I just had a guest here for 2.5 weeks. She was a reasonably plesant person, but I had some concerns during her stay. I elected not to review her because I didn't want to review without mention of the problems, but I didn't really care to publicly air them. Basically, she brought 5 suitcases, including a MAMMOTH that took up the entire back seat of her car, into my small room for a 2.5 week stay. I found out afterward that most of this (consisting of clothing and FOOD) had been stored for *seven months* in her car & the car stored in an open lot. About a week and a half into her stay, a HUGE cockroach appeared in the bathroom she was using (and had her stuff in), and then a second and third appeared within 24 hours. I have lived in this home for 5 years and had family and guests in the room, we have never, ever, before or since, seen any sign of a cockroach (of any size) in this house. We rarely see anything other than an ocassional daddy long legs or silverfish. I panicked, wrote AirBnB, got a non-helpful response about what to do--if I should confront her to move items that had been stored in that manner out of our house. Instead, I just waited it out & then fumigated the room and bath. I took pictures to show how clean my house is and all the suitcases she shoved into the room as well as the incredible junk piled in the car that the suitcases came from. This was the worst--there were a number of other bothersome & concerning things, but this is the one that freaked me out and made me think I need to publicly make a house rule that you can't bring items from storage. It is why I elected not to review her at all.
Anyway, ultimately the guest left a review which contained a few negative statements: about me working from home "the roommate who never leaves." and about my cleaning during her stay -- which is greatly exagerated. I was in my own room, my son's room and the garage -- sorting clothing and such. The main house is clean, was not being torn up, I wasn't buliding furniture or even moving it around, just sitting in my son's room with door closed sorting clothing or out in the garage on a Saturday afternoon sorting through some boxes. She made it sound ridiculous. She meanwhile ignored many extras she was offered. Here is what I am considering responding:
"Thank you for the feedback, Julie. I have been looking into options for window coverings in the room. It is an odd sized window, which makes it a little tougher. I will be certain to note this in my listing until it is resolved, as well as to make it clear that I work from home much of the week, so people who intend to be around the house a lot themselves can fully consider if that works for them.
As your stay coincided with my son’s travel out of the country, I did take some time to do some sorting and organizing in the confines of his room, as well as my own room and the garage. As these are private areas, and I was sorting papers and clothing, not building furniture, I was unaware it would be quite so disturbing to you. Had a specific concern been brought to my attention, I would certainly have made adjustments to improve your comfort. I felt you communicated well and appreciate your comment about my responsiveness on other matters. As a trade off, my son’s absence also meant the 1800 sq ft home, though advertised as a family home, was shared with only 1 adult (me) and the bathroom, which was advertised as shared, was able to be provided for your exclusive use."
Thoughts about whether I should respond with this or just not respond at all?
