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We just had a guest leave this morning. When I went in to clean up, the fist thing I noticed was that our “welcome board” that welcomes new guests by name had the letters all scrambled. This by itself was rude and juvenile. It’s never happened before. Then when I went into the bathroom, it was totally flooded with water to the point where the caulking separated from the toilet base. This was another first and they said nothing about it. The bed had food stains and there was a 13 gallon bag worth of trash from their 2 day stay.
We have a really inexpensive place at just $29-$35 per night and set up really nicely. It makes me feel really bad when guests like this roll through. They usually don’t write reviews, but this guest left one immediately. I really want to write a bad review, but they technically didn’t break the house rules and the damage wasn’t of the permanent brand. Not that it matters, but they were driving a brand new BMW 6 series, so I’m a bit worried that their rudeness will carry through to the review they wrote.
I know there are a ton of threads on this, but I hardly ever write bad ones, any suggestions?
Write an honest review. Bad or good is in the eyes of the next few hosts, if they even read it. Then if you wouldn’t host them again, thumbs down. Quit feeling bad about being honest.
What an odd sentence. You clearly think it matters. FWIW, I wouldn’t mention the car in the review.
Reviews are the lynchpin of the system. I don’t think Airbnb would have become a success without them and neither would ebay. I know I won’t stay with hosts with no reviews and the more, the better.
“Can’t recommend Guest. They didn’t break any house rules, but were very disrespectful, left a real mess and didn’t say a word: Full 13 gallon trash bag for 2 people/2 days! Bathroom flooded to the point that caulking separated from the toilet base. Not to mention food stains on the bed linen.”
I used to feel bad too when writing a review that didn’t paint the guest in the most honourable light. I questioned if my judgment was off because it was so personal. This is your space and an extension of you so yes, its vulnerable to have strangers screw with your stuff and appear to disrespect you.
I used to be especially fearful that I would find out that the guests would write a wonderful review of me and here I would be, nitpicking at their garbage.
But what good does it do to fall over yourself just trying to make status quo, play nicely nice to people who have obviously not paid you any mind? To people you will never see again. But whom other hosts will?
Ken is right. Just lay it out unemotional and be objective. You are just relaying the facts. Then other hosts will really be able to use that info to determine if they will fit in their house or not. You have a responsibility to us! Not them !
Do not mention the car. That plays into your personal judgment and opinion and isnt relevant.
I have an ornate picture frame with white board inside instead of a picture. I write a personal welcome note and if they want to erase and doodle, I encourage it.
My kitchen cupboards are also blackboard cupboards (chalk provided) and I encourage guests to leave me a note or draw me a picture.
Like dogs and kids, if they are kept busy, there is less trouble they can get into.
Definitely review them. I like Ken’s idea. We have blasted people before who were disrespectful of our home even if they were very friendly or technically didn’t break rules.
That issue by itself would probably just make me roll my eyes. A big mess upstairs, then scrambling the letters on their way out the door feels more like a middle finger.
This is such an example of how every host is different. It must be because I taught high school for 3 decades and learned to look at “juvenile and rude” in different ways that made my relationship with students non-combative. I think this message is a funny pop culture reference and I’d be messaging the guests thanking them and saying I thought it was funny. Then they would do it at the next place and piss that host off.
The scrambled sign wouldn’t bother me either. I like creative expression. The only thing I would have been ticked at is the flooded floor. Everything else is part of hosting, IMO.
That’s very true. Every host has a different situation and different sensibilities. In my case, I have back to back bookings, year round at a very low rate of return. Thus, things that cost me time tend to annoy me more. Yesterday I had just an hour and a half to clean the place before heading back to work. I ended up spending 2 hours and my wife had to clean the rest. On the other hand if you are making $50-$80 per night, don’t have back to back bookings for months on end, and or use a cleaning service, it’s probably a lot less bothersome because you’re being compensated for it or have time to deal with it.
Don’t get me wrong. Creative expression is great. I regularly get drawings, hand written notes, and even pictures showing their trip and it’s all great. None of those are destructive or cost me time. Like I mentioned earlier, it would have been less frustrating to find a scrambled/funny board if I weren’t already pressed for time by their other mess.
