Guest with great reviews trashed our apartment

[Zain46]

New Host here. 

I had a guest stay with us for three days, but unlike others with maybe no reviews, or maybe one negative review, this guy had above board amazing things said about him. And not just generic nice things that I (and am sure others) are guilty of putting into reviews: he seemed to have really engaged with the hosts and made a great impression on them. 

So he was definitely not a guest I was worried about. 

The communication was a little strained, curt replies, bordering on rude. But after his stay, the cleaners call me and let me know that he:

1. Left used condoms lying in the open 

2. Left a blood stained jeans near the trash can (but not in it for some bizarre reason). 

3. All the towels are damaged, thrown on the bathroom floor and will be need to be replaced (I have pictures of this). 

How do I review this person? Should I bring this up with them, even though it could lead to a revenge review by them? I honestly am a little stunned because just by going by the reviews (he has 10 positive reviews), he was an ideal guest for others. 

[Anonymous]

@Zain46   The points you describe do make this party of guests sound inconsiderate and disrespectful of your home, although it would be quite an exaggeration to say they "trashed" the apartment. A fair review would convey that they were less tidy than you expected, without mentioning the condoms or resorting  to hyperbole.

If you intend to seek compensation for the damaged towels, you'll have to initiate a claim in a timely fashion, and accept that a retaliatory review is a risk you take. Otherwise, I see no reason to bring these issues up aside from in the review process.

[Luana130]

@Zain46 @Not a tidy guest, but I wouldn't use the word trashed. Did he destroy anything? How were the towels ruined? Stains? Throwing them on the floor is not that strange

Here is what I would do, wait ultil the last day to post a  his review. Write something like..."Even though X seems like a good person, he was not very tidy, it took us longer than normal to clean the apartment."

Now, as soon as possible before your next guest arrives send him a private message saying something like "Hello X, the cleaners sent me some pictures of towels that will need some attention, we can usually solve this so don't worry. I just wanted to let you know."

Then send him the pictures of the towels.

After that send a money request for the price of the towels (make sure you put the same price as in the receipt). Don't send any thing else to the guest, don't say you are charging him, don't argue with him. If he questions you about the money request, say that it is just a airbnb procedure and that you are trying to get the towels cleaned. O  the last day send his review, and after the review period is over escalate the money request to airbnb.

[Mark116]

@Zain46  To be honest, I don't really trust reviews anymore, I don't know if its the professional managers who always give a great review, or host's tendency to put a good spin on things, but I have had several guests with 6-12ish glowing reviews who I would not host again.  I have actually started dreading people who are heavy users of airbnb because there seems a tendency to be a harsh reviewer and a messy guest.  I prefer new users.  They don't know exactly what to expect so you can guide them to be good guests., they are usually also more respectful.  Of course there are always exceptions either way.

[Matt-and-Kim1]

I had a similar experience a few months ago. Guest had great reviews, and seemed lovely. While guest did not damage/break anything, guest broke two House Rules (including smoking in our home) and left a huge mess for our cleaning crew. In the end, because we are a new listing, I chose not to write any review for them at all. One strategy mentioned on here is to wait until just before the review period expires, then leave your honest review - the idea is that the period will expire quickly and no chance for them to retaliate. I would probably elect to go that route in the future once my listing is more established - fortunately 99% of my guests have been great and I chalk up a bad egg here and there to just part of the territory, unfortunate as it is. Good luck with your listing!