A strange gues who seemed super friendly at the begining - what review to leave them

@CanadianHost, that’s an excellent dispassionate view. It’s often hard to get that perspective no matter how experienced a host you are. I stand back fom leaving a review for at least a week after not great guests. On the other hand, having just written a cool dispassionate review and seeing the nonsense the guests wrote I wish I had written what I really thought: “They were the most unfriendly, socially inept ***** I have met for a very long time. Yes, they left the room clean and tidy but the stink of their negativity is still being aired out of my home.”

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A very good rule to go by! I write it all down - the way I really feel, then revisit it many times until I’'m not so upset. If I’m still upset after many days I’ll send it.

In this case, I do believe the OP wishes the review had not been quite so harsh because they weren’t SO bad after all, just that she couldn’t “read her mind”. Sounds like 3 young people feeling quite at home to me, when they shouldn’t have felt quite so “at home”.

It’s hard. The review process is really important, I think, and I take it seriously. I get a lot of first-timers and I think often they need guidance rather than being slammed - it all depends on intention, though. If a guest tries to be good, then I give them some slack. If they’re nice but just a bit annoying (honestly, I REALLY don’t want to hear about the intricacies of your journey from Croatia to my place. Just because you’ve been to Eastern Europe does not automatically make you cool, really it doesn’t) and they don’t make a mess, then all good. It’s the ones that make you feel uncomfortable for no discernible reason that are hard to review. Also, it doesn’t take long to work out when someone is taking the piss and looking to assert themselves - In such circumstances I channel Professor McGonagall/Maggie Smith. It seems to work mostly.

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I absolutely love that line - brilliant!

But I think it would be even better to channel Maggie in her Downton role - you know, with That Look - the one that is icily polite while leaving the person she is talking to in no doubt that they are, literally, the scum of the earth …

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You are partially right. :slight_smile: They never responed to my 4 messages over 14 days period. I am not used to it.

In my final version of the review I did not mentioned the details, shorteing it to “the room was left untidy”.

Apparently it was the worst ever among the 250 groups hosted. It shows the lack of respect to host. Especially since I do not charge any cleaning fee.

They only stayed for 3 days, They took over the livinroom, having drinking party there. The other guests (family with kids) only complained afterwards. My house rules says- no parties.

Guests are asked to lock the apartment when checking out and leave the key in the secure key box, outside of the apartment.
They left the key on the table in the livinroom, leaving the apartment unlocked.

Correct! It is like dumping an idiot boyfriend over waiting to be dumped.

I would not leave the review at all. They did leave the review after 12 days, shortly before ending period.
It usually means they also waited for at least a week… :slight_smile:

Right! My guests were not first timers, they had a great reviews from prevoiuse guests for being tidy and clean. Why they made a mess in my apartment?

Because they got complacent and thought they could do anything they want because they are officially now “good guests”. I’ve had many such people :frowning: They also compare you to the last place they stayed which was completely different/ twice the price/ had a newbie host who bent over backwards to accommodate etc etc. Newbies are the best, imo! They’re usually on their best behaviour. Ok maybe they need a little guidance sometimes but I much prefer that to a supercilious experienced guest who waltzes in as if they know everything and treats your place like crap.

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I would agree 100%. I love hosting them! People with many references are just spoiled.
I would also be afraid to host Super Host. (but I did a couple of times and it was great).

And this is also the reason why I do not have the option “Instant Booking” on. It also forces you to host people with some references.

This is worth mentioning in your review!

You might also want to specify what you mean by “no parties” in your house rules, like “no alcohol” or “No overconsumption of alcohol” and “no visitors”, and what the quiet hours in the house are. If the other guests were a quiet family they might have called just the three of them sitting in the living room having a couple of drinks a “party”, when it might just seem like a normal day to them. If they were so bad the other guests would have complained on the spot and not waited until they left.

It doesn’t sound like they are ideal guests, for sure. But I can’t help but feel like they just felt too “at home” and needed some guidelines. It sounds like some of my kids’ friends that are a little ditzy, fun-loving and unaware.

You should never solicit a 5* review or a quid pro quo. It limits your options.

There is a new Chrome extension called AirReview that can help you in the future. Once installed, it allows you to go to the guest’s profile and see all the reviews other hosts have left for the guest https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/airreview/plkdnpjpnhhnmigmekaocdfokkmebdnm

Hope the link works.

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