How to appropriately review messy guests?

[Ann489]

Hi, everyone.

We are still pretty new to hosting. 

So far, everything has gone pretty well--until this morning.  We had a couple and a relative booked for a one night stay.  When they left our guesthouse this morning, it was--well kind of a mess. 

They had re-arranged all the living furniture for some reason, thrown all our sofa pilows on the floor, clearly had eaten on the living room table (house rules state to please at dining table),  there were food remains on the table as well as the floor, dirty dishes in the sink(we ask to please wash your dishes prior to departure), trash not taken out, lights left on, wet towels thrown on the floors, etc. 

They were pleasant enough when they checked in last night and I always point out the welcome sheet with the house rules on the table. 

I am not sure how to review them. 

Am I too picky by asking to please leave the guest house in the condition they found it?  We do charge a small cleaning fee.

Thank you,

Ann   🙂

[Fred13]

My neutral deadpan review for this guest: 'X stayed with us for Y amount of days'.

Hmmm...3-4's generally, but definitely (3) on cleanliness.

Thumb up if pleasant enough but a bit ignorant; would send private message with 'suggestions'. 

Thumbs down if a bit ignorant but with an attitude.

P.S. ALL our guests rearrange the furniture; but no, they never throw pillows on the floor.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ann489

How about "No permanent damage but my home was surprisingly untidy and in disarray considering this guest stayed only 1 night. I would not welcome these guests back." 

Please don't call them "nice" because they are clearly not nice people. 

[Ann489]

@Jessica-and-Henry0

I think that sums it up nicely!  Thank you.   🙂

[Amy-and-Brian0]

IMO, those hosts who 'sugar coat' a guest's stay are not doing the community a favor. Don't use foul language of course, but if they break things and dump a box of cereal on the floor and then grind it in (both of which have happened to us) it's up to hosts to say that.

As an example, we've left a full range of reviews for people on a scale of "Perfect guest" to "completely trashed the place".
Generally speaking, we tell it like it is: "[Person] left the condo in great shape and even did the dishes, which was appreciated"
Or
"[Person] was completely disrepectful to our condo. There was ground food in the carpets and the dishes were put into the cabinets with food all over them. Open and spoiled food was left rotting on the counter." Etc.
We always say in the words of the review if we would host them again or do not recommend.

BTW, it's a shame we can't post photos in reviews. Seeing how some people leave the place...well...a picture is worth a thousand words.

[John-Henry0]

Every time I give a less than a 5 star review the guests respond to me and start questioning it!

[John421]

Agreed, do not recommend to other hosts.  Straighforward, exactly how they left your property and rating to suit.   That's what reviews are for.  Airbnb owner have no way to re-coup losses through Airbnb, not only that but we get disciplined by Airbnb for not accepting their reservation, even if other hosts have given poor reviews!  

I just had young asian students - who promised they would be tidy, leave my home in a complete mess.  Pulled down the smoke alarms, flooded the bathroom - like they never pulled the shower curtain.....It's frustrating as an owner because Airbnb makes it impossible to ask for a cleaning surcharge.  Sure, I'll pay my cleaners for the extra work they have to do, but how to rate the very messy asian students that left garbage, really gross food(?) grease dirty dishes , pots and pans, smoke alarms off the ceilings and two flooded bathrooms in my home?  I pay the cleaners, but only have the review to vent.

Get used to it until there's an alternate to Airbnb.

[Sandra126]

Sometimes people rearrange furniture a bit, maybe for yoga or something. Who knows. But very annoying, as I am ONE and they are more than one and moving things like a sofa is very heavy for me. If many guests were to move the furniture, I say it is not in the right place and would go with the guest's preference (maybe TV was blocked).

[Karina-Каринa0]

Well, well. Have you analysed why the furniture was re-arranged? Maybe something you could learn from?

A lot of guests have been taught by the hotel industry, that dirty towels should be left on the floor. Most hotels request you to do that.

Also, if you charge a cleaning fee, people may well think that this includes cleaning away their leftovers. I would.

[Becky426]

House rules were clearly displayed & staying at a private property is not the same as a hotel chain with a cleaning crew. 

It has been a standard for years with Airbnb to be respectful of the space you’re staying in. To pretend like you’re just an ignorant person who only knows how to be a messy hotel guest is inexcusable.

