Hi everyone,
Would appreciate your advice re this.
Have only been hosting for about 5 months and not a huge number of guests so not that experienced but made superhost so must be doing things reasonably well.
this guest was not terrible, but not amazing either.
He IB'd and this was his message 'Just a weekend away with my partner to explore the area and markets. around mid morning we will arrive. We only need the one bedroom."
My check in time is 2 pm. I immediatley messagd him through airbnb and pointed this out. Said he was welcome to do a bag drop mid morning. Said I would be there and would do my best to have home ready by midmorning, but couldnt' guarantee. No reply
2 days before checkin I messaged again through airbnb stating again the same thing about early check in,stated I would be there and giving directions plus keypad code. No reply
I live about 2 hours drive from my listing and do my own cleanign and making beds etc. (My decision and so I realise not the guests problem). However, in this instance I got up at 4 am, drove up and worked like the absolute clappers trying to ensure house was fairly ready by 10.30 am.
At 10.35 am he rang and said he would be arriving at about 3 pm. I asked him to ring 15 mins before he arrived which he did.
When he did arrive the first thing he asked was "where can I hang this wet T shirt?"
I showed him and his partner how to use the keypad. He had no idea what the code was but insisted he had read the emails from me. He was not rude, seemed pleasant enough, but asked lots of questions, nearly all of which were covered in my listing.
I left and drove home.
He rang the next day to say he had found a corn cob in the microwave. ( absolutely totally my fault and a direct result of trying to get ready too quickly)
I apologised profusely. He asked me to come and remove it as he didn't "want to touch it. he was scared, as he was an asthmatic" At this point it became obvious that he had not read my listing or my messages. He had no idea I lived 2 hours away. etc etc. At this point I politely let him know how much he had inconvenienced me on the day of check in. I arranged for someone to come and remove the said offending corn, , scrupulously clean the microwave and leave a bottle of wine in the fridge as an apology. I messaged him through every stage of this but he had left his phone in the car and didn't reply until 3 hours later. The next day I offered him a late checkout ( which I would have done anyway - nothing to do with the corn cob)
he did message me to let me know he was leaving. Said he'd loved the stay and he hoped I'd let him stay again.
The house wasn't in an awful state - not TOO bad, but fridge full of food, - half a bunch of celery for example - bins not emptied, had used SIX beach towels and left them in 6 different places throughout the house, stovetop was pretty grubby, dishes washed ( not very well) and left in draining board.
My distinct impression is he thinks - I've paid a cleaning fee, you clean up after me.
I dont' explicitly talk about empyting bins or washing dishes in my rules (but then again he hadn't read anything anway, He ignored the rule about washing off sand with the outside shower for example and used the downstairs inside bath)
he has good reviews and has left good reviews previously.
he has already left me a review which my gut tells me will either be great or awful.
How do people think I should handle a review for him? 2 months ago I wouldn't have said anything, but i'm, beginning to think peopel like this should be gently pulled up. I don't want to say much. I dont' think he merits a thumb down. Should I make it basic and non commital comment and then in private message let him know his communication could be better?
shoud I say nothing because I made the cleaning oversight with the microwave? Would really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. Many thanks