I have hosted a number of times before and have great reviews. I’m posting a new space on Airbnb and had my first guest arrive there yesterday. We had a great conversation in the early evening, she spent the night and then the next morning left. She was very pleasant in her messages to me, stating that she had changed her mind about the new job she was here for, had declined it and was moving back to be closer to family. I have a no-refund policy, but feel bad. As this was a new listing, I had accepted both the weekly and monthly discount for the space, which is actually a very self-contained, private basement apartment. Should I offer her a refund of some amount and if so, how much? I am concerned about what reviews she might give me.
I never offer a refund. Never.
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You did nothing wrong. I hope you don’t go all through life cringing and apologizing because you are afraid of other people not liking you.
A fairly standard procedure is to refund nights that are rebooked by another guest. Did she cancel? Have you gotten your payout?
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@Ollie If hosts refunded guests every time they changed their minds, hosting would be a losing proposition. You aren’t responsible for your guests’ personal decisions and you can’t run your hosting life based on fear of reviews.
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She just turned down a job. This decision has financial consequences. She has obviously weighed those consequences and made a decision.
You should, ethically, refund her any nights you are able to re-book, that’s just my opinion: You aren’t required to, but since you want to feel good about this, like I would also want, tell her that you will do that.
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That’s how I operate as well but I’m doubtful that we are a majority here. In any case he should offer to do anything until he has his money and/or new bookings. I’d be waiting until the end of the month to what the total number of rebooked days were.
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This is a bit of a contradiction isn’t it? You have the policy for a reason so why feel bad?
The guest booked, the guest decided not to stay but the host feels bad? When you look at it that way, doesn’t it seem nuts to think about a refund? I can’t think of any other business that would give a refund under those circumstances.
Why? Have we only got half the story? What happened?
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Count me in to the minority then, I would absolutely refund any rebooked nights. It is the right thing to do.
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Never. Give. A. Refund. For. Anything. Never give discounts, either – Marriott doesn’t why should you? Her choice to leave. Her loss.
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The only refunds are through Airbnb EC policy. If you want a flexible booking then by all means book with hosts with a flexible policy.
I would also refund nights I managed to rebook, but with a reasonable amount held back for my time in dealing with the original booking and cancelled reservation. But I wouldn’t even mention it unless a guest asked about a refund. Then, if I managed to rebook, I’d send a “surprise” refund. Goodwill, good karma kind of thing. You never know, they might then tell their friends about the great host who sent an unexpected refund, causing their friends to decide to book with you simply because they were told how nice you were.
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I have read this advice from you many times, which I respectfully choose to disregard. 
I sent a 10% loyalty discount offer to all of my favorite guests from last season. My rates are at least that much higher this year, so I will make the same amount I did last season, or more.
Why were they my favorite guests? They were the ones who only cost me a fraction of the typical cleaning cost because they left the place almost spotless. So, I already made more money off of their stay than the average.
There are hundreds of listings in our area for the guest to choose from. I hope to incentivize the best guests to become regulars.
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No half story. I worked hard to offer a clean, inviting space and she had no complaints. I guess I tend to over-empathize in cases such as this. I also had an experience with guests who were very demanding and then left a very neutral, minimal review. I learned then to be less trusting of what a guest might say, or at least to worry about it perhaps unnecessarily.
I used to be overly concerned with other’s opinions of me. Much less now, but I do care.
My guest did cancel and I’m waiting for my payment from Airbnb- I know she payed it. She also sent me messages explaining and apologizing, but also applying subtle pressure for a refund of some kind “How nice it would be not to pay for a space I’m not using” while also commenting that she would understand that I would do what I needed to.
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It sounds like you are in a win-win, once you get 1) your Airbnb payment and 2) some replacement bookings. Given her nice attitude I would message her after I got my money and tell her that any refund is based on those replacement bookings and that I’d be back in touch at the end of the month.
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So you’ve nothing to worry about regarding her review.