Luckily I’m at a stage where this rarity just makes me shake my head. No more ‘what the…!’ And I take my time to compose a review instead of knee jerk…I had a wonderful couple for five days (something I usually try and avoid because that’s a long long time to have someone on your property where you live ) and I joked to a friend…bet I pay for having such wonderful guests for the week…
Yeah…This couple and their 12 yr old son arrived the day after the sweet couple left…They struck me wrong when they got out of the car. Husband was unimpressed and a tad rude. Wife barely spoke and said she HAD to get to the bathroom (they live 34 miles from my farm) and ran past me into the cabin… and I could see that my verbal overview of the cabin and it’s operations, house rules, and their necessity to read the guest guidelines was being ignored. And during their stay they either didn’t read it , or just ignored the house rules contained in it. And I had verbally gone over everything I left in writing…Oh well.
I DO dread going into the cabin after people like this leave. I mean…you just never know… At least they didn’t burn the place down! Love to hear from any host who’s found their ‘gut reaction’ has usually been spot on…
I haven’t been hosting long enough to trust my gut. My listing is for larger groups and I’ve been surprised more than once, both positively and negatively.
I don’t know your house rules, etc., but my first reaction was “Is that all?” That is possibly the most “contained” mess I’ve ever seen.
I’ve posted repeatedly here that I don’t trust my gut. For every time I could say to myself “I knew it!” there were 2-3 times where I was completely wrong. The more I host the less I trust my gut.
Oops, sorry, I guess you didn’t want to hear from me.
I have to agree with Brian though that the problems pictured don’t seem bad at all. If this is a bad guest, you’ve been lucky. Cheers!
The dishes were washes, the towels in a bundle on the floor (could be laying everywhere including the beds) and garbage bundled up. I wish this was my worse guest, *
* So many times I hear where hosts expect unrealistic expectations IMHO. There is nothing in your pictures that would cause me issue, of course it is your home but I think most of us would wonder what is causing you to think these guests were “bad”…
Well, I didn’t say that the way they left it bothered me that much…It’s just a head shaking amusement…that went along with their overall initial ‘attitude’. I thought I explained the most of the issue was their attitude as it played out during their stay.
My comment was that their initial attitude indicated to me that I would expect what I got upon their departure.
I just do not seem to get guests who leave the cabin like this, most certainly not like the ones that trashed the bathroom of the other poster.And I certainly would not want them back. Not just because of this, but because their overall attitude was so poor… only had one or two who were disrespectful of the property, the house rules, or of me in two years of being booked every weekend and many days in between. Guess I’m lucky??? And I appreciate the quality of the majority of my guests very very much.
I am surprised that some hosts don’t expect more respect of house rules AND their property from guests who should be grateful to have lovely accomodations in special places available to them. I do not charge a cleaning fee. so yes, I ask that my guests tidy up a bit, as most civilized people would do without being asked. Garbage can for all this was just outside the kitchen on the side of the house and the ‘request’ is made in the house rules… It’s empty (funny, all my guests seem to get that and take their refuse and put it in the can) so they chose instead to leave the garbage on the floor, AND on the front porch, rather than walk 20 feet to the outside can. I’m surprised that some hosts don’t find this disrespectful and unpleasant. I certainly do. People’s actions send messages about what they thought about the property.
I realize that ‘it could have been much worse’…but that wasn’t my point, or the reason for my post. I was merely musing about what sometimes turns out to be a good gut instinct upon meeting someone. …These people were here for two nights. Copious amounts of garbage. The dishes are ‘sort of clean’ and why leave them piled in a tiny space where they can easily fall, when the shelf they live on is directly beside the sink? Lazy? uncaring? Yes. They ignored house rules that clearly state , to not go to the barn or pastures where the animals were without having me accompany them ( with ‘why’ being explained as liability issues with livestock, etc) I had to gently correct them, and remind them it was so stated in their ‘guidelines’ when I found them wandering in the pasture by the barn, shooing at my farm animals, and really causing some issue… and they were unpleasant when I did so even tho I offered to show them around at that time. I asked them if they had enjoyed their day exploring the area and they said ‘no’. ‘There was no water in the waterfall at the park’. There were a couple of other minor interactions. They just lived up to my initial impression, that’s all. The only point of my post was to hear from others if their first impressions proved out. So far, my gut has been right with the exception of one guest, and I was way way off on them.
I have been so wrong so many times on my first impressions…but the deep in my gut something was completely off, those I do listen to and 99 pct of the time they are accurate. My apologies if I seemed a bit “off” in my previous posting…seems like one of those days I can’t sit down for more than an hour before someone needs something, if not my guests, my tenants or my family…geez think I should turn my phone off…
Lol…I understand completely…and I obviously didn’t word my post to convey my meaning. I was just looking for other hosts’ anecdotal experiences with gut instinct. I fell flat!
I don’t understand what the photographs are for?
I would have to say now that I got the Ring camera to see the guests when they first enter and get their initial reaction to my house, yes my first impressions of what type of guest they will be have panned out. I don’t generally meet and greet my guests unless they ask me to, and some do. My listing is about 5 minutes from my home, so I can be there quickly if need be.
