reviewing guests who cancelled their 2 night stay after first night

[HannahyMartín0]

Hello,

A French couple checked in yesterday and they were very nice. She asked some questions about spiders and bugs (we live in the jungle by the beach), as she said she had a fobia. First thing I though why they would come to Costa Rica, but whatever...we explain to her that we had a few inside the house and property, but it’s usually not a problem. She then came over asking for Aloe, since she had a bad sun burnt from last day in another town, and we chatted a little bit about activities  to do in the area, etc. 

The next morning, before they left on an excursion, she told me that’s they couldn’t sleep well at all, because she was scared of insects coming in (note, she said “no insects came in, but we were just scared”) and that the room was very hot, i asked her if she used the fan we provide and she said no because “the fan is too loud”, I asked if she tried with the other standing fan we have downstairs, and she said she didn’t realize there was a second one. Anyways, she said they were going to check out when they came back, so I said “is there something else I can do for you not to leave?”, she said “We already book another house in next town”, and I said “the only place that you would be safe from any insects and bugs is a hotel room with AC”,  as insects don’t like the cool rooms. 

So, I told them they needed to cancel their reservation, since they weren’t going to stay the second night, and they canceled it when they came back from the excursion. We had another small chat, when he said that “there’s no problem with the house, we are just people from the city (Paris) and my girflriend has a spider and insect fobia”. The chat was nice and they were polite as well. 

My question, is if we (host and guests) are going to be leaving reviews on each other. Any ideas? 

I read a couple of post, but it isn’t very clear.

Thanks!

[Paul154]

@HannahyMartín0  

Do you believe they acted in bad faith? 

(Guests had made the reservation with no intention of honoring the reservation...?)

It that your concern? 

Or is it just one of those things that happen?  (Guest want to go to Costa Rica, but then realiizes it's not good for her phobia...?)

I think a truthful review with few dramatic details would work: "Best for a hotel setting"

[HannahyMartín0]

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@Paul154 wrote:

@HannahyMartín0  

Do you believe they acted in bad faith? 

(Guests had made the reservation with no intention of honoring the reservation...?)

It that your concern? 

Or is it just one of those things that happen?  (Guest want to go to Costa Rica, but then realiizes it's not good for her phobia...?)

I think a truthful review with few dramatic details would work: "Best for a hotel setting"

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I don’t believe they acted in bad faith, as they were always very nice and never asked for a refund or saying there was an actual problem with the property. Just that they didn’t felt “safe”.

[Daniel1598]

@HannahyMartín0 I've had an experience where a guest had to cancel early. It was after a few weeks and came as a surprise (relocation due to work). We both left reviews. I expect that it will be the same for you and your guest.

[Kath9]

@HannahyMartín0, you can both leave reviews. Obviously, in this case, your property wasn't suitable for these guests, but hopefully they will see this in perspective and won't leave a bad review. (me: scratching my head as to why on earth they would have booked it in the first place if they have an insect phobia, or even gone to Costa Rica at all, but anyway...).

In your review, you could say something like, 'xx and yy were lovely, polite guests, but checked out early as they didn't understand the nature of the listing. Perhaps better suited to a hotel environment'. This way, you alert other hosts that they may be a bit unrealistic in their expectations without giving them a bad review as such. Also, leaving a review for them means you have the opportunity to respond to their review if they leave a bad one so you can give your side of the story.

Also, just a side note: it should be 'quiet beach' not 'quite beach' 🙂

[HannahyMartín0]

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@Kath9 wrote:

@HannahyMartín0, you can both leave reviews. Obviously, in this case, your property wasn't suitable for these guests, but hopefully they will see this in perspective and won't leave a bad review. (me: scratching my head as to why on earth they would have booked it in the first place if they have an insect phobia, or even gone to Costa Rica at all, but anyway...).

In your review, you could say something like, 'xx and yy were lovely, polite guests, but checked out early as they didn't understand the nature of the listing. Perhaps better suited to a hotel environment'. This way, you alert other hosts that they may be a bit unrealistic in their expectations without giving them a bad review as such. Also, leaving a review for them means you have the opportunity to respond to their review if they leave a bad one so you can give your side of the story.

