Which comments most surprised you in guests' reviews?

[Huma0]

The good, the bad, the ugly... What took you by surprise and why?

[Huma0]

@Kate867 

Just had another look at your listing.

How could anyone miss that fireplace?! SMH.

[Kate867]

@Huma0 … Yep, then there was the guest who rang and asked (despite all the instructions for the heating available in triplicate) why the radiators were not warming?  I asked him if he had the fire hot enough… His response.. ‘What fire?’  ..  He honestly thought that by turning on the immersion heater for hot water would heat the house.

[Huma0]

@Kate867 

I think this is why I haven't bothered with a house manual. I just don't think many guests would actually read it. They much prefer to ask the host instead. 

Once upon a time, a fair few guests used to use the guidebook I've put together for the local area. I still send the link to every single guest, but literally none of them look at it anymore. I don't know why.

Instead, they always ask me for local recommendations, which would be fine, but when I ask them what they fancy eating and they just respond, "Oh, I don't know." So, I'll suggest a few places and then they just stand there looking at me. I end up having to list just about every eatery and pub in the area. Often, they end up somewhere completely random instead because they can't find the way. 

I reiterate that if they look at my guidebook, they will not only find all the places listed, but also be able to see them on a map so that they can find them easily. Nope. They just won't look at it.

Why???!!!

[Kate867]

@Huma0   It is nothing more than laziness I suspect.  I had a poor review removed last year because a guest ranted on about numerous issues that caused him difficulties.. even about the lack of double glazing of all things (it is a Listed property) Right at the end of his lengthy review he actually admitted that he had not read any of the check in instructions or the house manual .. Incidentally, he was a Mature PhD student at Cambridge.  The same happens with reading listings prior to booking I think… they look at the pretty pictures, don’t read, book .. and are then disappointed that at over 6’6” tall, they are finding they have to duck in order to avoid some low beams.  However, these guests are in the minority.. but it is still irritating at times.

[Huma0]

@Kate867 

Yes, luckily guests like that guy are the minority. However, I would say that a lot of guests do not read the whole listing. It's more common than not. Some read it but seem incapable of digesting anything. I have found that I have to make a real point of them doing so before accepting a booking because the listing is just not going to be suitable for some people, but they make assumptions. 

Early on in my hosting experience, I had a handful of less than perfect reviews about things that I felt like I had clearly stated on the listing, but guests still seemed surprised by.

- One girl complained that the room was not on the 3rd floor but the 4th, because that is what it's called in the USA. The thing is, she wrote that she knew we call it the 3rd here, but that is not the point. She also complained that the walk to the tube station was extremely strenuous (it's a five minute walk on a completely flat road). So, I added that it's called the 4th floor in North America and that the station is 0.3 miles away.

- Another told me the bedroom was perfectly warm when asked and never mentioned it again during her stay. She then said in her review that it was extremely cold. Turns out she turned off the radiators in her room by mistake. So, I had to add, please don't adjust the heating controls.

- Luggage storage has been an issue. One guest wrote in her otherwise positive review: "The only downside is that you can't store luggage. It cost 400 (not sure which currency this is) to store luggage outside for two days." At this time, I allowed guests to drop off luggage early or leave it here for a few hours after check out, but notice she mentions 'two days'. What this guest failed to mention was that she asked me to store several suitcases for her and her friend for dates outside of the booking while they were travelling elsewhere... After a few similar situations, I changed the rules to say that I do not store luggage at all but can provide details of cheap left luggage options.

- For quite a time, I charged a small fee for laundry (stated on the listing) because guests were abusing the washing machine and I couldn't keep having an engineer out every week. It was only £3 for me to wash, dry and fold a load for them, but when guests wanted to do laundry and were reminded of the fee, they would look at me in shock, horror and disbelief, as if I was trying to rip them off. Now I don't bother with the fee. I just make sure to talk through the controls with them and hope for the best!

