Guest Review for Guest With Odd Behavior

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So once again, I come to the Hosts Forum to get help on reviewing a Guest. I had a couple from Sweden a week ago. They gave me great compliments (through the message thread) on how attentive I was as a Host, and mentioned that they had never had a Host welcome them as sweet as I had with all the extra touches. It was Valentine’s week, and so I figured a young couple would appreciate some romantic things (nothing expensive). A few roses in a tiny vase, some wine, and I purchased some sweet treats from a Swedish coffee shop we have near us.

Anyway, after a few days, I noticed that they had never left the cottage (I can hear them in my home, including having sex as my home is a small cottage and the Guest Suite is attached to the home). During the week, they messaged me that they ran out of water and toilet paper. I leave 6 rolls for each stay and a few bottles of water for Guests when they arrive and extra water bottles to use in the coffee maker, as there is no kitchen in the unit. I gave them the extra toilet paper to avoid a review about that, but I told them that our water was safe to drink and that there was a supermarket & Walgreens less than a mile away where they could purchase more water.

On the 5th. day, I got an alert from my security camera late at night, 10:30, and when I looked at the notification on my phone, the female guest was in her underwear (I could see her butt) making angry hand gestures to her boyfriend with the door wide open. My neighbors can easily see the Guest Suite entrance from their windows so I was getting anxious thinking that a bad argument was going on. I opened up the “live view” to see what she was saying, and I didn’t hear anything. This seemed very odd to me because it seemed as if she was yelling. The next day, their last day, they finally left to go to the beach. I saw her with my bath towels in her hand, and she was communicating using sign language to her boyfriend (Their car faces my window and I could see them getting into their car). I was in shock as there was never any mention of her being deaf. As Hosts, should we not know this?

The day they checked-out, my cleaning lady advised me that she had never seen the place left so dirty. Garbage everywhere, spills on the floor and desk (they had removed my runner from the wood desk to avoid ruining it, and it also had stains on it). Nothing was ruined where I had to make a claim, and as far as the towels, clearly they knew there were beach towels as they took the other beach supplies with them and the towels were next to the beach chairs. I don’t know how to review them. I will wait until the last possible day as they have not reviewed me yet, although I don’t expect they would have anything negative to say about me or the accommodations. The boyfriend has several positive reviews on the platform, but she made the reservation, and she has no reviews. All feedback welcome of course :grinning:

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Other than it being left extra dirty I don’t see much to comment on for a separate space.

If they are both deaf that may explain both staying in the room a lot and loud sex noises because they don’t realize how loud they are. As for other behavior that seems odd, most hosts wouldn’t even know about a lot of it because they wouldn’t be on the premises, looking out the window, looking at the camera, etc.

Keep in mind that things you might find odd, like women in their underwear, doesn’t seem like as big a deal to Europeans. Some people use more TP, some less. Maybe they stayed in and used it all because they caught a stomach bug. Last, you say they are from Sweden. Is that based on what they told you or what is listed on their profile or what? They could be in the US for an extended visit or for work. Unless they told you explicitly they traveled to a foreign country for a week to stay in their room the whole time, don’t make yourself frustrated guessing.

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Yes, it does seem to me that, except for the dirtiness, the other behaviors slip through the cracks as far as breaking rules, and mentioning them would suggest the king of attention that future guests may be uncomfortable with. Not to say that taking a star or two for cleanliness, and maybe 1 for the overall experience wouldn’t be understandable.

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@soflohost The only thing that would disturb me and that I would mention negatively in the review is how dirty they left it.

As far as them mentioning the deafness, I don’t see that as something required or necessary- he may also be deaf, or not. If it was a deaf guest on their own, or they were both totally deaf, it might be a safety concern not to know- I think of something like a wildfire or other emergency, where you would have to go bang on their door to alert them.

Staying indoors having sex all day and night might be a lot of couples’ idea of a great holiday. Not for a host to pass judgement on.

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Oh I so agree–I wouldn’t mention anything to other Hosts other than leaving the place with garbage everywhere. I don’t think the towels is cause for making a big deal about “breaking House Rules,” although another Host might be really ticked off about taking bath towels to the beach. I guess my real concern was what appeared to be fighting between the couple and her walking out in her underwear. Maybe they felt somewhat secluded having a private entrance in the back of the cottage, but she walked up and down my driveway in her underwear and would be visible to both neighbors so my concern is neighbors being uncomfortable with the behavior and maybe calling it to my attention at some point if they saw it. Most of my neighbors are not comfortable with Airbnb’s in general. Looking at the video at first made me think she might have Schizophrenia but then the following day was when I saw her signing to her boyfriend.

