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Need your advice on next steps here:
Us: remote Superhosts with 5-star rating, many happy bookings and excellent, local caretaker to clean and turn over our home.
Most recent guests asked for later check out yesterday which I arranged after contacting our caretaker. These guests used Instant book to book 1 bedroom for 2 guests.
But this guest used all three beds, left lamp from our basement on the dining room floor, unplugged our Nexia bridge, left back door unlocked and our binder/guest handbook is missing (just learned about guestbook this a.m.).
I have contacted the guest privately and asked for response. Sheâs cavalier about using extra spaces and states âit will only take 20 minutes to change sheets on the beds.â She also mentions her 5 star rating as a guest.
âCannot recommend Guest who disrespected our listing space, used 3 beds for two people, left the place in disarray and unlocked (!), and flaunted her â5-Star Guest ratingâ in our face when confronted with the issues.â
Then make sure you give her 2 stars for Communications and 4 stars for everything else.
"GUEST booked one bedroom for two guests, but used three beds, rearranged furniture, and took items from the listing. Unfortunately I canât recommend her to other hosts and would not welcome her back into our home.
1-stars for communication and house rules, 3 for cleanliness, and a âwould not recommendâ
Also, this does happen sometimes. Can you lock rooms so guests can only use the beds they booked and paid for?
It sounds like she had more staying than have booked.
If you host remotely do you not have CCTV or similar so you can check who is going in and out of your property and to minimise the risk of late night noise/parties?
If you do check to see how many guests stayed and send a request for funds to cover the guests who did not book and pay.
I agree with other comments about the reviews.
Itâs irrelevant whether the guest had previous 5 star reviews. She certainly wasnât a five star guest for you!
I was grateful to one host who was honest with a guest review, cos the guest sent through an enquiry and upon reading that review, i immediately tried all means to discourage him from instant booking my place. He eventually didnât, and I really dodged a bullet. Couldnât have imagined the damage he would have done to my place. So yeah, give him or her the review deserved.
Thank you @Helsi I did request that the guest pay additional funds but got an indignant reply how little time it would take for caretaker to clean.
We havenât needed CCTV thanks to extremely nosey neighbors (who happen to be away during this booking). We do monitor the keypad and the lights.
Wow thank you @Daniel_LinâŚthat makes me see the merit of moving forward with a negative review.
As a host and guest, it takes gumption to share negative feedback. This experience and only 2 other guests, out of a year of bookings, have given me solid reasons to give less than favorable reviews.
Hold your review until the last minute, note the time and date that Air sends you the first email to review her, so if its at 11:58 today wait two weeks and submit review at 1156 so she does not have time to review you. If she reviews first then just slam her. I would give one star across the board.
RR
Edited to add: I would be incensed that she disabled the wifi bridge! She was up to something and hoping to disable cameras she did not know you do not have.
Wow @RiverRock - thanks for this advice.
Can you please clarify one thing? If I do wait till the very end of review period, is there a way for me to tell whether or not she has left me a review?
If so, how?
Thanks for your input!
Now your guest has admitted she had additional guests staying, do raise a request for the additional funds.
I wouldnât rely on nosey neighbours. Get CCTV or a doorbell video system at the least so you can monitor directly and have video on record in the case of a dispute.
Can I ask how long you have been hosting by the way?
Awful guests are unusual but the more we learn, the more we can try and avoid them
Hi @Helsi she did tell us her daughter lives nearby. Then daughter napped in the third bed.
I have been hosting for a year.
Thanks for tip about CCTVâŚthat probably wouldnât have really solved this particular problem.
Why? Guest booked with spouse and told us their plan to be in town for parents weekend at nearby college. Their daughter transferred recently.
The issue is they used all 3 beds and made cleanup more time consuming. I asked for additional compensation privately (my extra guest fee posted in the listing) and got rebuffed by guest for this request.
Hoping I answered your questions. Thank you very much!
Is it a whole house listing or a room? Do guests know that they need to book âby the roomâ?
I ask, because if I booked an entire place, I would assume I could use all the rooms.
Even if I were only person, I would assume that I could try out all the beds like Goldilocks. Not that I would actualy do that, but if the listing says, âhave the entire place to yourself,â wouldnât I be within my rights to do so?
Thatâs what I donât understand. If I booked the entire place I can use all three beds if I want! As a host I might be annoyed, but thatâs just the way it goes unless you have specific rules about this.
Just curious, those guests who book rooms, are they meant to share the house? One of the superhosts Iâve met has this blackboard where he lists the names of the guests and their room number (for all to see). I stayed in the house for 2 months and all the guests seem to only keep to their rooms. This might work?
You will get a notice if they review first, if they do than no reason to wait. Otherwise wait until very last minute. You can do the review early and save it, then publish last minute.
