Should I reply to negative review, comment my potential response

1

review

Beautiful place with great views! Sadly we did experience some issues and ended up leaving after first night of our 4day booking.

Check in was the worst part of the experience. Host had shared helper/staffs number to coordinate checkin. We messaged the staff several times before our arrival. Upon arrival the staff was non responsive. We had to stand in a super busy street in the sun with 3 large bags while we waited for the staff member to show up. 15min later he showed up on a scooter and started taking our bags to the villa 1 at a time. Each trip was about 15min. We made it to the villa after about 45min of standing on a busy street. An apology was definitely warranted but none received.

When we got to the house all doors and windows were left open. This caused the house to be full of bugs and mosquitoes. The ripped mosquito net did not help the situation.

Ac was another let down. Only 1 of the rooms upstairs has ac. No ac on first floor.

response

We were thrilled to read your positive comments about the stunning views and beautiful setting of our villa. We regret to hear that your overall experience was not entirely satisfactory due to some issues that you faced during your stay.

We are truly sorry for any inconvenience you experienced during the check-in process. We always strive to provide prompt and efficient service to our guests, and we regret that this was not the case on this occasion. We want to clarify that we offered to drive you to the villa first, but you requested that your luggage be delivered first. Therefore, we delivered your luggage one bag at a time, which unfortunately took longer than anticipated.

We want to clarify that we do not have a mosquito net in the villa, so it couldn’t have been ripped as you mentioned. If you meant the bed canopy, we also check ed and it isn’t ripped anywhere. Regarding the bugs and mosquitoes, being in a jungle environment, some bugs are to be expected. However, we do provide coils to repel mosquitoes, and we’re sorry if they were not sufficient for your needs.

Finally, we apologize for any confusion about the air conditioning. We want to clarify that both rooms in the villa have air conditioning, but we apologize if the AC in the other room was not easily noticeable for you.

We are grateful for your valuable feedback, which we will use to improve our services for future guests. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back and provide you with a truly memorable experience.

2 Likes
2

Too much apologizing and sorries and too long. Don’t speak to the guests (who come across as the types who are “better suited to staying home” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:) who wrote the review in your response- clarify and correct misinformation for the benefit of future guests.

“We strive to provide a smooth check-in experience for all our guests. These guests were offered a ride to the villa, but declined, insisting their luggage be delivered first, which of course made check-in take much longer.
There is no mosquito net at all in the villa, nor do we advertise that there is one. There is a canopy on the bed, and we inspected it for rips, of which there are none.
Insects are endemic to the tropics- we provide mosquito coils should they prove bothersome.
Both villa rooms have air conditioning. If guests need assistance to locate something we list in our ad as amenities, all they need to do is ask us for help.”

As an aside, balivilla, why don’t you have mosquito nets? I also live in the tropics and mosquito nets are pretty standard and used by bug-phobic or mosquito-magnet guests. Mosquito coils are toxic.

11 Likes
3

I’ve never even seen anyone have mosquito nets in any villa in Bali, the concept of the most villas here is open living space,

4

A mosquito net doesn’t affect open living space, they are just used around the bed so guests aren’t bothered by mosquitoes or any other insects when they are sleeping. Like this:

image
image900Ă—600 62.5 KB

(I made all the mosquito nets for this place, which isn’t mine)

I’m surprised that mosquito nets aren’t used in Bali. Or is that what you refer to as a “canopy”?- which normally means it just covers the area over the bed, but not the sides.

1 Like
5

yeah I referred to that as canopy

2 Likes
6

Ah, so when your guest referred to the mosquito net being ripped, she was referring to what you call a canopy, so don’t say in your response that you have no mosquito nets, because you do. Just say you inspected it and found no rips.
Maybe these people were so uncomfortably out of their element they mistook the opening of the net where you climb in as a rip?

This is what I would call a canopy:

image

Funny how we call things by different terms even though we’re all speaking English. It took me a long time to realize that when Aussie hosts mentioned “the bench”, they were referring to what North Americans call a kitchen counter. A bench, to us, is something you sit on.

6 Likes
7

I’ve got to say, I’ve never heard a kitchen counter referred to as a bench. There’s a lot of learning to be done here! Same goes for some of the terminology I see from the hosts from Europe. Learn something new every day! Knowledge is our friend!

2 Likes
8

Yes, I had read Aussie hosts complaining about guests leaving food and crumbs all over “the bench” or saying they leave a welcome basket, or a selection of teas and coffee on “the bench”, which had me scratching my head. I had to ask what they meant, and the different terminology was explained to me.

1 Like
9

…unless it’s in a workshop, where we often find a “workbench”

2 Likes
10

@balivilla - Does your staff show guests how to use the canopy (mosquito nets)? I find most of our guests (from the US or UK) don’t have a clue so our housekeeper shows them what to do.

5 Likes
11

no, I think its self explanatory, I don’t wana treat my guests as imbeciles

1 Like
12

Not knowing how to use something you’ve never seen before does not make you an imbecile.

7 Likes
13

True, but some things are self-evident. Pulling the mosquito net around the bed if it isn’t already hanging in that position, and that there is an opening somewhere in which you enter seems like a no-brainer.
And if a guest has trouble figuring something out, all they need do is ask for assistance or explanation.

14

"We want all our guests to have a great experience! We urge guests to bring up any concerns during their stay so we can respond promptly.

Our usual procedure is to drive guests to the villa, then deliver luggage. Our staff did their best to accommodate this guest’s desire to have their luggage delivered in advance. Unlike larger, costlier resorts, our private villa doesn’t have a fleet of vehicles! We will be sure to clarify luggage arrangements with future guests.

Both bedrooms have working A/C units. Open air villas and insect visitors are to be expected in Bali; we provide mosquito coils. We’ve inspected the mosquito net bed canopies and found no tears or other damage."

5 Likes
15

Time to rethink your check in procedure. Time to rethink the meetup location. Time to inform your co host that answering a call at check in is not something to wait 15 mins to do.

6 Likes
16

Considering the raft of ridiculous complaints these guests had, their check-in complaints may be exaggerated or due to them not following the instructions re check-in.
I wouldn’t just assume the host is at fault. If guests had a hard time getting checked in in general, and were usually left waiting, that would be reflected in other reviews.

Once when my daughter came to town, she and her family had booked an apartment (my place was too small and they wanted to be a short walk into town). I picked them up at the airport and drove them to the little hotel they had booked at. My daughter, who tends to have an entitled atitude, didn’t bother to call the property manager when we were 10 or 15 minutes from arrival (and I wasn’t aware the manager needed to check them in, or I would have told her to do so). She called when we were at the gate and was highly annoyed that it took him 15 minutes to arrive.

17

I most certainly was an imbecile the first time I went to the tropics (from Montreal).

2 Likes
18

You wouldn’t have been able to deduce how to arrange the mosquito net around the bed?

19

i never respond to reviews, but i do action the feedback. you clearly need to find a better way to check in your guests. i would be upset if i were a guest, and would expect better.

20

I didn’t even recognize it as a mosquito net… just thought “Hmmm… frilly bed.”

I did say “imbecile,” and found my hosts (friends, not inn-keepers) Tropics for Dummies tutorial quite helpful. I think a diplomatic SuperHost can find a way to respectfully inquire “Have you used mosquito netting before?” without being offensive.

3 Likes