I had a full house of six people at my next door rental who were in town for a wedding. Their reservation was Friday to Sunday (bunch of 20-somethings). They check in Friday, I give them the tour and leave them to their own devices. On Saturday morning I send them a text asking if everything was good to which they replied it was. Perfect!
At about 3:30pm Saturday afternoon I get a call from them – power’s out which means the water is out too which incidentally means no toilets either (I was in town when they called otherwise I would have known right away). Great. I call the power company and am told they expect to have it restored by 6:30pm and let the guest know apologizing profusely told them I have bottled water available for their use. Guest says no worries as they are heading to the wedding soon so they won’t even be there.
6:30pm rolls around and no power (I’m without power/water too). I call the power company again. Updated estimate for restoration is 8pm. Ugh, but again they are at the wedding so not so bad. I let the guest know and tell them I have battery powered lanterns that I will leave on the kitchen table.
I go into the house to pull out the lanterns and water and am confronted with the biggest craziest mess that I haven’t seen since my days in the Greek system (i.e. a frat house). Sink full of dishes, food on the floor, all the counters covered with food, alcohol bottles and garbage, half eaten plates in the dining room, clothes strew about like someone was running while peeling off items one at a time, chairs moved about and left randomly, garbage cans pulled out and full (one has been placed outside and I think someone has thrown up in it). An insane mess that was beyond belief.
The lanterns were stored in the laundry down the hall from the kitchen so I had to walk past the guest bath which was a disaster of towels and toiletries. I also went past the master bedroom which looked like it has been through a hurricane with the bed stripped down to the mattress pad and everything piled in the middle. There were bras and shoes and towels and feminine product wrappers strewn about and the blinds were askew. There was a dining room chair in the master bath and decorative pillows on the floor. I mean it was freaking crazy. In the laundry I found piles of towels and not the ones for showering but the less nice brown ones I keep in the laundry cupboard for wiping off the patio furniture and such.
Shaking my head and resisting the urge to pick up because I’m a neat freak I shove aside debris on the kitchen table and leave the lanterns and water then I go back to my house to sit in the dark and wait for the lights to come back on.
8pm rolls around and still no power. I call the power company again for an update. New estimate is 8am Sunday morning! OMG! I can’t have 6 people in a house with no toilets so I call Airbnb, ask them to refund the night and find my guests a new place to stay (there was power in the city proper). I send the guest a message with the new information and tell them Air will be contacting them. Air gets back to me that there is no place to move them and they want to stay. I hope for the best and brace myself for what I’ll find the next day when they leave.
The power finally came back on at midnight.
Sunday morning rolls around and I wait to hear from my guests that they are leaving. It’s been a trial and they’ve been partying at a wedding so I figure I’m not going to worry about when they check out because I don’t have anyone coming for a week. Around 11am I notice a family of deer standing on the front patio looking in the windows so I figure the guests must have left without saying anything. I head over and sure enough all the cars are gone. I knock on the door, no answer. I cautiously open the door ready for the nightmare mess I’d seen the night before but instead I step into an immaculate house. The counters are clean, the floor is clean, the beds are made, the garbage has been collected and placed in one bag, the recycling in another and the dishwasher is running! AMAZING! From frat house to open house clean! I was so surprised and tickled I giggled. Just goes to show you, you never know.
I gave them a glowing review and privately thanked them for their understanding and patience during the power outage. They haven’t reviewed me yet.
BTW - Once again Air CS was very helpful and understanding. Two for two with them so far.
