Guests broke house rules - need advice

1

Hi All,

Somewhat of a new host here but just had my first bad experience.

A little context:

  • Hosted the entire house, I never met the guests in person.
  • 8 people stayed, at least 4 were unrelated (left plane ticket stubs)
    Issues not discovered until after checkout:
  • broken: House rule of smoking, ashes inside, outside, butts left in yard, smells like smoke inside…and outside still.
  • broken: House rule of partying, seems like they partied but obviously hard to tell.
  • Trash left in the back yard, cig boxes/wrappers, gum wrappers, etc
  • They left the back door wide open/unlocked ( most windows open and vents on to air the place out)
  • They threw away a towel (found it in the trash can)
  • Kitchen drawer broken
  • greasy hand and head (wtf) prints on walls
  • Checkout instructions ignored

*I took pictures of everything

So, Im not sure if all my previous guests were angels and this is normal… or if this group just didn’t respect the property.

Ive contacted Airbnb and they directed me to the resolution center to request money from guest - I don’t know how to request money for removing cigarette smell from the house. So- Not sure the best way to come to resolution on this - asking all the more experienced hosts how you would approach it?

ALSO, should I write a review first… then use resolution center or resolution center and then leave a review. Personally, I wouldn’t host them again and I feel its my responsibility to let future hosts know what might happen if this guest/the party stays again… but I dont want that review to negatively impact coming to a resolution.

2

You always want to be honest when you review people. You also want to stick to the facts.

Smoking is not permitted in the house. Found ashes in the house and cigarette butts outside. House smells strongly of cigarette smoke. Trash including cigarette boxes and wrappers as well as gum wrappers and other items were left in thenbackyard. Back door and windows left open after checkout. Found one of my towels in the trash. Finally, there were greasy hand and what appear to be head prints left in the walls. Would not recommend.

Voila!

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3

Do you have a manager that checks guests in and out? If not consider getting one.

Do you have CCTV - this should be a must for absent hosts - else how do you monitor comings and goings.

Get estimates for additional cleaning and damage repair and submit within the time Airbnb gives you to respond. Contact guests about damage and smoke,

Leave an honest review.

2 Likes
4

Wow, these were really horrible guests and this is not at all the norm. Don’t leave a review right away, you’ll want to to see how the next week plays out (and yes, definitely leave a honest review of these assholes). I hope you are compensated by AIR – some other hosts have claimed for cigarette smoke and I believe they got some payment although this may depend on whether the guests “agree” to the charges. Good job taking pictures and documenting everything.

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5

I dont have a manager - I have a flexible schedule to check people in/out unless guests request otherwise, which this party did.

Probably a red flag to be honest huh? haha lesson learned

External Cameras for entrances is on my list - any brand suggestions?

6

great advice and I agree - my review will be as objective as possible, I feel like reviews are not the place for emotion despite my personal home not being respected… which can be somewhat emotional and touchy.

Love your review suggestion, thank you

7

Interesting update: we found remnants/very small quantity of drugs in the house

My gf was checking things over as a 2nd set of eyes… she discovered the top dresser drawer reeked… kinda skunky.

I had thrown away what looked like a small piece of vegetation… we put the 2 together, I fished it out of the trashcan - it turned out to be marijuana.

So, they brought illegal drugs into the house now too - swell.

8

You probably already know this but any communication especially about damages should be done through the AirBnB messaging.

Great idea about waiting to write your review.

Trace of marijuana ?! No wonder they attempted to air the house out aside from the regular cigarette smoke

I recently had a group like this come through. NO damages thankfully just an additional 4 hours of clean up required to wipe beer etc off the walls and they smoked on the deck. My crew were extremely loud and drank copious amounts of beer etc. But the damage doesn’t sound as bad as yours.
Here’s wishing you a satisfactory resolution.

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9

Previous guests were appreciate and respectful of your accommodation.
You are right, this group just violated your property and belongings and clearly treated you and your property with utter disrespect.

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