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I need to write a review for a recent stay and am having trouble with a couple of details that I feel like I may or may not want to mention and could use some help.
The listing was generally good so I will mention that stuff (comfortable furniture, clean, tastefully decorated, etc).
The host has several listings and only does long-term stays. Their guests generally stay for at least 3-6 months. They are not budget listings by any means but rather pricey entire townhomes. We were there for about 5 months.
Here are the issues that I’m trying to decide what to do with (e.g. either mention or not and how to mention if needed).
The kitchen was missing some really basic items like some kind of measuring cup and ovenware. There wasn’t a single oven-safe item in the kitchen, not a baking sheet or pyrex dish or anything. The amenity list included “baking sheet” (though there wasn’t one) and the lack of ovenware has been mentioned a couple of times in other reviews so it wasn’t a one time oversight. I think I should at least mention it as “good to know” because it was legitimately inconvenient and odd for a listing that only does long term stays. We had to buy a set of ovenware and took it with us when we left (I had considered leaving it and gifting it to the host but ended up being too annoyed with them).
We paid a hefty $250 pet fee (plus a $150 cleaning fee) which was fine since I agreed to it but I was put off by the host then sending multiple messages to me expressing their “concerns about dog hair and dog dander”. I’m not even sure what they mean by dog dander (dust?) since the only dander in the family comes from my husband’s dry and scruffy face And that’s all we got for our hefty pet fee - not even a water bowl or any feeling of being welcomed with our dog but only a bit of strange harassment. I kind of feel like this host needs to decide whether they’re actually pet friendly or not.
The host’s published checkout list is exceedingly simple, including only 4 requests: Gather Used Towels, Throw Trash Away, Turn Things Off and Return Keys. Sounds easy, right?
However, a couple of days before checkout we were asked to make sure to take care of any
dog hair and dog dander (again) which obviously requires us to vacuum and dust the whole
place.
Then I was I sent an additional message asking us to wash the sheets and leave them in the
dryer (“no need to remake the beds though”).
I was also sent a message asking when we’d be checking out because their cleaning lady would
like to come early. After staying and paying for 5 months plus a $250 pet fee plus a $150
cleaning, I feel like they could do better planning and not try to push us out early for the turnover.
We cleaned every week while we were living there and were going to do a deep clean before we
left anyway because that’s just how I do things but it was off-putting to have the host keep
adding more checkout tasks (vacuum, dust, laundry) that they hadn’t disclosed in the listing. I
know it’s a hot issue with guests which is why Airbnb made hosts disclose their cleaning tasks so I think I need to warn other guests about it somehow.
Other than the push for additional cleaning and letting the cleaner in early and several reminders about writing a 5-star review the host was mostly invisible for the 5 months. That doesn’t bother me since I like my privacy but we had to fend for ourselves through 2 different snow and ice storms.
My husband certainly doesn’t mind doing the shoveling bought we had to go buy the ice melt pellets and a snow shovel ourselves. I thought it was strange when the host didn’t reach out at all about the storms. I thought it was even stranger when he contacted me a few days after the first storm. He didn’t even mention the storm but instead let me know that he’s been “driving by to check on the place” and that it “looks good” and that “he saw our car” (it’s all street parking so I assume he was going by the license plate but thought it a strange thing to mention).
He reminded me several times to write him a 5-star review. The first time was a day after checkout when he said, “I’ll leave you a 5-star review if you leave me one”. I told him then that I’d be sure to write a review but was going to be traveling for at least a week so wouldn’t get it done right away. He sent more reminders anyway and these were in addition to the reminders that the system already sends. He eventually sent me a totally full of passive-aggressive message to “remind” me again by saying that he had “finally written a review” and “didn’t realize that he hadn’t hit send the first time”. I know it was a blatant lie because that’s not how it works and the Airbnb system had alerted me that he had left a review the day after we checked out.
Anyway, the place was mostly great but their was no hospitality or care from the host. We only heard from him when he needed something from us. It annoyed me and was off-putting but what should I mention or not?
He lives less than an hour away (I know this because one of his 5 listings is attached to his home so I know the location) so definitely experienced the storms too. On top of it, the “I’ve been driving by and checking on the place and it looks good” message was only a 3 days after the first storm yet he didn’t mention the storm itself. It felt like he was checking to make sure we had cleaned up our snow even though he didn’t leave anything for us to do so with, lol. Clueless is the right word!
It definitely won’t be a 5-star review but I’m trying to figure out how to specifically mention my gripes in the written part.
I don’t see why you can’t be straight forward and mention no baking supplies and lack of anything to remove snow. Don’t think that’s being picky, just factual.
I would mention all that stuff. Sounds like a host who doesn’t want to provide any service, just wants to collect as much $ as possible, to the point that he wants guests to do half the cleaner’s job.
Someone who takes months-long bookings shouldn’t be bugging guests about early check-out- they should be leaving at least a night between bookings, not trying to flip the place same day.
I can understand hosts expecting long term guests to provide more for themselves in terms of amenities and small maintenance chores than for a short term guest, but they need to make that clear in their listing.
And the review extortion and prodding is definitely not okay. Nor is ignoring past guests’ complaints about zero oven gear.
Maybe write the review in “Pros and Con’s” bullet point form?
Place was nice but kitchen lacked basic equipment for baking. Owner did not check on us after major storms, and the majority of their communication during our five-month stay was to nag us about the potential for pet dander and hair from our dog, despite our paying the pet and cleaning fees. Cleaning tasks were added to the published checkout list at the last minute, then we were harangued to give a five-star review for days after we checked out.
