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2 guests (female guest booked and brought her boyfriend) and stayed 4 nights. My check in window is 3pm-9pm and we don’t do self check in. When I messaged the night before to ask arrival time, she said their plane arrived at 11:10pm so after they got a rental car and drive the hour+ here, they expected to arrive around 1am. After some annoying back and forth, my husband kindly agreed to wait up for them. They arrived at 3:20am so I suspect they stopped for food too.
On their second or third day here, they used our pool. My husband was home and saw the boyfriend starting to light a joint. Our rules state we do not allow smoking of any kind on our property. The boyfriend was apologetic when my husband called him out. The female guest was, incidentally, stoned.
They left today. My husband always sorts guest trash since we are conscientious about recycling and found a hypodermic needle. At least it was capped. It could have been used for legitimate purposes so hard to judge, but it would explain her state when she was poolside. I am concerned that a guest left a needle in the trash, though. That wasn’t cool by my standards. They should have taken it with them and left it in a sharps container in the airport. The suite was left in good condition except for the linens which have taken some soaking (but that’s just wear and tear although I seriously hate it when guests remove their makeup with the white wash cloths!) And she also left the place reeking of perfume which I wasn’t able to completely eradicate before new guests checked in today (and I’m hoping they don’t complain about.)
If it weren’t for abusing an already late arrival time, attempting to smoke the joint and leaving the needle in the trash, they would have been ok guests.
I never want these people back and I suspect you don’t want them either so a thumbs down, but how would you write a factual review?
I would definitely include the late arrival and abuse of your kindness about it. Is the use of the pool an amenity? I assume it is but if not, there’s that. Definitely mention the smoking, you can leave out what they were smoking. I think the hardest one is the needle. Reading that the host meticulously combs through the trash, for whatever reason, is unsettling to me. And since it would be totally speculative about why it’s there, I’d skip it. My sister was diabetic and if she had an episode she was out of it. Of course a diabetic would have more than one needle. There are other legitimate single use drugs like the ones for rheumatoid arthritis.
So mention those specifics and say you wouldn’t host them again? I don’t think the thumbs down does much for keeping them from booking again.
“Guests left the place in reasonably good condition, but violated house rules including No Smoking on the Property. They ignored our 9PM late check-in policy and then abused our attempt to accommodate them, by arriving after 3AM! Cannot recommend these guests.”
Here in California it would be a bigger offense to send bottle and can recyclables to the landfill than sorting through guest trash, but you’re absolutely right that it sounds icky so would never say so in a public review.
I sort through trash as well. I not only take out the recycle stuff but I’ve found other usable items like shampoo bottles that aren’t empty yet. I use that stuff. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.
But it sounds odd to say “we discovered a needle in the trash.”
You could easily discover a needle through stick injury! Definitely mention it in the review. You don’t need to say how you found it. Most legitimate people would carry a mini sharps bin with them. Sounds like she was gouged out by the pool. Don’t muddy the review with any positive comments. These are undesirable guests.
Personally I ask late arrivals to stay at an airport hotel etc. for the first night. I am not paid enough to damage my health by waiting up til 3am.
We have a check in window of 12noon to 9pm, my husband checks in guests as he stays at our apartment during the week for work, he then has a 1.5hr drive home. (We are unable to offer self check in as key locks are not allowed to be attached to the outside of the building or in the foyer.)
When we first started hosting 2yrs ago we naively assumed that guests would read and respect the check in time. We soon learnt that is not the case when our third guests booked their flight after we accepted the booking to arrive at 11.10 pm. Never made the mistake again.
We now don’t accept a booking until the guest has supplied their flight details and check in time and in a very friendly manner explain the long drive into the country my husband has ahead of him. This has only meant one requested booking didn’t go ahead.
We are very flexible on checkout time and this is a big draw card for guests who want to make the most of their weekend.
There is a strict recycling/garbage for our building so my husband has to check the rubbish, which is usually not much. I agree with astralita12 and would include that comment for the unacceptable needle in the rubbish.
The only aspect of their stay that would bother me is the smoking. (No matter what they were smoking). But that would only apply if they were smoking IN the rental. If it was outside I personally would be okay with it.
This is why it’s always a good idea to be factual in reviews.
If I read a review about not respecting check in times, that doesn’t bother me or (presumably) other hosts who offer self check in at any time after the official check in time.
The needle thing is something I’ve had here. The syringe was under the sofa, capped. I have plenty of syringes in my house (diabetic cat needing two shots daily!) and our local regs need them only to go into a closed contained when used and then into the regular trash. (My cat’s doctor recommends putting them into a used milk bottle.)
So if you leave an honest review, other hosts will be able to make up their own minds.
