I just got my first bad review as a guest. I have 20 reviews overall. The host said that I allowed my dog on furniture, did not mop the floors and had extra guests over.
I did all the above.
The dog: I allow pets on furniture at my Airbnb's. It is not an enforceable rule plus most humans are messier than most dogs. If this was in her listing (and it did allow dogs and I paid a pet fee), I would not have booked. I made an assumption that this was ok, she made an assumption that everyone knows not to let dogs on furniture. I guess I will know to ask next time before booking. She will have more "bad" guests if she does not spell this out
The mopping: there were check out rules posted on the fridge and I followed them. Apparently there were more rules in the listing itself and I did not look there. I am surprised she only mentioned the mopping as there was a whole list I did not follow. I assumed that what was posted on the fridge were my instructions. She assumed read (and remembered) the entire listing including house rules. I should know better as a fellow host to do so. I think there are three categories of people: those who will leave a place better than they found it; those who will clean if they are told (me); those who will leave a mess no matter what.
This host assumed I will explicitly seek out check out rules or would clean as if this were my home. I assumed I paid a cleaning fee, I am on vacation and if I need to do anything specific it would be obvious. I probably would have not booked if I saw the cleaning requirements in the listing (too much for me). I have revisited her listing and I found all of this in house rules. You have to scroll all the way down past reviews, map etc. you then see icons for house rules- check in and out, pets etc. You then needs to click on show more to read her text.
I do not think any guest will go through that much reading trouble and if they do, they are not going to remember all of that when the time comes to stay. I cant blame it on the host either however as one myself, this is not how I should be displaying anything I actually want read by my guests
The guests: we were there for my daughters sports camp. Her friends came over and parents picked them up. No one stayed overnight and the number was under the total head count. I did not cook for them, they did not shower. I allow guests and do not charge for them however require IDs and advanced notice. There was no such language in this listing. The host must have assumed this was a given that no one can come over. I actually specifically booked a bigger place knowing she would have friends over so again would not have booked if this were in the rules.
I am not making excuses for my behavior. I am posting this so we can all gain perspective of a guest. I genuinely had no clue how bad of a guest I was. I personally have learnt a lot from this about guest vs host expectations, what should be communicated and how.
