I've searched high and low but can't seem to find an answer to the question -- must I leave a review for a guest?
We have a holiday let and guests check in themselves. I recently had a guest and her group who were not very communicative (which I appreciate as some people would like to keep to themselves).
They checked in on Friday and I did not hear back from them to my message asking if everything was okay and to their liking. On Sunday (day of check out) I got a phone call that they wanted to check out late as one of the guests was ill and had to go see a doctor. I said 'no problem' as there was no check in or cleaning scheduled. On Sunday evening, she texted to say her group had enjoyed their stay. I wrote back to thank her and to ask if the guest who was ill was feeling better but she did not reply.
On Tuesday, I went to clean and do changeover and the place was a bit of a mess -- chocolate cake left out on counter, choc cake crumbs on floor, board games stacked willy nilly and not put back in their boxes, conservatory blinds down or half way down or pulled back up any which way and so on. The 5-bar gate to the garden was left open.
Our house rules ask that guests take the trash out to the main council bins located on the driveway. (There's also a sign over the bins in the house.) I could see that someone had dragged one of the bins from the driveway to outside the main front door and filled it. Inside the house, it looked like someone was going to clean up but had changed their mind -- half full trash bag left in the kitchen, and as I mentioned, choc cake on counter, that sort of thing.
Also, a spare front door key was missing. I texted to ask if the guest or one of her group had forgotten to leave it back. She wrote back and said, I was just about to let you know that my friend accidently took the key and a towel home with her, and asked if she could send it back. I told her to just send the key (I figured it's easy/more convenient and higher chance I'll get it back, than for her to have to deal with posting a package.) She didn't reply.
To be honest, this group isn't the worse -- I've experienced worse with puke left on bed linen, beer cans and whisky bottles strewn about the house etc -- but I'm not really comfortable leaving a review. If it's not a sterling review, I always feel bad leaving a bad one. Who knows? Benefit of the doubt -- maybe things got panicky after the friend got ill, maybe she's just not great at replies...?
Is it possible to avoid reviewing a guest all together?