[Fiona243]

I've just finished cleaning a very unsavoury bathroom. It makes me angry that people can behave this way. Sh*t down the sides of the toilet bowl, urine on floor next to toilet, pubes all over the place, including on the walls (how does that even happen?). And in the bedroom there were sticky marks on furniture and toothpaste on the wardrobe door (!). The guests seemed very nice and pleasant, gave no indication that they would be filthy pigs.

I wish to ensure these guests do not go on to do the same to other hosts. Of course I will give them a low rating for cleanliness, but I think we should be able to clarify exactly what we mean by lack of cleanliness. Forgetting to wipe down a kitchen counter is a completely different category of lack of cleanliness than leaving (literal) crap in the bathroom. I'd love to be able to use the "poop" emoji in my comments just to make it very clear what potential future hosts may have to deal with.

I feel that giving them a "more suited to a hotel" review is too vague and does not even begin to do them justice. Instead I am going with "The en-suite shower room required extended cleaning time due to the condition of the toilet, floor and walls. Accordingly I am unable to recommend these guests to other hosts". Then, in the comments for the guests I will explicitly state what I found in the bathroom, and close with "I hope in future you are able to adhere to normal levels of hygiene when staying in other people's houses."

[Fiona243 · Accepted solution]

I just had a message from the guest who made the above booking. In her message she says is unhappy I gave her a bad review. She wishes I had discussed it directly with her rather than posting a bad review. She says she thought they did not leave a mess and tells me it's a real pity I gave her this bad review because she was going to recommend my place to some of her friends. I assume this is an attempt by her to get me to change my review by tempting me with another booking. However, why would I want her friends to stay here, when for all I know they have the same dirty habits? My review is not changing.

[Nicole1062]

I have guests that I have extended the stay for each week through the last month. Friday will be their last day. The emplyer booked the home and his 3 employees are the people staying there (I was told by ABNB that this is ok since he said in his initial contact that it was a business trip). Each time I have visited I have been disgusted by the uncleanliness of my beautiful home - these guys are living like "frat boys". They have rearranged the living room furniture, I think that one of them is sleeping on the couch and I had the couch facing the patio french doors. That's the only explanation that I can come up with.

I am anxious to see if they will put the furniture back in its original placement, as someone else stated - they are many and I am only one... Before these guests I never even imagined that someone would have the audacity to move furniture around like that - this isn't a long term rental or anything. I guess I will have to add that as a rule in my guestbook. I do have hard wood floors and I will be inspecting them for any damages from the moved furniture.

Also, the "guest (employer) has been paying for the extended stay through the Resolution Center, and I was also told by ABNB that this is an acceptable method, but I had to leave the review before they had actually completed their stay, because the review period was based on the original check-out date of January 4th.

I hope I don't have guests like this in the future. But if I do I will definitely **bleep** this behavior in the bud right away!

[Sarah977]

@Nicole1062  You posted before that these guys were messy and smoking in your home when smoking is not allowed. You say it's been a mess the whole time and you've checked on it each week. So I'm not sure why you just allowed them to keep extending the booking.

Yes, there are many reports of guests moving furniture around. Suggest you get some of those felt pads that stick to the bottom of the legs so when guests do this (they might even if you ask them not to) it won't scratch your floors.

[Nicole1062]

@Sarah977

Yes, I have renewed with trepidation, but I did get them to quit smoking in the house. It has since snowed here, so I'm not sure if they picked up the cigarette butts from the yard or not, as I requested they do. I will be more careful in the future who I accept bookings from. My mind was alleviated a little bit when Airbnb staff said they were using appropriate methods to extend their stay and my property would still be covered for any damages they make, when everyone here made it sound like they were being shady and I wouldn't be protected.

I could understand moving small items of furniture like individual chairs and such, but moving large pieces like couches and heavy double recliners is something I never expected and wouldn't thnk of doing as a guest in someone's home.

[Nicole1062]

@Sarah977

Yes, I have renewed with trepidation, but I did get them to quit smoking in the house. It has since snowed here, so I'm not sure if they picked up the cigarette butts from the yard or not, as I requested they do. I will be more careful in the future who I accept bookings from. My mind was alleviated a little bit when Airbnb staff said they were using appropriate methods to extend their stay and my property would still be covered for any damages they make, when everyone here made it sound like they were being shady and I wouldn't be protected.

I could understand moving small items of furniture like individual chairs and such, but moving large pieces like couches and heavy double recliners is something I never expected and wouldn't thnk of doing as a guest in someone's home.