I could go on and on, but that's why my listing and house rules are so detailed. Some people will say it's better to keep them short and simple in order to get people to read them at all, but I find that if you do not mention something and it turns out to be important to a guest, it's going to backfire. 

[Huma0]

Another 'lost in translation' review started off with "There are a lot of house rules, which means that the landlord is a very demanding person." I was a bit surprised by this as the guests seemed super happy and left 5* for everything.

So, I asked another guest from the same country to translate and she told me it didn't say that at all. Rather it meant that the host was very meticulous and it was a positive thing.

[Huma0]

And another one that was surprising to me was this, although it was part of the private feedback:

"My one piece of feedback would be to suggest leaving a low wattage light on at the stairwell through the night. When I came home each night or wandered down to fill my water jug, the dark stairs were disorienting and I was concerned about taking a wrong step and tumbling down! Of course each day I forgot to ask you where the light switch was, which would have solved the problem somewhat :)"

I didn't understand this at all as, not only are the light switches in the obvious places, e.g. right by the front door when you come in, at the top and bottom of each flight of stairs etc. etc. so they are not something I normally need to explain to guests, but this guest DID ask me where the light switches were and they were all shown to her. I guess she totally forgot that conversation. 

[Kate867]

@Huma0   Both of my bedrooms and the bathroom have power sockets outside about 200mm above floor level, so I put those led motion sensor plug in lights there.. adjusted them to stay on for two minutes once activated.  It stops guests having to fumble about for unfamiliar light switches in the night when leaving their rooms for the bathroom.  Several guests have commented on them.

[Huma0]

@Kate867 

I have thought about those motion sensor lights but there are a couple of issues.

Firstly, the builders I originally had in to renovate the house and the ones that rewired it were not so smart. Two out of the three landings do not have sockets to plug anything into. Meanwhile, the large entrance hall only has sockets at one end and not the other (the reason I never have lights on my Christmas tree!). 

Secondly, with three cats, and the sockets at 'cat level', I can imagine those lights constantly being set off. When I replaced the light outside at the front door, I decided not to bother with another motion sensor one because one of my cats was constantly setting it off. She still sets off the neighbour's one (as do any persons coming up my path) so I don't worry about that.

Maybe I will still give it a go though where sockets are available. If they are low energy consumption, maybe the lights going off constantly wouldn't be a problem, but personally I find it hard to sleep when the hallway lights outside my room are on.

The thing that annoyed me about this guest's comments though were that she made out like she had no clue where the light switches were even though she had asked me and I had shown her. This guest arrived with preconceptions that my neighbourhood was not safe because she had friends living in a 'posh' area of London who told her so. This guest did not mention any safety concerns to me when here, except that when she arrived, she told me her friends who lived in Kensington had told her it was not a good area. 

Of the hundreds of guests I have hosted here (and the many long term housemates before them), not a single one has experienced a safety issue here. Neither have I, in the 13 years I have lived here, which is something I can't say of other places I've lived in London. She made a really big deal of it in her review (not the private feedback where she mentioned the lights):

"Stockwell as a neighborhood is a bit rough round the edges and I did come across daytime drunks, people randomly yelling and shifty sorts. But the house is on a main road, only 5-7 min walk in a straight line from the tube. As a solo female traveler, when returning post 10pm I took the precaution of putting my phone away, head down and walking briskly at night, with keys ready, no fumbling at the door. I didn’t feel too unsafe (though my London friends worried for me!). In any case there’s no way you’d get this sort of space in a posher neighborhood, so there!"

It's exactly as you said when a guest thinks they are writing a 'nice review' but are actually doing damage. Luckily, none of the other guests (and most of mine are solo females) seemed to feel this way about the neighbourhood.

[Robin4]

@Kate867 

Yeah, I am with you Kate, to us our property and its layout are bleedin' obvious.....it's our turf, of course we know where everything is and just how it works!

But whatever I have done here I have put myself in the shoes of a stranger, because we have been in that situation 100 times while travelling........you get up in the night for a nature break and it's like being in a bloody cave.....you don't know where to put a foot or a hand. You may have been told where switches are but in the dark you have no perception of distance so, the best of instructions are virtually useless!

