Maybe yall can help me figure this out. Im about to start hosting but recently stayed in a beach rental. 300 dollar cleaning fee applied at reservation so i didn’t feel obligated to leave the place as spotless as when i checked in. We started dishwasher, stripped linens, cleaned kithen and swept. Did everything on our checkout instructions and it seemed very tidy but we got one star for cleanliness? Im stunned because i felt it was quite clean on checkout especially for someone who paid 300 dollars for cleaning… am i wrong? Should it be left 100% as clean or better on checkout? Editing to add, this was on VRBO btw….
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Sounds like the host is nuts or mistakenly clicked on the wrong star rating or confused your group with another. Guests shouldn’t be expected to do anything in the way of cleaning beyond what is asked in the check-out list and what shows basic respect.
If I were you, I’d message the host, asking why they gave you one star for cleanliness when you did everything that was asked of you. And if it was a mistake, to please ask Airbnb for their rating and review to be removed.
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No, you’re not wrong.
You should leave things ‘tidy’, meaning things are in their original place and trash and recycling are put away rather than left as litter throughout.
A ‘1’ on cleanliness per Airbnb review standards means “not at all clean”.
I would respond to the Host’s review to say:
“Host’s review did not conform to Airbnb guidelines. A ‘1’ means ‘not at all clean’ and yet we complied with Host’s checkout instructions. We started dishwasher, stripped linens, cleaned kitchen and swept. We did everything on our checkout instructions and it was very tidy. Paid $300 cleaning fee. Unfair review. Do not recommend.”
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They haven’t responded since checkout day 2 weeks ago, they were very responsive until checkout day, didn’t hear anything when I told her I was checking out and was texting her cleaning crew as per instructions. I can only imagine two scenarios, that they didn’t plan to clean all the beds in a manner that I would think necessary and us stripping the sheets forced that on them, or that she was worried I would leave a bad review due to her oven not working and this was pre-emptive? I merely told her the oven was broken and she might want to get that looked at. She also left us a bad review in the realm of “house rules” which I don’t understand either…. She may have owned multiple condos and thought we were some folks below us that were screaming and cursing/fighting constantly lol.
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Add that to your reply. [She made you work!]
I wonder. Add that to in your response. 'Oven did not work, which I notified Host of."
I’d add: "Words of review do not state what house rules were not respected and yet we were given a ‘[fill in blank’. Unfair.
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I deleted my account anyhow, I only opened it to stay at this place and VRBO despite multiple contacts with the company would not change my name, it kept my email address as my “name” which wasn’t a problem this time, but could see it be a problem later if I needed to show someone ID to check in somewhere. When I start hosting I’ll open another. This was my first experience with either VRBO or Airbnb, and it was perplexing lol. When I’m hosting, as long as someone doesn’t “trash the place” I would just consider cleaning up after them as part of it….
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good points, there was NO explanation in the review just star ratings. I left her a detailed glowing review of her property despite the oven not working, it was inconvenient because we got the place specifically to cook there instead of eating out every night (8 of us staying there), but not a deal breaker and the place was very well outfitted with kids toys and all sorts of goodies. I was stunned to see the review lol.
I think guests need to do better than that and abide by Airbnb general ground rules for guests as well as House rules. Your Host here went too far.
Airbnb Ground Rules for Guests:
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agree, I would be dismayed to have to clean up a bunch of garbage left laying around, but, this place wasn’t at all like that. I’m blue collar, so always try to think about the blue collar cleaning people at hotels and such…. I was a little baffled by this, someone above pointed out that they may have confused us with other guests and that’s entirely possible. She may have owned multiple units in the building and thought we were the people fighting and screaming all the time lol.
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Just don’t say something like:
We were treated wrong, very wrongly. We were perfect guests and perfect cleanup. UNFAIR!
haha, well, too late now. Read my comment about deleting my account. I had to open a new one anyhow because of the name being wrong and I “changed it” about a dozen times, got customer service on the line several times and they “changed it” too, then as soon as I would log back in, right back to my email being my “name”…. Figured this was just icing on the cake to delete and start over when I start hosting. I just wanted some perspective from seasoned hosts here, if maybe I was just way off base and needed to leave it spotless despite a cleaning fee. I didn’t feel the cleaning fee to be exorbitant, it was a large condo, but definitely not cheap…. I guess I need to be videoing on check in and check out if I am ever a guest in a property again.
