How honest should a guest review be?

[BeachHouse1]

Hi,

I'm having a bit of a conundrum as to what to write for a guest review.

A party of four came to our wee unit and essentially had a party. They left more empty bottles behind than I would have thought four people could get through (though to be clear, I've no reason to think they invited more people, I think they just did drink a lot), and there was something wet on the bed covers.

The thing is they didn't exactly break any rules (it says no parties but it was really just the four of them drinking a lot of making a lot of noise). I just wouldn't host that kind of group again - we live in the main house that the unit we rent out is attached to, and have a young child. Most of our bookings have been for families or quiet couples etc.

I think some of the solution is to add to the rules for the future, though I don't want to come across as mean. In the meantime, what do I say about these guests? I don't think I would host them again, but because they're not the right group for our property.

If you say 'would not host again', do they see that? I don't actually want to upset them because I think they were just having a good time, but I'd love for us not to come up on their search again - does it do that automatically if you say you wouldn't have them back?

(Obviously there's nothing to stop them booking under a different account.)

Still fairly new to this, so any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks x

[Suzanne302]

@BeachHouse1

For reviews, be factual and leave out your own interpretation of what happened.

"Guests left a lot of empty bottles to be picked up and left the bed covers wet." Instead of, "Guests seemed to drink a lot and there were a lot of empty bottles left."

If you don't want them to be able to instant book in the future, in the review process just mark them as a "No" when the question pops up of "Would you recommend these guests to other hosts." ABB is always tinkering with the system, but that's the way it USED to be, and I assume still is. (The question used to just ask you for a thumbs up or thumbs down on a guest, and a thumbs down meant they could not Instant Book with you again.)

That being said, were they destructive? Was anything damaged? Were the bed covers stained or just wet? Did they leave garbage just lying around? Leaving a lot of empty bottles and a wet bed cover for most hosts would be no big deal. I do understand we all have our level of what we will tolerate, though. However, I don't really see the problem. But again, we all have our own levels of tolerance so I'm not saying you're wrong for feeling the way you do.

Hopefully some other hosts will chime in for you soon with other ideas!

[BeachHouse1]

Thanks, that does help.

I think the thing about the bottles is that either they had people round (which *is* against the rules) or it's not surprising that they made a lot of noise (26 beer bottles + a bottle of gin + mixers between 4 people).

But yes, that's a good point re factual. Thanks for the advice.

[Kelly149]

right, so don't ever guess about problems.

The things that you do know is that they were noisy (doesn't matter why, but you heard them being noisy), and the beds were wet (I'd guess that with a beach location that sand and wet people on furniture, beds, rugs, etc would be common, but maybe this was worse than you normally see), and with the bottles, was it all cleaned up and in the garbage and you just went back thru to count or did they leave all their stuff spread about the place? You could say more recycling to dispose of than normal, but really I've had people leave behind more pizza boxes than I'd have been able to eat in a weekend, or more diet soda cans, or more shopping remnants or more adult diapers... Meaning if it was cleaned up and in the rubbish bin, then I wouldn't mention it, but if they left a mess for you to clean up then that isn't cool no matter what the materials happen to be.

oh, and if you don't have a way of knowing who is going in and out of your space, then remedy that (Ring doorbell, Arlo camera, etc). And if you want to sell your place to families and quiet contemplative types then use your staging and your description to cater to those types. But really there's not much of a good way to say 'we don't host people who drink too much'. Bc nobody thinks that 'they' drink too much. Some hosts do say no alcohol on premises at all. Just extra thoughts

[BeachHouse1]

Thanks that's really helpful.

I ended up writing a review that said they did leave a lot of rubbish behind (it wasn't cleared up) and were noisy, but that mainly I thought the space wasn't really right for them, and I would make some changes to the listing, which I thought was honest but diplomatic.

And then I read that they'd left us a terrible review, most of which was objectively untrue (eg they said they had to share the kitchen, which they didn't) and some of which was a result of them not responding to questions I'd asked them, because they didn't reply to my emails before the arrival. So they must just be terrible people 🙂

I almost regret trying to be nice.

[Sarah977]

@BeachHouse1  Trying to be nice, to me at least, shouldn't enter into the review process. Just like being nasty shouldn't. What I think we should be is fair and factual. So if say, a guest left the space really clean and tidy, but was loud and oblivious to the fact that you live right next door and might be disturbing you, for instance, you might say something like "While XXX left the space very clean and tidy, which was much appreciated, the late night noise generated by this group made them less than ideal guests."

You have the option to respond to a review if you feel it necessary. If there are lies in the guest's review, for instance, you might want to correct those in a professional and brief way to make it clear that what was written isn't true. Say the guest claims they couldn't find the Wifi code anywhere. "The Wifi code was, in fact, sent to the guests pre-arrival as well as being clearly listed in the house manual on site. I'm sorry XXX didn't bother to read that information". 

