We have had, for the most part wonderful guests, in the first seven months of hosting. However, it was not as expected with our most recent guests. They came from Peru to meet their long time friends. They stayed for the weekend, bringing their young children for their first visit to Walt Disney World. In the beginning their communication through Airbnb was slow, but eventually we were able to learn more about them. We knew they were excited to travel to the United States and to visit their friends here. Though they arrived later than expected (12:30 a.m.) and had to call unable to locate the house (having driven past), they settled in.
However, as pleasant as they were, we cannot give them a positive review. Through our last email (via Airbnb) on the morning of departure, we thanked them for coming, and included a reminder reiterating some of the house rules 1) to please put wet towels in the hamper, 2) take out the trash to the cans. About 10 a.m. they called to ask if they could stay later. We explained we had other guests coming, and had arranged cleaning to take place (us, but didn't say so). We allowed them to stay 3 extra hours. We aren't certain, but they may have expected hotel cleaning services. While there was no physical damages, our Guest House was a cluttered mess. We fully understand having a 3 year old and a 5 year old on vacation can be chaotic, and little ones can leave clutter. However, with 3 hours extra it could have been tidied up. Toys were all over, game pieces out of the boxes, half finished juice boxes and water bottles left about, including bedrooms. Half eaten cookies were left on the coffee table, a dirty pan with cooked oatmeal was left on the stove top. Clean dishes weren't put away, and dirty dishes were in the sink and on the counter. Wet towels were left in the bathroom and on the beds, no trash baskets were emptied and taken to the cans. It took us considerable time putting things away before we could even begin the cleaning process.
They are planning to return in February, but haven't booked yet. What do we say that would be informative yet specific in our review. We can give them a 4 on communication, because they were slow to respond and didn't notify us of their late arrival. Cleanliness would be a 1. Following house rules a 3. Our house rules are very specific. If my telling them we had cleaning arranged, culturally would that indicate they could leave a mess? If we were paying a professional crew, we would have to pay 2 additional hours because just cleaning up the clutter, washing dirty dishes (I also had to rewash those in the dish drainer as they were not really clean, with food stuck on them).
What we need are suggestions how our review for them, though negative, can not leave a bitterness for their stay (in US).