Wrote my first 2-Star review and... guest was gracious!

[Isabel203]

After 40 guests, I just had to write my first "not recommended" review.  Right from the get go, I was a bit worried: Their picture looked a bit intimidating; they weren't very forthcoming in their messages. Nonetheless, I stuck by my booking rules (which they met) and accepted the reservation. When they arrived, they were very pleasant and respectful. We had a nice chat as I showed them around. A couple times during their stay, we ran into each other on the property and exchanged a friendly good morning. They were quiet. All was great!

Then, after checkout, I headed down to the suite to start cleaning and found... a MESS!!. No damage, but 3 hours later, I'm still cleaning.

No doubt in my mind that other hosts need to know about his messy habits, so I sat down to write the review (ugh).

Of course, I worried about whether I was being fair (too harsh ? not harsh enough?), about the kind of impact the reiew would have on the guest (afterall, they weren't EVIL, just sloppy) and whether the guest would make things difficult for me in return. I acknowledged what the guest did right, gave a factual description of the mess they left behind, took a deep breath, and clicked "submit". And then... within minutes, the guest responded with a brief apology and a "god bless".

Just thought it was worth sharing this, since so often we here about the times things get nasty. Even problem guests can pleasantly surprise us!

[Jack158]

Isabel -

  Usually a guest would not have low ratings in all of the categories that AIRBNB offers. It is ok to rate a guest low in the categories that they are really a problem in.   I just rated a recent guest low on Communication  because she left in the middle of the first night without leaving a note or ever returning. I was very worried. She also was "gruff" and "curt" and would not allow me to tell her about the neighborhood and places to eat and visit. She was unfriendly. Yes, that is her personality but I think other hosts might like to be prepared for that and not think it is something wrong with the host.  She definitely was not a good communicator. But I rated her high on leaving the place clean, because she did. 

         It does take me a couple hours to do the laundry but I keep a second set of sheets and towels so I don't need to wait for the dirty laundry to be processed.  It akes me about 15 minutes to clean the room and bathroom and restore items in the refrigerator in the room. I offer a box of wine, a couple sodas, fruit juices, and beer in the refrigerator. Every few guests I also vacuum and check the windows. I use the spray lemon dusting agent to do a last minute dusting so the room smells nice just before a guest arrives.

        After a guest arrives, I take a few minutes to show them what is in their room and bathroom drawers; at that time I can replenish if needed and guests appreciate that. I also wrote a page called "The History of Your Room" which tells some of the history of the house and neighborhood and draws attention to the historic fabric of the room.  I also have a one page handout "Welcome to My House"  that tells where to park, where to take a walk and what to see in the neighborhood, the WiFi password, the front door entry code, where to eat, and where the bikes are located.  Hope  that information helps someone.

Jack

[Webizz0]

yes u are right..