I understand you here as well. I have been criticized, not here, on some forums because I do NOT allow vaping in my home and it annoys me when that rule is blatantly ignored! I have been told I am crazy because I say I can smell it after they leave and my husband even more so. That vaping is “just vapor” so what am I worried about, yada yada yada and ALWAYS by people that vape themselves! Imagine that?! It is in my rules, they agreed to abide by them, so dammit, do so! And I will hit them in, at the very least, the private section of the review, and in the public review in some form if they didn’t cease after being warned. I don’t always catch it until too late because I just don’t have time to check camera footage immediately. I will check in the case of excessive alerts.
In my case, you did not fall flat! I knew where you were coming from. Do I get a cookie now! 
Sometimes we just need to let it out! I had a set of “real winners” for Memorial Day weekend. Based on what I have seen on the host forums and in the groups, Memorial Day Weekend MUST be Amateur weekend for STR hosts! But the guests after them were AWESOME and the next ones coming I have a super good feeling about. All in all, I am still ok with this hosting thang! 
The longer I host, the more I realise just how much I don’t know. And the more I realise that my gut, intuition, call it what you will, knows even less.
I started hosting in 1980 (lodging college students) and shortly afterwards went on to a home that had spare bedrooms and became a B & B. I’ve been hosting in some form or another ever since.
You’d think, with so many years behind me, that I’d have some terrific gut reactions but I might as well read tarot cards or tea leaves. Unlike all those years ago, we now get reviews of potential guests and in some cases their bio and photograph. I’m still none the wiser. So it’s easier and far less stressful to not even try. For me, anyway.
I have mostly really liked most of my guests. With many, we’ve got on like a house on fire. But nevertherless, it’s a business transaction. It’s not personal. They pay me for their accommodation and that gives them the right to expect certain things. In turn, I expect certain things of them. And except for a handful of times, that’s exactly how it works.
Just to show what I interpret as disrespect, disdain for the nice property, the extras, the little details and benefits I provided for them, and for the fact that I do not charge a cleaning fee, request that they tidy up, and that all this was par for the course from my initial impression…Nothing more.
It was NOT a rant, just a musing of others’ experiences with their first impressions being spot on. Obviously if self check in, it’s a mute point…
What I AM surprised at, is that anyone would think that 4 bags of garbage thrown on a kitchen floor, their floor, MY floor, YOUR floor, anyone’s floor, is in any way acceptable…you take a bag of full garbage out of the can, throw it on the floor, replace the bag, fill it up again, and you throw in on the floor again 4 times?? Really?? THAT is not disrespectful? or just plain slovenly? I am not operating a Motel 6 here…
Another thread where the additional details change my opinion…I didn’t find those pictures to be alarming. It’s like “oh, you had a booking.” 3 stars on cleanliness, moving on…
But mess with the animals despite my clear directive not to do so…? Oh no! Now they are one star and “do not recommend.” 
Most of the time, my gut reaction is spot on - but on rare occasions, people still surprise me. What really does surprise me is how often guests that I’ve left a “bad” review for, are still hosted by others and receive 5-star reviews. Also, how guests possibly could have received great reviews before they stayed with me, because they obviously hadn’t read my house rules, or didn’t care to follow them - and how often they are hosts themselves!
Love your cabin!Ive found that my initial impression on many guests is dead wrong – hallelujah! BUT. I’m 195 percent spot on when we get people who are looking for the lowest possible price out there, then end up at our place, which is certainly not the cheapest offering, and I find myself babysitting and wanting to start drinking at noon. Last week I offered a full refund to whiny guests so they would not stay a second night. “But we LIKE your place…” Gaghhhhhh!
I understand completely what you are saying and I agree. Yes, it could have been worse. I have had some absolute shockers.
Some people you can just tell right away that they are going to be a pain in the arse. The ones who looked like they sucked a bag of lemons on the drive in.
I get it.
I’m with you. Sociopaths are very good at pretending to be just the opposite and sometimes people are out of sorts for reasons that have nothing to do with you. And sometimes you gotta pee!
lol! I like the ‘bag of lemons’ analogy…It exactly describes the husband when he exited the car…Luckily at this stage in my ‘experience’ I am no longer concerned or intimidated by the ‘lemon look’…ha ha
I figure if the multitude of photos, my ‘overly long’ and wordy description doesn’t give a potential guest enough info to NOT be disappointed or surprised, not my problem…
yes, I’m surprised as well. Maybe some hosts (been discussed in a prior threads) just hate to leave a bad review. Then some of us get the surprise by hosting the baddies. But overall, I’ve been very very happy with my guests’ quality and consideration. It’s still fun! But folks like this,makes you wonder what their house looks like!!! gag
If the things mentioned in your negative review are not applicable to another host’s home, then they are discarded. For example, someone who complains that the guest took long showers would get a ‘yawn, so what?’ from me, as this is not an issue for my home.