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I always think I should be able to do this on my own, but I struggle with leaving honest reviews when the guest really wouldn’t be welcome back, but they didn’t do anything egregious.
We had a family come with a toddler who was a sweet boy, very engaging. but very very vocal, with one volume, and his parents, god bless them, two doctors in residency, really did not have a clue how to help the boy. I know that not all toddlers are like this. We would full anticipate some noise, crying, etc., but it was pretty much non-stop screaming when they were home. His voice echoed in my ears for days after they left. I wouldn’t tell people to not rent to them because some people won’t be irritated by it. But neither can I slam them or be blunt because they were just clueless and helpless.
Here’s what I have:
X and Y are pleasant people. They communicated well and left the space tidy. Their son is a very bright, very energetic, very loud, 2 year-old. It was fun chatting with him, but his very frequent crying was a challenge to live with.
I wonder if we could come up with a code phrase for guests who may be ok for others but who you would not want back in your own home. Or even something more direct like – this family would be fine in a stand-alone home but I would not recommend for in-house hosts or properties with adjoining units.
Good luck, people don’t like to hear their faults no matter how they are worded, and seem to be even more precious about their ‘darling’ children!
I think your review is perfect. I left a similar one for my (adult) loud phone-call-makers-in-the-hallway-at-inappropriate-times-of-the night guests and got an abusive message back (‘it was my birthday’, ‘I’ve never had a bad review before’, ‘you shouldn’t be a host if you can’t handle loud backpackers at all hours’ blah blah blahhhh)
I think your guests "rebuttal’ seals the deal that other hosts will decline their requests. It shows that they are not only loud and thoughtless, they are entitled and incapable of self reflection.
I think your review is perfect as is. I like that you said that the child cried frequently. Personally, I have no problem with children who are having fun at a high volume, but children who whine and cry to get their parents’ attention make me want to tear my hair out. Your review clearly describes not only the child’s volume, but also the type of noise.
The rebuttal was actually in a private message rather than as a reply to the review so doesn’t really matter to me! They didn’t reply to my review and the one they left me was very good
I don’t know anyone that would not be irritated by that.
I do not understand why people like this stay in host live-in places instead of forking out for a whole apartment. They really can’t think it’s reasonable to expose others to their verbose child & would surely be much more relaxed in their own private environment in this situation. I really hope they are not studying to be pediatricians.
also consider that the kid is not going to be 2 years old forever; maybe the next time the family uses airbnb he will be a perfectly respectable 4 year old:-)
So maybe say “the season they visited their young son was only 2 years old…”
I guess the point is, not how the child matures… but that the family would not have the sense or judgment to NOT impose their squalling kid on people in a home setting in the first place. As a young mom I knew I never would have brought my two fussy pills into a strangers’ home. We didn’t have Airbnb back then but…the point is, the parents were clueless, and for that reason, they didn’t make good guests.
Our rental is a separate apartment but nevertheless, I wouldn’t want a noisy two year old for the sake of the neighbours. Or indeed for me. The rental is only a few steps from my own apartment and the kid would have driven me crazy. So I applaud @dcmooney for letting other hosts know. One of the long term tenants in our complex has a baby that’s now four months old. I’m sure that a two year old makes a lot more noise but the little baby has been noisy since birth and drives me nuts. (And other neighbours feel the same way).
Here as well. Renters in a neighboring house have screaming kids. One baby and one two year old… Since I was the queen of kid noise myself only a few short years ago, it’s a bit of comeuppance for me. I actually don’t mind the kid noise. But my guests probably do. The other day I was in the studio with the guests and the baby screaming sounded like it was right in the room. Gah. The guest pulled the door closed. GAh.
What bothers me much more is that the parents threaten violence. Stop crying or I’ll pop you in the mouth. Want a pop in the mouth? Get your FN a** inside to your FN room. To a two year old, a baby.
Nice.
Glad they will be moving soon. The can take their ghetto abuse to another neighborhood.
The other day I was in the studio with the guests and the baby screaming sounded like it was right in the room. Gah. The guest pulled the door closed. GAh.