Guests Who Were Hosted In Room Were Uncommunicative, Load, and Messy

I had a guest book with me same day, for a one night stay in my airbnb room (yes a room, not an entire house). Shortly after accepting the booking I had asked when she would arrive. She said 15-20min, at 2pm ish. Then sent a message at 5pm saying they were on their way… they did not arrive until 10:30, and our quiet hours start at 10pm. They weren’t too loud coming in but at 12:45 there was a pretty loud commotion and our front door was slammed shut (and I could hear their car ZOOM away). Then in the morning I had just come back from walking my dog, and they were checking out at the appropriate time. As they left, they were super load and yelling (right next to my mom who works from home). I went and checked the room and it looked like it was ransacked. Every snack I put up there was taken (keep in mind they were here for 12 hours), as well as around 12 coffee creamers. I don’t really care that much about that but who would take 12 COFFEE CREAMERS? The rest of the room was pretty dirty, with crumbs COVERING the floor. Lastly there were some stains on towels which I still have not been able to successfully get out. I’m wondering how I should review them, as this is my first “bad” experience on Airbnb. Keep in mind I live in an 800k home in a very upscale area, so guests like this are not common whatsoever. Thankfully nothing was broken, and I will live. Just a lot of extra cleaning for a guest that wanted to find a place same day. Thanks for hearing my rant and look forward to some input as to how I would review them!

You review them honestly, of course. What other options were you considering/expecting?

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Absolutely review - we bear that responsibility to spare future hosts. Just use the facts - First bad experience; Very late arrival; loud; “ransacked” level of messy, and stained towels. (Leave the creamers out! Too petty - and not unreasonable for someone who likes a lot of cream in their coffee!) Leave out assumptions and judgement. Just - the simple facts as to why you were disappointed.

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Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for. I just wanted to make sure I’m not crazy for leaving a lower review, even though I will be fine at the end of the day.

If you don’t mind, once the review is public, could you post it in this thread (removing and identifying information)?

You would be crazy to leave them a good review. A review system is entirely pointless if it isn’t honest.

Hint: Last minute bookers are often red flags unless your location is such that you get a lot of last minute bookings, like you live near an airport or an interstate highway.

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When you write your review, of course, only honesty can be used. However, here’s a reminder: amenities that are left for a guest are to be used. If the guest uses 12 packets of Coffee creamer, you can’t comment on whether it’s appropriate, wrong, or a steal. If you want to ration them based on the length of stay, then before they show up, leave the preferred amount. But, along with Complaining about the Thermostat setting, toilet paper usage, and lightbulb brightness, complaining that a guest used amenities you left for them will make you look foolish in your review.

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I find it REALLY hard to give a negative review as I don’t want to be responsible for compromising the ability for folks to rent on airbnb, so if they’re new and have made some smaller transgressions I will leave a very brief, noncommittal review and then tell them privately what they need to fix to avoid a bad review in the future. BUT the bigger issues you describe seem like behaviour that shows they’re simply not a good fit for the airbnb community and potential future hosts need to be warned. But I would still frame it that - these were the things that were disappointing to experience as a host, as apposed to - these are bad people, don’t rent to them. Reviews reflect on us as hosts as much as they do on the guest.

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Except… they are bad people: they don’t keep their word, they are dirty (crumbs on floor) , they make loud noises in the middle of the night while a guest in someone else’s home. Hosts shouldn’t rent to them.

I mean – just because they aren’t axe murderers (or are they?) doesn’t mean they aren’t what we would privately call “pigs” and “jerks,” which pretty well makes them horrible people… and isn’t “horrible” is just a three-syllable way of saying “bad.”

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Except future guests seldom read the reviews hosts have left for their past guests. What reflects more on hosts to future guests is responses hosts leave to bad or lying reviews. Responses should never attack the guest or even address them, but be general, correcting misinformation, clarifying things, or stating that you have corrected something that the guest had a legitimate reason to complain about, all for the benefit of future guests.

