Guests leaving our house smelling of spicy food and requiring paintwork refresh

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Joey218
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

Guests leaving our house smelling of spicy food and requiring paintwork refresh

Hello

 

we recently had a lovely family of seven rent our house but although they spent most of the time out sightseeing when they left the house smelled really strongly of spicy cooking and the walls in the hallway were literally covered up to 3 ft high with fingerprints, greasy handprints and some pen or pencil marks.  Two of the guest bath sheets which match the room were also missing.

 

we know we have to expect some wear and tear on the house but even though we have had almost constant traffic through the house from contracting teams we have never been in a situation where we cannot rent the house immediately after a guests stay.  Are we naive in expecting consecutive rentals to be the norm? it is now day 5 and the smell is lessening but would still be something we would have to mention to the next guests.  

We were happy to overlook the taking away of toothpaste, shower gel and almost two thirds of a pack of dishwasher tablets but the missing towels we enquired about.  We also queried what had happened with the washing machine, as water leakage is noticeable on the kitchen ceiling meaning we had to check the lights.  Finally we informed the guests that the paintwork would require a freshen up an d that this was particularly galling as the whole house had been repainted only two weeks previously but would not be able to rent the house out until it was refreshed again to cover the children’s handprints etc

 

The guest who booked denied that any issues had happened with the washing machine, they had not removed any property and they did not agree that the house was requiring any extra cleaning.  So I  confirmed we would go through ABB resolution for a satisfactory outcome.  

so although we know they used half a bottle of concentrated detergent and probably had a suds overspill we cannot prove the washing machine leak it so we have left that.  We did not have any rule about spicy or strong smelling cooking (we do now) so although we would have expected guests to realise that we would need to rent out again as soon as they left and perhaps take this into account, especially as our kitchen has no door, they didn’t so we have to suck this up also.

 

I prepared a claim and asked for the £40 to cover the half day for our decorator yesterday to put the walls back to our usual standard and £35 for replacement towels - acknowledging that they could have been packed by accident or even left at the lakeside during one of their day trips.  I have had no response from the guest but have received £35 in spite of me sending 13 photographs of individual and groups of marks on the walls!  

it seems they have accepted responsibility for the towels.  What do I do about leaving a review?

 

Any other advice - this has really thrown us as the contractors have been so clean and so simple to work with!

1 Best Answer

@Joey218 Covid concerns notwithstanding, I think it's reasonable enough for in-home Private Room hosts to expect to be able to do same-day changeovers.  But if you're renting an Entire Home - especially to larger groups or families with kids - it's quite risky to not have a comfortable interval between guests to inspect for damage and do extra cleaning, odor removal, and/or maintenance.  5 days to remove food smells seems a little extreme - you can try changing the rules, but in the long term there's probably some improvement to be made in the overall ventilation.

 

As for the review, future hosts will be interested to know that more than the expected cleaning was required, but I wouldn't comment on how "spicy" their cooking was. Statements like that tend to come off like culturally biased dog-whistles, which can backfire.

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5 Replies 5

@Joey218 Covid concerns notwithstanding, I think it's reasonable enough for in-home Private Room hosts to expect to be able to do same-day changeovers.  But if you're renting an Entire Home - especially to larger groups or families with kids - it's quite risky to not have a comfortable interval between guests to inspect for damage and do extra cleaning, odor removal, and/or maintenance.  5 days to remove food smells seems a little extreme - you can try changing the rules, but in the long term there's probably some improvement to be made in the overall ventilation.

 

As for the review, future hosts will be interested to know that more than the expected cleaning was required, but I wouldn't comment on how "spicy" their cooking was. Statements like that tend to come off like culturally biased dog-whistles, which can backfire.

Lisa4918
Level 2
Santa Fe, NM

I have had this happen too many times with smells, whether its from cooking or body oils, lotions and perfumes. Sometimes these smells can linger for days. I have tried every cleaner and the only thing that works immediately is Febreze. It neutralizes my space within 10 min or so. 

 

Lorna170
Level 10
Swannanoa, NC

@Joey218   As long as you have time after cleaning and before the next guests are due to arrive, a commercial ozone machine will eradicate most persistent odors.  Here in the US the machine is available on Amazon for about $80 -- I do not know if you have the same purchase capability in the UK.  We use the machine between each guest, and it does a terrific job of freshening the property.  

 

Ozone Generator 6,000mg Industrial O3 Air Purifier Deodorizer Sterilizer

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Lorna170 @Lisa4918 

 

Excellent information, thank you both.

@Joey218 @Brian2036 

WARNING: All ozone generators are meant to be operated in unoccupied spaces only. Remove any people, pets, or plants. The space may be re-occupied after 30 minutes of "airing out".

The time needed ..3 hours + 30 min before entering the space