Advice for reviewing good guest who didn’t follow house guest manual but luckily did not cause a major problem.

[Enri1804]

Hello, I’m seeking some advice from experienced hosts. I am about to review a good guest who didn’t fully follow the house rules and guidelines that I have to prevent damage. As many of you know AirBnB does not leave enough space for hosts to put all rules on the listing page, so I have an additional agreement just so I don’t have to charge guests for damage they could have avoided. In the past if I had an issue with a guest I just wouldn’t leave a review, but since this guest already left me a review and seemed to be happy I think I need to reciprocate. The guest seemed to follow the major rules but someone in their group caused chocolate stains on the sofa and sofa pillow. Now I was able to get them removed so I am not charging them anything. The chocolate candy was found in several places so I am a bit bothered that they didn’t just tell me it was a mistake. In my house guest manual it specifies to put the cover on the sofa to prevent any messes if you are eating there. I guess now I have to say no eating on the sofa. I just don’t know how to right a fair review that of them. Anyone else experienced this? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

@Enri1804  I truly, deeply hope it was just chocolate.

Is it really worth putting into a review? If I'm considering a request, I don't personally want to hear about little stains and goofs here and there. I kind of take as a given that people on vacation aren't obsessively treating my home like a museum. But if there's a broader pattern of disrespecting the home and ignoring the basic House Rules (as opposed to a detailed manual that people don't usually read anyway), that's definitely relevant to me. I'd want to know if someone brought unregistered guests or pets, smoked in a non-smoking home, or otherwise abused the home and hospitality.

But if your feeling is that these are overall good guests, I don't think they merit a critical remark in their review. You might aim to simplify your rules a bit by, for example, restricting where people can consume food/drink in the home or just keeping the covers on your upholstery by default. The more things you ask guests to remember, the fewer important ones they actually will. 

[Deb216]

@Enri1804,

I recommend purchasing a bottle of this:

FOLEX instant spot remover.  It has never let me down.

 

[Enri1804]

Thanks @Anonymous and @Deb216 . I did get the stains out, on 4 cushions, and a lot on the pillow. I assumed chocolate because we found these foil covered chocolates everywhere and in between cushions… and it was Easter. Yeah I’m just going to try to be positive. I wasn’t prepared for couples 17 year olds to do smear food but now I know. I left 2 paper towel rolls and they’d destroyed the kitchen towel instead, but the towel didn’t cost much. It’s unfortunate that many rules are necessary in a beach house and won’t be read. I’m grateful no one had damage my septic grinder yet : ) 

[Anonymous]

@Enri1804  Your beach house is beautiful. The downside will always be that even the brightest people tend to be super basic when they're taking a beach holiday. They might even be wearing a giant red t-shirt that says "I AIN'T COME HERE TO READ" to match their MAGA hat, so I'm afraid after this summer you'll look back fondly on the days when chocolate residue was the greatest of your worries. 

But that kitchen towel will survive. 

[Kelly149]

@Enri1804 @Chocolate melted and spread about I think certainly merits a mention unless your pricing is specifically high enough for “anything goes!” beach goers 

something as simple as “our space was not well-cared for and required additional cleaning”

this is something I’d want to know

[Suzanne302]

@Enri1804  As a host, I'm less concerned about chocolate stains on a sofa, and more concerned about a host who will not leave a review about a guest they had issues with. That's why hosts end up accepting guests who end up leaving chocolate stains on a sofa.

Please show respect to your fellow hosts and leave honest reviews of your guests!

[Enri1804]

@Kelly149 and @Suzanne302 thanks for your input. Yes I’d rather say something, but sometimes it’s difficult deciding what to let go and what is an issue. If I couldn’t get the stains out, I would have charged him, but again that begs the question, if it’s one innocent mistake caused by your kid, should it be blasted out to everyone, if they do pay for the extra cleaning? I’m unsure. A couple of my past guests had additional people over, didn’t follow a few guidelines, but according to my cleaner the house was in good condition, but we currently live far away. In this last case I wouldn’t be aware to the chocolates had we not flown back to the home ourselves. The cleaner just noted one small stain and the kitchen cloth. I think I’ll write something that includes “additional cleaning” and let them know. Trying not to sound too mean or negative. PS. Off-season rates are usually $215-350 per night, so not too expensive for our size. 

[Emilia42]

@Enri1804 

As far as cleaning goes, we all have a routine that we have done many, many times to get the space ready for the next guest. And we all have a good idea of the time a turnover takes to complete. When we are forced to step outside of the routine to clean up after a guest that is when I believe a mention in the review is necessary. You weren't expecting to spend an extra hour scrubbing multiple stains off the couch. I go with something like "Extra cleaning, outside the allotted cleaning fee, was needed."

[Emilia42]

@Enri1804 

P.S. If your cleaner did not notice the couch stains, you may want to ask them to run a vacuum over the couch between each stay, let alone actually inspect it. You were lucky to have found the stains and not the next guest.

[Helen744]

@Enri1804 , your house is lovely but as people have said time and time again . Do not put anything too precious in your Airbnb . A pale blue sofa ? No, but if you do there are numerous products to treat sofas that will prevent such stains being anything but superficial . Carpet cleaning companies will be willing to do it for you generally or buy a spray can at the hardware shop because that sofa is not going to be pale blue for very much longer H

[Sharon683]

I would charge them and buy new pillows.  

[Tania646]

If the guest didn't break a House Rule stated in the listing I don't see how you can critique the guest in the review.  If you do the guest should be bale to get Airbnb to remove it.

You say that there is no room in the listing to post such additional rules.  But there really is.  What makes you say that there isn't?

Also, your listing could state that there is an additional agreement that they must sign or agree to.  It doesn't appear you did that.

[Enri1804]

Hmm @Tania646 @I appreciate your thoughts. They do cause me pause for a few reasons. First, please review AirBnB guest reliability standards: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2894/guest-reliability-standards

“Cleanliness: Guests should not leave the listing in a state that requires excessive or deep cleaning (ex: with soiled carpet, moldy dishes, excessive trash, etc.). Cleaning fees are only meant to cover the cost of standard cleaning between reservations (ex: laundry, vacuuming, etc.).” It’s a built in rule for all that is in AirBnB Terms of service. Which yes was broken, so no review will be removed. Hosts don’t have to spell out “don’t wipe chocolate on the pillows.” Our house rules would be so long if so. But I guess your response goes to show how these terms don’t get read. But I’m allowed (other hosts appreciate) to write honest reviews. I had included in my Guest Manual things like “place a cover on the couch to avoid spills”. My guest manual goes into detail and has suggestions to steer guests into avoiding damage, while not being strict rules, because if they don’t, and it ends up causing damages I have notified them of the fees, and of course there is the review. You are correct about additional House Rules. However, When I created my listing last year there was only a limited character space for this (Maybe 500-900 I’ve forgotten). Now there is more space -and have added in a lot more as of 5/1/22. And my listing does say there is an agreement. I wrote it based on what my state requires I do. Of course the fact that you haven’t seen that (as of yesterday) does concern me since it’s been in there and stated in the description for quite a while now. I hope AirBnB isn’t having issues displaying everything on different devices.