How would you rate this guest?

[Lucilla14]

Hi everyone! 

I had three people for the last week in one of the guest rooms, and even if they were kind of nice and friendly their stay ended up being a nightmare. They arrived almost 2 hours late without notice and didn't even apologize when they arrived, , on the first morning they woke up at 6 and woke up the other guests in the room being very loud in the kitchen without even closing the door (they started when I kindly ask of them).

They were overall very noisy, woke me up several times speaking loudly very late, or going to the bathroom almost compulsively, on them would go and flush the toilet at least twice Avery hour until 12 p.m, and sometimes in the middle of the night (which is OK if you try to be quiet and don't slam the door! No other guest has ever woke me up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom and it is next my bedroom). They would slam the doors and overall being very annoying!

When they left they were really nice and complimented me and the house, but they left a plastic bag full of clothes and a pair of shoes, I ran after them to get it to them but they told me it was stuff they decided to throw away (why should I do it?... Who knows). The most scary thing is that I discovered when I was cleaning the kitchen that they left on of the fires going, and I am afraid it wasn't the fist time.

So. How do I review them? It was rough but they left the place very clean and were nice, so I don't really know what to write. I don't wanna be rude but I feel I have to do something more than give them few stars. I never wrote a bad review. What would you write? 

[Lucilla14]

Oh and I forgot to mention they would prevent the other guests to go to bathroom, they would take so long the other guest couldn't get to the bathroom sometimes for more than half an hour 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Lucilla14 

My advice....... just be honest and factual. Based on what you've written they clearly deserve to get 3 stars or less in all categories. 

If it were me it the review would probably be something like this: GUEST and friends/family were nice and friendly but a bit inconsiderate of other people in the home. Unfortunately I had several complaints from other guests about noise (in shared spaces), door-slamming at all hours and regarding use of the shared bathroom. They also left more than the usual amount of rubbish for me to dispose of. Based on my experience I would not recommend GUEST and friends/family for a shared home environment. 

[Gordon0]

'Although pleasant, somewhat inconsiderate of other guests and probably better suited to a hotel'.  

[J-Renato0]

@Lucilla14 

1- Tell them in a private message what they have to improve to became a good guest.

2- Mark less than 4 stars on any category to prevent that they book your listing again without consulting (It works if you have Instant Booking on)

3- Mark thumb down if you do not want to recommend them to other hosts.

4- Public review: "Friendly guests in terms of pleasantries. However, I believe they are better suited for a non shared space or hotel stay."

[Sarah977]

@Lucilla14 

"Friendly, appreciative and clean, but noise levels late at night disrepectful of others in the household, even after being asked to quiet down. Left stove burners turned on after cooking. Expected me to deal with a large bag of unwanted clothing left behind. Not well-suited to a shared home situation."

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Hi @Lucilla14 Didn’t you have a similar problem recently with a group of 3 up late at night and using your bath? Is this the same group? Maybe part of the problem is that your setup might not be so suitable for hosting 2 sets of guests together?

Whist we don’t host in shared accommodation our guests will regularly be up late and perhaps this will be the norm for most guests? 

Rather than continually having these these issues is there anything you could change to make things better? Soft closing doors.. better sound proofing.. maybe only host a single group of 4.. 

You do seem to be outnumbered in your own home so might you be sensitive to the noise changes compared to when you’re there alone?

Im guilty of leaving cooker burners on by accident on many occasions, especially when on low so I would only class that as an accidental occurrence rather than a deliberate transgression.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   I host in my home. I don't think this is a case of the host being overly sensitive to noise as compared to being alone in her home. This is a case of disrespectful people who don't care who they disturb at what hour of the day or night.

Most of my guests are super quiet, and no, they don't generally stay up late. The ones who do come home late are quiet and respectful, they don't wake me up, don't slam doors, and aren't up banging around until the wee hours of the morning.

I don't see why this host should restrict herself to only one group of guests at a time just because she had some guests who were oblivious of anyone but themselves.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 Your guests are in a room a distance from yours with a private entrance. I don’t believe that you host two separate groups of 3 and 1 so the logistics are quite different. Sorry, I can’t check but don’t you only host single travellers or couples? That should surely make a big difference?

From a guests point of view in Genoa where @Lucilla14 is in an apartment block, things are a bit different. Night life, bars and promenading will certainly be an influence.

As I mentioned we host in an attached/separate listing so things are even different for us, but reading @Lucilla14‘s post her guests don’t seem to be acting in an unreasonable way compared those we host. The difference is the separation.

