One guest complaining about another. What would you do?

Ernie0
Level 10
San Francisco, CA

One guest complaining about another. What would you do?

For some background: We list three of the five bedrooms of our shared single family residence here in SF on Airbnb. Last night, two of the three rooms were booked, with one of the three remaining vacant.


This morning I received the following message from one of our guests:

"Good morning! There were a few issues last night with another guest that we felt the need to address. I am not one to complain, but after stepping in urine this morning next to the commode, I could not hold my tongue any longer. As I recall in the house rule section, quiet hours after 10pm were established, and it was a bit frustrating when the new guests did not follow these. After this time, the couple was arguing (yelling in their room) with each other, then one of them proceeded to sing in the shower, and do their laundry in the bathroom sink leaving the entire sink and floor soaking wet. Each time a door was closed, it was slammed shut with quite some noise. The first night here was absolutely lovely, calm, and private, and the other guests were very respectful and friendly. Last night was a bit frustrating with all the noise, and this morning, stepping in someone else's urine was quite distasteful. Rather than address the guests directly with any form of conflict, we felt it was better to share our concerns with you, to handle it in a more diplomatic way. Thank you for sharing your space with us, and have a great day."

What would you do if you received this message. FYI, I was in our kitchen last night around 9:30pm and the offending guests were in the dining room having a discussion that escalated into what I can only perceive as an argument. Because they were speaking in foreign language, I can only surmise that the conversation had turned argumentative by the pace and tone of the spoken language, I have no idea what was being said. I did find it peculiar that these guests would argue in front of me, but I figured that to argue in front of others may be a cultural norm for them, I've really no idea and thought little of it as I was not disturbed. It appears as though their argument continued and escalated to the point that it became a disturbance to the other guests.

Additionally, the offending guests have been storing food in their bedroom in direct violation of the rule that states: "Absolutely NO FOOD is permitted in the bedrooms as this encourages the local ant population to move in. Please use the dining room to consume your snacks/meals should you decide to bring them in. We have a designated food storage area in the dining room for your convenience. Guests do not have access to the kitchen. A refrigerator and microwave have been provided for your convenience in the dining room."  I have seen them carrying food from their room to the dining area, but until now have not said anything. I will leave this information in the review.

When we check-in a guest(s) we also emphasize that if they consume or store food on the property that we ask them to do so in the dining area and we show them to the refrigerator and microwave available for thier use and instruct them that they are free to use any glassware, dishware and silverware. 

How would you handle this uncomfortable situation? The two groups of guests are both booked through the week and both are set to check-out Friday morning.

1 Reply 1
Jessa0
Level 10
Ngorongoro, Tanzania

Aj... I list 2-4 bedrooms in my home and not all guests get along, but never had something like this. How long are these guests staying? Sounds like one party best be moved unless you want a headache and two bad reviews and for your peace of mind I suppose the quarreling one? Which culture are these guests from? As an anthropologist no people group come to my mind top-of-my-head were this would be considered social behavior, bad relationships are a bit of a universal thing. And those don't get solved over a host getting involved trying to calm people down. If this relationship/marriage is falling apart these guys won't care about not disturbing others. The couple that contacted you may be overplaying things but whatever the case I'd consider calling airbnb and speaking about a replacement of one party if I were in your shoes.