What should I include in my review?

OK, it’s my turn to ask about what to say in the review. I’m not yet looking for advice on the review itself - just what’s important to other hosts.

Background - Our home is a three-bedroom villa in St Lucia in the Caribbean that sleeps six. It’s a glamping experience - an open-air with no glass over the windows. We have full-time staff. Strict cancellation policy.

Guest booked for six (a group of friends) a few months ago. Three weeks before arrival, he confessed there were eight because he assumed we would accept eight because we have four queen beds. I agreed to eight with an additional fee of $100US a night, but stressed we were not set up for eight so they wouldn’t have enough of some things.

After leaving today, my staff said they:

  1. Were the messiest guests we’ve ever had. Used every dish in the house every night (service for 12) and left dirty dishes all over the house with uneaten food on them. Pots and pans were left on the stove with uneaten food in them. We have been extremely aggressive recently on pest control and fortunately did not end up with pest infestations from their food messes.
  2. Pulled everything out from over the washer and dryer and left it on the floor. They had used all the free sunscreen and asked for more so they may have been looking for the backup supply.
  3. Used our white bath towels to go to the black mud baths because they had used the beach towels specifically for the mud baths the day before and said “they are dirty” and wouldn’t re-use them. This despite our housekeeper telling them to not use the bath towels.
  4. Hired the housekeeper to make dinner for them one night and paid her with cash in a sealed envelope. She fortunately checked it and saw they had shorted her by $120US and was able to collect the shortfall just before they left.
  5. Repeatedly pulled the pool scupper flap off even after our maintenance person repaired it and asked them not to pull it off again. The maintenance guy said they “played” with everything but didn’t break anything else.

OK - what’s important from this for most hosts? No significant damage was done but I do not recommend them to anyone else.

Messiest guests ever. Strained full-time staff with clean-up during and after their stay, used white bath towels at mud-bath despite having appropriate towels provided.

Those would all say to me oh hell no…

3 Likes
  • Cannot recommend to any host and would not host again
  • Intended to bring more guests than allowed and didn’t inform you until 3 weeks
    before the trip
  • Disrespectful to onsite staff including shorting them in payment for extra services
5 Likes

(name) was the worst guest we have ever encounter at our Airbnb. They did not follow our house rules (explain).

They had a lack of respect for your staff and property (explain why)

I would not host (name) again and I would not recommend them to other hosts.

Then 1 star his ass.

  1. Make sure your review has zero emotion and just facts.

  2. Do not waffle, keep the review succinct.

  3. I may have missed it, but the guests communication and time keeping are important to me (e.g. Did they check in and check out in good time?

3 Likes

I don’t know. We didn’t have same-day turnover on check in or out, so that wasn’t critical. I give my housekeeper authority to grant late check out at her discretion and I suspect they left an hour late.
I do think communication was poor since they only mentioned the extra people after reading the price lists for cooking and driver services and saw that all the prices stopped at six people.

Important to other hosts-

Disrespectful of the home, left a mess. Ignored instructions re cleaning up food and dirty dishes, (tropical environment where pests move in quickly when food remnants left)

Ignored precise instructions given by staff regarding things they were asked not to disturb or use.

Tried to significantly short the hired cook by giving her the fee in a sealed envelope. (Cook opened before check-out so had to uncomfortably ask for the balance of agreed-upon fee)

(While most places do not have staff that can be hired to cook, including this in some way in your review points out their dishonesty and abuse of staff)

Poor communication and presumptions re extra guests.

3 Likes

“Used and abused everything in the listing, including our staff.” I think it’s important for other hosts to know that they disrespected your property and staff.

4 Likes

Unlike many they at least told you about the number of guests before arrival. If that had been it and they behaved just fine, you might not have cared and appreciated the extra $100/night. Otherwise I would briefly note facts and rate them accordingly, then block. Many people would not know what a pool scupper flap is and “played with everything” is just too vague.

Good grief! I don’t want any of them showing up at my place - I’d toss them in the canal!

I’m sure someone can shorten this even more. But it covers - without emotion and deleting the word abuse - all the issues.

2 Likes

I really like the way you wrote this. I can’t prove they were deliberately trying to short her, because there were a lot of people and perhaps some other person was supposed to pay the balance and forgot (vacation brains fueled by rum!). But they certainly put her in an uncomfortable situation.

2 Likes

Then leave off the part about them shorting her as if it was deliberate, maybe just say the cook found her fee envelope $120 short, perhaps by accident, but was put in the uncomfortable position of having to ask for the missing amount.

I have no clue what you charge, but best to charge a ‘discouraging’ number so they tend not to ask to go beyond 6, not to serve as an attraction to find more to split the bill further.

I never use the word respect in hosting, reminds me of gangsters in the Mafia (i.e. Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney), John Gotti, etc). Not personal, these guest were just plain disgusting pigs.

I 'm not sure what you mean by this. We have a flat rate for up to six and I don’t publish a price for more than six.

Referring to this, forgot to tag: " I agreed to eight with an additional fee of $100US a night, but stressed we were not set up for eight so they wouldn’t have enough of some things."

I’d also mention that they touched/fiddled with things. Guests who touch the thermostat, change the floor heating schedule, touch the pool filter, change the fridge temp, etc, these people are not wanted by any hosts. Be sure to mention something about this, whatever is relevant to your place, or keep it vague.

Guests fiddled with settings on pool equipment, despite being asked by staff not to make any adjustments.

1 Like

I think that this level is detail is really helpful, really shows what kind of guests these are.

Sometimes more IS more.

1 Like

I think the key is, a run-on paragraph full of feelings needs to be shortened.
Short and to the point is always preferred. But, when it can be expressed as a bullet list of short and concise points, that is valuable as well! especially when it’s a long list of short and to-the-point bullet points.

Why?

Most reviews from hosts are so succinct and so impersonal that they aren’t even worth reading.

How about the ones from property managers with dozens or hundreds of listings. Every single review they leave is “Nice guests!” or “Great guests!” full stop.
I don’t even know why they bother.