Hi Airbnb community!
As a new host I'm struggling to write a review for a guest who cancelled after their arrival only to find out that the apartment is not directly on the beach. In my title and description, I've made it very clear that it is a 2 block walk to the beach and made no reference that it is directly on the beach.
I communicated with him immediately after he booked, a week before he arrived with detailed directions/address, and 3 days prior with check-in instructions; however, he didn't respond to my messages until right after he arrived.
He called and said that the unit is not what he expected in terms of location and admitted that it 'might' have been his booking mistake. I told him that I had made no reference to the property being directly on the beach and in fact, places directly on the beach that have been fully renovated would most likely be much higher during this season.
He was a bit all over the place and called me several times saying he'll stay for 2 nights and then cancel the rest, then called again and said he'll stay one night since they have to pay for that night anyways.
I told him that I'm sorry that the location didn't meet his expecations but unfortunately, I think the booking error was on the part of his misunderstanding and although we welcome him/them to stay in our unit, I want his vacation to be what he expected (I said all this thinking that he would write a bad review if he stayed at my place).
Finally, he asked me to cancel and requested a refund for 7 nights out of his 8 night stay. I just pleaded that I'm a newby and said that the best way is to contact Airbnb as a guest to see what his options are. I immediately contacted Airbnb to let them know and to state my case and to lay out my options. The last contact from him was him offering cash for about 30% of the total booking as a partial refund to me and asking me to accept their cancellation. I told him I think Airbnb has pretty defined guidelines about cancellations. He said that he would be requesting that I refund the stay minus first night. I have not accepted their request for the refund since it has not been rebooked (I would've if someone else rebooks) but now fears that I'll get a bad review from him.
I ended up with half of the revenue that I would've made on the entire stay but lost the maximum opportunity as I it didn't book out last minute.
I'm struggling with how best to write a review for the guest. Also, will he be able to review my place? Any guidance and help would be appreciated!