But if a bad review makes a guest sound like they are just complainers, or is a rant, sometimes it's better not to bother responding, especially if you have lots of other good reviews, as the guest's review often just makes it evident that it is the guest that is "off", rather than the host or the listing and most prospective guests will dismiss it if all the other guests have written good reviews.

[Helen350]

Re the drinking, my listing says "Whilst I welcome social drinking, I'd prefer guests not to get drunk , nor come back from the pub too much the worse for wear." - I hope that is a compromise which makes a point, without me being too much of a killjoy! 

[Megan307]

I think you need to be honest and say that maybe this type of accommodation wasn't suited to that group?

[Ben551]

@BeachHouse1I completely agree with @Sarah977 @Kelly149 and @Suzanne302 , the trick with reviews is to stick to the facts and avoid speculation, that way you avoid the temptation to speculate on guest behaviour that you can't verify, or know for sure.  They left bottles, they made noise, you wish them well but wouldn't host them again... that's about it to be honest, and is enough of a signal to other hosts.

Your review of these guests is less about them and more about (a) representing yourself professionally to future guests who want to know you are fair and reasonable, and (b) letting other hosts know enough that they can decide whether to host someone or not.

[Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0]

This is basically what happened to us, except our guests were young and there were 2 extra people staying there, we believe, after seeing them leave. (Unfortunately, we did not have the front door camera on when they checked in--I had let them check in early.) The guest was a college-aged girl brand-new to Airbnb with 0 reviews. (Should have been my first clue...) We wanted to be clear to other hosts what they might expect without coming straight out and accusing the guests.

This was the review we gave her, which was ultimately a 3-star review: 

"XXXXX and her young group came for a three-night stay. Our unit sleeps 4 guests max. When they checked out, we hauled out empty beer cans (2 x 30-packs of Miller and a few large empty wine bottles) and 4 bags of trash. They did follow our recycling protocol for the cans and bottles, and the bags of trash were placed in the outside trash container as requested. The condo was left reasonably clean, and they generally followed the check-out procedures. House rules say no parties."

We hope hosts can read between the lines to what we suspect: there were 6 young people there all weekend basically to drink alcohol. (We realized we also saw them in a coffeehouse on our way up to clean. There were 6 including 2 kids that looked high-school age. We recognized them from the photos on their way out.) The 4 bags of trash were in addition to the recycling trash bags. 

She did give us a 5-star review and said they would come back next year--not going to happen. In our private feedback to her we suggested that, if she wanted to enjoy Airbnb,  she take house rules seriously. To Airbnb's final question, we indicated that we would not recommend her to other hosts. We shudder to think what could have happened from a liability standpoint if they were indeed underaged and had left the condo to drive. 

[Ramona82]

Hello,

I am new to hosting, and I have a lot to learn.  I believe things happen so that I may learn from them.  I have had two back to back "sour" experiences, and I don't know what to do (regarding giving them a review). I have been reading the responses to this particular situation and it similar enough to mine for me to get take part in the conversation.

I have a question... if there was nothing "nice" to say and I don't know how to write a review, if I don't write one, will the guests review still be seen by my upcoming guests?

[Sandra856]

Hi @Ramona82 🙂

The guest review will always appear on your profil after the 14 days review period is over.

If you don't leave a review you won't be able to reply to the guest review.

Reviews are blind meaning the guest won't be able to read your review of them before after the write one themselves. I really, really hope you will write an honest, factual review in order to warn future hosts.

It is not fun, but in my opinion important. Otherwise you will just pass them on to the next host.

Best, Sandra

[Ramona82]

Thank you @Sandra856 , then I will. And I greatly appreciate your time in responding to my inquiry. 

[Lisa723]

@BeachHouse1 in your response to the review you apologised for rudeness, which was not mentioned in the review (I assume it was in private feedback). This is a mistake. Other viewers would not have seen anything about it if you hadn't mentioned it. Your response to a review is really for other prospective guests, not the reviewing guests-- they won't get any notice of it and probably won't even see it.

[Sally434]

I was new to Airbnb hosting until last week when I had my first guests. Of course I went all out to make the place look great for them. I was clear about the facilities available and the number of beds & type of beds . Sleeps 5. Yet I had 6 people leave. Not only that they asked me if they cook pasta in my kitchen and heat pizzas for them (no kitchen option was ticked). As this was my first time and I wish for a good review (which I haven’t had yet..) I said yes. It wasn’t that convenient after all I was cooking for myself at the time. 

They left the place clean and tidy and were polite apart from loud music playing all day. 

My my question is, should I mention the extra guest in my review? The type of people they were make me sensitive to writing anything negative, after all, they now know where I live...)

paranoia perhaps but I wouldn’t want them back again tbh