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Hardwood is just as likely to be damaged by non careful guests and is more expensive to replace than carpet. Hopefully you can identify what type of damage it is and then take preventive measures.
For example, if it is an entrance area then provide a coir type mat outside for scraping shoes and a washable mat/rug inside. A shoe bench or cubby next to the entrance that will make it easier for people to remove shoes.
Or is it spills from food/drink? Then get a darker patterned area rug that you can either shampoo in place or remove for cleaning or replace periodically.
If it is marks from wheeling luggage inside then runner mats/rugs along the most trod path would help. I don’t know what type of set up you have or location but maybe a durable laminate flooring or possibly ceramic tile would be in order.
Bleach? Your cleaner or guest hair and acne products? I had a guest ruin a bath mat once with toilet cleaner. Yes take photos, sounds like you need to get a more responsible, on the ball communicative cleaner.
Normal dirt is fine, just buy a carpet shampooer like a Bissell. Wooden floors get damaged too and are more difficult to replace and don’t offer the sound dampening of carpet. I would resign yourself to a regular carpet shampooing regime (just 30 minutes per room I find). Top quality polypropelene synthetic carpets are even bleach proof and unattractive to moths.
It’s the nature of the beast with vacation rentals. I’ve had to change out rugs in each room once every 2-3 years because they accumulate too many set in stains. I prefer the less expensive poly rugs that are so prevalent on sites like Wayfair because they usually get stained before the fiber looks shabby.
I love my wood floors for this reason alone. They look beautiful, are easy to keep clean and easy to maintain. I refinished the wood floors (which needed it when I bought the house) and chose a heavy duty tung oil to finish them. Tung oil is a penetrating sealer that allows for spot touch ups and this is critical. I also use rag rugs for throw rugs and these can just be shook out between guests and/or be tossed in the washing machine.
Depending on location, budget, & more, you may wish to consider tile that looks like wood. Sand is damaging to hardwood & laminate. I put tile that looks like hardwood in my 2 BR condo. Most people think it is wood until they touch it.
We are finishing off a cottage at our property in the Caribbean, and I am 100% going to go with wood-look porcelain tile. It’s fairly inexpensive ($2-$5 per square foot for the tile), and almost indestructible. They’ve really come a long way with the printing of the wood grain, and if you use a thin grout line, it hardly looks like tile at all. The tile is the base color of the wood species all the way through, so scratches - if you get any at all - aren’t really noticeable.
Then put a polypropylene area rug on top for decorative color and to define the space - just like you probably would for wood.
I like it so much, we may rip out the wood floors in the main house bedrooms in a couple of years and replace it with the tile.
