Guest Book Goes Gross

I love having a guest book available for people to leave messages about how they enjoyed their stay or things they’re grateful for…today though I’m grateful my guest book has perforated pages so I could easily rip this message out.

“Thanks for the cool place. The portable speaker was lit. I also recommend changing the bed sheets. :)” [guests name]

Seriously?!?!?

I was so grossed out I washed all the linens two times. And then neatly removed the message from my guest book so no one else would read it.

I mean, I know things happen when I’m not there. I’m not naive, but to leave it in the guest book?

I can’t even on this one!

Also had a miserable guest leave nasty comments in my guest book. Stayed as a work booking and not personally paying for the stay, but bitched about the price, location and the neighbors rare party that finished at 10. Also neatly excised the offending page!

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Gosh I can’t remember who stayed with me last week. I have little cards/letter in a draw and I don’t remember who they are. Some people stick in my mind but I get loads of 1 nighters, just can’t keep track.
Don’t leave a guest book around as there are too many twits around, writing stupid comments that upset hosts, sometimes not deliberately.

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I don’t bother with a guest book because I wanted to get more reviews online and thought it would feel like double work for the guest. I like the personal feel of them, don’t get me wrong, but think the majority of guests will only take the time to write nice stuff one time.

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A friend had a guest book when they first started. All was fine a few nice things to say. And then one person left a silly comment about no potato masher, then the next person felt compelled to complain about something else and so did the third person. So they got rid of the guest book!
When we started last year we didn’t bother with one for the reasons mentioned by other posters

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I should be clear this is the FIRST! Time I’ve ever had a comment like this. They’ve always been beautiful, lovely remarks and I have 2 books of them now. So this was just a quick rant. I highly recommend a guest book! I love it when I visit other places and can read what people wrote and recommendations they have. I think it’s an incredibly personal touch to offer.

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I just had a nice couple here who each decided to write about how sexy and hot they found the other to be (by name) on the guest suite whiteboard. Um, they felt compelled to share this with me why?

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Oh, dang, is this ANOTHER one of those Airbnb beta tests?

Satisfaction: How good was the sex? (1 to 5 stars)

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I’m guessing that in both cases these are younger couples. They have different standards and filters. They are joking or feeling that sharing that info is a compliment. As an older person it doesn’t seem appropriate to me but then when I was young some of my elders didn’t even think is was appropriate for women to wear short skirts or tight pants. I don’t need that information but I wouldn’t call sharing it gross…maybe immature?

BTW, I love my guest book. As time goes by it seems fewer people write in it but I’ve had nothing but lovely messages.

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Yes, youthful exuberance, no doubt they were just having fun and not thinking one bit about their old, bemused host!

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Yes. Immature. Thanks for the re-frame. Nonetheless, this note didn’t stay in my guest book. LOL.

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This is the exact reason I decided against a book. I do on occasion receive nice notes from guests and I save those in the pocket of my house guide but that is it.

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I would like to say again if you have a guest book with perforated pages you can pull out unwanted comments neatly. I have had over 200 beautiful comments in my ‘guest book’ but it isn’t an official guest book where it’s hard to eliminate negative comments. It’s a cute book with space for 1-2 comments on a page and you can easily rip out pages. I’ve never ripped out a page until today.

I also leave post it notes asking people to leave things they loved about the space and are grateful for in the space so I’m delivering them down a positive funnel where people don’t feel ready to say negative things.

I do stand by the guest book as a really beautiful and personal gift in your space even after my rant today. It’s one “immature” comment in a sea of hundreds of beautiful ones!

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Is there a rant category? I feel like I just wanted to vent this out and I didn’t want it to turn into a post against guest books. I love them. Will always keep one. I wanted a space to share an uncomfortable experience with other hosts. Maybe my post wasn’t appropriate. :frowning:

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We’ve just had our fiftieth guest and they’ve all put something nice in our guest book - mind you, we stand over them at breakfast on the last day of their stay as they write their comments, so presumably they’d be too embarrassed to leave anything negative!

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I agree it’s icky and too much information, scrub that thought from the brain lol. Did you wash the mattress protector as well? Maybe they were so chuffed they actually got some they just had to overshare!

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We have a guest book and a guest picture wall. A year ago nearly every guest wrote in the book and posted a picture. Now, I’d say about 85% do. It’s always one of the first things I check, and it helps to give me a bit of an endorphin rush as I get started on the cleaning. I don’t have the guest book labeled as such, and I never mention it, but people find it. I think they like to read what others share about the place or the area. I especially like it when they offer their favorite breweries, beers, restaurants, etc…

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Guests are becoming so rude and nasty. At least it feels like it.

I also think if they read the nice things other write it prompts them to do the same in the guest book, in the review or both.

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i like reading my book first too…!

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