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That’s why I came here as I wanted everyone’s perspectives. I think I’m just going to let it go – if they broke a glass, ruined a sheet (which cost way more) I’d let it go so this may be just one of those things. But I will check “will not host again” as I wouldn’t want them back.
BTW, the rest of the story is their car broke down and they ended up leaving clothes and food here, which I packed up and offered to mail the clothes. They ended up having to come back to town to get the car so they picked up their stuff on my porch.
With all this other info re the extra nice things you did for these guests,I would revise my original “too petty” response. I’d leave a review something like “XX left the place clean, was friendly, and communication was fine pre-arrival and during their stay. I did go out of my way to accommodate some things with these guests, like packing up their belongings and offering to mail them, because their car had broken down (they ended up coming back to retrieve the stuff), so it was a little disappointing when they said they would send me the money for an extra and quite inexpensive item I charge for (at cost), and then failed to do so.”
I’ve done that on a few things over the years. We used to provide free transportation from the airport to the villa, but only a couple of guests realized we provided that and not a single review mentioned it. We also used to provide a big welcome pack of food with dinner and breakfast groceries and everyone still stopped at the grocery and got their own breakfast foods. So free airport transportation and breakfast groceries are gone.
I’ve had the opposite experience. I don’t say anything about picking up my guests at the bus station in my listing, but I offer it when getting their ETA and ask if they’ll be arriving by bus, or?
So many guests have mentioned in their reviews how nice it was of me to do that.
But I think things like that have a lot to do with nightly price point and the kind of guests one tends to get. I think psychologically, people who can afford to pay more tend to expect more. Even if you offer extras that weren’t even mentioned in the listing info, they may take those extra nice touches for granted.
Absolutely. We have a 3BR rental in a premier fly fishing location. We are close to the top of the nightly cost in our area. Nearly all of my guests come to fish. Things I have been asked to provide - an iron, french press, coffee grinder, tea strainer, tea kettle (not unreasonable), soap and shampoo and conditioner. I am sure I will think of more.
Like others mentioned, I used to provide a welcome basker of locally produced snacks and 95% of the time it was untouched.
Same for us - we probably are at the top of the nightly rate on a per-bedroom basis (although still below nearby comparable resorts). We provide LOTS of things, and often get commended in the reviews on how well we have stocked the villa. But never the free transportation or breakfast. Go figure…
Neither did I! I had to ask why they needed an iron. They were on their way to a wedding after they stay.
I forgot about the ketchup incident. A group arrived and after showing them the house, one started to have a near meltdown because they forgot ketchup. I gave them directions to the nearest market five miles away. No, no, no, they wanted to start fishing. So I drove to the market, bought a big bottle of ketchup. I asked them to leave it behind. Nope, they took it home.
My 18 year old granddaughter came to stay with me a year and a half ago. She has put ketchup on almost everything since she was little. I never use ketchup so had to buy her a bottle. The half bottle she didn’t use up is still in my fridge, but I don’t think the stuff ever goes bad. Alien archeologists will find edible ketchup centuries after the human race disappears.
We had guests that came during a sugar outage (yes, there are times you can’t find sugar in the grocery stores in St Lucia for weeks on end). I asked them to bring some and they brought a four-pound bag in their checked luggage. Since our cook was able to borrow some sugar from a friend to take care of these guests, they took it home with them.
That seemed petty to me - they could have given it to the cook in appreciation for her finding some for them. Note - our nightly rate is over $500 US a night and they stayed a week, so a $3 bag of sugar should not have been a stretch for them to leave as a tip for the cook.
It’s not just petty, it’s super selfish. If I went somewhere where everyone was experiencing a shortage of something essential, and I had some with me, and heading back to a place where that item was plentiful, I would, of course, leave what I had for anyone who needed it.
I’ve had guests ask me before they come if there’s anything I needed that I couldn’t get here in Mexico that they could bring me (of course nothing big or heavy). Once I said, “Yes! Thank you. A couple of Magic Erasers would be great, just keep track of what they cost and I’ll pay you back.”
She brought me 2 boxes of them and wouldn’t even accept me paying her for them.
