How would you handle semi-bad guests?

But I thought you said they left you three stars on cleanliness?

Yes. And 5 stars overall.

I was saying this to someone just the other day. If a person is walking on a deserted piece of land that scattered with litter, they will have no problem dropping an empty bottle or a cigarette butt on the floor.

If they are walking in the manicured grounds of Buckingham Palace however it would be a different matter…

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How many times do we read here about guests who were terrible ‘but had great reviews’? Being lenient won’t gain anything for the host but it will give a warning to other potential hosts. It is also unfair to the guests as a good review which isn’t 100% honest is teaching the guest that it’s okay to continue with their messiness, loudness or whatever it was that made them less than ideal guests.

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There’s really no room for leniency here. Think about that in reverse. Guests don’t care about cutting you some slack or being kind if they want to make nit picking comments or ding you on stars. Some guests that i thought were really nice have left nit picking comments as though it was just impersonal hotel review, as though I wouldn’t read what they said and take it personally?

Sadly, you can’t trust guests. Even the ones who smile, say thank you and give you hugs upon leaving CAN and WILL smack you in a review.

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So the “accident” by the cleaner was already discussed and apologized for…yet they still mentioned it in private feedback??

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Yes, in addition to “dust on the windowsills behind the beds”.

Was there dust on the windowsills behind the bed?

Yes I’m sure there must have been. I ask my cleaning crew to keep up with this sort of thing but sometimes they let it go.

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Yes, this is true. But I don’t believe such behaviour should influence how we approach hosting our next guests because it can end in a spiral of negativity. I always expect my guests to be nice - that’s my default position. Mostly they are. Occasionally they’re not. Sometimes it is hard work to maintain that positive attitude but it has to be done, in my view. Otherwise you’d go crazy thinking that everyone is out to get you and that’s never going to end well. Unless you’re getting consistent low scores on one aspect or guests often mention one negative thing - things that you need to fix - I think we should take reviews on the nose business-like and not personally. It’s not a love-fest, after all, no matter the marketing.

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I have to agree with this. I think it’s kinda unreasonable to expect this family to “leave no trace” when they encountered mishaps that may have indicated carelessness on the host’s end. I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal to open a dishwasher and see the previous guests dirty dishes and close it and run the dishwasher but it certainly doesn’t give arriving guests the impression that you’ve taken great care in preparation of their arrival.

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I absolutely view each new guest as a positive opportunity and genuinely look forward to their check in. If I were a negative or bad host, unsuited for Airbnb, as some have charged, I wouldn’t have lasted too long in this business. All my reviews start out raving how GREAT I am as a host. How I made their trip special by offering tips on hidden gems or out of the way attractions.

I go OUT OF MY WAY, with EVERY SINGLE GUEST, to make sure they have an outstanding stay in Hawaii, a place they have paid a pretty penny to get to. My place is clean, has lots to offer and I am in a great location. I have a ton of amenities for guests. I have spent a ton of money on extras to pamper guests. They have a better bed than I do!

This is why it still stings when they smack you over something trivial.

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This is why many of us will never trust someone else to clean up to our standards. Your listings will certainly survive a little dust on a windowsill and chipped paint, but it won’t get you 100% 5 stars. There are tradeoffs and not everyone can be their own cleaner.

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STOP doing this, maybe?? I know you’ve been hosting as long as me and I don’t want to offer granny her eggs (!) but surely you’ve learned by now that 10 minutes of your time giving some local advice can make such a difference to someone’s stay and the ones that don’t appreciate it can go **** themselves? Why even bother to think about those guests? I don’t know, maybe you do more than me and so it hurts when it’s not appreciated.
Me, I just do a spiel for 10 minutes max, maybe tailored if they ask any interesting questions and then we’re done. Once my son popped up and silently mouthed my speech behind some new guests. That was a bit challenging.

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LOL!!! I can relate to that!! I confess I do say the same jokes over and they get a laugh every time!

I try not to tie them down longer than 10 minutes and tell them they can always text if they have questions. I also direct them to the print guidebook that I wrote about Hawaii, located in the bookshelf! I have a ginormous binder full of more information than they will ever need… Whether it’s about snorkeling, kayaking, visiting the mountain or the volcano, I have it totally covered. They always mention this and the spiel in the review. So much that I wish they would talk about the apartment or location more!

I’m a great host, I try so hard. I’m not at all jaded or cynical… just so damn disappointed and hurt when guests don’t appreciate what I’ve gone out of my way to offer and do for them.

Sure, and that’s a trade off I’m willing to make. I have three other jobs and a 5 year old so cleaning 5 hours a day on top of that is never going to be a possibility for me. I don’t even necessarily think it was unreasonable for them to give me 3 stars in cleanliness, I guess they just acted like it was no big deal and I was extremely apologetic so I thought they would give me a bit of a pass and that was part of my rationale to giving them a bit of a pass in the review. But as I said, c’est la vie! Usually my cleaners are pretty reliable and on top of it but it’s true they will never clean to the standard that I would. Except that I won’t, so I do the best that I can with what I have! But it can’t always be perfect 100% of the time. Mistakes and human errors happen. And I have 95% 5 star reviews so that is a percentage I can live with.

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Ha! Yes I do the same jokes too, only the ones that work though! I don’t know, I stopped going out of my way a while back because it’s generally not appreciated. But then again when guests are nice I’ll allow extra stuff. I don’t care about reviews any more because I’m established. It’s a different story when you’re new - makes me mad to see a new host destroyed because their third guest was an arse and brought their whole listing down :frowning:

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Certainly I’m established too, and should probably adopt your attitude and not worry so much about reviews.

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That’s the spirit!

bloody 20 20

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People are so harsh. My hotel in Prague had stains on the carpet and on the duvet. They also had wifi only working 20 percent of the time. I still gave them a five star glowing Trip Advisor review. I appreciated their low rates, which allowed me to stay longer in Prague than I would have been able to do at other hotels.

My son said, Mom, only leave a Trip Advisor review if you have good things to say, otherwise, skip it. Wise advice from my 21 year old!