The hardship of honeymooners

[Laura2592]

We just don't seem to have good luck with honeymooning couples. Any tips or experiences along the same lines?

We are currently hosting one with no reviews who wanted to extend the stay at the last minute. Couldn't figure out how to alter the reservation so I did it for him. After a few days of silence suddenly he had a ton of questions which are all answered in the house guide. He asked about a pool-- we sometimes have guests who for whatever deluded reason think we have a pool. We don't. We don't mention the word "pool." None of the nearby listings have a pool so I am not sure who they confuse us with. And they have been in the house a few days now. You would think they would SEE a pool if we had one. I sent him info on local pools and a park nearby with lake swimming. 

We had the infamous honeymooners with the firelog incident. We have had lots of really gross clean up of bio fluids after these guests. Once my cleaners just said "we aren't paid enough for this" and we had to go in behind and replace mattress pads/scrub down walls. I used to get excited when someone said they were booking for a honeymoon. Now I dread it. And I always feel really badly leaving an honest review, especially if its the first on their profile. They are on their honeymoon after all. 

Because we target couples I can't really say "no honeymooners." I'd love any tips or ideas for how better to deal with these guests. 

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 @Colleen253 @Anonymous @Branka-and-Silvia0 @Z-2 

Huh! We love hosting honeymoons and anniversaries (sometimes the latter are return visitors from the former). They are universally blissed out and happy with whatever happens. We've never had any kind of weird or excessive clean-up. Maybe it's a left coast thing!  😉

[Anonymous]

@Lisa723 well you just made this Left Coaster throw up in my mouth a little, congratulations! 

[Lisa723]

@Anonymous happy to help.

[Laura2592]

@Lisa723 well I can say from the number of cannabis treats these guests left behind that they were probably pretty well blissed out lol. But clean up left a lot to be desired. Our honeymoon guests are, on the whole, not our best guests. I wish that was different.

[Debra300]

@Laura2592,

We had one honeymoon couple at our Atlanta apartment last year.  When we went in after their checkout, the place was in pretty good condition, but it smelled like they had cooked/takeout something akin to a skunk's a$$.  I don't know what it was, but it took an extra thorough cleaning and few days to air out the odor.

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  Leaving cannabis treats everywhere is a little dangerous, isn't it, especially for a place that accepts pets?  What if the cleaners missed one of these packets and the next guests' children or dogs got them?  Or what if there were gummies on the floor that got missed?  That is SO F. RUDE.  I can't tell, the stove finish looks ruined to me, but it sounds like you were able to clean it.  Yikes. 

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 oh I know! They were obviously high the whole time.  🙄 But yes we cleaned the stove. Took 4 or 5 total passes 

[Lisa723]

@Laura2592 @Anonymous today we got a request from somebody who wants to reserve our cabin to propose-- they had their first vacation together there three years ago and his "whole [proposal] plan revolves around booking this location again." Even though he's going to have to wait until our first open dates, in November. Last year a couple who honeymooned there came back for their 20th anniversary. I love it that people remember our place this way.

(Though I'm not sure how I'd feel about someone's proposal to me being contingent on a rental cabin's availability...)

[Brian2036]

I’m really surprised to hear about the problems with honeymooners. Romantic couples have always been our best guests and we actively solicit their business.

 The plus side is that they don’t bring bratty children with them and they are unlikely to have visitors, parties, or complaints.  They come looking for privacy and they get it.

 I have a suspicion that some of them may not actually be married/engaged/whatever to each other but I really don’t want to know.

No doubt I will eventually be treated to a couple who “treats my home as if it were their own” only to find that they live in a pigsty and see nothing wrong with general filthiness.

 I once had someone mention that “the toilet was so clean that I was afraid to use it…”

 I don’t want to know what she thinks is “normal.”

[Laura2592]

@Brian2036 I thought FOR SURE that honeymooners would be awesome guests. We really do go all out for them. But thus far they have been some of our worst. I do think that a few of them (like maybe this last couple) are not actually honeymooners but just kids looking for extra freebies. Unless the wedding had a 420 theme.

[Teresa1605]

I don’t know if this might help, but I somehow verify wedding related events. I require that all guests be identified by first and last names.  I ask for the bride’s color themes to match table cloths (which I do).  Usually, I get a copy of  something with the couples names that shows their colors. 

I have hosted bridal showers, parents who meet each other for the first time and couples with friends scouting out the area for weddings. No honeymooners.

Now as to trashing a home, it was two respectable businessmen who were triple faded (alcohol, adderall & cannabis). Go to the post about cannabis smoke detectors to see photos. So, your guests were high. If you have no smoking in the rules, definitely charge them for the damage they caused. 

And please give examples in the review you give them, as it is vague and another host might not understand fully. Say you do not recommend them. 

[Laura2592]

@Teresa1605 you actually can't  give examples that state the guests were drunk, high or using substances in a review. First, finding it left behind is not a guarantee they used it (they could argue) and second, stating that a guest was intoxicated is a no no per ABB rules that can get your review pulled. Hosts are required to read between the lines. My review was intentionally vague for a reason. The biggest problem was not the edible consumption itself but the clean up which resulted in finding more edibles in odd places. If we were not as thorough the next guest would have run into some weird items which could have really hurt a pet or child if accidentally ingested. I did mention both points.