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
