Not sure how to review guest. Please help.

[Julie3684]

Hi, I'm fairly new to this -opened in August and have been fortunate enough to be pretty busy. And maybe I've been really lucky with my previous guests so my expectations are too high.  We recently had a family of 4 (husband, wife, 2 littles) who booked last minute,  2 hours before check-in wanting a quick little getaway. She had four 5 star reviews on her profile and I didn't hesitate to accept.  There was no actual damage, but several things were moved and not put back, toddler used guest book as a scribble pad on several pages - one page would have been cute. (Also, side note- there is a separate tablet provided for notes, etc),  lots of little white crumbs or tiny bean bag stuffing? in kids bedroom on floor and under twin beds,  check-out instructions not followed ( I ask that garbage is moved to outside cans right outside door and start dishwasher) , pan left soaking in the sink,  and skid marks on master bedroom sheets😖.  I thought maybe they didn't see checkout instructions, but guest/doodle book was sitting on top of instruction page in Welcome book.   Am I overreacting or is this typical 5 star stuff? Not sure how she's rated so high previously. How would you rate?

[Helen427]

Hi @Julie3684 and welcome to ABB CC across the miles in Auckland, New Zealand.

Some of those things you have mentioned are extremely personal, how would you feel if someone wrote the same things about you if you were the guest, and they the host?

  I'd be inclined to write feedback in The Private feedback part of Reviews if at all.

Perhaps rank them down in cleanliness for failing to adhere to your Check out instructions.

Children, don't you love them to draw over things?

Some people are better at disciplinary action from a young age than others.

Have you got a chalk/ blackboard in your listing

Perhaps it's something to consider if you intend to host families with young children - include a photo & mention there's a chalk & duster & chalk/ blackboard for the children to use in a specific designated area outside...under a shady tree 🎄

All the Best

Central To All Home & Location

Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand 

[Julie3684]

Hi Remuera, 

Hello from Washington, the “Evergreen state”. New Zealand is on our bucket list of places to travel!! Such a beautiful place. Thank you for your feedback! 
I would never point out the personal stuff in a review, but I wanted to give you an accurate account and knew this was a safe place to write. 
I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t overreacting by not giving them a 5 star rating on cleanliness since that’s all they’ve gotten so far. 
Thanks again, 

Julie

[Sarah977]

@Julie3684Overall doesn't sound as bad as it could be for families with young kids, but as someone who raised 3 myself, I know that some parents just don't keep an eye on the kids like they should and don't seem to find anything wrong with letting them wander all over with food and sticky hands or ruin things.

Many hosts just don't leave honest reviews, unfortunately, and a lot of hosts who use IB don't realize that non-IB hosts aren't privy to guest star ratings, so they might leave low stars (because guests can't see how you rated them), yet shy away from saying anything negative in the written review. So keep that in mind when writing reviews yourself- make sure you tell it straight in the written part, not just the star ratings.

And some hosts think all guests are fine as long as they didn't trash the place. Or they feel they're being mean if they don't leave 5*s

I'd give them 3-4* cleanliness rating and 4*s for house rules as long as it was just the check-out rules that weren't followed.  In the written review, in addition to mentioning anything positive, like maybe their communication re ETA was fine, something like "check-out instructions were not followed and more supervision of the children, one of whom scribbled all over every page in our guest book, would have been appreciated". It's one thing to be distracted and not keep an eye on what the kids are up to, but not even letting you know and apologizing for the scribbled-in guest book was disrespectful.

Bean bag bits or crumbs, whatever they were, scattered around seems like something you shouldn't be surprised about if you accept families with little kids (and you have to vacuum anyway), and gross as it is, bodily fluids and such on linens are often part and parcel of hosting.

[Julie3684]

Thank you!  I think I was just surprised because of her 5 star rating and I’m one of those who didn’t want to be mean, overreact and ruin her perfect rating if it’s all par for the course. 
What is IB hosting? 

[Colleen253]

@Julie3684 

IB= Instant Book. I don't think you are over reacting, myself. Generally speaking, I reserve 5 stars for guests I would gladly host again, who pay kind attention to all my asks and leave the place tidy. Anything a bit below that, for small problems here and there, I generally give 4 stars, but that is flexible. My bar is high, so I do try to be objective at the same time. Overall guest attitude plays a major part in my decisions. 3 stars would be for a guest I would definitely not want to host again. 2 or 1 for someone who willfully damaged something or caused major problems.

Some hosts keep the bar low, or have a hard time being critical in any way shape or form with reviews, so that may explain the good rating for this guest.

[Julie3684]

Thanks for your help, Colleen!
I should’ve figured out IB hosting, lol. Most of my bookings are IB, just have never seen it abbreviated. 

Your rubric is also very helpful! I will definitely use it going forward 😊

Julie

[Ray-and-Thelma0]

If you say that you will not host a guest again, what does Airbnb do with that information?