We are new (2 years) to Airbnb. Most of our guests are perfectly lovely. We made the mistake of making the place waaaaay to nice. Its in the lower floor of our home, and my husband and I are designers and woodworkers. There is beautiful carpentry, expensive linens and nice kitchen ware. My last guest left a bag of apples on a built in wood entry table. The apples must have been almost rotten, because the next day, I found the bag, and the apples were almost liquid. The wood top is ruined. We will need to pull it (taking apart the trim holding it in place) and refinish it, as well as repairing the trim and repainting that. She was a 5 night stay. Realistically, this will cost at least $800-$1000 to have a carpenter come to fix. A couple of weeks ago, another 7 day stay, a woman and her BF cooked some fish.....I noticed the smell of rotting fish outside about 2 days after her arrival, and subsequently came upon it in the garbage. Not bagged, just a rotten fish on top of the bags. Upon checkout, I found the kitchen EXTREMELY messy. Gloves (from cutting fish...?) about 5 pairs, were tossed about the kitchen, smelling of fish very badly. Food left all over counters and grease coating most of the kitchen. Then I opened the refrigerator......full of food. The fish smell was horrendous. We spent about 2 days trying to clean all this up. We had to move the stove to clean all the grease. Took the refrigerator apart to try to remove the smell, but it persists. We will likely need to buy another new refrigerator. They also ruined a sauce pan, and put all of the wooden bowls, spoons and knives in the DW. There is a sign RIGHT ON THE DW, asking not to. I feel unjustified charging the last girl $1000 for leaving a bag of apples on the table. I honestly think some people don't know any better, and likely their own home reflects this. How are we to know as BNB owners? I think the best way to know, is if folks are honest in writing their reviews. I notice that some folks reserve leaving a bad review for the absolute worst. I don't understand this logic. I am honest on my reviews. If I feel someone is careless and destructive, I want to warn the next host. If they don't come back to stay because of it, all the better. Fish girl, for instance, was outed in her review about her kitchen habits. Curious how others handle these situations.