Edit:

@Sarah977 I checked your listing and you host single travellers. Single travellers have no one to talk with at night so things for you are definitely more different to @Lucilla14 

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  No, my guest room has a private entrance off the upstairs terrace, as does mine. The guest bathroom is between my bedroom and the guest room, no hallways, so I can hear everything if guests are loud. There is no distance involved. Yes, I only host one at a time, but I've had friends stay who were way noisier than my guests. Bottom line, some people are noisy, some are quiet, but at the very least the noisy ones should respect a request to tone it down. And I did host a couple once- they were super quiet- it has nothing to do with someone to talk to- a disrespectful single guest could just as easily be talking loudly on the phone, watching movies turned up loud, etc.

I don't see how nightlife, bars and promenading have anything to do with guests talking in loud voices and slamming doors inside a shared accomodation. These are simply guests who have no idea nor care about showing respect and should not be booking shared home listings.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 🙂

I just had two different bookings. First booking was a single girl. Second 2 girls. They were banging  and slamming doors no matter if it was in the evening, the morning or the middle of the night. Late evening/after midnight very long showers 30-45 min. Consequently leaving lights on. Banging and slamming closet doors. Completely clueless and ohh my I couldn't wait till they were gone. 

When you choose to rent a room in a shared home it is expected to be considerate. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sandra856  I think... a certain type of people are considerate.

I think... the majority of people are not.

How you ‘get’ the considerate people is an impossible task and the general calibre  of guests are not at the standard a host would like.

Is this the reality that hosts need to accept because day after day reasonable hosts on here complain about general guest behaviour but nothing is ever done to improve it?

In a confined space, pretty soon other people’s actions can soon be irritating. I have utmost respect for hosts on here who share their space with guests and it wouldn’t be something I would want to do. However, those guests will take their irritations everywhere and it will be the norm for them.  Complaining Hosts will be just that in the final reckoning.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  In almost 3 years of hosting in my home, I have only had 2 guests out of about 40 who were somewhat inconsiderate, and not especially so.

So my experience doesn't mirror your view or experience. 

You say you have utmost respect for shared-home hosts, yet you are trying to tell us that people are generally just inconsiderate and that we should just accept that or make some kind of renovations to our homes to accomodate disrespectful guests.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

I respect that you allow what can only be described as ‘strangers’ into your home to share your space - even though you don’t know the habits of those guests. I do acknowledge that you must make a greater allowance for their behaviour in your space because there is no safe haven for you and your space is being violated for the duration of their stay.

There must be and there is an acceptance of that violation on behalf of the host and surely it must be greater than that we/I accept as a remote host. The guest behaviour between a remote stay and in-house stay is no different however.

Therefore, your tolerance, in your space needs to be that much greater.

Sound insulation, strict rules about using space, limits on access to kitchens, not using the toilet at night, never using the bath shown in the listing, not making noise when closing doors, not talking after whatever hour, not smelling, not arriving late, not cleaning up after yourselves, not washing the sink down, not wiping the toilet after use, only using 1 towel, not being unacceptable guests all needs addressing. If all that isn’t covered, then, really is there any reason to complain about guests if they don’t accurately comply? 

You can write all that in your House Rules, but will you or have you? Probably not, as you don’t want to be an ogre host. So why be an ogre host after it has all happened?

Im not siding with what might be considered as irresponsible guests, but if they have not been told exactly as they need to behave then they cannot be held responsible for acting in the way they expect that they would expect their host would expect their behaviour to be.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   Sorry, but you're not getting it.

I have never, for a moment, felt that my space was being "violated" by any of my guests. What a bizarre statement. If I did I wouldn't host in my home. 

I have read posts here where hosts wanted the guests to be out all day- they actually were fussed about having strangers in their home and IMO, those people shouldn't be home hosting.

I enjoy my guests. We have interesting conversations, sometimes share a meal or a bottle of wine, I've been fascinated by some of their life stories, and most just act like friends, not strangers, to the point that it's often natural for us to give each other a big hug when they leave.

No, I have never had to list a barrage of house rules and expected behaviors, because my guests have been reasonable, considerate people who understand what it means for someone to open their home to them. And I don't fuss over every little thing, or almost anything. I haven't had to have "strict rules", and pretty much leave them be. I'm a pretty tolerant person, or I wouldn't be doing this.

You shouldn't have to "tell" someone who has booked a room in your home that being loud in the middle of the night, slamming doors, etc. isn't acceptable. That's not on the host, that's on the bad mannered people who book a shared home listing because it's cheaper, yet have no idea how to show respect for others, nor do they care. 

You are obviously someone who wouldn't be able to handle strangers in your home. Many of us do it quite happily and successfully, so perhaps you should actually respect what we have to say, rather than tell us we're wrong.