Guest checked out very early without goodbye; didn't lock door etc. Mention in review?

[Paulette23]

Hello fellow hosts,

I  just recently started renting a private room and bathroom in my home and my second guest left yesterday. Her communication before arrival was good, which I appreciated as I have IB and she had never used ABB before so no host reviews. She and her 14-year-old daugher were good guests, mostly keeping to themselves and out virtually all the time. They left the room in great shape. However, during their stay, they did a couple of minor things which sort of irritated me and I'm wondering if it's poor communication on my part or unrealistic expectations.

She has just submitted a review and I wanted to solicit input from this community before writing mine. I must say, reading all the posts here about reviews makes the whole process quite unnerving. 

So -- a few things:

1) before her arrival, the mother asked if they could extend their stay by a night if necessary. She didn't mention anything while here, so the night before they were scheduled to leave, I asked if they'd solidified their plans and she asked if she could let me know the following morning. She did notify me, around 9:30 a.m., that they were staying. I thought the onus should be on her to notify me, not on me to chase her up.

2) one night they returned after my daughter and I were in bed and didn't lock the front door or turn out any lights we'd left on for them.

3) one afternoon, they left the house unlocked, knowing my daugher and I were out.

4) they left incredibly early their final morning (before 7:30 am when I got up), without any advance notification or leaving a note. I appreciate they might have wanted to get on the road for a long drive home but it would have been nice to know what time they planned to exit. I was also hoping to see them off, and get any feedback/criticism verbally, tell them they were great guests and subtly encourage them to give me a good review (based on advice/suggestions I've read on this forum). Because I wanted to be here when they left, my daughter waited until the last minute to book her return train to the city where she attends university (she needed a lift from me).

5) I wonder if the quick exit isn't due to guests in a shared space wanting minimal contact with the host. Both she and my previous (first) guest seemed uncomfortable and didn't use any of the shared space, even though I give them a tour, stress they can use all the rooms I show, offer wine, coffee and am generally pretty friendly and outgoing. My daughter even offered to give this lady's daughter some books she was purging. Maybe I'm trying too hard, being too earnest and accommodating but I want guests to feel relaxed. 

Apologies for the long post but I wanted to provide context. Should I just give this otherwise good guest a great review and just mention the above in private feedback? Or not at all? Am I being too sensitive? Not businesslike enough?

Thoughts appreciated!

Paulette

[Fred13]

It is most important at first to observe and learn, and most advantageous to be exceptionally tolerant, since getting good reviews is your main objective, for now. The 'imperfections' of your first guests, if small, should be overlooked and can be addressed at a 'later date', when you are more sure of yourself as a host and certain of your offering.

[Sarah977]

Personally, I would give them a good review, but send a personal message stating your concerns.  Leaving the door unlocked after entering or exiting are important safety issues for you as well as the guests. Don't just mention the negatives in the personal message- make sure to thank them for leaving the space so clean and tidy, for instance.

Don't worry about the lack of interaction with your first 2 guests- some people are outgoing and at ease with strangers, and some aren't. It sounds like you did a fine job of trying to make them feel welcome in your home and the shared spaces.

[Mark26]

Learn to let it go.  

[Tom-and-Carina0]

I would make sure you communicate  in writing all rules before bringing it up in a review. Signs, instruction and clear expections or rules being ignored or very rude behavior would be the only reason I would review  poorly  so soon.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Paulette23

Did you make it very clear to the guest that they absolutely have to lock the door at all times as they come and go??? They may have assumed that the host would be responsible for locking up at all times - which is why I have an automatic door lock. About extending the stay, I agree the guest should have been more pro-active about letting you know but not everyone is good at planning ahead and if it were me, I would have probably given them a deadline for an extention (like before check in) and that they need to make submit a reservation change request and pay accordingly. Also, I always tell my guests that I make it a rule to see my guests for check out to do a quick walk-thru of the guest room to make sure they aren't leaving anything behind and ask for a specific time of departure. 

When it comes to hosting, don't assume anything and make sure you specify EVERYTHING - even things like, please turn lights/water off when not in use; clean up crumbs and spills; close the window when it's raining; don't do tiny loads of laundry with less than 8 items in our 16kg top load washer at a full load setting; don't use up half a roll of kitchen towels to wash and dry one apple; don't place wet, dripping mugs that still have coffee stains and soap suds in our cabinet next to our clean dishes and mugs. The more you host, the more you will find that everyone's definition of "normal" and "common sense" are vastly different. 

Regarding how to review them, I think it's best to be factual. Something along the lines of  "Guest and daugher kept to themselves and left the room in good condition after their X night stay. Other than forgetting to lock the front door several times, most of our house rules were respected. As there was minimal direct contact with the guests during their stay, I would have liked to see them off personally on the day of check-out but unfortunately was not informed of their plans for an early morning departure." 

[Marzena4]

Hello @Paulette23. I will take your side a little bit because I still remember when I was new on Airbnb two years ago, not new in hosting, though. Some 'experienced' guests try to take advantage of 'inexperienced' hosts, for example by asking for too much, or generally by additional requests, even if a certain amenityamenity is not listed. 

Assessing that guest you mentioned, I would lower my score for communication - it's not about keeping to themselves, it's about not providing essential info about their checkout.

Locking the door is not a sign of common sense and a certain respect to the host's place. If a guest expects a doorman... You know where they should go. So again I would lower the rating for observing house rules.

