Would appreciate review help from non IB hosts...

[Jennifer1421]

Hi Everyone:

I'm having some trouble coming up with a review, and I'd like feedback from hosts who DON'T use IB, so wouldn't see star ratings.

Had a wonderful couple in who were lovely guests - respectful, appreciative, friendly, left the space beautifully tidy. All seemed great, ...BUT

I had to rewash EVERY SINGLE ITEM IN THE KITCHEN (along with every vertical and horizontal surface). This is not because they didn't wash their dishes, or wipe down surfaces, but because there were greasy finger prints on every.single.thing. These were older folks, and my partner thinks that the problem may be that they do their dishes old school - using a single sink-full of tepid and increasingly greasy water for every item. Possible, but speculative. I'm also wondering if eyesight may play a part. Again, speculative.

So, I'm struggling with how to word my review such that other hosts may be made aware of the need for extra cleaning time, without sort of "penalizing" or "shaming" these guests. Saying something like, "extra cleaning time was required in the kitchen" kind of makes it sound like the guests trashed the place, or didn't clean up after themselves, which is not accurate.

For IB hosts, their stars on cleanliness did tip me off that there was going to be a potential issue, but I'm more concerned for non-IB hosts. These guest's written reviews are all glowing, reflecting that in every other aspect, they're great guests. There really was a significant amount of time that needed to be spent, though, and I'm not exaggerating the need for rewashing everything.

What would you, as a non-IB host like to see as a review to tip you off, and how would you word it?

Thanks for your help and wisdom!

[Tommy150]

I personally don't expect my guests to wash dishes  - just load them into the dishwasher and I'll take care of it.  Obviously if they're staying longer, they may need to.  However, I have 12 place settings so they're pretty covered.  I honestly prefer when guests leave them as I specify in my welcome letter because then I know they're clean and it's one less thing for me to remember to check and see if stuff is clean.

I would write your standard glowing review and just say "they did unfortunately leave a bit more cleaning in the kitchen (dishes were not washed well and greasy fingerprints on cabinets,) but otherwise great guests.

I don't think you need to go into great detail, as you said, I don't think this was intentional or malicious.  People will see the pattern if they do their due diligence in reading reviews. Maybe dock a star or two for cleanliness. 

[Emilia42]

I remember @Sarah977 having a guest very similar to yours . . .

@Jennifer1421 Where did your listing go?! Do you have a dishwasher? I've had many guests like this and I really chalk it up to the fact that people truly don't know how to hand wash dishes anymore. I don't know why it is so difficult but I'm convinced it's a lost art. 🙂

I use instant book but I would probably give them praises and then write something along the lines of "I am glad to have checked the dishes and utensils as many needed a rewashing."

[Jennifer1421]

@Emilia42Our listing is snoozed, as we're off on a holiday shortly. No, we don't have a dishwasher, which is why guests are handwashing their dishes (and why I always check them).

I like your suggestion as it's not accusatory and quite mild. As I said, I don't want to shame these folks, but other hosts really do need to be aware that they're in for extra cleaning. I would host these folks again, for sure, but I'd definitely block an extra day off after their stay.

[Anonymous]

@Jennifer1421   I'm one of those non-IB-using hosts. I don't have Kitchen ticked on my amenities list, but instead make it available on a case-by-case basis when it doesn't interfere with other things. 

In order to price competitively in the low season, I don't offer amenities that add more to my workload than the usual. If I grant full, extensive use of the kitchen as a privilege, I already know I'm signing up for some re-washing and re-organization. So I wouldn't need to glean this from the review. It sounds like the guests made an honest effort to clean up after themselves, so I don't think it's necessary to be critical of their skill - especially if in all other areas they were recommendable as guests.

[Mark116]

@Jennifer1421  I honestly would not mention it.  Most places have a dishwasher, most guests do a bad job hand washing.  So, if everything else was great as you say, then just give them a good review.  In the grand scheme of airbnb guests, washing dishes as you were instructed to do, but doing a bad job of it is very low on the priority list of things other hosts would worry about.

[Anonymous]

@Mark116  Dishwashers are kind of default in the US, but in many major cities in Europe and Asia they're less common. (Same goes for clothes dryers). Our homes are more compact, and these big boxy appliances take up too much space for things that we can do without, so we're pretty used to handwashing dishes and hanging our laundry. 

We're also used to our North American visitors being terrible at handwashing since they're just not accustomed to it. (I'm American born myself, by the way, it was a learning curve for me too).

[Delwyn3]

I don't have a dishwasher in my house I rent and I have had this same issue.   The guy apologised for not having time to put the washed/stacked dishes away.   It was a blessing in disguise as it was evident that every dish was greasy.   If he had put them all away some poor guest would have come across the dirty dishes as they went to use each one.   My cleaner does not pull everything out of the kitchen cupboards and check each plate and each cup but fortunately I was up at the house and did some of the clean myself.   (I live over 3 hours away).

I did not raise it as an issue or mention it as I understand as others have said it is the norm these days to have a dishwasher and people really really don't know how to wash dishes properly.   

He was a good guest in every other way so I was happy.

[Sarah977]

@Jennifer1421  Non IB host here, and as @Emilia42  recalled (I'm quite impressed with your memory, Emilia) I did have a guest who left stuck on food and grease on almost all the dishes. However, I home-share, so we were sharing the kitchen, and I just noticed the poor dishwashing when I went to put the dishes away that were on the drying rack. She was such a wonderful guest in every other way, that I didn't even mention it, except in a private message to her after she had checked ut. I'm sure she'll pay more attention in the future, because she's just that kind of person.  

Jennifer, you say they were a older couple- I have a really good friend who insists on washing the dishes when he and his partner come to visit. His dishwashing is awful- he actually can't see well. But he's such a lovely guy that both me and his partner just rewash any dish he's washed before we use them 🙂 Every coffee cup in their cupboard has a coffee ring in it. I have another friend  who used to insist on washng the dishes when she came for dinner. Finally I had to tell her that she really shouldn't bother, because I end up rewashing everything she's washed. She needs glasses for close-up, but just doesn't wear them when doing dishes.

As a host, if I see that someone has made a effort, I try to cut them some slack. I wouldn't necessarily feel like I need to know that a guest is a poor dishwasher, as long as they were good guests in all other ways. I'd be much more upset with a guest wo left piles of dirty dishes and didn't even trouble themselves to wash them. But I do realize that it's a lot of extra work if your guests left dishes that all had to be rewashed.

[Jennifer1421]

It's great to get this feedback from all you non-IB hosts. I was worried that I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't mention it, but will forge ahead with my glowing review (sans kitchen woes).

Cheers all and thanks for your input!

...And now to pack for my upcoming trip 🙂