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So in my second life as a host, we got a first guest and it went like this.
Reservation from someone 4 blocks down the road. He has 30 reviews (9 as host, 21 as guest) and 28 of them are good enough. One reviews mentions him not being very clean and one mentions a conflict about money with one host. But all in all, didn’t look too bad. Oh boy…
We asked some questions after reservation. He did NOT answer.
He stayed two nights, each night bringing a different girl. Maybe even more than one girl, we don’t know. My co-host was asleep and I wasn’t there.
One of the girls stole a decorative booklet that we had lying about. Possibly other things went missing, but we haven’t figured that out yet.
They broke a USD 150 toilet seat and didn’t mention a thing.
He smoked in his room, while we don’t allow smoking in our apartment.
He didn’t shower in two days and the bedlinen looked like he had gotten into bed with his dirty shoes on.
A chair got stained.
He left a used condom lying about on some paper. Other condoms he did manage to put in the bin.
While we were asleep he helped himself to cutlery in our kitchen, while we don’t allow guests to use our kitchen. (He had meals in his room. We don’t explicitly prohibit this.)
Oh yes, that was a great welcome back to hosting!
So my question: Please remember me what kind of thing I should not mention in the review. I don’t want AirBnB removing it.
Did you send him a request through the resolution center for the damaged toilet seat and stained chair? I would do that first before reviewing him. If he pays for the damages than I really wouldn’t mention it in the review but I would give him 3 stars for cleanliness, maybe even two stars. This guy sounds gross. Also would give him 3 stars for breaking the house rules (smoking) and that I would mention in his review.
Just stick to facts, and no need to specifically mention condoms, etc.
“Invited over unauthorized guests, left a mess, caused damages, entered off-limits areas.” That sort of wording.
I do wonder why you accepted a booking from someone who lives 4 blocks away. And how did you know that? Before or after he booked?
I could see someone booking something close by if maybe they need to study for some big exam and live with party hearty roommates, but most often bookings from locals aren’t worth taking a chance on.
This experience is good excuse to review your procedures.
For example, you might want to consider taking time-stamped videos just before check-in. See here from @Lynick4442
@muddy 's point about generally not accepting locals, at least without a satisfactory explanation is one thing to consider.
Consider whether it makes sense to have a decal on a door to kitchen marked ‘private’.
At the least consider a confirmation message (mine is scheduled 30 minutes after booking – giving me time to edit it if I see the instant booking) that summarizes some of the key rules in the listing, something like:
Be sure to remember:
o Check-in at x pm; check-out by x am
o Inside quiet hours are x pm - y am; outside (local ordinance): k pm - z am
o No smoking, inside or outside
o Occupancy inside or outside, whether overnight or not, limited to registered guests unless otherwise agreed on platform
o Kitchen is off-limits
o Full list of rules in listing
Please disregard below, just adding these words to make this post different from a previous post that I placed in the wrong thread.
Oh, what a delightful nightmare! Hosting this gem of a guest was a true joy (not). Communication skills? Absent! But who needs communication anyway?
He’s quite the ladies’ man, parading different companions each night like a true Casanova (or just desperate).
But wait, there’s more! A magician in disguise, he made our belongings disappear into thin air (poof!).
A true artist, he managed to shatter a USD 150 toilet seat without a hint of guilt or responsibility.
Smoking indoors? He’s got it covered, breaking rules like a pro.
And let’s talk hygiene – two days without a shower and bedlinen with that extra “dirty sock” touch.
Leaving behind a used condom as a souvenir? How utterly charming!
Oh, and don’t forget his late-night kitchen raid – a true master chef in the making.
If you’re up for a comedy of horrors, invite him in. Otherwise, steer clear of this unforgettable guest (if you value your sanity and property). Good luck! You’ll need it.
People, I will get back to your posts later. The review that I have prepared goes like this (written in Spanish and then translated):
“The experience with Lucho was not good at all. Our (few) questions after booking went unanswered. He broke the house rules by inviting several unregistered visitors and smoking inside the room. Without our permission he took cutlery out of our kitchen, a private space, and was eating in the room. He managed to break a very sturdy toilet seat. He left the room in a state that shows very little respect for us and our home. Someone from the group took one of our belongings. – All this is against the spirit of AirBnB, a community of respect and mutual understanding. For this reason we cannot recommend him as a guest.”
It’s better to state this as a fact rather than an accusation of theft. For instance, towels could have been damaged and thrown in the garbage to hide the evidence, or packed up with a guest’s belongings by accident.
So “There were several missing items after the guest checked out” is a better wording to make sure there are no reasons to have the review removed.
Guthend was a frequent contributor to this forum before he took his break from hosting. He has a sharp wit as well. I honestly think he was the first to put together a sassy review guide that included the words “Put the hosts in jail” for a 1 star listing. As the internet goes, someone saw it here and started printing up signs and selling them on etsy.
Yes, we did request money for the damages caused, but he refused to pay for anything. His reply on the decorative notebook he stole: “I can bring it back. I needed it because of an emergency”. Well he could have asked for a piece of paper or could have even asked us if he could have it or pay for it. - We’ll see what AirCover is worth . Not hoping for a penny.
We have instant booking. Looking into his profile and listing (he’s a host too) we saw that he lives 4 blocks down. In one of his reviews from his guests I read that he has housemates, so I figured out he needed some privacy which I don’t mind as long as one respects us and our home. Trust me, next time I will ask lots of questions…
I’m a Belgian with a BnB in Peru. I wanted some homeland comfort, namely a suspended toilet (=easy for cleaning). The toilet was expensive, the seat too… It’s all good german quality that is supposed to last. I don’t know how he managed to break it .
The kitchen isn’t totally separated: It flows into the living room. We’ll consider putting some kind of sign. To be honest, we have had loads of wonderful guests in the past, that I wouldn’t mind helping themselves to a spoon. With this kind of guest thought it didn’t feel right.
Good idea! We do (manually) confirm reservations, but not the house rules. We’ll look into it.
I didn’t get that question . With the 1 and 2 stars I gave him the system without a doubt already figured that one out by itself .
I waited for the resolution center until he couldn’t edit his review anymore. In the end he gave us a short positive review with 4 stars. And that while he is a host that should know the rating system and while he had gotten an upgrade to our best room without the 30% surplus that it would normally cost. (I did so to accommodate other guests.) I guess no good deed goes unpunished!
UPDATE:
In the end we didn’t need to replace the entire toilet seat, just the hinges. That cost less ($US 40).
AirBnB two days ago has said to pay for the following:
$US 40 for the toilet seat
$US 8 for the missing booklet
$US 35 for extra cleaning
This covers a good part of the costs and I’m kind of pleasantly surprised. I thought they were going to try to squeeze out of everything and not pay us anything.
. Not hoping for a penny.
.
. With the 1 and 2 stars I gave him the system without a doubt already figured that one out by itself 
.