How to rate my first messy guests?

[Jamie69]

I'm pretty new to hosting. I have guests currently, who are something like my 10th booking.

Previously, every guest I've had has been immaculately clean.

My current guests are a group of four 20-something guys. It's their first Airbnb experience and they haven't been any problem at all, though each morning when I get up, after they've gotten up and left, I end up cleaning up after them in the kitchen. They leave the coffee maker with coffee grounds and half-full carafe, and a cupboard in dissarray. Took me about ten or fifteen minutes to clean up and put everything back. Not a big deal.

In my house rules, I say nothing about cleaning up after oneself. I do say that the kitchen is available for use and feel free to use the coffee maker. So far, I've never had to say anything to anyone. Everyone up to this point has simply cleaned up after themselves.

I may be being petty, but after having such a string of perfectly clean guests, I'm a little surprised these guys leave even a little mess. Unfortunately with my work schedule, I'm unlikely to see these guests before they leave. I get home late after they're in bed, and wake up after they've left for the day.

I should note that I have not seen the two rooms they are renting, so I don't know if the rooms will be a mess after they leave. That said, I expect to clean the bedrooms after a guest leaves. I don't expect to be a daily housekeeper while I have guests.

So my question to more experiences hosts... should I note the untidy kitchen use in my future review, or should I not worry about such minor things like this?

Jamie

[Candie-And-Dan0]

You have several choices, tell the truth without feelings!  Second, remember that Airbnb is a mutual admiration society, you get good marks and more guests, guests get good marks and move on, your ratings are far more important.  Third, you can choose to not provide one, after 14 days your guests' visit didn't happen and you can go from there.  Or basically give them good marks and provide a statement that says you were not happy but it all worked out.  We had a guest from another country with an unruly teenager.  We gave lots of latitude since it was their first trip out of their country.  The youngster got into everything, our desk, drawers, kitchen, tried to hurt our puppy, etc.  We gracefully provided a review that reflected our frustration without effecting the overall review.  If you complain about others you will be less likely to attract new guests.  Tell your guests when they arrive area's that are off limits, remind them over and over their comfort is important and to ask you for anything they need.  I have that on the wall in their room, I tell them coming into the house, I ask them every day.  Text it to them if you are absent.

You could say, "having guests in our home is a new experience and we are moving down the learning curve.  There was some communication gaps I'll be working on them and appreciate our guests for working things out with us.  That said, you both write reviews that cannot be seen until both are completed.  But you get to do a rebuttal and can tailer that depending on what they say.  It is frustating at times but you signed up for it, learn to deal with issues up front and you will be much happier.  

[Maggie74]

Rule of Thumb;

Never put things within a guests reach; like toothpaste, towels, mouthwash etc.

Most areas have what is know as THE DOLLAR STORE.

An initial purhase of those tiny samples of all the items that any guest MIGHT chance need.

Small is better than Large to be tossed after they leave; or they take those small treasures as souveniers 

of you Hosting.

Enjoy!  @:-)

[Maggie74]

Jaime;

What do you usually do with Family members?

Aren'e they usually included in keeping the house picked up and clean?

When u list your Home; be more specific about "Everyone picks up after themselves...." 

I did; and that issue never needs to be YOUR chore.....or you just let them know; any extra work for you,

is extra fees for them to pay.....

[Huma0]

@Jamie69, I don't think any of the things you mentioned are such a big deal. I have had guests do almost all of these things at some point. Your guests just sound particularly irksome because they've done several annoying things, but they've not behaved that badly in the scheme of things, so I wouldn't give them a negative review, but would maybe mention a few things in private feedback to them.

Re towels, toiletries etc. it is annoying to have to hide your stuff away, especially when you have provided them with this stuff already, but maybe that's what you have to do. I used to have a big basket of towels in the bathroom, but those have now been put away in a cupboard because it got annoying when guests just helped themselves every day and left them in a wet heap on the bathroom floor.

I do point out the free teas/coffee/sugar etc. when guests check in, but politely ask them not to help themselves to other people's food, toiletries or towels and that they should ask if there is anything else they need. So far, it has worked with the food and towels, but not toiletries. I have always provided travel sized toiletries for the guests, but many helped themselves to ours instead. Now, I also have full sized bottles labelled for guests in the showers if they want to use them. If I notice that they are using mine instead, mine get immediately put away. They should get the point at this stage!

[Ira4]

@Jamie69 I think the main idea of your words. This stay was not a disaster, but it was much less tidy and clean than what you have seen during your 10 trips.

Rating and reviews have been a problem for me too sometimes, especially in the beginning, when I faced for the first time something disappointing. 

I now think that reviews and ratings have to do with a comparison system that all hosts obtain but it is not the same to all of us. To me, when there are guests who come on time and keep me updated constantly if needed, who make me feel great with their positive energy, who take the trash out, wash all the dishes and respect everything, I would not feel well to give them exactly the same rates and reviews with the kind of guests you described. 

So, I think no review or rating can be totally objective, it always depends on some degree of comparison and personal criteria. Unless you copy-paste exactly the same review to anyone!