In the review you might simply write "I wish XXX had been more careful locking the door and had informed me about their departure." 

Don't let your guests rule over you while struggling for good reviews, @Paulette23. Their already written... Do come back here when you post yours. I'm curious what they wrote.

[Michael956]

Earlier this week I had  guests check out in the middle of the night.  An earthquake woke everyone up in the house around 2:40 a.m., and I and the guests in bedroom #1  all jumped out of bed and met in the hallway with wide eyes.  I noticed there was no reaction from the guests in room #2, and that's when I realized that the noises I'd heard a bit earlier were them checking out.  They later sent me a message saying they'd check out very early for "unexected reasons".  Guests do all sorts of strange things, and with time I'm learning to not be surprised by anything and not to take things too personally.  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Paulette23

as I said so many times before :  I feel like a big mamma taking care of the bunch of kids 🙂  Do not assume all your guests have common sense ... well maybee they do have it.... but they are now on hollidays, traveling arround and their heads are overloaded with all kind of informations and impressions. To lock your door is not their priority, to catch their flight on time is. You got the picture 🙂

So, remember ...kids...

1) yes, you will have to ask them what kind of bed arrangement they would like, if they need a parking space, what is the exact time of their arrival etc.... more than half of them will not tell you if you don't ask but will expect you to know it.

2) yes, you will have to tell all of your guests to allways lock the entrance door when they come home or go away. Put the sticker note on the door too. And still you will find it unlocked sometimes...

3) yes, many of them will keep to themselves, trying not to disturb you and will leave quitly without waking you up ... or notifiying you. They are your guests, not your friends, rememeber.

Conclusion : they were nice, quiet and polite, left everything clean, communicated well before arrival... I would give them nice review and  just mention in a private note about unlocked doors. 

ps

after reading posts about bad guests here on CC you will realize that all of that is nothing compared with really bad guests (broken things, mess, smoking, trash parties, drugs, alcohol, vomiting, domestic fights.... ) save your bad reviews for them 😉

[Tylor2]

Where I stand as a host is a bit different since all the listings I manage are private homes and no shared space but I think it is important to note all these things as you move forward. Things like leaving the lights on I can see because they are not in your home every day so they do not know what gets left on all the time or what was so they could see. With that being said I feel like the not updating you in a timely manner for the extension is worth noting in your review. Something like this falls to your bottom line and didn’t allow for you to have the space rented the next day because you were unsure of their plans. I also think it’s worth noting that they left the house unlocked, make sure to point it out to your next guest but I think it’s common sense that if they are given a code or key that the home is to be locked when you leave.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Paulette23

These are all minor and in fact sound like nice, hassle free guests.

Leaving door unlocked: people do this because they are simply used to their own home and the door shutting behind them etc...

We had a similar problem early on (with a few wonderful guests) and what we now do is on arrival, after showing them around, say there is one very important point we need to stress, and it's about keeping the door locked at all times. We when give them the key, and actually show them how to lock the door - our door is a bit of strange mechanism however. Since then - zero problems....so if you single it out as important then they are likely to remember

Keep in mind they are in a private home, they may feel like they are invading your space, and so keep to themselves, feel a bit on edge  etc.... Good hosting is about making them feel relaxed and highlighting what's important to you about your rules or your home

Good luck - I am sure you will love the experience

[Paulette23]

Thank you to everyone for your feedback. I opted to give a glowing public review and mention privately about the unlocked door and not knowing when they were leaving -- but I couched that as likely my fault at not better communicating and I jokingly said I was still learning as a host. The rest of my private feedback was friendly and positive.

She gave me a good public review and privately messaged me thanking me for being such a warm, hospitable host. 

She gave me five stars on all criteria but only a 4 star rating overall. So I have no idea how I came up short. Should I respond to her public comment or send her a text? Or just leave it? I am irritated as now my ranking has dropped to 4.5. 

[Matthew285]

@Paulette23, it sounds like you listened carefully to the people in this discussion and handled the guest in the right way.

As to the 4-star overall, it sounds like the guest really did not understand how the star ratings work. I personally would not add a public comment, because in my view public comments on a guest review just puts a highlight on that review. Plus, I don't think other guests get to see the star rating attached to a specific review; they just see the words.

It sounds like you did everything right, and there is nothing the guest can do to correct their error.

Keep being a terrific host and this one 4-star should get swamped by all the 5-star reviews you are sure to get.

[Paulette23]

@Matthew285, thank you for the feedback and encouragement.

If, as you say, the guest can't correct her star rating, I think there might still be value in reaching out privately (on the AirBnB platform) to explain that 4 stars constitutes a negative rating and ask if it's representative of how she feels. If so, ask her to please tell me where I fell short, that I welcome feedback to improve. 

This aside, I do plan to keep working at this!

Thanks again; I appreciate the perspectives and support of experienced hosts.

[Don-and-Sandy0]

After a summer of 5 star reviews, I have noticed that guests who tell us they absolutely  love the cottage, will sometimes put a 4 star overall rating, which puzzled me.   But I am convinced this has more to do with their vacation plans and whether it rained, or if the beaches were crowded, etc, and has nothing to do with the place they are renting.  One thing I do is text guests the night before they leave to thank them for choosing our place and to remind them to leave the beach pass and to text me when they are out.  That has worked every time!  We have had a tremendous first summer and the best part is hearing how much fun families are having at our cottage!