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Had a father and daughter stay for four days via BDC and there was zero communication. Three messages asking for approximate arrival time, do you need parking etc.
They turned up at 14:00 on the dot (our earliest check in time) and had more luggage than I would have for a month. They were Catalan and I struggled with their Spanish, so comms were a bit ropey.
There was nothing specific, but I just had a gut feeling that we might need more than our usual couple of hours to turn the apartment round. They were messy on the patio, pretty loud all the time and appeared to use the washing machine more than Iâd have expected for a four night stay.
Walk round post check out:
Place is spotless, floors swept and mopped, all dishes done and put away, used towels neatly folded and placed in a corner. Fridge left with almost as much unopened goodies as we would buy in a week. Iâm not sure the place hasnât been dusted as well, and they used their own soap powder etc!
Ok, we still have to clean even though it doesnât look much different to when they went in, but given some of the messy buggers weâve had over the past few weeks this was such a pleasant surprise!
Thank you Nacho and Elena, you were perfect guests, shame I canât leave you a review.
On the basis thereâs been a lot of moany topics (most for good reason I might add) recently, I thought a cheery topic might go down well.
This happens, and still I never seem to learn to stop judging books by their covers.
Recently I has two separate sets of guests for the same two day period. I really thought Considerate and his companion Complimentary were going to be a handful. Considerate asked me half a dozen questions that were all answered in my listing, asked to bring two cars, which required some planning, and then asked me three of the same questions again, all before arriving. Yet Disorderly and her BF Drunk presented themselves as ideal guests upon arrival. It seemed clear who the problem guests would be.
Fast forward to the last night of both setâs stay. Complimentary and Considerate had been model guests and raved about our home and their space.
OTOH, Drunk and Disorderly came crashing and slamming home at 1:30 AM (right after the bars close down here in Maine). Disorderly passed out on our not-shared-space sofa while Drunk ransacked our kitchen and helped himself to (lots!) of food he found.
The next day, Considerate and Complimentary left early, thanked us warmly for our hospitality, left their room super tidy and left us a nice 5 star review. I apologized for the other coupleâs behavior and they pretended it never happened.
I hadnât heard a peep out of Drunk and Disorderly 15 minutes past checkout and had to knock on their door. They were an hour late checking out and their room, while not trashed or anything, was considerably more messy than most guests leave things.
You just never can tell.!
Below is a gift Drunk left in my microwave. It is strawberry swirl breakfast bread with cheddar cheese. Appears he tried to make himself a grilled cheese sandwich and then forgot about it.
While you might not have a review opportunity I would definitely consider sending them a note of thanx and even offer to be a STR reference should the need ever arise. Pass on the good will and feelings.
Anything for you mâdear, but youâll have to wait till theyâve finished the other apartment. Didnât mention that I abducted them and sent them to work did I?
I already did. In fact, I always pop off an SMS or an on platform message of thanks when weâve had good guests. With BDC guests they often need a nudge/reminder to review, which is why our review rate is a lot with them is a lot lower than Airbnb. Funnily enough, it seems to be domestic guests who rarely review, most international ones do.
I love reading these. I also recently had a young man with poor communication and a single 4 star review with the issue being cleanliness. He was the perfect guest even messaging to ask if there were any special check out instructions. Maybe he learned from his previous 4 star or maybe he had one of those crazy hosts. In any case I left him a stellar review right away. His review of me just said I was very sweet and considerate. LOL. Reviewing me, not the room, so I guess he is still learning. And the couple I have todayâŚthey came and knocked on my door and just said they wanted to visit with me and see the dogs. They couldnât be kinder or more complimentary of my space and I think they must be all of 20 or 21.
I had 4 men book for a âboysâ weekend of watching the college basketball championships. They were all in their 40âs and went to Boston College. The booker said they get together every year to do this. The reviews were good, so I said yes.
So, when they checked-in, we saw them on the Ring door camera dressed up like 40 year old Frat Bros, carrying a case of beer.
As they walked in the door, we heard one of them shout: âAlexa! Play Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect!!!â
We were like, hmmmmm. This will be interesting.
The left the place SPOTLESS!!
They clearly cleaned and scrubbed.
All the beer cans were neatly in the recycling cans.
Ah itâs so nice when you get lovely guests (especially ones that leave the place spotless)!
Feedback is great, but if you canât do it via an official channel maybe you could send them a card with a picture of your place or a vista of a nice local spot on the front? Write a nice message inside thanking them for choosing your place - perhaps you could offer them a little discount if they book again?
The chance of repeat business from good guests shouldnât be sniffed it!
I had a man in China book a stay four 4 Adults, said he was bringing his daughter to visit the college local to me (I kind of assumed dad, mom, and 2 teens as that is typical for me). He booked 2 months prior to stay. A week before the stay, I get a message from him saying that heâs now too busy at work and wonât be able to make the trip and âplease help me take care of these kidsâ. I totally flipped out but calmly asked âwhat kidsâ âwhat do you meanâ? We went back and forth, it was difficult to sort out because of language difference and he mixed his pronouns a lot. First there were 4 girls, then 4 boys, then I couldnât really tell at all. Once it was sorted out, there was a 16 year old girl (his daughter), a 17 year old girl, an 18 year old boy and a 19 year old boy (all 3 her classmates). I took a bunch of breaths. I told him I couldnât do the 3rd party booking and that one of the kids who was 18+ had to book. I kind of figured it would all fall apart and Iâd be off the hook, I set up lots of roadblocks for them. But the 19 year old got an account, verified his ID and sent me a photo (I donât normally require). These kids came, they were quiet and respectful and then they scrubbed and swept (which I donât expect) and each left me a personal note and one even left a fantastic drawing for me. While they were here, I did message dad in China that they arrived safely. I also messaged him when they left that they were some of the best guests ever, that he could be proud. The 19 year old left me a 5 stars review and compliments so high that it was embarrassing.
When I first started with Airbnb, although Iâd had the B & B and been âhostingâ since the eighties, I read just about every word ever written here. It was the best education ever.
But I did notice how many hosts said that they had age restrictions - no one under 21, under 25, even under 30.
So when a couple of 18 year olds booked for an annual music festival, I was just a little apprehensive, to say the least.
They were perfect guests.
Every year since then Iâve had youngsters for that same festival, in recent years in three apartments (2 of ours and a neighbourâs place).
@JohnF That is a nice story Iâve had similar experiences and itâs weird⌠it restores your faith in people and at the same time it challenges your own⌠prejudices is too strong a word but hopefully you know what I mean!
Like Chloe says:
After hundred of guests I have learned that you can just never tell. But I still catch myself jumping to conclusions - itâs instinct, I suppose. Honestly, nowadays the more gushing and âweâre very clean respectfulâ type profiles are the ones that put me on alert. If you actually need to tell me that, chances are high that youâre actually the complete opposite.
I think that seems to be more standard in the USA? It would be strange to do that here in Europe. Youâre basically considered an adult at the age of 18. Iâve hosted loads of under '20s and I canât actually recall any that were particularly problematic.
It depends on your listing type, of course. Iâm a live-in host so thatâs completely different from renting out a large house to 18 year olds.
did I?
Iâve had similar experiences and itâs weird⌠it restores your faith in people and at the same time it challenges your own⌠prejudices is too strong a word but hopefully you know what I mean!