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They were not both deaf. I make sure to meet all of my Guests upon checking-in to know who is staying in my home, to show them where the beach equipment is kept (I have two storage areas and some Guests get a little confused) and also to verify that they are vaccinated. Other than that, unless they contact me, they are pretty much on their own. The boyfriend spoke to me the whole time during check-in, so I just assumed she was being quiet or shy as she laughed during the conversation. As far as the sex noises, it was definitely him :rofl: And, they definitely came directly from Sweden as they informed me of that when requesting to book. She did state that they would “stay mostly on the premises of the room,” so I guess I should have taken it literally and not assume that everyone wants to come to this area to be by the water.

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I am definitely not judging anyone for staying in and having sex. Heck, I remember when I was that young. In my House Rules, it states “Guests acknowledge that the Guest Suite is attached to the home, and as such, the Host and family may be home throughout the day . . . If you need absolute quiet during the day, please look for alternate accommodations.” The cottage is also 900 square feet. I know that we all have different listings, but there are many Hosts that have a similar listings. Again, I might mention the noises in my “private message” to them but not in my public review. I do, however, feel that the scene caught on camera could potentially disturb neighbors and any fight between couples can escalate quickly. I personally want my neighbors to feel that my Guests are respectful of not only my property but the surrounding properties too. As far as the safety part of it, I am glad you mentioned that, as he left her alone everyday when he left to pick up takeout. That is a scary thought to think about.

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It’s possible that he is deaf, not her, right? Just because you saw her signing and gesturing, that could also mean that is how she has to communicate with him. Unless you spoke with him, it would be an assumption that she’s the deaf one, or they could both be.

I can imagine how strange that would have been for you, to see them having a soundless argument, when you never knew about the deafness.

I understand the concern about being out in underwear regarding your neighbors, especially as you say they aren’t thrilled about your Airbnb. But it was a one-off, it will likely never happen again.
I live in the tropics- everyone is scantily clad and underwear doesn’t look significantly different from a bikini. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I don’t think she had to mention that she was deaf. Also since she was Swedish, for her walking in her underwear is not a big thing. You’re lucky she wasn’t naked.

I remember once in Sweden seeing a topless elderly lady painting her front door. Another time, a naked man standing at the window. They’re not prudish folks like us Americans.

I would ding them on cleanliness but would give them 5 for the other categories.

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I agree with the ding on cleanliness, but forget the rest.

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Most of the ‘oddness’ was no big deal. I’d mention in the review the messiness - include something like “As XXXX is new to Airbnb she might not have realised that guests should leave their rental in the condition in which they found it”. That way, you’ve warned other hosts.

No, in my opinion. If a guest has a physical problem that necessitates special equipment then of course the host should know. but deafness, no.

When you do the house tour in future, you can point out the beach towels. You can even say “believe it or not, I once had guests who took the regular towels to the beach - haha”.

A quick couples-arguing story - it was checkout day and they had a row very early in the morning. So at 7 am, he left. He left a note on my door thanking me etc. but saying that he was leaving. She was still in the rental, drunk. That was a fun morning! :rofl:

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I did have a few conversations with him, including when they checked-in so he is not deaf. I agree with what you and others here have said about not needing to point out any of the minor things in the review which I was not going to do. I was more looking for help on what to write about them in the review as Guests, not how many stars to rate them. Other than the cleanliness, they were pretty decent Guests, and if I didn’t have neighbors around me, I could care less if someone wants to be in their underwear–it doesn’t bother me at all.

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Thank you for the recommendation on what to mention in my review about the cleanliness & for the towel situation. I did point out the beach towels next to the beach chairs, but going forward, I will definitely use the scenario of the couple who used the bath towels to my future Guests :rofl:

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I say in my listing for guests to bring their own beach towel, but if they have luggage constraints, I can provide one. I started off with no beach towwels, but a couple of guests have left theirs behind because they didn’t want to bother packing them, so now I have a couple loaners.

I didn’t want to always provide them because I’m a ways from the beach, so beach towels tend to disappear- people go to the beach and go sit at a restaurant, then walk off leaving the towel hanging over the back of the chair, etc. And they get run over by dogs, and so on.

I do ask that guests not take the bath towels to the beach. But I had one guest who took one on a booze cruise and came back with a different towel. She didn’t even realize it. When I asked her where the second bath towel I’d left her was, when I was collecting the dirty ones, she said it was hanging in the bathroom and pointed it out. The only similarity was that it was green, but a quite different color of green than mine, and old and threadbare- something I would never use for guests.

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Oh my! Well, I guess I should be very thankful that my bath towels came back the same color :rofl:

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Ok.