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It seems that no good deed goes unpunished.
This is why Hosts are constantly reminded to leave factual honest reviews; the same applies for guests.
Your review (before you saw theirs) could have said something like [edit appropriately but you get the idea]:
“Property very well outfitted for children, with toys and all sorts of goodies. Comfortable for the eight of us. Clean, property accurately described (though we were disappointed that oven didn’t work throughout stay, of which we notified Host on day one), timely and responsive communications. Checkout instructions include stripping beds, starting dishwasher, sweeping up, and texting cleaner. Recommend.”
Good points, and I thank you 
I’m not here to vent about it, at least not much, I’m genuinely concerned and perplexed by it. This was my first experience with airbnb or vrbo and until that review, it was a great experience, now it frankly makes me not want to stay in one again and just stay in a hotel. I know the score there lol, don’t trash the place, keep the tv down to a reasonable level, leave the maid a 20 on the dresser for a tip and no one leaves me a bad review for ??? After spending 3 grand for a 5 day stay somewhere, I really don’t like the thought of having to argue with someone to save my account rating. I do believe if I ever do stay as a guest through these companies again, it’ll be under a different account than my host account, at least then it’s no great loss if I need to delete.
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I read things that make me think that Airbnb will know who you are. That’s what I conclude when I read that they have placed a ‘lifetime ban’ on a guest. So I wouldn’t assume that you can just delete your account and start over. IMHO it shouldn’t work like that – though it might. [Ugh]
I agree.
That’s why members here often urge Hosts to ‘let go’ of the small things, and to give factual (unemotional reviews). A Host needs to ask itself 'Do I want this guest back? Or someone like this guest?" If so, the review, including its words, should reflect that. The Host doesn’t want to turn into a scold.
Even if the Host does not want this guest or one like it ever again, the Host must also ask itself whether the Host’s communications were clear and the rules reasonable.
Just recently a Host here commented on being a guest who used multiple Airbnbs on its trip, confessing that they all kind of ran together. So it makes sense for Hosts to consider that too rather than only vent that their listing was not read. Guests often benefit from reminders on important points in confirmation or other messaging.
You can’t have more than one Airbnb account, one as a guest and another as a host. All is under one account.
So you’d have to get someone else in your group to book a place under their own account.
But I wouldn’t concern myself with getting bad reviews as a guest in the future- what happened with this booking and review sounds like an aberration, a one-off, which may in fact have been an error, mistaking your booking for another.
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Another scenario could be that the cleaning crew lied to her so that they could get paid for another one or two hours of cleaning without actually needing the extra time.
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Vrbo reviews are different than on AirBnB. A Vrbo host can only see your overall star rating. I don’t think you can even respond to the review of you.
I agree - message the host on the Vrbo platform and ask why the one star. If it was a mistake, ask the host to remove the review. If they don’t get around to it, you might be able to call and get it removed if you have it on your Vrbo messages that it was in error.
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Right.
And a Host in a VRBO review can leave only star ratings; no words.
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Contact VRBO and explain the situation.
Hopefully you have enough proof for them to hide the review.
I’ve never used VRBO but I had a similar situation with a guest leaving an uncalled for 3 star review on airbnb & they were able to hide it.
Thanks folks, I had to delete that account anyhow since they never could get my real name right on it. I could see that being a problem in the future anyhow. I was shocked, confused, and terribly embarrassed to think that someone would have left me such a review. We’ll just chock it up to wtf and leave it at that. I appreciate the guidance and in the future, I’m going to video the overall state of a place when I get there and when I leave, I’ll never leave it up to people being reasonable again. I still can’t for the life of me figure out what they were talking about, two unanswered texts, one from the morning we were checking out and another later made me feel like it wasn’t a mistake. I’m not going to reach out again to them.
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