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Your honest reviews help other hosts.
I do understand and appreciate your honesty about regretting leaving a harsh review. I too have felt bad leaving a “harsh” but honest review, only to find out after the fact (when both reviews are revealed) that the guest left a glowing review and loved staying in our home.
Even if the guest stopped when asked, he shouldn’t have smoked inside in the first place. With minor annoyances, like wearing shoes inside in a no-shoes house, if a guest stopped as soon as you asked them to, I don’t think it is worth mentioning in the review. However, smoking inside is a really big deal, and future hosts should be warned. Otherwise he could go on to rent a whole unit and smoke inside for days before the host would realize!
Your review was just right in my opinion. Smoking falls into major house rule territory.
My enemy smell comes from guests who are too clean. What?? Yes… It’s men (mostly city types) and their love affair with body spray deodorants. They spray and spray and spray some more. More spray = more clean!!! The chemical haze creeps into the hallway, into the bathroom, into my part of the flat. And then lingers and lingers and lingers… Trying to get rid of it in a couple of hours turnover time before the next guest is a real challenge.
I despair. 
That was part of the reason I was furious about the smoking. I don’t wear perfume myself, or use air freshener in the house - I just don’t like a lot of artificial smells in my place. So having to pump a load of fake lavender around is very galling.
But then I have been known to ask someone in a library to move from the next seat because their perfume was too strong, so perhaps it’s me…
Great review. It’s honest. And I wish I’d had the courage in the early days to do the same. My second guests smoked in the room but they knew I was really new to the whole thing, nervous about reviews and generally just held it over my head the whole time they were here. Good for you for doing the right thing. I would read that review, wouldn’t host him, but would not feel at all put off my staying with you.
I thought it was a pretty polite review considering how badly he broke the rules. I mean that’s kind of a big deal and it certainly is a big deal when you stay at a hotel. They will actually charge you a fee so that they can deodorize the room. So if it’s bad enough for a hotel to charge a fee then yeah it’s bad enough for a bad review.
Great idea! I’m going to buy one of those signs from the store and put it in a very conspicuous place.
Thanks for posting. I have a nice couple right now who smoked marijuana in their room and lit candles. I thought I imagined it until the second day. When I confronted them, they didn’t apologize. The male said “we only lit a candle…but um you don’t smoke in here?”. I have another week with them, but all I can think about is how I’ll review them.
It has really changed my interactions with them, and I overhead them saying how I wasn’t friendly any more.
Any way…don’t feel bad. I wish I had known these two were stoner idiot liars, and I’m confident about my negative review for them now.
And here many of my guests ask me to bring them marijuana to the island, which I have no clue where to get. Two different worlds, as the song goes. 
I agree! I just don’t think hosts need to go out of their way to think of something nice to say about douchebag guests!
The guy smoked on your property, in your house! that is an egregious breach of rules. There is nothing else nice to say about him!
Wait until,the last minute to review. This is a classic case of the guest knowing he’s going to get slammed so if you do it first, he will let it fly with you.
Ah thanks, great advice. I’ll def do that.
Reviews oftentimes are like a ‘Mexican Stand Off’, if no one moves, nothing bad can happen, till just before time expires.
I can’t figure out what the wait business does, neither side can see the review til they’ve written and posted a review.
Because, as we have explained numerous times, when you can leave a bad review at the least second, they won’t have time to write one for you. The sneak attack prevents the infamous review trigger: “Louise has written you a review, write one for her and tell her what you loved and hated.” Lol, paraphrasing. But you get my drift. When you write one it prompts them to write one of you. If the stay has been fraught, obviously you’ll get cracked back if you write one first.
This technique was suggested by an Air rep who responded to my reluctance to leave a review for a terrible guest. I submitted it at one minute before guest review expiration time… and she didn’t have a second to answer back. Evil cackle.
Omg kona, how devious. (I do exactly the same thing).
While we’re on the subject, I am preparing to write my second ever negative review. This time I thought I’d show y’all a draft for feedback before publishing, because I just don’t know how to articulate the weirdness of the whole thing in a more concise review. I am sure y’all will have great suggestions:
"Mr. X was an odd guest. In the weeks leading to his stay he kept sending highly flirtatious and suggestive messages, which I politely brushed aside, but it made things awkward and uncomfortable for us even before his arrival.
When he did stay, I think he was disappointed when he realized that the hosts were not included in the price of the room. He moped about the house all week (I mean he NEVER went out anywhere after having flown half way across the world…weird). Whenever we were around, we got to hear him lament about everything from the high booking fees to his dental problems to how homesick he was. Me: ‘Wow…ahem…too bad bro. Can I recommend any good museums or restaurants?’
The thorniest issue is that he asked to stay an extra night and then wanted to negotiate the nightly rate while he was already here in person saying he had exhausted his travel budget (not sure why that’s my problem). I should have stood firm and said no but reluctantly agreed to a discount having been caught off guard and not wanting to appear unsympathetic.
So, yeah, admittedly I am responsible for forfeiting a fair night’s rate to host an unpleasant guest, but I can assure you I will not invite him back."
Jack, sorry… hahahahahahahahah that is just too hilarious!!! Lmao!
I try to take these things with gentle good humor. Comes with the territory. One great thing about this biz is that you may think you have seen it all, but you never have.
He is worse than the midnight knocker. I also totally hear you on being pressured to extend another night. You were probably hoping to be done with him!!! 
…and had to endure another 24 hours!