Also, just a side note: it should be 'quiet beach' not 'quite beach' 🙂

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I have no idea why would they come to Costa Rica. It was their honeymoon, and were going to spend 3 weeks 

i contacted Airbnb and they said that they are not sure if we will be able to leave reviews, kind of wierd. 

Thanks for the P.S.!

[Sarah977]

@HannahyMartín0   Haha. I live in the tropics as well, lots of insects, no AC with a closed up room, just lots of windows and fans.  Luckily I haven't had any guests who were freaked out by insects, except one girl who came down to tell me there was a spider on the ceiling in her room and that she had a spider phobia. But she wasn't in any panic, I went up and vacuumed it away, and she was happy.

Do you provide a mosquito net for the bed? If not, that can make scaredy-cat guests a bit more comfortable. At least they don't have to be concerned about a bug on them at night, and they can sleep relaxed. 

I don't understand either why people would book a countryside place in the tropics if they're scared of insects. But many people just see the pretty pictures in the magazines and think "paradise". Those pretty pictures don't show spiders, ants, cockroaches, or any of the other thousand varieties of insect life prevalent in all tropical places.

I had some house sitters one year while I went to Canada. They were from New York City. When I returned, to hear them talk, you would think they had just survived a near-death experience in the depths of the Amazon jungle. They hadn't bothered to research anything about the heat, the humidity or the insect life here in July and August. 

[HannahyMartín0]

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@Sarah977 wrote:

@HannahyMartín0   Haha. I live in the tropics as well, lots of insects, no AC with a closed up room, just lots of windows and fans.  Luckily I haven't had any guests who were freaked out by insects, except one girl who came down to tell me there was a spider on the ceiling in her room and that she had a spider phobia. But she wasn't in any panic, I went up and vacuumed it away, and she was happy.

Do you provide a mosquito net for the bed? If not, that can make scaredy-cat guests a bit more comfortable. At least they don't have to be concerned about a bug on them at night, and they can sleep relaxed. 

I don't understand either why people would book a countryside place in the tropics if they're scared of insects. But many people just see the pretty pictures in the magazines and think "paradise". Those pretty pictures don't show spiders, ants, cockroaches, or any of the other thousand varieties of insect life prevalent in all tropical places.

I had some house sitters one year while I went to Canada. They were from New York City. When I returned, to hear them talk, you would think they had just survived a near-death experience in the depths of the Amazon jungle. They hadn't bothered to research anything about the heat, the humidity or the insect life here in July and August. 

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But the guests left because of the “potential risk of insects”, how can you do something for about that? Just Impossible. I tried to make her feel more comfortable telling her that we spray insect poison every once in a while ,and that we never had an issue with spiders inside the house and asked her if there was something I could do about it. It didn’t work. 

Another thing, in our house rules (we specifically ask our guest to read it prior arrival) it states that we have mosquitos nets upon request (they are at my house, 50 yards from the Airbnb), but she never ask for them. 

In our description you can read: “Be aware that you are coming to a house on the beach surrounded by jungle. Insects like spiders, ants, mosquitos, crabs etc live around the house and property. We have put screens on all the windows except the "bar" doors in the kitchen”. So, more clear, imposible. 

there are so many guests that just book a place without even reading descritpion and after reserving the house rules. I believe it’s on them, not us.

[Anonymous]

@HannahyMartín0  it happens often that guests realize only after check-in that they chose a place that wasn't suitable for their wishes, even though the relevant details were spelled out in the listing. For example just about every Private Room host has had guests who arrived mistakenly thinking they'd booked an entire home. And a lot of inner-city hosts report guests feeling the same about perceived crime potential as your guest felt about the local fauna.

If you are prompted to leave a review, I think it should take into account that these guests took the appropriate action:  they cancelled per the terms of your policy, took the initiative to book elsewhere, and presumably didn't demand any additional refunds or compensation. Unless that is untrue, I would not suggest saying that the guests were more suited to a hotel environment, because they would probably be totally fine at an Airbnb in London or Stockholm, and this comment would impose undue punishment on guests who found an agreeable solution to their own problem. 

[HannahyMartín0]

For those who wonder, 24 hours after the cancelation, we were both able to write reviews on each other.