4 stars and stained sheets

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My two “bad” guests out of 127 - back to back :smirk:

Guest 1 (a couple): 2 nights, enroute to U of Arizona. Just joined. No reviews. I know :roll_eyes: After 125 really great stays and 1 high maintenance/no review, I’ve gotten lazy w/ vetting. These 2 were Uncommunicative, ended up arriving after regular check-in (meet, greet, etc) so I sent self check-in. Avoidant, but quiet and out all day, so good guests. I accepted a take-out order which they took to their room - not ideal, and there are adequate, private dining areas including a lovely patio & garden. Oh, well a little extra odor-removal time.

They left early a.m. I’m quick to send a positive review, & attended to the ball of sheets afterward. Well, the sheets looked liked they’d served as plates, table-cloth, napkins and clean-up rags! Thanks to cleaning products recommended here, I eventually got the stains out.

Then came guest’s prompt review: “Great!” with 4-stars overall and 4 stars for Value. $55 for two? (Free) parking on premise in the city? 5-minute walk, then a scant 20-minute public transit to San Francisco? Traveling professionals rave about value, generosity, etc.

But then comes Guest 2: Uncommunicative, again 4-5 hours late for check-in last night, so I sent her self check-in instructions - only she bangs on the door at 12:30 a.m., stressed, having huffed 2 suitcases 2 blocks from a street known (not by her) for car break-ins. I guess she didn’t read my parking instructions (park 5 steps from entry stairs). She smelled strongly of alcohol and tobacco and scurried into her room with barely two words -not “thank you”

Her first communication since the booking request over a month ago was at 7 this morning: “ the hot water kettle (in room) is broken.”

The moral of my long tale: Communicate, communicate, communicate!!!

There are others, feel free to add them!

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Sorry about that. But I never understand why hosts are so quick to leave a review. We have 14 days- what’s the point of reviewing before doing a thorough check?

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I feel similarly. A neighboring Airbnb host told me I communicated too much. She does as little as possible, her words, “…not friends, I want their money…”. Maybe the reality is in the middle.

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And then:

So guests reviews aren’t reliable either. No place is going to be great for everyone. Every host has less than ideal guests from time to time.

P.S. If I’d been called out every time I was smelling of alcohol and tobacco I’d be in serious trouble. :rofl:

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I communicate with most guests pre-arrival quite a bit. And they end up feeling like friends. And I get their money. It’s not mutually exclusive.

If hosts just view guests as dollar signs, they aren’t likely to communicate any more than absolutely necessary, and those communications will likely be impersonal and totally businesslike.

Some of us get more out of hosting than money and our guests get more than a place to stay.

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Yep - won’t be doing that anymore!

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@Annet3176
These were extreme - and I should have pestered both. I’ve been spoiled by really great guests, as I mentioned, and hope this will be a gentle warning to be more proactive. Still nervous about guest #2 :grimacing:

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@jaquo

Wouldn’t care under “normal” circumstances. I offer wine and, asI am a “secret smoker”, mention smoking porches in my listing :wink: .

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I learned my lesson on that one! I now clean BEFORE reviewing.

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Submitting a guest review before you’ve thoroughly inspected seems like writing a book review after only reading the first chapter.

Whenever I ask hosts why they were so quick to leave a review, though, no one explains why. They just say they’ll never do that again, they learned their lesson.

But it isn’t a rhetorical question. I’m actually curious about the thinking process behind it. Get the chore out of the way right away? Don’t want to forget to do it? Assume that guests who were pleasant and polite in their communications would leave the place in good condition?

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I only review once I’ve inspected & done inventory BUT if it’s obvious they did a great job I will send the review before I finish the turnover (takes me hours & sometimes days due to covid protocol) because as a guest, if I tried hard to be a great guest, I’d like to know it was noticed. I’ve even refunded a little money because the place was left so nice & rules obviously followed. The guest usually shots back a great review quickly (there it is! The MOTIVE for the fast review!!!) ; note that I msg/text to tell them thanks and that I’m leaving a great review because they earned it & hope I’ve done the same :wink:

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I still don’t understand. Why does it matter if the reviews are published right away or 4 days or a week after check-out?

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The guest will get numerous “Your host gave you a review. Give them one back so you can see what they said about you?” notes. Then the host doesn’t have to pester the guest for a review; the “system” does.

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Yes, but what does it matter if that happens on day 1 after check-out or day 4?

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That’s not the point…If I know my guest had a great time & liked my place/hospitality (usually msg something like that to me when I check in on them), I think it’s good to strike while they are still full of happy feelings and not distracted by real life once again.

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Sorry but I find that very weird.

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one way to Guarantee a 5 star review!

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So many hosts deduct and fine for this and that (not that I think it’s many hosts, just the posts here) so refunding when there’s less wear and tear than expected makes sense. And though I’m kind of joking, I’ve had the same thought. Raise the price and then partial refund the easy guests.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a whole new hospitality model where guests were incentivized to be model guests? I’ve had guests with pets that left no trace. Why did I charge them $15? Because of fear and assumptions. Why not refund them? Because it’s too much trouble and I just did them a favor by being pet friendly, but you see what I’m saying.

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And where previous hosts all honestly reviewed guests… :slight_smile:

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Mind you, I don’t want to pioneer the model, just thinking.

When I was a teacher, I thought about the same thing. What if every kid started with 100 and we deducted from there? I don’t know if it would have been better. I had some college profs who tried a model like that and I don’t recall the result.