We are in Costa Rica and recently completed our property build (November 2023) on a large 4500m parcel in a quiet neighborhood that features our home, a sleeps-2 one bedroom Casita, a sleeps-4 two bedroom Casita (both fully equipped homes), as well as our main draw: a lovely pool area and adjacent pavilion featuring a sound system that we control the volume of (guest choice of music from SiriusXM). We rent each home individually and also a 3rd “listing” called the Whole Enchilada that combines both Casitas in a single booking.
1st Party: Pool area hours are normally until 8pm; we make rare exceptions for single night bookings, especially if a late arrival). guests rented both homes for 1 night. Asked if we could extend the pool hours by “a couple hours”. Sure, no problem. Asked if they could bring a small Bluetooth speaker up to the pool area. We said sure, please keep the volume low. One extra person arrived. The volume of their “nightclub-style dance music” crept up and up….. until 3am when they moved the “nightclub” party to the 2-bedroom Casita. Then on and on until 7am. I got about an hour of sleep, and had to apologize to our 88-year-old neighbor 😕 They left the homes in perfect condition. What’s worse is I couldn’t warn other Hosts in the review, because she is ALSO A HOST so would have seen the warning. I texted her on WhatsApp after checkout, stating she would not be welcomed back with the same disrespectful behavior.
2nd Party: Following weekend (what are the odds?) another booking for both homes for 6 people for 1 night. Coming in two groups. I explained that although they get a gate code to enter the property, we like to greet our guests and show them how to use the sometimes confusing cable box (app enabled). Guest Response: “Oh! I thought it was Self-check.” 1st red flag 🚩 My response, “it is, would you prefer to check in on your own and just let us know if you need anything. Feel free to use the pool area until 10pm instead of posted hours of 8pm since you are arriving a bit late.” Guest response: “You are also on the property? I thought it was a private property and we could use the pool as long as we wanted!” 2nd red flag 🚩 My response: “It is a private property, the pool area is only for our booked guests… our listing clearly states on-site Hosts.” First three guests arrive. Then, an hour later, the BUS pulls into the property, disgorging 10 MORE PEOPLE, folding tables, TWO box speakers each twice the size of our 4-slice toaster, and numerous other items clearly designed for a major night of celebration. 🚩 🚩 🚩 I immediately texted the daughter of the lady who booked (was my WhatsApp contact for the booking) BEFORE the bus left, saying everyone except the 6 Guests on the reservation (had all 6 names from earlier communication) needed to leave right now please!! They asked to come up to our home & talk. Ok, but the BUS & driver does not leave. Very politely said they did not know they couldn’t invite “friends” to celebrate her birthday. Our response (after some back & forth) was the additional people could stay, but ONLY until 11pm and a per person additional charge of $20/person would be added to the booking. They agreed, accepted the change at 8:00. Then ALL just left at around 9:00. Again, super polite, saying they were going to a different house. Homes were in perfect condition. We offered to refund the “Additional people charge”, and did. In cash, three days later, because they did not accept the payment reversal before our payout by AirBnB. She sent her dad to pick up the refund . I wrote a simple receipt in both English and Spanish and we both signed 2 copies, and I photographed one copy with his ID for good measure.
We changed our “weekend night” both home rental to a 2-night minimum. Our listing has always clearly stated “No Loud Parties, quiet Celebrations are allowed.”
As we have only just started renting and we’re on-track for SuperHost status (we had and still have all 5-star ratings and will become SuperHosts in January!), we were fearful of a negative review if we told the first set, music OFF & please Vacate the pool area, and with the second set if we either refused to accommodate her friends in some way, or simply said, everyone out!
All who have read this far: THANK YOU!
1. Any community advice beyond what we’ve done?
2. How would AirBnB handle a negative review from a guest given their blatant disregard of our house rules and outrageous behavior?
Thanks!! Lisa & Don -Atenas Costa Rica
