This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
I had a guest stay for two nights. The first night they kept the guest in the adjacent unit up till 4am partying. I sent them a message the next day reiterating the house rules. No complaints the next night but they did leave the place a mess. 6hrs after checkout they wanted to get back into the unit to look for some missing clothing. My cleaners said they did not find any clothing so I did not let them back in. I probable should have but I gave the other guest $30 for putting up with the party and had to pay my cleaners for an extra hour so I was not feeling that accommodating. They left a 2 star review and the comment was just one word “Meh” I left them an honest review mentioning the party and extra cleaning.
And it wastes your time and (in the view of many members here) it looks unprofessional.
You’ve vented here and so you’ve already spent enough time and effort on this guest. Time to move on and make sure the next guests have a wonderful time.
I wouldn’t respond to “meh”. If any future guest is concerned about this, they can click on the guest’s profile and they’ll quickly see this is a retaliatory review.
You only draw attention to it by replying, so just…
Almost NEVER Reply to a guest’s review. It’s a waste of your time and energy, they’ll just ignore it anyway, and the review is for other hosts primarily anyway.
Thanks for all the advise. I have vented here and will just let it go. I thought this was the correct response but wanted to see if anybody had a reason to do something different.
So annoying when guests who behave badly rub it in by leaving a bad review. Hopefully you gave them a low rating as well as an honest review, so they can’t IB with future hosts.
Hope you charged them for the extra cleaning @John_Vann
“I’m sorry you had a meh stay after. The fact is you did party until 4 am and the other guest complained to me about the noise and then you left the room so messy that it took the cleaner one more hour to prepare it for the next guest.”
to me as a guest a “meh” comment to an otherwise good host makes me wonder what the heck happened, so that’s why i think the response is important. to me as a host, the reply is important because perhaps you didn’t detailed in the review what he did and I want to know so that I won’t host him. I believe the response is important.
I believe you could also contact Airbnb to see if they could remove the review, especially if you have been having lots of good reviews and a good host prior. Worth a try.
I did hear from a user from another local fb Airbnb group if you had record of prior good reviews and explain the situation to Airbnb about removing the negative review. If they find it acceptable, they could do so possibly. Worth a try contacting them to see. Haven’t done it myself.
I did leave the guest an honest review and mentioned the party and the extra cleaning. I also gave them a thumbs down.
I could go after them for cleaning and maybe get the review removed but I am starting two more units and think spending the time and effort there is more worthwhile.
I think no response is the right response. If you frequently respond publicly (“thanks for staying,” etc.) it might be OK to say something neutral that would warn off other partying guests.
“I agree there was a mismatch of expectations. I’m sorry I had to ask you to shut your party down the first night, but it was well after midnight and I was getting noise complaints from the neighbors. I wish you happy travels in the future.”
I wonder if they push abnormal reviews to the end 
