Guest mistreating the oven

[Kim3205]

Hello:

We are new owners with Airbnb.  Our first guest had 5 star reviews from other owners so when she started doing things that seemed over the top, I was confused.  First, she contacted me asking where I keep my garbage bags.  We generally leave 2 in each garbage can to get guests started but assume it's common practice for guests to bring their own needs.

Then, she messaged me asking where the dishwashing pods were kept.  Again, I explained to her that our housekeeper leaves a "starter pack" of a few items which will get a guest started.  She told me that none had been left but after contacting my housekeeper, she assured me that was not the case.  The guest did not want to go back to the store to get anything else since they had just returned from getting garbage bags.  My housekeeper was very kind and offered to take a few dishwashing pods over to the home.

Then, on check out day, my housekeeper arrived to find the back door left wide open (airing out the house) because the family had apparently cooked some meat directly on the oven rack.  This made no sense whatsoever.  There were plenty of pans available to use for cooking plus it's just gross to cook on a community rack.  So my housekeeper spent an extra hour cleaning that dirty oven and racks.

So my dilemma is what to say in my review of this guest.  Again, her past owner reviews have made her out to be the perfect guest.  Plus this would have been my first owner review on Airbnb.  I don't want to lie and deceive other owners about this guest but I also do not want to get into a war with the guest who I'm assuming will see the review.

My family and I have been guests in vacation in rentals multiple times and I've never expected an owner to supply anything other than the home.  So even the assumption that I should supply the guest trash bags and dishwashing pods put me in an awkward position.  I did not think it was my responsibility, however, she was my first guest and I wanted a good review.

Any input would be helpful so I can review this guest.

Thank you,

Kim

[Lorna170]

@Kim3205   Firstly, that is a lovely listing!  However, with the size of the property and the number of persons it hosts, you need to leave adequate supplies for your guests.  I rent out whole house properties, and my guests will have plenty of trash bags, dish soap, dishwasher tablets, hand soap and washing machine detergent for several weeks stay.  I consider starter supplies to mean paper products beyond what would be used in a week, i.e., toilet paper beyond the roll on the spindle and two in each bathroom cupboard and the second large roll of paper towels in the kitchen.   I do not provide condiments or food items as these are too easily contaminated/questionable.  

As to your guest, why she cooked directly on the oven rack brings to mind my sister-in-law who owns one of those over the top, expensive ovens with grill racks and multiple drawers for different cooking temperatures.  Either that, or your guest let her husband grill inside...  

If the guest left the house in good condition otherwise, let the kitchen cleaning go with "extra cleaning of the kitchen was needed" or a reference to "guest thoroughly utilized the kitchen" to infer that this was not the best outcome, but not so terrible as to bash the guest.  

[Kim3205]

@Lorna170 I love your cabin too!

Thank you so much for your input.

Your wording for the oven/kitchen is very helpful.  Thank you!  I guess then I would probably mark 3 stars on their review, though????

As for supplies, between your response and the other owners response, I'm starting to think I was unaware of this unspoken rule through airbnb.  I will definitely revise how big my "starter kit" is!

Thanks again!

Kim

[Sarah977]

@Kim3205  No, it is not common to expect a guest to supply their own garbage bags, dishwasher pods, toilet paper, soap, and other basic items. Hosts generally provide those things for short term rentals.

If it's a long term rental, like a month or more, that's different- hosts often just provide a starter pack, like enough for a week, with the guest expected to provide for themselves when that runs out. But that has to be made clear with guests when they request a booking.

[Kim3205]

@Sarah977 Thank you for your input.  I must say I'm surprised.  Could it be that the Airbnb community does supply a week's worth of supplies?  I guess my own experience as a renter (not owner) has mostly been through VRBO and it is not an expectation, even with a week's stay.  I always stop by Walmart and pick up all supplies for my big family on the way to the summer rental.  

So maybe I need to adjust my thinking in regards to Airbnb????  If so, this is helpful knowledge that I was unaware of.

Thank you!

