Swimming pool damaged - what to say to guests to avoid bad review

[Lisa9507]

Hi there,

I'd be very grateful for any suggestions on this issue please.

We live in another country from our small Airbnb property in Italy. Our first booking is July 15th, and we were only told by our house managers last week that the overground prefabricated pool is in VERY poor condition - ideally, it should be replaced completely. We cannot get any workmen before guests arrive to improve it and will have to proceed as is.

We have to assume guests booked our property in part because we have a pool, so we want to address this issue properly to avoid disappointing them too much and messing up our 5* reviews. We were thinking of leaving them a voucher for a great local restaurant for the value of €10 per night booked as compensation for the pool's state. We don't want to give more than that because the pool will be functional - just not attractive. We would also like to encourage income for the local area rather than just repay the guests the equivalent.

I'd be very grateful to hear people's thoughts or alternative suggestions.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Lisa9507 

I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions here. I think it's great that you are clearly aware that you have to somehow adress the issue by offering something - that will usually go a long way and hopefully the guests appreciate it.

[Helen3]

Personally if the pool isn't usable  I would contact the guest and let them know and offer them the option of cancelling penalty free. As you say it's likely the pool would be a key reason why they booked.

if they want to stay I would offer them a reasonable discount. £10 a night sounds low but I don't know the cost of your listing @Lisa9507 

i am a little confused by your comment . Your managers say it's in very poor condition but you say it's still usable which is it? 

[Paula]

Hello @Lisa9507, welcome to the Airbnb Community Center 😊

Our experienced Hosts have shared some great advice! Have you considered communicating with your guests to keep them updated about the pool?

I am reaching out to some more experienced Hosts to see if they would like to share their opinions on this topic: @Nash-Cottages-LLC0, @Karen114, @Guy991, @Leigh625 and @Lorina14 

Regards 🌻

[Karen114]

@Lisa9507   Do you have pics of the pool from your PM? If so how different are the current pics from your listing pics?

What happened to the pool from the time you listed it and now to make it not look good but still useable ? Was there a storm or something?

if it’s still usable and purely an aesthetics issue I would just be upfront with the guests as long as the pool still functions. 
Dear Guest,

our pool suffered x during x. It is still usable and works as intended just wanted to give you a heads up about xxx. 

[Karen114]

@Lisa9507 Just looked at your listing. Super cute little pool. I am guessing maybe some of the wood cladding has been damaged. 

Reading your reviews it appears there’s plenty to do in the area and a charming space. The pool is definitely ancillary to your space and location. Guests aren’t coming to Italy for your charming little pool 😊
Just be upfront with incoming guests and it will be fine. 

[Lisa9507 · Accepted solution]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and your comments-they are much appreciated.

It’s been a stressful week trying to get the pool repaired from afar but as of today it is back in decent, usable condition! Sadly, it will be the last season for this particular Pool and we will have consider our options for next year, but we are just very relieved. 

Thanks again ☺️

[Karen114]

That’s great news! Glad it worked out for you. 

[Lorina14]

@Lisa9507 @Paula 

Sorry to hear about this. There are some great suggestions below. Being upfront with the guests prior to their arrival is best just letting them know you were just notified

of the issue and allow them to cancel or discount the rate if it was the amenity that they booked your place for.  I would take it out of the listing for the time being if it is not usable or note that it is being repaired at the moment in the listing and make sure each booking has some mention of the repair or issue and apologize for the inconvenience. Most guests are understanding if you have good communication and apologize for the inconvenience. 

We have heated floors that were a great draw but it malfunctioned so I took the pics and mention of it out of the listing so I wouldn’t get docked on reviews until we got it fixed. We had an electrician take a look and it was only temporarily fixed and we were told we had to break the tile to address the issue (not ideal and expensive). We recently had a guest crack the grout and loosen a tile so we blocked off a time and are going to replace the tile and fix the heated floors. Then I can add it to the listing again.

But it’s best to not list it so guests don’t expect it or if it is listed and there are maintenance issues just let each guest know when they book then they can decide if they want to keep the booking. If an amenity is not present that was in the listing and a guest complains, Airbnb can discount per night a percentage up to 30% depending on the amenity or issue presented. This is on a case by cas basis. I found out because I preemptively offered a larger discount than the guest would have gotten and customer service let me know. The guest did not complain but they were appreciative that we discounted (the smoke detector had a low battery and was chirping in the middle of the night! Why could it not have done it during the daytime?). Just thought it would be good for hosts to know this. Hopefully guests will not use this knowledge to their advantage and lie about issues not present (I have read this on some threads).