It truly does. For me anyway. 
We expect “some mess” for every guest. It is part of the game and it is not reasonable to expect otherwise.
Only one guest in 4-5 actually leaves more mess than one would expect. They still get 5 stars if there is nothing serious (smoking, stains, house rules, disturbance, etc).
UPDATE: Said guests have rebooked for 6 days over the New Year’s weekend.
I’d wish I could say I succumbed to the @RiverRock “heads in beds” math but the reality is that it’s been back to back bookings since they were here in June, and I honestly had forgotten my frustration with them, so I wound up accepting their inquiry before I realized the careless guests they were. Ironically I just had a young couple leave yesterday who shared similar traits, and for whom I also checked off the “would not host again” box and cringed when they said they’d be back.
On the bright side, December is the coldest time of year, and they’re paying March rates.
@jaquo, I will be following your advice in some graceful manner.
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I was wondering the same thing because I had a family stay at my place and they stained my blanket, robe and there were food smears all over the kitchen. They loved my place and wanted to stay again but I said I wouldn’t host them.
I left an honest review and they were upset and said they thought it was family friendly. I told them I was more upset about staining my stuff, which they did pay for.
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LOL - as if family friendly means “you get to trash my stuff”
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Leave a three star review or less and they can’t instant book from you. You can block them as well if needed so they can’t send booking requests if they can’t take no for an answer.
This is incorrect. You need to hit NO during review for “would you host again”. AND, have the checkbox in your settings under IB for no neg reviews.
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Right!? LOL! The stains on my comforter and robe was either blood or chocolate ice cream. GIANT stains.
I don’t know exactly of course but I’d say that about 98% of guests say that they want to stay again but unfortunately, I’m pretty certain that my repeat rate isn’t 98%. 
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Another Update
Guests who I described in the original post, returned for their second stay and left yesterday. As suggested I left them a welcome note with some requests about cleaning.
They didn’t take heed, and/or or just can’t change who you they are.
I won’t go into detail about how they left it; much of the same as described before.
I got the the Resolve stain remover out again, and have had to wash the towels a couple of times. Finally all is back to normal.
I again rated them a 4 for cleanliness and with a ‘No’ to “would you host again”.
-they plan to return in the spring, but (this time) I’ll remember to decline. 
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I’d love it if you would decline with a message that tells them exactly why you are declining. “After giving you a second chance as well as specific requests about cleaning which you ignored again I am unwilling to host you again.” I probably wouldn’t have the chutzpah to do it though.
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I will probably say something to that effect:
“I’m glad that you like our listing and want to return. I’m declining because I expect guests to respect our guest house, and unfortunately both times you’ve stayed there were cleanliness issues that I just don’t want to deal with again.”
It seems that they are currently staying at a similar type listing (guest house) only a few miles away. Apparently when they booked, I hadn’t opened up the 2021 calendar (only up to Jan 4th) so they thought I was already booked. Hopefully they bypass me and return there.
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Sorry about the jerks. Seems that resolve works miracles for you?
I hope that, this time, they’ll get a more scathing review based on cleanliness.
I suppose you could call Air to block the booking person? From what I’ve read, this isn’t available without a phone call (how silly).
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The review was short: “X and Y provided good communication and followed house rules”.
To be fair,
-they communicated well - 5 stars;
-they followed house rules - 5 stars
-cleanliness - 4 stars
So it doesn’t warrant scathing. They were not really terrible guests (thus the “mediocre” I described initially). I believe they are just sloppy inconsiderate guests and I’d guess that’s just they way they live. As others initially commented, some would welcome them, as they don’t compare to many of the horror stories shared on this forum.
Sounds like you are rather fair and more forgiving than most. We figure that SOME guests will need some extra cleaning, and it’s “part of the deal”.
We once had a guest with a young daughter (surprised us at check-in with her).
It wasn’t “fun” getting all the glitter out of the carpet and sofa. BUT … otherwise the guest and daughter were absolutely fine, and we hosted them twice more. We never said one word about the glitter 
We have been fortunate so far with “no stains”.
Us, too! But I don’t think we’re losing their business to our competitors - they just aren’t visiting St Lucia or our area within a few years.
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That describes about 5% of my guests, next!
RR
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