Kim

[Sarah977]

@Kim3205  " Could it be that the Airbnb community does supply a week's worth of supplies? "

Not sure what you mean by that. The majority of hosts would supply all that for the length of the stay, not just for a week. I just have a budget-priced private room home share listing, and guests share my kitchen with me. A 2 week stay isn't unusual for my market. But my guests are  certainly provided with toilet paper, soap, coffee and tea, dish soap, etc. for the duration of their stay.

A lot of hosts also provide basic cooking supplies, like cooking oil, salt and pepper, spices, coffee and tea and the fixings for that.

Not only do hosts with high-end listings like yours provide all the basics, they often provide far more than that- snack baskets, a bottle of wine, nice shampoos, and so on. It isn't necessary to mention those sorts of extras in the listing- it's better not to, so guests are pleasantly surprised, which leads to good reviews. A common host mantra is "Promise less and deliver more". 

If your guest left the place reasonably clean and tidy aside from the oven, 3*s is a pretty harsh rating to give.

[Lorna170]

@Kim3205   I have been with verbo and it’s predecessors for more than 20 years.  I have always made sure that my properties are well stocked.  However, 40 plus years ago (and maybe still today) the homes we rented at the New Jersey shore were just the house, and we had to bring everything, including sheets, pillows and kitchen tools.  Those days are long gone for much of the air and verbo community as our guests now expect to be catered to and pampered.  

[Kim3205]

@Lorna170 Thank you again!  I am still a bit surprised by everyone's perspective because we have been going to Florida, renting very large houses (for a week) and never has a house been stocked in the way so many have responded.  But as I said before, I guess I will need to think differently in regards to airbnb and think of the guests in terms of their stay.

I appreciate everyone's input.  I will adjust my supply.

Kim

[Mark116]

@Kim3205  We supply 1 lb of coffee, and whatever spices/oil/vinegar are there when guests arrive, if they happen to use all the coffee or oil, we would not resupply it.

We try to gauge the right amount of toilet paper, paper towels for a week stay.  We do limit dishwasher pods to what we expect would be the absolute max number of loads anyone would do, because they're expensive.  We leave as many garbage bags as a guest could use because we want them to pay attention to the trash.

As for your review, I would probaby say that they were XX positive, but that the kitchen required extensive extra cleaning.

I have certainly been in Airbnbs when this wasn't the case, when not a single extra garbage bag or roll of toilet paper or paper towel was to be found in the place and this was for a 4 day stay.

[Kim3205]

@Mark116  Thank you for your reply!  This is helpful!!!

Kim

[Tamara682]

.@Kim3205

I'm new to this as well but I watched a lot of youtube videos in my research while preparing my place and I feel it helped with expectations. Consider that your stay is supposed to be better than staying at a hotel.

People do not travel with garbage bags and dish soap or detergent so be sure to leave plenty.

I also stock extra toothbrushes and toothpaste along with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. In other words, I considered what they might accidentally leave behind when packing for the trip so that their first morning they can still get ready without having to run to the store first.

Also, expect that extra garbage bags and such will be taken for other reasons (shopping sprees for instance) and just consider it part of the cost of doing business.

Consider the worse case scenario of what you don't provide - dumping garbage in the waste receptable without bags and the mess that makes cleaning up, or a pile of dirty dishes because they didn't have detergent to run the dishwasher. As a traveler, that would certainly not be what I would consider a 5-star rating for sure.

Best of luck!

[Kim3205]

Thank you so much @Tamara682  your words have really helped give me a fuller perspective on travelers!  Thanks again!

[Emilia42]

"Consider the worst case scenario of what you don't provide"

That is excellent advice and surely something to think about @Tamara682 

[Kim3205]

Yes, you're right!  Good thought!

[Linda108]

Your success on this platform is to adjust your point of view to the guest expectations.  Not an easy balance because guest expectations come from several places:  hotel accommodations, other platforms and a general sense of entitlement.  Pre reservation communication will help you see how closely your listing matches the guest expectation.  Spend time and effort on those communications as you educate the guest about what to expect and how that fits with what they want.  No judgement about who is right but an effort to make a match.   Just a thought.