How to review demanding messy guest?

[Josefine-And-Mattias0]

Hi Airbnb hosts, I have never written a question in here before but now I need som guidance. I have been a Super host for many years and I have two listing.

As you all know guest are different most my guest are great and some are superb. The guest that are terrible and trashing a place are also easy to review in my opinion. But then we have guest that are friendly but high maintenance and not so clean. I think it is so hard to give them a honest review.

I just had a group of 5 renting my villa for 4 nights they all wanted separate bedrooms my property has 4 bedrooms but I have an additional apartment on the property so agreed to let them stay in there no extra charge. They did arrive 1 hour prior to the time we agreed to meet. I rushed to the property to let them in. They where very friendly when I arrived. I usually go to the property 30 minutes before time to turn some lights on and to put out some fruit and drinks, so not ideal for me.

30 minutes after checkin I got contacted by the guests a group of ants where in the apartment. It happens all the time in all homes in winter Cape Town, specially after rain. They did “freak out”  (lack for a better word) they wanted me to drive back and sort it out. Eventually they agreed to spray safe indoor ant spray on the 8-12 ants, but then told me they didn’t want to sleep in the room after spraying also Incase the ants came back. This was at 5 o’clock and they where going out for dinner that night at 8 o’clock. I know as I sent them instructions on how to get there. They also asked me for a very late Checkout. Told me they had a  midnight flight and I felt “pressured”  into agreeing to this after the ant incident.

Ants did not come back I came to the house again the very next morning with ant-traps, that they didn’t use.

When they left my property I arrived that night after they left and the apartment door was unlocked all lights left on. One sliding door at the front of the main property was also unlocked. I instruct my guest to lock doors specially after leaving the house and remind them the day before checkout when I send instruction on how to check out.

Cushions on the sun-beds left outside in the pouring rain ( did rain all day so not like the rain started after they left )

I found one of the white fluffy bedrooms rugs in a pile outside in the rain. Not sure way. 

My white sofa cover had some yellow food stains not large but clearly visible (did not go away after normal washing )

One decoration tassel was broken stuck together with old suitcase tags and left on the floor.

Plus a few other extra things for me to clean over the “normal” like very dirty toilets, trash left on the floor and piles of wet towels, I  believe the towels were in the room the 17year old boy slept in but that’s nothing that I would usually mention in my reviews. Still not cool in my opinion specially when you allow your guest a 10 hours late checkout. I might me naive.. 

I did help them to buy groceries even tough they only contacted me the night before checkin with a list of groceries and they had lots of questions before and during the stay. I’m always glad to help I don’t mind if I have time. They were always friendly so not important to mention in a review but just like to describe to give you a better understanding.

Do I mention some of this in my review. Maybe not all? What would you write?

Apologies for the long text. Thankful for advise.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Josefine-And-Mattias0 

uh... how about old and universal formula : Friendly and polite guests but better suited in a hotel than in a private home.

[Brittani7]

I would be upfront that you were not happy with the way the house was left.  You don't have to be brutal but I would touch on some of the major problems you had.  Don't get super personal but I feel it is important to leave a review letting other hosts know why you left them the star rating you did.

[Rowena29]

Hi @Josefine-And-Mattias0 ,

I do feel your pain - I really struggle to write reivews like this as well.

I do really think you need to be honest and give a heads up to other hosts. I definitely would be marking them down on observance of house rules.  Would you want these guests to stay again with you? If  no, then do give them a thumbs down.

Maybe they are just naive and clueless and don't really understand aribnb or maybe they are a bit arrogant. I agree with @Branka-and-Silvia0   - they don't really sound suitable for airbnb - they want a conceirge and maid service. But sometimes it's not always the guests fault as airbnb don't really educate guests very well - were they new to airbnb? I think all these factors should influence you to some degree. 

 If I were you I would leave reviewing until the 14 days were nearly up.

You might also want to utilise the  private message on the reivew  pointing out that you went over and above with check in and check out and while you were happy to do so personally, this is not standard practise and often incurs extra fees. Also mention the cushions lights on, doors unlocked and let them know this was against your house rules and checkout proceddure and that while you  persoanlly aren't considering extra cleaning charges, that's the sort of thing  other hosts WILL charge for so they need to be mindful.  Also mention that if anything had been stolen due to them not locking up, they would have been liable. (whether you bother to do any of this depends on whether you think they're worth educating,)

Most importantly I would suggest posting what you plan to say here first so that other hosts can help you tweak and ensure your comment is warm, professional, succinct to present you in the best possible light. 

Good luck!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Josefine-And-Mattias0 

I am rereading your post and thinking what host could / should do when dealing with such guests because bending over backward is not doing a favor to anyone. They will continue to ask more and more, behave badly and leave bad reviews to anyone who will not be their slave in the future.

...they all wanted separate bedrooms .... so I agreed to let them stay in there no extra charge.

Wrong, you should have charged them for the additional apartment. They paid for 4 bedrooms, not 5.

...They did arrive 1 hour prior to the time we agreed to meet.

In such cases, I point them to the cafe in the neighboring building and tell them to wait

...contacted me the night before check-in with a list of groceries...

No, sorry, this is not included in a nightly price!  Here is the google maps link to the nearest grocery store.

....When they left my property ... the apartment door was unlocked

This is HUGE. You have to include this info in your review!

In fact, I think I would write :

XX and her group were friendly and polite guests, however, they didn't respect my time and my property - entrance doors were left unlocked,  lights on,  cushions and a rug left outside on the rain and more than usual cleaning time was needed after they left.  They also requested more rooms then they've booked and a service I usually don't provide. I am sorry to say but they are better suited in a hotel environment with full-time staff at their disposal.