To review or not review

[Victoria1272]

We’ve got a guest in this week staying for 4 nights. They booked with no reviews, I allowed the booking. They are 6 people and have been coming and going and we are pretty uncomfortable about what state the house will be in tomorrow when they leave. The property is on our farm and they have not left (gone outside) except to get food/ drink. A new additional guest arrived this evening and we were not informed to expect further guests or whether this is  guest no 6 arriving just for one night. My question is - the person who made the reservation has no reviews so had to make a reservation request. If we leave a bad review would that person need to make a request again to stay with other people or would they make it through and be able to instant book. Is it better to leave them with no reviews?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Victoria1272 The effect of reviews is somewhat irrelevant. By leaving a review you are allowing future hosts to see what type of guest they may choose to host. It may well be your current guest is absolutely fine and the review will be glowing. Equally the place might be left in a tip and its just possible a previous host didn't leave a review to warn you about this guest.

[Helen3]

If your house rules say no additional guests other than those on the booking - then contact the guest and remind them of the rule and emphasise importance of this during Covid. @Victoria1272 

Ask them to ensure the ‘visitor’ leaves promptly. (As you know in England you can’t have more than 6 guests unless living in the same household) 

And yes always leave an honest review based on how you find the place, their communication etc. 

[Emilia42]

@Victoria1272 Something similar happened to the last host of these guests. But that host chose not to review . .  so here you are . . now stuck with them . . without warning. 

To answer your question: If you give this guest a one-star review and click 'would not host again' they will not be able to instant book with hosts who have "Recommendations from other hosts" checked as a requirement. 

[Sarah977]

@Victoria1272  No, it isn't better to leave no reviews- other hosts need to know what guests are like. And in case you aren't aware, the star ratings that are given to guests are not visible to hosts who don't use Instant Book, only the written reviews are. Some IB hosts will leave low star ratings, assuming that will warn other hosts, and leave a non-committal written review that really gives no info, but that doesn't help non-IB hosts at all.

 A non-IB using host who only receives booking requests has no way of knowing whether a guest is sending a request because they didn't qualify for booking by IB due to their ratings being too low, or not.

[Christina768]

@Victoria1272 This is my second year hosting on the Airbnb platform and overall the experience has been a positive one. The area of reviews is a conundrum to most hosts, there seems to be a real reluctance to leave negative reviews for 'bad' guests and most hosts use coded language. I have read so many posts on this topic both here and on the community page  usually the reasons given are the fear of a retaliatory responses and then the minefield of counter allegations which serves no purpose. From personal experience I wish I had left those negative reviews where the guest was a nightmare to warn other hosts, usually this type of guest are repeat offenders and they rely on not being reviewed negatively and will continue their perceived 'acceptable poor behaviour' onto the next unsuspected host. So, now I believe (after a very recent negative experience) that we are duty bound to 'warn' other hosts so they can make a uniformed decision on whether to accept such a guest. I have just left my first negative review on a terrible guest and her boyfriend (their Laurel and Hardy profile pic should have set alarm bells ringing). Will this review invite a retaliation remarks? Probably, as they are the type, but other hosts must be warned and they should be required to request to book. I am now reviewing and tightening up on all house rules and seriously considering removing the instant book facility (or at the very least accepting guests on instant book with good reviews). So if your current guests deserve a negative review most definitely leave one and help the next potential host. I sincerely hope it turns out well for you.

[Sarah977]

@Christina768  Hosts' responses to guests' reviews appear on the host's review page. Guest responses to hosts' reviews show on the guest's review page. So even if a guest leaves a retaliatory response to your review, future guests don't see that when looking at your reviews, they only see the guest's review and your response to it, if you left one.

Hosts will see the guest's response on the guest's review page, and usually, if it was bad guest who you reviewed poorly, their response will be such that most hosts will see it for what it is, which usually consists of absolving themselves of responsibility for bad behavior.

So don't worry about guests' responses to your reviews.

[Christina768]

@sarah977 Thank you

[Sandra126]

I always always say in my reviews "recommend to all future hosts" as long as I do, obv. If we all did that, it wouldn't matter so much what other words the review contained . If you just said "guests stayed x nights" and left low stars, I'd understand you were afraid to criticise. But review you should!

[Victoria1272]

So to update, they’ve had a party by the looks of things. This contravenes our house rules for starters. The TV remote is missing, the beds and towels all stained. Dishwasher not on but they’ve attempted to clean by spraying kitchen cleaner ever everything. We try to live a minimal impact life and we’re so disappointed that this group has not filled me with hope for our younger generation. I’ll be leaving an appropriate review.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Victoria1272 Have you looked behind the sofa cushions for the remote - They often end up there.

If you can't get the bedding clean TKmaxx have cheap 400thread count sheets at the moment online.

I am not sure guests enjoying themselves counts as a party. To be a party they need to invite other people to come along.....

[Anonymous]

@Victoria1272 I'm glad you decided to leave an honest review. There really isn't a good reason not to. 

You might have been able to reduce your current workload significantly if you had intervened as soon as you noticed that the guests were breaking both your House Rules and the law by bringing an unapproved 7th guest.