to look at. But sometimes guests will answer a text or phone call and not an Airbnb message- in that case, just back up that communication with a message- “So just to reiterate and clarify what we spoke about yesterday on the phone…”
I opened the response saying that I knew this was a special vacation with her Mother. (I didn’t share she was anxious because her mother was in cancer treatment). I then explained that this was our home, and like having any guests in our home, we trusted they were cleaning during their stay and putting pots and pans away clean. Given the size of the house and the short time between guests, there simply isn’t time to check every corner and cupboard. Unlike a residence Inn, we have one unit and can’t rotate guests. It is also much larger and is rented as a home. She also complained that the towels smelled when wet. I shared that we have a full sized washer and dryer and provided detergent. She is from the dessert. Our place is at the coast, so I explained that in humid climates, towels often don’t dry between uses, which is why we offer the machines and detergent. I ended hoping her vacation was lovely otherwise.
I love the advice and admonitions. Aren’t these hosts wonderful? (I am new to the site and have been the recipient of some very nice input) I have two thoughts for you.
One, a house can never be too clean. But since none of us are perfect, and guests are sometimes unreasonable, we will fail. Generally, I tend to disregard reviews of places where it is clear that the review is unreasonable. I personally don’t find that that these reviews are helpful and guess that most (not all) folks read this in the same fashion.
I think that the absolute best advice I have seen in this regard is someone who wrote into their house rules regarding dissatisfied guests. Basically, the guest agrees to contact the host immediately for any concerns regarding cleanliness/ inoperable equipment/ missing linens ect The guest agrees to allow the host, or their maintenance representative, access to the space to remedy the issue. It will allow you to document the issue and the remediation. This will help to avoid later calls for refund, and gives you a nice retort in poor reviews (provided you remedied the issue of course).
I like the adage that we will all make mistakes, but it is how we handle them that sets us apart from others
Best of luck. It is bound to happen to all of us sometime
3 Likes
We are Berkshires hosts too, with an 1800s house. I love what you wrote, and can totally relate!
1 Like
Believe me, I’ve never lived in an Architectural Digest-worthy home. 
All the homes I’ve lived in and used for STR have always been older properties but I never thought that was an excuse for not cleaning properly.
2 Likes
I feel like you may have been exceedingly lucky then…my experience and that of many others here who have older homes or those that have a more “rustic” feel is that we constantly get points taken off for “cleanliness” even when our places are absolutely spotless. I always have to tell my cleaners not to sweat the reviews because of this phenomena, because they do a stellar job and it’s not their fault. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t come across this.
1 Like
I rarely have points taken off for cleanliness since I got a robot vacuum. I have found that dust is the most common trigger for comments about cleanliness (and I notice dust when I travel, too). I’m helped by the fact that we’re in the world’s largest temperate rain forest (100 inches/year) so humidity helps to keep dust from blowing around or blowing in open windows. The worst time of the year is May, when sticky yellow spruce pollen blows everywhere until we have a good hard rain to wash it away.
The robovac keeps my hardwood floors spotless, and they are waxed and polished. I dust like a maniac with microfiber cloths and microfiber dusters, checking the outside of windows every time because spiders like to set their traps in corners. I dust or damp cloth every flat surface every turnover. Walls get vacuumed about once a month.
Isn’t that basically what Airbnb tells guests and hosts? To allow the host to remedy a situation?
Where I live, you just never get a break- humidity, mold, mud and tons of insects in the summer rainy season, dust in the dry season. Any surface is likely to have either a dead bug, a spider web, gecko poop, or dust on it within a day or two of a thorough clean.
I once found a mama scorpion with a writhing ball of 40 eensy weensy scorpions on its back hiding in the folds of a curtain.
1 Like
Some people freak out when they see cobwebs.
A family member has palpitations when she sees one. She freaks out over a cockroach and tiny tiny spiders. That’s just how she is and I don’t scoff any more. Some folks are like that.
Look for hair, dust, cobwebs anywhere, the shower drain, a single one hiding on a Electrical outlet etc etcThey’ll find it!
Be on the lookout - under the bed, on taps, the bottom of a toothbrush holder etc etc.
it’s kind of funny really
Deep breath, check again, fix it then move on.
Thanks to all my guests who pointed out my failings (only a few I hasten to say)- I won’t make that mistake again!!!
For some of us, this is business. Sometimes our guests have sensitivities or expectations that are outside of our control, or outside of what we want to offer. Before AirBnB, BnBs were very special events that competed on amenities. If your focus is on making the guest leave with the most positive experience, then you’ll put your effort into pleasing the guest. If your main goal is to recompense your unused space by offering it, with some amenities, to random people, that’s a different thing.
A lot of discussion on this forum is about this basic dynamic. If you had only 26 guests, then one negative review is punishing, but, after a hundred or so, you emphasize dramatic positives, and deal with the few negative reviews. The Super8 Motel does not have ratings for each room. Every person who visits you rates you.
As someone who has had over a hundred guests in a room in my house in a spare bedroom, I have to suppress my reaction to poor reviews, and realize that I can please most people passing through. I don’t have to be special, or provide unique services. I can simply provide a room with a nice bed, clean sheets, a shower, and some towels, and most are satisfied. Mine is not a BnB, and is not priced like that.
Decide what kind of business you have, and service it reliably. If you get a bad review, it’s an opportunity to improve, or to seek another model of service. I think the problem a lot of us have is that we think that people seeking rooms on AirBnB is more personal than it actually is. Most people want a cheap place to couch-surf. Clean sheets and a shower are a plus.
We won’t have much to talk about if you follow my lead, but it’s always comforting to know that someone has encountered some a-holes, and to complain about them. But the basic solution is always the same.
It’s upsetting that guests decided to leave a review without contacting you about a problem. Just as was previously mentioned, it’s “understood” through AirBnB that hosts have the chance to make things right, but guests rarely think that way.
We have a historic building, and while both ourselves and our cleaners are vigilant, things can happen. We also have many windows and live on a fairly busy street in an urban environment - dust is common! Some things we do include doing a pre-check in cleaning (mopping, making beds, wiping down surfaces) on the morning of a check in, so not fully setting up prior to a check in way ahead of time.
I’ve also added into our pre-booking message the following:
“This is a historic home (not a hotel) that is lived in. It’s a perfectionist-free zone, and we ask that you treat us hosts with the respect that we aim to show you.”
I definitely lifted at least part of this from somewhere in this forum! But I feel like it’s a small but powerful reminder to PLEASE let us know if anything isn’t up to par. I do have a photo in our listing of myself and my dog on our front stoop, with a reminder that we live on the property and are available to help with anything at all, but since adding this above statement we’ve actually seen a small but positive change in our cleaning ratings. No more 3-stars on cleanliness because “the pillow on the top shelf of the closet had a stain.”
1 Like
I stay at Airbnbs, in addition to hosting, and if I see one negative rating amongst all positive ratings, I discount it entirely as being written by some diva.
6 Likes
Also sit on the toilet and look around, because guests will sit there and if there is a cobweb or a hair on the floor behind the now closed door they will see it.
RR
3 Likes