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This guest either had a learning disability or was just rudely ignoring many house instructions (he did sort of follow the house rules). Simple things in our check in instructions like “park in our lot” were replied to with “should I just park on the street”; he then parked in the space assigned to another guest (needing us to request that he move).
He contacted us for many things that were clearly marked and answered in a page left on his bed saying ‘please read me first’, leaving wet towels rolled up in the bed (while our request is to hang them in the bathroom not in the room). Finally, he checked out late.
All these things added up to an annoying guest. How do I review him so that it does not get booted by airbnb?:
“Our experience with Jeffrey was a bit challenging. Unfortunately, there were some issues with his communication. While we appreciate guests with different needs and abilities, clear communication is crucial in a shared accommodation setup. Wishing Jeffrey all the best in his future travels.”
Sounds okay to me, no review violations. If there’s anything positive you can add, so it sounds balanced, I would. Like was he clean, quiet, etc?
Also maybe make it more clear what the nature of the communication issues were, as it’s ambiguous- I could take it to mean he didn’t answer messages, arrived without telling you his ETA, or any number of communication issues. I’d say something like, “There were some communication issues with this guest- simple instructions, like where to park and where to leave used towels, which no other guests have had any trouble understanding, were either misinterpreted or ignored.”
I wouldn’t mention “different needs and abilities” because if the guest does have a disability it would be a privacy issue. It sounds like he might have attention deficit disorder.
How about a simple (stealing from you and @muddy ): “Our experience with Jeffrey was challenging. Simple, clear instructions were not followed, like where to park and where to leave used towels.”
This way, it’s just a statement of fact. No need to speculate on the reason.
That crossed my mind, too. My 19 year old granddaughter has ADHD and she’ll come home from work late, make herself a snack, and my daughter has sometimes come down in the morning to find the fridge door left wide open, all night.
And if you try to give a person with ADHD more than one instruction at a time, they get overwhelmed and zone out. Especially if it’s something they aren’t particularly interested in. But they can hyperfocus on things which do interest them.
Very true, many of my students have ADD and in their individual education plan it states that students need instructions repeated and also in steps. Instructions should be in chunks, released step by step otherwise they get overwhelmed and will zone out. They need to be redirected constantly to help them stay on task. I also noticed that many of them are very creative and see things “outside the box.” Perhaps that’s why so many artists have ADD or some other type of learning disability, they’re more creative.
My granddaughter isn’t particularly creative or artistic, but she’s been an avid reader who devours books since she learned to read. So she’s very informed, and can converse intelligently, beyond her years, on a multitude of topics. She also loves food- shopping for food, planning what to cook, cooking, and of course eating. (She could easily get fat, but isn’t because my daughter has always stressed “healthy eating choices” with her kids, without ever giving them concerns about how their bodies look, fat-shaming or any of that stuff that leads girls to have eating disorders) But the kitchen is a total disaster after she’s made a meal.
The concept of rinsing out a bowl she has used to mix something, while something is cooking on the stove that won’t need stirring for 5 minutes, or wiping up the milk she dripped on the floor before someone steps in it, so there will be less clean-up later, just doesn’t compute. She’s entirely focused on the cooking and can’t do anything else when that is happening. Multi-tasking is completely alien to the brain of people with ADD.
She has found her passion. She might grow up to be the next “Rachel Ray” and have her own cook show. She’ll have a bunch of assistants to clean up after her : )