  1. 10:30 is not late at night by any standard. The news doesn’t even come on until 11.
  2. You are very very nosey. It is way over the fkng top.
  3. You are very very intrusive.
  4. You are misusing your “security” cameras.
  5. It is not only rude, but it actually has legal implications, for you to suggest that you have any right to know about anyone’s disability. Period.
  6. Your post makes me hesitate to stay at an Airbnb again and I require very little privacy. But I can only imagine how it comes across to guests that come across this entirely public post on a google search. It embarrasses me to think of it.
  7. There are no amount of neighbor-issues that justify this amount of surveillance of your guests. Is your airbnb legal? If it is, then stand up to your neighbors with your local laws. if it isn’t, then shut it down.

Guests are not there for your entertainment and you should not know, or at least not detail, their every move and every sound (or lack thereof ,). Your security cameras are for preventing parties and burglaries. They are not meant for keeping tabs on adults on vacation.

And you need to understand that with everything that you have so unabashedly said, that if you were a man, you would be labeled as a pervert.

Your review should mention, “these guests were messier than most” or “they left the unit unclean” but anything more makes you look bad. Anything more makes us all look bad.

(And where are the paragraph-police when you really need them @JohnF ?).

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I wish the paragraph police had helped. I stopped reading it.

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It’s none of YOUR business whether someone is deaf, blind, or disabled in any other way! Seems like you spent a lot of time snooping on these folks…

Review: “Guests didn’t go out much. Seemed nice enough, but they did leave the place very messy.”

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Hello Good morning @JJD It’s nice to meet a fellow Host who is so very respectful, supportive & understanding. Thank you. I don’t know who @JohnF is, but I think you made sure to take over the “paragraph-police” job very well if that’s what he is used to doing to other Hosts. Before I could respond to your post, I had to make sure to pray about it and have 3 shots of espresso so here goes:

(1) you don’t know me as a Host. I have been Hosting for 3 years now, and I think that if I didn’t know the boundaries/rules in the beginning, I most definitely do now. 10:30 may not be late for you or most people. I personally go to bed between 11:00 and midnight every night, but that has nothing to do with something going on outside at 10:30 at night. It has to do with your posted quiet hours and respecting your neighbors.

(2) As I sit here having my coffee, I can see my street, which is very narrow and faces my window. This is a small, historic cottage (900 square feet). If Guests are home all day, I may not be able to see/hear what they are doing or saying, but I can definitely hear that there is someone in my home. Hence, why I knew they didn’t leave the cottage all day.

(3) Being intrusive–well, here is the meaning of that–“causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome or uninvited.” Nothing like that ever happened on my part

(4) The reason most people have security cameras on the perimeter/outside of their home is to know what is going on “outside” of their home. I did not install my security cameras, but hired a professional, and we went over all the possibilities of invading someone’s privacy, making sure to set up motion detectors away from private areas (like facing a window). The alert I received was from the motion detectors close to my front door which is for “my” protection. If a Guest is parading up and down my driveway late at night, and I get an alert on my security app, then I have a right to view what is going on. What if there were people entering my home that weren’t supposed to be there? The point is, never in my post do I say I continued to view them on multiple occasions or watch them on my app.

(5) I posed a question to the “seasoned Hosts” on this platform to ask whether a disability such as being “deaf” should be disclosed. That is what this forum is for–to ask questions and learn. I am disabled and “no,” I don’t disclose my disability as a Guest, but my disability does not affect how I would communicate with a Host or as another Host pointed out, could present a safety issue, which I had not thought of (see, I learned something from my question).

(6) So happy for this forum because if I came across a Host as disrespectful as you, I would not want to stay on any of their properties.

(7) I do not, under any circumstance, spy on my Guests through security cameras. Having consideration for your neighbors is in fact, an Airbnb requirement for Guests. In case you never educated yourself on what that means, here is the link. I have my quiet hours posted on my House Rules, and I go over that with my Guests. Maybe you don’t care about how your Guests act in the neighborhoods where your rentals are, but I do, as my home is in a quiet, residential neighborhood. What’s expected of guests - Airbnb Help Center

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I had someone do something similar. It was jammie pants and a bra (clearly) first thing in the morning and the persons were cussing each other out at the end of my driveway for all (not just 2) neighbors to see and hear :flushed:.

I found out because one neighbor complained to me. My security camera alerts are off once a guest checks in so I never would have known otherwise. I had to go back and find the event. I bought the neighbor a variety pack of local beers/ciders and apologized profusely. I’m glad they told me. I’ve tightened up my vetting since that time.

In the review, I noted that they’d been disruptive to my neighbors (no other detail), who complained to me. They did other things, too, including taking my bath towels to the lake, sneaking in a dog, etc.

I marked “Would not host again”.

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