For that reason the main cottage room has a very low wattage 'nightlight'. It just gives a dim glow which the guest can turn off if they want total darkness, but it gives enough light to show where obstacles might be.

But the bathroom/toilet is controlled by motion sensor lighting. As soon as you approach the two steps leading up to the wet area the bathroom lighting switches on and stays on for 4 minutes, just wave an arm and you get another 4 minutes. If you don't want to disturb any other guest, just shut the door.....simple but it works and guests don't have to fumble around trying to find a light switch.

Motion sensors are really cheap and easy to install, particularly now with WiFi, hard wiring is not necessary any more. There are even self contained battery motion sensor lights which can be purchased for less than $10 and installed within 5 minutes by any novice! 

Doing this just takes one more of the risks out of being a host and having strangers in your house! 

Cheers.........Rob

@Huma0  @Kelly149  

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Yes, I totally get that nightlights could be very useful for guests needing the bathroom during the night. I don't know about you though, but if I get up in the night, the first thing I would do is switch on the bedside light and, voila! you can immediately see, even in the hallway once you open the door. I find this works when I am staying in a hotel or Airbnb. It's pretty straightforward, still I guess some guests are not going to think to do this.

However, the guest I mentioned above was not very logical. I mean, why not fill up your water bottle BEFORE going to bed, and if you need to fill it up again, why not use the nearest tap, i.e. the one a few paces from your room rather than traipse through the whole house?

She also seemed to have a mental block about light switches in general. As much as one can be thrown by new surroundings, where would you normally expect to find the hallway light switch when you enter a property? Where is the first place you would look for that? I would expect to find it on the wall right by the door as you enter. Why not give that a try?

Maybe it sounds harsh, but at least 99% of guests are able to turn on a light switch (they seem less capable of turning them off though). It shouldn't be an issue unless they are in weird places or you have some sort of complicated system of switches. 

I would still certainly consider motion sensors, as long as they were at a level that is cat proof and the sensors/lights don't use too much energy. It's a better option that guest's suggestion of having lights that are on all night. I have a four storey house, so that would involve a lot of lights.

[Robin4]

@Huma0 

Yeah Huma I understand, the way we host is entirely different. 

I gather from your posts that you predominantly host single guests who are with you for an extended amount of time so, not only do they have their space to themselves, they become familiar with the property layout....it becomes their turf!

Although there are of course bedside lamps within easy reach, I predominantly host couples, young families, siblings or relatives in the same space for a night or two. Some of them don't wish to disturb the other or the kids in the night. They don't want to alter the status quo and for that reason they will attempt to negotiate the studio cottage without resorting to bright lighting. For a while I experimented with dim battery operated touch lamps they could access on the bedside tables and take with them to the toilet, but after I lost my 4th one I gave up on that idea!

I have made the whole thing as automated as possible.....even the bathroom strip wall heater is connected to a pneumatic push switch, each push of the button will give 5 minutes of heat. But I know that 5 minutes after the guest vacates the room, the heating will turn off, just the same as the lighting.......I take it out of the guests hands.

Sensor lighting does not use much energy because it is not operating for an extended amount of time Huma, it only works for a couple of minutes each time it is accessed and for that reason, even self contained battery units last for months between battery replacement or recharge. My bathroom unit recharges via USB. All I do is slide it out of its wall holder, plug it into the USB on my computer or a wall outlet and an hour later, it's good for another couple of months. The only thing it doesn't control is the exhaust fan.

It is worth considering Huma .

https://www.amazon.com/motion-sensor-lights-stairs/s?k=motion+sensor+lights+for+stairs

Cheers........Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Thanks for the tip. Yes, I'll definitely have a look into it. A rechargeable one sounds like a better option for me as the plug sockets are at cat level so plug in ones could be problematic. I can just imagine the lights going on constantly with my three critters running around. They would probably do it for fun. They already sometimes turn on the robot vacuum!