However, I try not to waste my very low ratings for light cases. I may rate with 4 or 3 stars but very rarely with 2 or 1.

Also, I make sure that my review will be written in a way that shows professionalism and politeness. I mean, I refer to certain actions and issues and not generally to the guests as persons.

I will give some examples of how I write a difficult review:

"Ann and her friends were polite guests and our communication was good before check-in. However, the kitchen was not left in the best possible condition. The dishes and the kitchen devices were not washed, despite our house rules."

This one is the review for my worst Airbnb experience so far:

"I would never recommend those guests! It was my worst experience until now. 1) The guests smoke inside the house, which means that they broke one of my House Rules! I needed one whole day to remove the smoke smell. It was the only time that a guest broke that rule after 116 hosted trips. 2) The place was left in an extremely bad condition. All the dishes and pots were used and left unwashed with parched fats and burned food on them. The surfaces of the kitchen and the kitchen devices were left very dirty. 3) They asked us to let them stay a little more (until 14:00 - 14:30) and we said that it was ok, but they finally left at 16:00."

But this last one was a REALLY bad experience for me. 

Anyway, I wish you to never have a worse experience than what you describe! And you already know, that the majority of the guests are great and make us feel wonderful with what we do. 

[Deborah1]

As a host, I would want to know  that they left late.

The rest I would probably put in the private part of the review.

[Lilian20]

@Jamie69 rate them bad to make sure they don't come back and to inform other hosts.

[Andrea9]

@Jamie69

You could always formulate your review in the general direction of saying that they were friendly guests and first-time Airbnbers, and with more experience of staying in a room in somebody's private home and adapting to that general situation, they are sure to be great guests.

If I really had to share spaces with my private cupboards with guests I'd make sure they couldn't access them. Either keep them locked or put child-proofing on them in a spot they can't see or wouldn't readily find. A sign also helps if locking is not an option plus putting things in a container. If I couldn't in any way secure a cupboard or didn't want to 'marr' it with a sign, I'd try to find a way to either lay some kind of fabric over the contents or have it velcroed in front of the shelving. That would offer one more boundary for a nosy guest to penetrate and would keep all but the ones on a mission out. 

Guests are people, and just like many have an ingrained feeling of your's is mine if I need to borrow it, so do guests if you're not clear on what you're sharing/offering or not. Students who are used to the shared environment of their parental home and the shared spaces of student housing are more prone to a  laxer view on this and don't feel it's wrong to take something they need out of a closet not shown them previously.  

A huge learning curve for me in the years I shared studio space with several other artists. Those were the days when I had to devise strategies of making sure my stuff didn't gradually and mysteriously spread into others' work spaces while I wasted precious time looking for stuff that had been there the day before!

That being said, not all are like that, but it takes one more oblivious or entitled-minded guest to realize it's better to tighten things a notch.

[Andrea9]

@Jamie69

The stars you give to guests aren't visible to anybody once they disappear in the bowels of the Airbnb software.

The newest I've heard though,  is that guest profiles now show the star-rating, but I haven't been able to see this myself anywhere.

Maybe a new roll out in some areas, maybe only with InstantBook, can't say.

Hopef it's finally a reaction to the long called for visible ratings on guest profiles for hosts to see.

You always have the option to state it in the review text:

XX was friendly and open, Cleanliness: 3 stars, Communication: 5 stars.... 

I think I'd use that if I got a guest that really didn't fit the mold of my usual guests.

[Clare4]

Hello, After 12 months at having a great variety of guests, I have decided that I do have to 'play Mum' sometimes and actually show people how I like things done! I say, sorry, I don't want to sound like your mother, but would you mind just doing this........... People seem to appreciate it. Thank you, Clare

[Helen56]

Hi Jamie,

It sounds like the worst they did was not clean up  the kitchen, and left the room untidy.

It was also their first Airbnb trip, and men are well known for not knowing how to clean a kitchen, especially young men.

So I suggest you just say:  'Nice guys, but they don't understand how to clean a kitchen.'

That would be enough to warn fastidious hosts who hate it when guests leave their kitchen untidy, but other hosts might not mind.  Sounds like they didn't actually damage anything, so there is no reason to leave a really terrible review.

Good luck with your hosting.

Helen.

[Jamie69]

The problem was not that they left the room untidy, and they may have damaged my comforter, as I mentioned earlier.

The problem was that during their stay, each morning I would get up after they left and the kitchen would need to be cleaned. It wasn't a total mess, but they made coffee and left everything out, and the coffee machine still on.

I like your phrasing, so I paraphrased it in the review I left. Since they're from Texas, I commented that they were all very polite, but their mama didn't teach them how to clean up after themselves in the kitchen.

I reiterated that there were no real issues during their stay, and added that when they left, they were 45 minutes after the checkout time.

Jamie

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

Well done and good luck with your future guests.

[Lilian20]

@Clare4  ...this happens to me regularly as well.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

Be honest when you will leave a review with any guests, if someone did not clean before he/she left your property do not hesitate to mention it. Most hosts tend to be kind with the guests and leave them nice reviews which does not always reflects the guests behaviour at all. Your house rules must be respected it is the only way to make the next guests respect you and your place.