I checked in a guest 2 days ago who was higher maintenance than average arrival wise, but I let that go. That night he asked for a special concession to do ironing in my kitchen after the cut off period of 10pm because he wanted a nap first. I said no, it’s best to stick to the rules. Last night I was at my friend’s house and got interrupted by a phone call from the guest. Could he have a bath in my family bathroom rather than a shower in the guest facilities provided? I was stunned and mistakenly said ok. A bath is not advertised, the guests get more than enough for their money in my budget listing. Perhaps he’d like my larger bedroom next? How to review a guest trying to get more than they’ve paid for? Imagine going into a shop and buying a t-shirt, then saying it’s a bit chilly can I have a hoodie for the same price.
Difference is, shop would say no. The guest asked about ironing, not unreasonable, you said no, also not unreasonable I guess if it would genuinely disrupt you. Guest asked for bath, you said yes (silly but your choice), you can’t then get resentful and ding them.
No kitchen after 10pm is made clear as a hard rule. Ok, but actually no-one would ever ask for more without paying in a shop! Yes I was stupid to say ok about the bath, but then was blindsided being interrupted by the phone. I am talking about dinging for asking for more. The cheapskate should have booked an hotel.
@Emily, have you never been taken by complete surprise and/or said something you didn’t really mean, only to wish you had the opportunity to think it through and not say it in the first place or take it back?
OP’s question wasn’t if she should subtract stars because she was upset with herself for letting a guest bathe in her personal bathroom. It was if this sort or guest should get a review calling out his behavior.
@Jess1, if it had just been the ironing, I would let that go. But a guest asking to use your personal bath because he wants a tub when he knew he rented a shower is over the top.
Mr. Needy, though pleasant enough, may not be a good fit for a shared home environment. He asked to break our house rule of quiet time after 10:00 PM and asked to use our family’s private bathroom because it has a tub rather than the shower in the guest room private bathroom.
You can also mention whatever it was he did at check in if it’s relevant. This sort of review will let other hosts decide if they want to host Mr. Needy.
I’m not sure how you have this set up but I’d make it such that you won’t ever be able to answer yes…I’d lock my bathroom. I have my personal things in my bathroom and it’s not set up for guest use. Next he’ll be dinging you on cleanliness because your bath wasn’t clean enough.
As for the review, yes, please let other hosts know that he’s a PITA.
The guest accommodation is in the loft, so they walk past our bathroom to get to the guest bedrooms and shower room. I only have a lock on the inside of our bathroom door. Normally there are no problems because normal people would just use the shower room they were shown. This guy has obviously seen our private bathroom in passing and thought I fancy some of that! Problem is I don’t fancy sharing with guests and he has not paid nearly enough to have access to my fancy bathroom!
Getting a lock on the outside honestly wouldn’t be a bad idea. We have a lock on our bedroom door, the pantry downstairs, and the closet that we keep tools and cleaning supplies in. I’m also considering getting one for the laundry room to make sure people don’t use our laundry even though there are signs on the machines that say ‘not for guest use’. You can’t trust people to obey your rules and not go in there when you’re not home.
Give him 3 stars overall.
and use @Chloe’s perfect Public Review:
You can’t really ‘ding’ him for anything since you waffled about the shower, but you can let other hosts know that he’s not a good fit for certain kinds of rentals. That’s what reviews are for - hosts more than guests. .
I’m so glad I was able to remodel my home so that only guests invited to my part of the house see it.
My cleanliness ratings were only 5 star 80% of the time when I shared my home. Now they are 99.9% five star. So on one hand it seems harmless enough for him to use your bath while you aren’t there. OTOH it seems cheeky as you Brits say.
Yes I agree. In urban environments the houses tend to be tall and skinny, which limits the possibilities for separate access. It was probably my fault he saw my bathroom because I really like a through draught sometimes so occasionally leave the door open. My next move will be to a place which takes account of these needs. However in the meantime I will rely on guests using the accommodation they have paid for, rather than wanting my accommodation instead. I think the review suggestions are good. To be fair I will limit the ironing comments to his just wanting to be in the kitchen after hours, since he wasn’t intending to be noisy.
It’s completely weird that he even asked. Bathrooms are very personal.
It is not your fault. It is very creepy that he asked.
He is “out of line”.
What is amazing is how some guests can stay three days and the place looks like they were never there, you have no issues with them, they ask if they need anything and definitely are aware they are not in a hotel. My last guests even turned off all the electric things like the bathroom towel rails. For us that is 80% maybe 90% of our guests. The others mostly just seem to expect Hotel facilities for BnB Prices ie more than is on offer really. They do relatively minor (but annoying) things like helping themselves to several towels each and even expect new ones each day, leave heaters running when they leave for the day, split the bedding so one can sleep on the floor (I hate that - now forbidden in he house rules), leave dishes in the sink and generate more rubbish than the rest of the street combined and so on. Takes all types.
Agreed if it’s practical and affordable for you to do so @Jess1 especially if you have nice face creams and Chanel perfume in there and Ms Sticky Fingers guest fancies a spritz before departure
Im more of a Lush girl lol. Honestly noone usually goes in my bathroom. People just use their guest shower room and respect privacy. This guy was weird to ask to have a bath in my space and I will review him as such.
To be honest I don’t even want guests phoning me unless it’s really urgent. Using the app creates a record, gives me time to respond rather than react on the hoof and avoids interrupting me whilst I was having a good natter with my friend. As hosts we need to protect our own time and space as far as possible.
I would use the review suggested, but I would add “he phoned me instead of messaging on the app to ask to take a bath in my private bathroom instead of using the shower in his own guest bathroom”. I too don’t want guests calling me at all (better be an emergency) and knowing this would give me a very good idea of what type of guest to expect.
Yes he should have just messaged me rather than disturbing me by phoning. (Phoning good in real emergency of course) Phoning also catches you on the hop, is more personal and you feel obliged to answer straight away and pressured to answer in the affirmative. In his case I would have preferred to ignore his message then his inappropriate request would just have faded away lol.
I thank this forum for learning to say no and stick to the listing when I start to rack my brain to accomodate something extraordinary. I bet this guest in general is always testing his boundaries to see how far he can get. I tend to feel that a review don’t inform or instruct the reviewee but it might. Good Luck!
Update: I successfully posted a stealth review of this guest saying he challenged my privacy over my private bathroom, kitchen times etc… In the meantime another host posted a review saying he had been into bedrooms and helping himself to things in a family home. The guy obviously has no respect for privacy.
Thank you to all hosts who leave honest reviews. A pox on the house of those who refuse to do so. LOL.