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The challenge I have is I very rarey meet my guests because of the self-checkin process. So when I go to the property after all I can evaluate is how well they left the place. Luckily up to now most of my guests have left the apartment in a nice tidy state. The main difference is some people put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and start it before they leave (which I do have in my house instructions) while a few just leave them piled in the sink or in the dishwasher without it turned on. That doesnât seem like something I would make a big deal about. So itâs hard to differentiate and make a personal comment on each guest.
A few guests have moved furniture around and not put it back but once again thatâs hardly worth commenting on because in a different property there may be no opportunity for the guests to do that because theyâre in a single room and not an entire apartment.
@lchiu7 - to most of us it doesnât matter that you havenât met the guest because we donât care whether they are nice people, or spoke good English or whatever else we can tell from meeting them.
What we need to know are the things that you can tell from the build up to the stay (communication and arrival), cleanliness, if the guests were quiet and if they checked out on time. Another great thing, for me anyway, is whether or not youâd host them again.
I always say in my summary if they would be welcome back. I guess that is the ultimate recommendation. If I donât say it then I donât want to host them again and thatâs only happened twice in the past year
Even if you donât meet most of your guests, you can still mention whether their communication was good, whether they left the place clean, whether they followed house rules (you can tell, for instance, if theyâve been smoking in a no-smoking listing, or tracked mud across the carpet when you had a no shoes in house rule). Those are the kind of things I want an idea about. I couldnât care less if they left a few dirty dishes, or failed to press the start button on the dishwasher, or whether they rearranged the furniture to their liking, as long as they didnât scratch up the floors and the walls in the process.
The kind of reviews I dislike are the ones that just say âNice guestsâ or âAll Goodâ, because that really doesnât tell me anything.
XXX and her party were great guests. Communication was clear and they left the apartment in a spotless condition. We met briefly and they seemed very nice people. Would welcome them back at any time.
XXX was a poor guest. He and his friends left the apartment in a very untidy state with trash littered everywhere and bottles of beer strewn all over the apartment. Dirty dishes were left on the table and they did not even go to the effort of leaving them in the sink or as most guests do, place them in the dishwasher. There were table tennis balls on the floor indicating that they had been playing games inside and all the drawers where I keep provisions had been opened and contents left on the floor. The TV was left on as well as heaters. Finally despite a clear no-smoking policy, there was clear evidence of smoking with cigarette butts on the floor and worse, a cigarette burn on the window sill which is going to require the sill be painted. Any future hosts be warned.
I will leave it as an exercise for readers of this forum which guest they would gladly host again and which they wouldnât touch with a ten foot barge pole
Just a minor suggestion that perhaps next time keep it a bit shorter? Just focus on the essentials to possibly avoid getting it pulled by an overzealous airbnb cs agent. For your consideration here is a draft that I might have used:
Would Not Host Again. Violated several house rules including Smoking. Cigarette burns on window sill. Cigarette butts left on floors. Trash and dirty dishes throughout the apt.
Short, brutally honest and all thatâs needed - IMO. For a negative review, I always start with âWould Not Host Againâ, as some hosts wonât need to read any further.
I think your negative review is fine as it is. @lchiu7 The suggested alternative doesnât in my opinion give me a clear picture of the extent of how bad the guest actually was.
Never thought to do this and I will try this. My worse reviewer asked to bring her dog to my pet free placeâ which I agreed to being a newbee and wanting some reviewsâthen gave me a 4 for location despite knowing ahead of time that my place is located in a rural, eclectic downtown. She also sent me a personal list of things she thought I needed to change.I was gracious in my responses but a little annoyed.
I always used to review guests after they checked out and I had time to assess the condition of the home but so many didnât review me. So now I review good guests only if they leave me a review. I always review the not so great guests but I do wait the 14 days.
Yeah just kidding.