Which comments most surprised you in guests' reviews?

[Huma0]

The good, the bad, the ugly... What took you by surprise and why?

[Huma0]

I start this off with 'cute seals', which was part of a generally odd, but very positive review. I suspect it was not the guest's fault, but Google Translate's...

[Georgiann1]

Is this still a viable thread?

[Huma0]

@Georgiann1 

Sorry, what do you mean?

I only created it a couple of hours ago...

[Kelly149]

@Huma0 

Here’s one I think many of us have had that falls in the annoying and/or who raised you category:

this thing (that is clearly, obviously and repeatedly showcased in the listing) I don’t like it. It’s better to be some other thing. But other than that, this place is great. 

and this review seems great, but is really bad:

host went out of their way to…. (Let us arrive early, picked us up from airport, brought over supplies, whatever) so they’re super & you’ll love whatever they do for you. 

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

I state:

"It is a big, old house, so please bear in mind when booking that, to stay in a place with lots of character and period details, there are also often small repairs to be done and it gets a bit chilly in winter."

Guest review:

"It was a lovely stay. Everything was clean and I truly enjoyed talking to Huma in the evening. My stay was on February so don’t forget your warm pajamas cuz it’s a bit cold in the house in winter time."

Not bad, right? But that = 4 stars because it was a bit chilly. Doh.

The last 4* review I got before that (a year earlier) stated:

"A very nice home and Huma is a great host! Being a visitor during the winter, the home was very cold. But overall a good stay."

I guess some could say, do better. BUT, my house has central heating throughout and it's all been updated (new boiler, new radiators in every room, yearly services by the heating engineers etc. etc.) and guests are given plenty of extra bedding. It's still going to be a bit chilly in the middle of winter as the house is large and nearly 200 years old. Which is why I mention that beforehand...

[Kelly149]

@Huma0 People 🤦‍

our place has concrete floors & lots of glass. When winter people ask if it will be warm enough I just decline. Like wear socks. Bring a sweater. It’s winter. If you want to be extra warm just come May-September. That will be plenty. 

early on I got a 4* bc the bed should have been larger. Umm ok. You saw the photos. It is what it is. 

and recently I got a 2* bc guest didn’t read, asked really really basic questions and was offended at my attempts to confirm he knew what was going on. Me: Are you sure this works for you?

Him: “this host asks a lot of questions”

my decline rate went up after that guy. 

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

Problem is that most of them (actually none of them) ask if it will be warm enough. They just expect my large 200-year-old house to be as warm as new build one bedroom apartment and can't understand why it's not because... well, they are clueless. 

Sadly there is no official category to rate guests on levels of cluelessness.

Then again, maybe they are the 'normal' ones, not us. A recent guest who was training as a chef told me that it's so common for customers to request stuff that is not on the menu at all. Seeing as the customer is always right, that often means one of the kitchen staff having to run off to the nearest supermarket (not the high end suppliers they normally use for their ingredients) to buy something to cate to their needs. This guy was working in a restaurant with two Michelin stars. Why on earth people go into a place like that and start demanding something random, I don't know...

[Kelly149]

@Huma0   Some folks are meant to stay home

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

Yes, and I have sometimes been tempted to tell them that.

My least favourite guests of all time kept repeating things like, "In our house, we have X, Y, Z..." or "At home, we do things this way..."

It was apparently 'ridiculous' that I didn't have a waste disposal in the sink (literally no one in the UK has those) and the French press was 'dangerous' and the two other coffee makers on offer not suitable because they had a stove stop espresso maker at home and THAT is what they wanted. After using a whole bag of sugar for their coffee after only three days (maybe they would have been less highly strung if they didn't consume quite so much caffeine and sugar), they informed me that the other full bag of sugar would not do, because sugar "should be white, not brown."

SMH. It's all I could do to bite my tongue and not respond, "Well, if you want everything to be the same as it is at home, why not stay there?"

[Melissa1910]

The problem is people from outside Europe or the UK don’t understand the issues living in an old house and thing everything is perfect in a new build. I had this problem many times.

Hosting in London is extremely difficult as the guests compalint and expect royal treatment but they aren’t paying the prices for that. I also host in London..

[Huma0]

@Melissa1910 

For sure, it's difficult when you host in an old house, especially with guests who aren't used to that. I find it's more problematic in winter when guests complain that it's not warm enough, but a large, old property with high ceilings is never going to be as warm as a new build. Then again, I don't have to deal with some of the condensation and mould issues you find in over heated, under ventilated homes with double glazing.

Luckily, most of my guests are not complainers and the ones I mentioned directly above were the worst example. If even 10% of my guests had been like that, I would not still be hosting!

The only thing you can do is try to be as clear as possible about these things on your listing and try to get guests to read it. You are still going to get the odd few that still expect something different to what you described though or who just seem to enjoy complaining. 

[Melissa1910]

I recently had a horrible guest came three hours unannounced from China. I wasn’t done cleaning and I kindly allowed them to check in and they complained about everything.

some of the guests have been very rude and awful and it’s making me miserable to be honest. A few guests were polite but some were terrible.

[Robin4 · Accepted solution]

@Huma0  @Kelly149 

The beauty  of hosting over a long period of time, it doesn't matter what the scenario, you will come across it sooner or later.

Huma, Google translate has a lot to answer for.

I got this review back in 2018 and, not having any sort of grasp of simplified Chinese text, on reading it, it didn't mean anything to me.........

So, I put it through Google Translate and that seemed to make some sense of it......or did it!!!

What th'.....suddenly Ade and I are 'two old ladies and a puppy'! And in the next sentence Ade becomes my mother!

I just hope my effort at a review response using that same Google Translate made a bit more sense to them!

Cheers........Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Lol, two old ladies and a puppy.

As for your beautiful mother, I think you misunderstood. They weren't referring to Ade (she was one of the old ladies, together with you). They were referring to the black and white photo of your mum.

🙂