I recently had a guest who went out for the evening and did not return for the night or contact me. I happened to awaken at 3am and saw her car was not here, so I looked to see if she'd messaged me. Nothing. So I messaged her to say 'Are you okay?' Didn't get a response. Texted again at 6am. Got a response an hour later that she was fine.
I have no issue with an adult who chooses not to return at night. But, as a fellow human, I do become concerned for her/his safety. This situation kept me awake for several hours. I knew that, most likely, she was fine. But what if she had not been? At what point should I take action, thinking, "Something bad could have happened. I should contact the police."? I thought - well, I'll wait to see if she comes and picks up her stuff. But if something afoul had occurred, I feared waiting would make it harder to locate her. I was really torn.
For the future, I have thought of adding something to my House Rules, like: 'As a courtesy, please message me if you won't be coming back until very late or the next day.'
I did give the guest a lower rating in the Communication section because of this, but did not spell it out in the written review, as I felt this was too personal. In the private feedback, I did suggest to her that, in the future, she send a courtesy message to her host. I said I felt that the human connection we make as Airbnb-ers makes us less anonymous than in a hotel, and requires a little more communication.
What do others think about this? Have you had this situation? How have you handled it?