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I understand your frustration. Well, I would understand my frustration in your situation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard words come of my mouth, offering to do something I don’t want to do at all. I could kick myself.
This was probably a hopeless guest, no matter what.
Anyway, let’s all take a collective deep breath and turn the page.
It’s true. I do regret saying it just after I said we were picking up Indian food. It was a really stupid thing to ask just then as it wasn’t what I meant. Husband kept telling me that the whole way there! lol… I did explain that I didnt mean a restaurant but she became really huffy and strange. Her whole demeanour was like that of a drunken wounded child somehow. And I was probably feeling sorry for her.
Yes, good point. The woman is about 5 ft tall so it was an issue for her but she asked for so many things except these two things that were easily remedied. Boggles the mind.
(My secret thought is that she is embarrassed at her behaviour, she knows she is an alcoholic and there is likely dysfunction and this is her way of denying it)
Agree. If she is well enough to realize what she’s doing she probably wrote it to displace blame and distract from what a disaster she was.
I recently had a first time experience in dog boarding. A first time client dropped his two dogs off late in the evening after dark. Normally I’d invite a first time guest to bring the dogs to the back yard and let them see the place but not after dark. The dogs were left in the front porch area and went in the house but when I went out to the porch to get the food and dog bed, one little dog ran out on the porch. He started barking and wouldn’t go back in the house. He lunged at me when I reached for him. I immediately texted the owner who had just pulled away and told him we have a problem. Long story short I couldn’t get a slip lead on the dog, couldn’t approach at all and it wouldn’t go in the house. An aggressive dog is a no go here. At first I felt shook and guilty because I’ve never requested a dog be picked up because I couldn’t handle it.
After the dogs were collected and the trip out of town disrupted, I called a friend. I was angry at the human but also feeling guilty. I’m sure this guy would have given me a bad review had the booking been on the Rover platform. But my friend set me straight. The problem was with the owner, no one else and I don’t get paid extra to feel bad for people who mismanage their lives.
You don’t either. Truly, let it go.
You mentioned she behaved as if drunk then passed out. She knows she has a problem & is choosing to not address the problem. Alcoholics will do what they do & there is no logic & no caring how their actions affect others.
Move forward. Provide your next guests with a superior experience and the review will fade away after time passes.
Another move forward vote here.
I truly believe that many hosts worry far too much about reviews and stars. Guests really don’t pay much attention to them. That’s because we’ve had review sites and apps around for many years and we’re all a bit immune.
I’ve written this here before but here goes again… think of your very favourite book in the world. Find it on Amazon. I’ll bet that it will have plenty of reviews from people who think just the same way as you do.
But there’ll be others who have posted reviews about how terrible it is. I just looked at one of my favourite books. It’s a fabulous book. But only 80% of the 2500+ are five star. 3% are only one star. Comments range from "not worth reading’ to the astonishing comment “I didn’t think I could feel so much hatred for any book”.
You’ll probably have a similar experience with your favourite book. “But it’s a brilliant book” you’ll say.
So, everyone is different and just about every potential guests looks at a less-than-perfect review with some scepticism.
It’s a total waste of time and energy to try to communicate with drunks. They won’t even remember the conversation having taken place.
If I read a review where every sentence except one had an exclamation mark, I’d wonder about that person. 
OK, I’ll confess upfront that I’m in a bit of a ratty mood tonight, for a variety of non STR related reasons.
Why are you even swithering, it’s a straightforward move on job.
We’ve had this discussion ad nauseum on here, respond to clarify obvious untruths or misunderstandings, but excoriating rants in response to a review, rarely make the host look good.
Pah…
JF
Based on your post, you were very, very generous with her - helping with luggage and giving small children coats (why? did she ask? did they not have coats? are they poor? or did you just do it?), etc.
You tried to reason with a drunk who may be at the beginning stages of dementia, too. And offered a meal. You were never going to get paid back for it because she doesn’t remember and she thinks this was another freebie since you’d already been so generous and involved in her/their lives.
Keep a polite distance from your guests at all times. Be professional. If they’re amazing people, make friends. If they’re moving to the area, make friends. But for the most part, I don’t get overly involved in their lives or share much with them.
I had guests like this. Older couple from Italy. He was American, she was Italian. 80s and drunk by 10am. Gave me 3 star reviews with nice compliments all because I wouldn’t drink/get drunk with them and accept cash for one additional night. He was pushy and a bully about my not taking cash even though I sent him a special offer. (yes, I know, some folks would have taken the cash. If they weren’t drunk, rude, and I wasn’t in total fear they’d fall out of the tub and he’d sue, I would have. I couldn’t wait to get them out the door.)
The moment you realized she was ‘drunker’ you should have immediately changed pace from lovely caring host to protect your ass from looney unpredictable guest mode. You know how badly you handled this, so no reason to beat you up, just learn from your mistakes, realize you don’t treat every guest the same, sometimes its just a monetary business exchange and sometimes its a nice pleasant human exchange, to last long term you have to be able to recognize which person gets which treatment.
If ever I feel the need to respond to a non-factual review, I also respond to a couple of positive ones before and after it. That way it doesn’t stand out.
THIS^^^ Take it as a lesson in healthy boundaries.
Should of, could of, ought to are easy to see in retrospect.
If you’ve never been around someone with alcohol or drug addiction problems or someone with mental health issues who goes off meds, we tend to want to help and use the methods we know.
We simply are not naturally equipped. Behavioral/ mental health is an entire field of study.
@Icklemiss had an unsettling experience & unsettling learning experience.
I hope @Icklemiss next guests are a joy to host.
This ^^^^^ This forum is a great place to come and vent and figure out what happened or get amazing advice.
Without seeing the listing, a microwave on top of the refrigerator could be a turn-off to guests. If it’s up too high, then it’s more than inconvenient, it’s a safety hazard, and it will be even worse for a guest that is short.
Yes, it would probably be high for me to reach, at 5’4". But not an issue, as I’ve never used a microwave for anything 
Don’t take it personally! There are some pretty messed up people out there. Like someone else mentioned, she is probably an alcoholic, has mental health issues, or dementia (and possibly, all three). I’m not sure if VRBO works like Airbnb, but responding to her review might only draw more attention to it. And the issues she had sound rather minor! Not something that would really turn off a future guest.
Just my two cents. Let it go. However, at one time we listed wherever we could, including Glamping Hub and VRBO. I’ve since dropped everything but AirBnB. Our guests are better, they often know what to expect (even those new to AirBnB), our service from AirBnB is great, and we are fully booked through that platform. It’s made my life easier.
Thanks for posting this. So few people with good experiences bother posting them here.