ratings and nice people

[Marjie0]

I had a couple over the weekend. They had a baby so I gave them my room, which is bigger since they had a crib, and also has a queen bed. I slept on the couch for two nights. Said I would babysit for them. Made them muffins, both for breakfast and to take on the road. Rushed out and replaced my broken microwave because they said they needed one. Suggested places they could go with the baby. They broke my shade. Still gave them 5 stars. She gave me four because of dust. But still said they would love to stay again.

 A few weeks ago, a mom and daughter rented the same small room. Gave them my bigger room with a queen bed so they would have more room. Offered to let them have both rooms so they could each have their own bed. Then they marked I didn't give them the room in the picture.

In both cases, they were super nice people. Just venting and probably sound silly. But it's so frustrating when you work really hard to give them a good experience and they don't give you five stars. Am I being too crazy about stars!

[Farah1]

@Marjie0 you are not too crazy about stars, you are just too nice.

[Marjie0]

Thanks!

[Vanessa-and-Kurt0]

@Marjie0

Wow! You go over and above and yor reviews are great! Don't sweat the 4 stars as most guests just don't understand the system. Maybe try this: I just come right out and tell people I am giving them 5 star service, sometimes I even do it more than once. I just work it into conversation "Good morning, coffee is ready, just another 5 star service I provide", "It's raining, do you need an umbrella, I want to make sure you get my famous 5 star service". It felt a little cheesy at first but it works-5 stars on evert stay so far!

2 things to note: It's probably not a good idea to babysit for a guest. So much can go wrong. And, your guest who left you 4 stars for the room change left you a good public review-it was your response that indicated that the stay was anything but excellent-only defend yourself if your guest left a bad public review. However, host responses are really for the benefit of future guests to determine what kind of host you are-defending yourself usually brings more attention to the post so its best to respond graciously and succinctly with the future guest audience in mind.

[Marjie0]

You are 100 percent right and thanks for the reminder! So strange it is the people you think are so nice and are going to give you a great review!

[Kate157]

@Marjie0 Last year I finished setting up the apartment on our lower level for guests (after my daughter moved out). It is a decently sized space, big bedroom, sitting room, an open area with kitchenette plus private bathroom. It is all self-contained. I had been renting out my spare bedroom on the upper level (where my husband and I live) with a shared bathroom. I had a few guests lined up for the single room, but since the new space was ready, I told the "room" guests I was upgrading them to the apartment. I thought they would all be thrilled as it's a bigger, much more private space. They were ok, but not grateful or enthusiastic. It just shows people can be funny sometimes. I think you are a fantastic host, so don't let this get you down. But, you have to be comfortable too, so keep that in mind before jumping through hoops to please people who will take it all for granted.