@Marissa160
Marissa, I am sorry you have been put in this position so early in your hosting career by a thoughtless guest.
You do specifically state in your house rules that a maximum of 8 guests are allowed, and any additions to that number will result in the reservation being cancelled.....Marissa, you did nothing wrong, the booked guest turned up with 13 others! You didn't alter the definition of the stay....the guest did!
And to top it off she pulled the 'race card' on you for goodness sake!
It is also once again disappointing that Airbnb are clearly disregarding their own much touted party policy statement and, in addition allowing racial motivated comments and still have this review remain despite your objection.
If Airbnb are going to make policy statements, we as hosts simply ask them to have the integrity to stand behind those statements! Surely that can't be too much to ask!
That said, to your situation, a couple of things happen here....
One bad review in a consistent block of good ones will not do you any great harm. Your other reviews are outstanding and tend to make Chrishina look the oddball here....she is the only one in step, all your other guests were just some sort of anomaly. Most potential guests are not fools, we can see what goes on. Also Marissa, I congratulate you on the diplomatic way you handled the review response. You have come out of what was a difficult stay with your head held high....good on you.
Eight reviews does not give you a lot of hiding room but, as your review base grows and builds up, this review will slip into obscurity and in a short time, nobody will even notice it.
Look on it as a learning curve and take some positives out of it.
I would look at a couple of things.
The thing you promote in your listing description is the peacefulness and privacy offered and, that is going to attract someone with a party in mind. I would put more emphasis on the fact that although there is distance between neighbours, the community is controlled by an HOA committee and your listing rules and theirs are strictly enforced. That way you may be able to discourage those who want to make a lot of noise and create disturbance from booking.
Secondly, look more closely at the wording of the reservation request or the IB initial message. Don't allow potential guests to dictate to you the terms of what you offer......don't deal with hagglers, every time they ask you for something they strengthen their ground and they weaken yours. After a while you will get to tell from that initial contract whether your guest will be a good one or a problem to you.
Experience is a great teacher.
And lastly, don't expect Airbnb to fall in behind you with support. They don't want to upset guests and alienate themselves from that money stream that guests provide. The balance of probabilities says they will side with the guest unless totally backed into a corner. Take responsibility for what you offer and keep a few dollars aside to take care of the odd problem that may arise!
All the best Marissa, you have a lovely listing and I wish you a lot of success with it, stay positive, I can assure you the world is full of lovely guests.
Cheers.......Rob