I suppose some guests might cross-reference reviews to see how a host reviewed past guests, but I doubt it’s common.

However, as a host, I have occasionally cross referenced how another host reviews their guests, if the host’s review of a guest who wants to book with me is non-commital and gives no real info. If I see the host leaves those kind of reviews for all their guests, or just leaves “Great guests!” for every guest, I will discount that review entirely.

Or if a guest has a bunch of good reviews and one outlier, I will look to see how that host has reviewed other guests. If they leave good reviews for most of their guests, I would take their bad review seriously. If I see they have complaints about a lot of their guests, I’d figure the host was a fusspot and overly critical and not put stock in that outlier review.

If guests act like rude, uncivilized pigs, the only reason IMO not to say exactly that is that Airbnb would remove such a review.

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That would be literally the least of my worries despite offering an entire wall closet full of cleaning utensils.

What makes them unfit as any type of occupants in a dwelling is their disrespectful behavior towards the host (bad communication, slamming doors, yelling in someone elses home). They’re not just bad Airbnb guests but most likely hard to deal with wherever they sleep.

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And all 1 star across all the rateable areas!

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[quote=“Roocroft, post:8, topic:62385”]
I find it REALLY hard to give a negative review
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Understood. Some people are not cut out for the hard realities of being a host.

Thinking it is ‘kindness’ when you do not warn other hosts about failings of your guest is simply wrong. And sometimes hosts make poor choices when it comes to dealing with what needs to be done, such as not reporting to the host community about things that hosts need to make determinations about whether they want that guest in their space.

But as a host, you’re not there to ‘help’ a guest, you are there to tell the truth; to tell other hosts an accurate account of your experience with the guest. Host that hide information in the misguided attempt to “help” are doing a disservice to other hosts who will have to suffer these guests. Think about it: if you had read an accurate review of these guests, describing the realities that you experienced, would you still have hosted them?

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These aren’t ‘folks’.

In the world population, I truly believe that the majority of people are okay - a few weirdos but basically relatively polite and civilised. They are ‘folk’.

People who behave like inconsiderate slobs with pretty low intelligence are not.

Please remember that the purpose of a review is to let other hosts know what it’s like to host those guests.

It’s not our job to ‘teach’ guests how to behave. (That was their parents’ job years ago.) Honest, concise, factual reviews are needed to stamp out bad behaviour.

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Yes, hosts need to realize they aren’t reviewing guests as people but as to their behavior and suitability as guests.

There are plenty of people who have many good qualities, but just aren’t desirable as guests, just like there are perfectly nice people who aren’t cut out to be hosts for one reason or another.

If someone leaves a bad review for a business because they received terrible service, that doesn’t mean they are saying the employees they dealt with are terrible people, just that they haven’t dealt well with the customer as a business person, or there isn’t enough staff or training by the management.

And unless a guest had no redeeming qualities as a guest (the OP’s guest might fall in that category), it’s usually possible to find something positive to say about a guest so the host comes across as fair.

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Thanks for your measured responses Muddy. I clearly need to be more careful here with my language. I didn’t say I don’t give honest reviews. I am very clear that it is my responsibility. But I choose my words carefully and do not enjoy it.

I’ve actually never had to leave a negative review, as I’ve been lucky to get unproblematic guests, but I can’t imagine anyone likes having to do so.

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Amen sister! I am going to start changing how I check in last minute guests, usually I leave the place unlocked for them but now I am going to keep it locked and direct them to a hidden key after I confirm guest count and pets before they have a chance to get in. Once they are in it is a pain to get them out if they show up with extras.

RR

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I was once very grateful for a hostess who posted a review of guests who had enquired. I was already a little wary of them as they had said 4 children but 3 guests in total!!
This reviewer mentioned small boys throwing stones and dirty bathroom WALLS!! I put that my accommodation was not a good fit for them.

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