I’d leave out the message about asking when you were going to leave - if the cleaning lady asked to come early, it might have been an innocent question that just struck you the wrong way because you weren’t happy with your stay.
Perhaps you can give them a 4 for accuracy since the kitchen wasn’t truly stocked as mentioned on the listing. I think I would also give a 4 on communication since they didn’t touch base with you during the snow storm yet drove by to check the property. Seems like the location and cleanliness was good so you might consider giving them a 5 for those categories. As for your written review I would mention the missing items in the kitchen.
Seems like the host wants to have it both ways- treating the guests like tenants who are expected to deal with things like snow shovelling themselves, and leaving the place clean enough to get a security deposit back, yet charging as if he were short term renting.
And the pet fee of $250 is definitely hefty as long as the pet doesn’t cause any damages. What exactly is that supposed to cover? Even if a dog is a heavy shedder and the guests don’t make any effort at all to clean it up, if you assume a high cleaning cost of $50/hr., there’s no way it would take an extra 5 hours beyond normal cleaning time to deal with pet hair. He’s probably only “pet friendly” because it gets him more bookings.
I would hesitate to mention the snow clearing unless you proactively asked the host to come deal with it to no avail. I would consider just posting the second para below, which doesn’t address all your issues but, in my estimation, the primo annoyance.
"The property was clean and well-furnished, with the exception of sparse kitchen equipment, including no bakeware.
The host should be upfront about their check out requirements for guests to wash sheets and for guests with pets to dust and vacuum, rather than messaging those additional requirements late in the stay. The added chores delayed our departure and left us unable to accommodate the host’s request that we leave early to let the cleaners in before the posted check out time.
We also found it less than professional of the host to send multiple messages asking us to give them a 5-star rating in exchange for giving us a 5-star rating."
I don’t see why a guest should have to ask the host to deal with the snow shovelling. The host was well aware it had dumped a bunch of snow and also well aware that he hadn’t provided any snow shovel. Yet how they would be able to safely get in and out of the house never apparently entered his mind.
If there’s an issue with the hot water, a host wouldn’t know that unless the guests informed him, but to me, this snow removal issue would be like a known area-wide electrical outage because of a big storm, but the host not checking in with the guests and providing them with a lantern or candles.
That host seems to be unfit to run STRs. I feel sorry for his guests as the well-being of them doesn’t seem to be any of his interest.
I keep an eye on the weather several times a day and even inform our guests who are out and about to let them know if any severe weather might be in the way on their return trip to our place. We don’t even get snowstorms here but still can get some nasty summer storms (hurricane gust winds).
That’s interesting DP. I can’t help but wonder if it’s because the snow removal laws/responsibilities are different where you live. I know they aren’t the same everywhere and can see how that might influence expectations in this situation.
In my own city, the property owner is legally responsible for snow removal so we have to take it seriously or risk getting a hefty fine. When we’re out of town we hire a service to go by and do it. And that’s whether we have tenants and/or guests or not. It’s the same in the city we were staying in, that it’s the owner’s responsibility. My husband even looked up the shoveling requirements in the city we were staying in (how wide a path and how far down the sidewalk, etc) to make sure that the owner (host) wouldn’t get a fine.
Yep, that was the issue. The host lives locally and both storms came with lots of pre-warnings and advisories so it’s not like he didn’t know about them. I don’t care that he didn’t take care of the shoveling himself but it seems egregious to me that he would rent out a townhouse in a city that gets snow/ice storms every year and not provide a snow shovel (and some salt or ice melt for the precarious and narrow marble steps out front ). My husband didn’t mind taking care of it but we shouldn’t have had to go buy our own equipment.
Anyway, I ended up using @PitonView 's review nearly verbatim. It covered the important stuff in a succinct manner. Plus it included the word harangued I initially thought it might be too strong a word but since I’ve now continued to get messages and now even direct texts from the host all day today about (still) wanting a 5-star review I think it’s perfect. (He’s even crossed over toward extortion as he’s now offered to refund our pet fee - I am just ignoring him completely).
Exactly. Even if he felt it was your responsibility to shovel since you were there long-term, he should have at least brought you a shovel, and some ice melt, or when he saw that you had shoveled, being well aware there was no snow removal equipment, offered to reimburse you for what you obviously had to buy.
It sort of amazes me that a host wouldn’t realize that haranguing (yeah, excellent word) guests for a 5* review is going to annoy them and backfire.
“Sorry, but my going rate for 5* reviews is $400 and the pet fee is only $250.”
I see your point. I had the experience of getting snow and ice coverage at a stay where the host was local. I simply messaged them, and they apologized and quickly arranged for shoveling and salting, and comped me a night for not being able to get up the steep driveway to park my car.
They hadn’t done other jerky things, however, unlike your host.
And that’s all we got for our hefty pet fee - not even a water bowl or any feeling of being welcomed with our dog but only a bit of strange harassment. I kind of feel like this host needs to decide whether they’re actually pet friendly or not.
passive-aggressive message to “remind” me again by saying that he had “finally written a review” and “didn’t realize that he hadn’t hit send the first time”. I know it was a blatant lie because that’s not how it works and the Airbnb system had alerted me that he had left a review the day after we checked out.
). My husband didn’t mind taking care of it but we shouldn’t have had to go buy our own equipment.
I initially thought it might be too strong a word but since I’ve now continued to get messages and now even direct texts from the host all day today about (still) wanting a 5-star review I think it’s perfect. (He’s even crossed over toward extortion as he’s now offered to refund our pet fee - I am just ignoring him completely).