How to Review?

[Phil3947]

I had a guest booking for three nights this past weekend. They booked as one guest, not the two people we usually host. We then were notified that she had broken her foot and no one would be coming night #1, but her husband would be coming night #2 and #3 and requested for their 10-year old daughter to come as well. We have in our policy that we don’t allow children under 13 years old.

Because we were getting a night for “free”, we let her know we would make an exception and make up the (requested) sleeper sofa for her daughter.  On the second night they arrived, not two, but three people emerged from the car to spend the night. We subsequently found out that they were in town for a local parents’ weekend at a nearby university.  We assumed they probably picked up their son from college and brought him back to spend the night.

We sent a message the next day that we observed three people arriving to spend the night. Broken foot at home replied saying that she had always intended to have her son come back and stay but that her mistake was neglecting  to make him part of the reservation.

From my perspective they (1) didn’t communicate well beforehand when asked their ETA; (2) they asked to have a child stay when my listing doesn’t allow that – although I did approve that when I thought it was their only “ask”; and (3) by assuming that their adult child would be able to stay, they also didn’t consider my maximum guest number – TWO. 

In the end, they took the adult child back to its dorm and left my airbnb in perfect shape.

QUESTION:  How do I rate them?  I want to give them the benefit  of the doubt that, because they only have 3 airbnb reviews, that they don’t know the protocol.  Other than asking for non-eligible guests and bringing in an additional non-mentioned guest, they were wonderful guests.  I want to give them 5 stars across the bar but leave private feedback telling them that bringing in extra guests is the biggest faux paux they can do as guests, aside from willful property damage.  My partner thinks I shouldn’t try to educate them, give them 5 stars and drop it. 

Thoughts…?

[Huma0]

@Phil3947 

It's a tricky one. At the very least, I would mark them down in the star ratings for following house rules and for communication. Still, that doesn't address the issue of 'educating' them as guests cannot see the star ratings you leave them. So, you could include something in the private feedback, just to let them know that things like communicating ETA and number of guests is really important to a lot of hosts. I don't know if they would take it well. Only you can tell from the vibe you got from these guests how they would react.

As for the public review, well, you could choose to mention it or not. If you do, maybe something along these lines:

"X left the listing in great shape and (whatever else you would like to say that is a positive). However, it was difficult to get an ETA from her and she somehow disregarded both my maximum guest count and that my listing specifies no children under 12 years old. While I agreed to bend my rules a bit for her, due to her circumstances, she did not disclose the full number of guests that would be staying. This might not be an issue for some hosts, but I found it problematic that a booking for one guest suddenly turned into

a family of four arriving, despite my listing clearly stating a maximum of two guests."