Hello,
I just listed my newly-remodeled cottage May 1st, and I had guest experience last month that I truly regret accepting. I place part of the blame on myself for accepting a 0-review guest last minute because we had a cancellation (that was fully paid for due to the late cancellation, so we didn't need the money); but it has also caused me concern regarding the screening process for people. These guests deliberately dishonored my house rules, in which I have explicitly stated that there would be no smoking of any kind on the property anywhere, indoors or out. The guests used my coffee grinder to blend their marijuana (evidence was not vaccumed up well enough behind the coffee pot - they tried to hide all the evidence and even tried to wash the bedding which is not part of my check out instructions), smoked it in my house, and particularly in the bedroom, and have ruined the smell of the mattress and brand new carpet. I have taken steps to try to eliminate it, and the smell has taken a month to dissipate and but has still not gone away.
I would like to know if there has been any talk regarding Airbnb taking any steps to require on their side a security deposit for guests with not enough positive reviews. The cost of the smell to my brand new carpet and bed is over $1400! To add insult to injury, I saw that the guests that I did not recommend in my review seemed pretty easy to get further reservations without any sort of dings to their ratings...I gave them a very low grade and yet... well, I can imagine that they are only continuing to be a nuisance for the next hosts. Hosts have to go through great lengths to obtain and keep their status as super hosts, and I would like to argue that potential guests should be required to do the same...how about a program such as 'Superguest'??
The experience, quite frankly, has me very open to looking to place my listing elsewhere. While I understand that these things don't happen often, when they do happen it can be quite detrimental experiencially and financially.
