@Anonymous @Enri1804 I totally understand and respect why other hosts probably think the approach I took with my guest was too lenient.
However, my decision was based on the guest's overall adherence to house rules. I rarely get guests who are as conscientious about my rules as this one. I mean he really took care to understand and follow them and ask me about anything at all that he was unsure of. So, yes, he CHOSE to break that particular rule, but I kind of understand why. That doesn't make it okay, I know, but I was willing to overlook it having weighed up everything else. He was also very young and it was his first airbnb stay. I didn't want to slam him in the reviews/ratings and scupper his chances when overall he was one of my better guests! Again, I understand why other hosts would find this to be flawed logic.
What I probably should have done is address the subject with him, and I started to a couple of times, but I guess I was too 'soft'. He was such a sweet kid.
I think @Alan1159 's situation is a bit different. I have no idea how old the guest was and therefore whether he should have known better, but he writes
@Alan1159 wrote:
Otherwise, the guests were not troublesome, did not damage the place and were not unusually dirty or anything like that.
which means the guest wasn't BAD in any other way, but it doesn't stand out to me that the guest was great in every other way, which mine was. Also, his guest did have an outdoor area to smoke weed, which mine didn't, so violated a house rule completely unnecessarily, as he mentions.
In hindsight, I would probably review a bit more harshly in that situation. I don't regret being generous with my guest's review, because I honestly think he is a great guest. However, I do regret not having a gentle word with him during his stay to tell him that it was not okay and educate him a bit hopefully to the benefit of his future hosts. My bad!