Hi all,
Apologies in advance that this is more a vent than a request for advice, but I'm upset and I know only other hosts will understand.
A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a woman, her sister, and her niece. The guest had originally booked for her two sisters, but the older one fell and broke her pelvis. The guest contacted me to say she'd be cancelling, but then decided at the last minute to follow through on the reservation. I wish now she HAD cancelled.
Upon arrival, the guest informed me that the apartment was "dirty." I asked her to show me, and she pointed out that the track for the shower door wasn't clean enough. She also said the outside of the shower door felt "weird" and that the floor of the shower wasn't clean. This was news to me, and the first time I'd ever had complaints about the bathrooom, which, of course, I clean thoroughly before each and every guest. Unfortunately, the fixtures are old and the shower is a fiberglass one I inherited, which, on its best day, never looks as sparkly it would if it were porcelain tiled and glazed. The guest made a point to tell me, after complaining about the bathroom, that her niece/fellow guest ". . . was the main housekeeper for the president of (some college I'd never heard of), so SHE knows what 'clean' is." I apologized and promised to re-clean the bathroom while they went out to dinner, which I did, while my children waited for me to make their dinner. Needless to say, I was totally freaked out and stressed for the rest of their stay, worrying about how this would affect her review. Midway through the reservation, I left some local freshwater taffy, a mason jar with flowers from my property, and a note to say I hoped they were enjoying their stay in a little card hand-drawn by my older son. I do leave little treats now and again for guests, "just because," but this time, I felt desperate when doing it. Not a great feeling. Needless to say, I was relieved when they finally left.
She texted to say thanks for the taffy and wrote a fairly nice comment in the guestbook. They certainly left the apartment ship shape (yay?). And she left a review right away, but I waited until tonight (one day before the review window closed) to leave mine. I couldn't leave a negative review because they really hadn't done anything bad. They more or less observed my house rules, didn't leave a mess, and were good communicators, so I gave them a good review, although I didn't rave about them in the comments--just said they were nice guests who left the place tidy. And then it was time to read her review. The public comments were fine, but the star rating was 4-star. This didn't suprise me, and I figured it could have been worse. It was her private feedback that really bummed me out. She said she appreciated the "little touches" I provided, but then:
"However, I feel I needed to be completely honest and report on our feelings about the other things. On the previous screens. The outside of a property is the first thing one sees and with me and my family it did not make a good impression. Every time we returned to the place and I saw the outside, I felt so bad that I chose it, especially since the whole choice was mine and not the quests with me. They were not at all impressed as I wanted them to be.”
I know I shouldn't take this personally, but it's hard not to. It's true my house doesn't have the greatest curb appeal. It has old, faded vinyl siding I can't afford to replace, though I'd dearly love to rip it all off and rehab the mid-century shingling underneath. I'm a single parent and my income comes from hosting, freelance copywriting, and transcription work. My ex owes over $7k in support payments. I clean the Airbnb myself and mow and landscape the property myself because I can't afford to hire people to do these things. And the property, while it can get a little weedy now and again, has lovely perennial shrubs and flowers and mature trees everywhere. I always hope that helps make up for the house and attached apartment's somewhat careworn exterior--and that the care I take INSIDE is what counts most. My reviews seem to prove this out, but it still hurts to get this kind of "feedback" about something I truly can't afford to improve. I guess I should be more thankful she didn't put that in her public review. 😞
