Need Help: A Difficult Review

Huaai0
Level 10
British Columbia, Canada

Need Help: A Difficult Review

I'm currently hosting two guests, one of them being an older Taiwanese gentleman. He seems kind, friendly, and is soft-spoken, and I enjoy chatting with him. However, he has some problems and I find it hard to communicate those issues to him.

 

1) Upon check-in, I gave him a thorough orientation, and I particularly told him how to classify garbage. I showed him where to dump recyclable garbage as well as the food waste step can. However, he didn't follow me and threw his banaba peel into my recyclable garbage today, while the food waste step can is just next to it.

 

2) Since my guest bathroom is shared and I'm unable to clean after everyone's use, I asked all guests to maintain the cleanliness after their use. This gentleman simply didn't listen, and left so much pxxxc hair in the bathtub. I was simply lost for words!

 

3) Yesterday, he called someone to pick him up at my house to go somewhere without letting me know in advance. And that guy rang my door bell like crazy. I came down and told him about the door bell ringing etiquette--Do not rind the door bell multiple times within three minutes! Give me sometime to come down to open the door for you!

 

And, upon check-in, he seemed that he didn't want to miss any single thing that he was entitled to have access to. Although I have a good temper and can normally tolerate it, I still find it a little unpleasant, when the guest behaves that way.

 

I feel that this gentleman is by nature not a repulsive or selfish person. I feel that he is just not sensitive to the Airbnb culture or house guest etiquette. I'm not sure how I should write his review, because I don't want to be too harsh on him, and yet I don't want to simply put in the review "A good guest willing to observe house rules, Highly recommended!" Based on my experiences, if a host writes something like that, normally it means this guest is not that great. LOL

 

Any ideas? 

1 Reply 1
Gerry-And-Rashid0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Huaai0

 

Language and cultural differences seem to be the main issue here - as you say, he is not an unpleasant person, but perhaps not used to sharing a home, or the AirBnB experience.

 

Personally I think it is wrong to give him a bad review - however I would mention to him in private feedback that he should have been more attentive to certain issues.

 

Also, I think it is true to say that a guest who makes little mistakes, they tend to become magnified and probably more stressful than they would be individually.

 

At worst I might say something like: Pleasant gentleman, and culturual and language obstacles aside, he was a good guest.