New to Air B&B, but not short-term rental management. This is my first experience with the particulars of the review system. I have a question about how to handle a particular situation.
I got a same-day reservation request from a verified guest. He was relatively new to Air B&B and had good reviews so far. He was traveling to Colorado and wanted to wait out the unexpected snow storm before continuing.
We have a 3 BR/2BA single family residence, 4 beds (2 queen/2 twin), max capacity of 6 guests, and a 3 night minimum. We are strictly no pets. All of this is clearly communicated on the listing; pet policy re-iterated on check-in instructions. We don’t live onsite, so check-in is hostless via real estate lockbox on the front door – code changed for each guest.
Issue: The reservation was for 1 guest. One of his reviews indicated he was traveling with a toddler, so I figured he just didn’t mention the toddler – not a big deal. He stayed the full 3 nights and checked out right at 11 AM (regular check-out). He didn’t communicate the entire time other than to let me know when he checked out (what I request on the instructions).
When we got into the house to clean, every single bed had been slept in indicating 4-6 guests had been in the place.
There was a red stain (wine or Kool-Aid-ish) on the living room area rug.
There was fluorescent green fingernail polish “applied” to the outside of the back door.
There was gray/white pet hair everywhere, including walls and furniture.
He followed other minor check-out instructions, but clearly violated others, not to mention misled me on the number of guests. Our rental and cleaning rates are a flat rate, so no issue other than he was dishonest. The cleaning took longer than normal, and the success of stain removal from the rug is still in question.
He has written a review for us; however, I have not yet reciprocated. Not sure how to proceed? Should I just write a review and “tell it like it is?” Should I contact him directly? All his previous reviews were good, so not sure what may have happened here.
In the meantime, we are installing a Ring Doorbell so that we may have a better handle on such situations in the future.
Advice appreciated.