HelloAny hosts out there interested in swaping stays?
Latest reply
HelloAny hosts out there interested in swaping stays?
Latest reply
I have an idea of what I'm going to say, but would love to hear what YOU would say. Backstory:
Guests were a very young couple who booked my homeshare for 2 nights. The guy booked the trip and was very communicative/friendly. The first night I'm pretty sure they never slept and I could hear conversation and music through about 5am as I woke up several times during the night due to noise. That's when they left the house (presumably they went to the beach).
My house rules/house guide tells guests there is a coffee station with other things they can use (forks/plates/cups/etc.) but explicitly states do not use my personal dishes/silverware. They took glasses off my shelf to use in the bathroom as a toothbrush holder. Then they went through my cupboards and pulled a plate and knife to cut a mango and proceeded to put it in one of my glass containers with a lid, and took it with them to the beach that evening. As I caught them doing this in the kitchen he said, "Oh, I hope you don't mind me using your knife." Yes, I should have said something then and there, but, they had already used my things (what do I say "dump out the mango you can't use my dishes?") and they were leaving the next day.
He messaged me to ask if they could cook Ramen that night. My listing EXPLICITLY says no cooking. I did tell him, no, I do not allow guests to use the stove and he was fine with that. The second night of their stay, they were quiet, no noise. Check-out time is noon. They left at 11:59am. (I know, they're fully allowed to stay up until check-out time, but...)
These guests were very friendly and I don't think any of this was done with ill-intention, I think it was simply young, ignorance. They were apparently first-time ABB users. He had no reviews and his profile was recent.
What would you say in your review of these guests?
@Suzanne302 I would probably review with something like:
"XX & XX were overall good guests. They felt very comfortable in my home and made full use of the space. While I had to remind them of the house rules, they were responsive and polite."
How wonderful it would have been if guests just paid us money and stayed somewhere else
Back to your original question “How would YOU rate this guest?”
First, I would wait a week before writing the review. Irksome guests stay on the brain for a bit. I’d give myself time to relax and rid of negative energy and have my brain moved onto something else.
At that point , I would reassess my thoughts on them. Were they nice? Start with that. “Nice young couple. They room was left… (maybe a small
mention of breaking small rules but that depends)”
Unless the issues were of great concern, I’d leave the review generic enough and provide private feedback on the irksome issues and breach of rules.
I would give appropriate scores under Communication and Observance of House Rules.
I’d take a point off for each offence.
The next host can see the scores and short generic review and read into that. Not a horrible guest, not a stellar guest but it gives the feedback to the guest with the chance for improvement.
Thanks Normen! Very helpful comment!
That's essentially the approach I ended up taking. They truly meant no harm and were sweet guests, they just didn't realize I don't let guests rummage through my kitchen.
I agree, give it a few days to level out and the emotions to fade. A good review should be objective, imho. If the guests meant well, and did not destroy anything, that is the most important factor to me.