What would you have done?

[Leah3]

I normally rent the suite in my house to long-term guests. In fact, my last guest was a colleague who stayed for most of the school year, during the week and went home on the weekends. After she left my daughter stayed in there for a few nights. Neither of them had any problems. A few days ago I got a booking request from a woman, verified, and a few reviews. It turned out it was for her parents who were visiting her but she would check in with them and be responsible so I said ok. They were going to arrive very late at night. I prepared the room, cleaned etc.  We do have an older home and the room is partly below ground but I aired it out and ran the air filter. It all seemed normal and fine. We do have cats but they don't go in the room and I mention it in my description. The daughter arrived to meet her parents here and I let her in. about half an hour later I heard the parents arrive and around midnight I got a text saying there was a bad smell in the room and her mother was having an allergic reaction and couldn't stay here. I went down to the room and couldn't smell anything but they all said it smelled bad and like an animal was in there. Her mother was coughing and they said she was getting hives. It was all very polite but odd. They acted like the place stunk to high heaven and I smelled nothing, as did my daughter. I was apologetic and they left in the middle of the night to get a hotel. I refunded them completely to avoid a bad review. I just went back into the room and again, it smells completely normal to me. Has anyone else had something like this happen? They seemed completely sincere and it was certainly an inconvenience for them as well as for me!!

[Jonathan6]

Bring in some fresh noses, you (and your daughter) may just be used to the smell.  Also, you say you have cats, just the dander in the air can create an alergic reaction. 

[Stephen-and-Adam0]

Hi @Leah3 

I would give the guest the benefit of the doubt here, you really cannot be too careful when it comes to allergies.  Just ensure you state clearly in your advert that there are cats at the home so that anyone with allergies is prewarned.  

For your room, give all of the fabrics (bed lined, cushiond and curtains) a thorough clean and add some room scents or flowers just to give you a bit of confidence. 

Hopefully that doesn't happen again for you! 

Adam

[Leah3]

Yes, I feel the same way. I do say clearly that I have cats in my listing but maybe she didn't read it carefully... Thanks!

[Beth80]

@Leah3 

My guess is that the parents didn't really want to stay in a home share so said what they thought were good reasons to leave and get a hotel.

At the same time it wouldn't hurt to bring in a new nose to give  the room a sniff. 😉

Sadly even being understanding and giving a full refund doesn't guarantee that the daughter won't say something negative in her review. Be very, very careful if you decide to respond if she does.  

[Leah3]

Yes, it occurred to me that the parents felt weird about it. It was hard to know because they were speaking in a language I don't understand. 

[Mark116]

@Leah3  It may be that the mother is allergic to cats...and they saw the cats and their imagination added a smell, or they don't like cats, or they used the 'smell' cats' as an excuse because they otherwise disliked the unit.  But, as others have said, it wouldn't hurt to have some friends come over and see if anyone else might smell something that you don't.

[Leah3]

Good points. Definitely going to bring in some smell detectives.

[Sarah977]

@Leah3  Any host who has pets should clearly state in their listing " ALLERGY ALERT: Dog and cat (or whatever) live on premises. Please do not book if you have allergies."

This can help a lot, and puts it back on the guest if they fail to take heed and book anyway.

[Leah3]

I do clearly state that there are cats on the premises, not allowed in the space but people who are highly allergic may react since the heating system is connected.  However, I will put it in caps as you suggest from now on. It was also odd because the daughter said the mom was highly allergic but not to cats, so I wasn't sure what she might have been reacting to.