Advice on guest review.

[Tracey---Bryan0]

I have a couple more days to leave a review for a guest...or not.

She was nice, had four positive reviews, and communicated great right up until the day of the reservation. She went dark on us after that and never responded to our message that we sent right after check in, or the one we sent the morning of check out. Never heard from her again. Technically, the messages we send don't require a response and are simply informational, but it's rare for someone to completely drop out.

It was a short two night stay. The place was left clean execpt for some odd things. A foot print high up on a glass countertop and a lot of subtle dirt on the ledge that encloses our loft. It's as if they were climbing all around the rafters and ledges of our open loft area. Nothing was broken, everything cleanable, just odd. Grateful we didn't have any injuries or damage to our place.

I'm tempted to just not review her at all. 

Any sage advice?

Please refrain from advising on our check-in/check-out procedures.

Thanks everyone!

[Tania-and-Andrew0]

Hello @Tracey---Bryan0 it is absolutely important that hosts ALWAYS leave a review, always, especially if there were some issues in the stay. Remember guests are reviewed on three aspects:

a) Communication

b) Cleanliness

c) Following the rules

You can mention exactly that, say something like: "GUEST was good, we didn't hear from her/him since check-in but communication previous to arrival was good. Left the place fairly clean. Would (or wouldn't) welcome her back and recommend to other hosts".

Please read a post I made about a year ago: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/A-plea-to-all-hosts/td-p/392657

As hosts reviews are not mandatory but if we're serious about hosting and would like to know more about who's coming to our home then we should leave 100% reviews.

[Tracey---Bryan0]

Thanks so much! I like how you worded that.

[Lisa723]

I don't understand hosts who are reluctant to review because they find guest's personal behavior unusual. Everybody is odd in some way. Replies to informational messages that don't request a response should not be expected. Your rating is about their impact on you and your space; nothing else is relevant.

[Tracey---Bryan0]

Thanks Lisa. There was an impact on my space. Please don't be so critical about how we do things. I was simply trying to provide back story so other hosts here got a sense of the situation. I'm reluctant to review because technically it was a fine stay, but having a guest climb out all over our rafters and places not meant (and not safe) for people is concerning. How would you rate such a guest?

[Tania-and-Andrew0]

The thing is, are you 100% sure it was the guest? Is there a possibility that you had a breaking? And if nothing was damaged and everything was cleanable it's okay. It's like leaving a bad review because a guest left a period stain on your bed linens, you can clean it, it's okay. Most guests (I've noticed) do not have the ABB app on their phone so they don't get any of your messages until they get back home.

As I suggested, just write a simple honest review based on the 3 points hosts review guests and end with whether or not you would recommend that guest.

[Lisa723]

Sorry, @Tracey---Bryan0, no criticism was intended. Hosts feeling reluctant to review because they don't understand something about a guest's behavior is a recurring theme on this forum, which I sincerely do not understand... I might be humanly curious about behavior I find surprising, but unless it directly impacts me I don't think it's relevant to the review; to me a review is almost a mathematical exercise. Did they clearly communicate their plans and needs? Did they obey the house rules? Did they leave the place reasonably clean? Re. cleanliness, regardless of speculation about how what needed to be cleaned got that way, was an unusual amount of time/effort required? To me it sounds like they would merit at least 4 stars on each, and as for recommend or not, that's your judgment... if they wanted to rebook, would you let them, yes or no? (It's possible to imagine explanations for a footprint and "subtle dirt" other than aerial acrobatics.)