We need help on writing a review about our young guests

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

So, we hosted a group of 7 very young guests (18 y.o.) for 4 days. They instant booked so we had no idea how old they are until their arrival.

They obviously had a party because we have found 4 bags full of bottles, lemon, mint and a lot of candles ...( we are very lucky they didn't burn any furniture or the whole house.)

There was a big stain of some liquid on the wall but fortunately we have a washable wall paint so no damage was done. We just had to wash it.

A part of our foldable sofa is broken and we didn't notice it until after our next guests checked out 2 days later, but we are almost 100% sure the first group broke it.  The damage is not reparable but sofa is still usable.

They were polite on check in, they did clean the worst mess and dishes but of course we spent a bit more  time to clean then usual.

We haven't met any naighbours yet so we still don't know if they were loud or not.

They didn't make any significant damage but they are very RISKY group to host. I would rather not host them again until they were few years older. They are good kids but you can immagine a group of 18 y.o. on hollidays without parents 😕

How would you review them? Would you review them at all?

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Yes, I would review them. But wait until you check with the neighbors as to whether they were a disturbance. If not, maybe something like "This very young group were polite on check-in and obviously did make an effort to clean up, however more than usual cleaning time was required after their stay, and evidence of many candles being used was cause for fire hazard concern." I'd also send them some private feedback, letting them know that it is not okay to burn candles in someone else's home, especially when it was obvious that they were drinking, so that they could have burned the place down, mention the broken sofa, stain on the wall, etc. and let them know that more mature behavior is expected from Airbnb guests. Personally I like to give young people a chance to understand what they did wrong and be afforded the opportunity to improve, unless the behavior is really bad, rather than just immature.

I hate people using candles- aside from the fire hazard, they end up dripping wax everywhere, which has to be scraped off floors and counters and if it drips on upholstery or rugs is almost impossible to remove. I plant candles in a container of sand- when they drip, it just goes into the sand, and if someone falls asleep with them lit, they will go out on their own once the flame melts the candle down to the sand.

I don't know that the fact that you found evidence of drinking could really be considered to be breaking your "no parties" rule unless the neighbors say there were many more people coming and going than the 7 booked guests. Seven 18 year olds are a party unto themselves. And 7 people of any age may drink together while staying- the issue is whether they were disturbing the neighbors, being super loud, blasting music, and invited unbooked guests.

I have to say, I don't think 18 should be considered old enough to book on Airbnb. While I know some 12 year olds who are far more mature and responsible than some 35 year olds, most 18 year olds, generally speaking, are pretty immature and clueless.

[Kenneth12]

Thumbs down,  accurate on cleanliness / House Rules etc.
"Nice young kids,  they instant booked,  appear to have held an unauthorized party [describe mess].  [Either "neutral" or "can't recommend."]

The ability to instant booked based on a single positive recommendation you got as part of a group trip booked by someone else,   is absolutely ridiculous-- and an ABB liability.

[Kelly149]

I take large groups & abb allows all 18YOs to book, so my listing specifically says "no illegal behavior". I ask for names, ages, addresses of all guest prior to arrival and tell them that IDs will (may) be checked at arrival. So, any time I have any underage guests on the reservations I tell them that any alcohol on premises is illegal and therefor just cause for terminating their reservation and I'm also a little more 'school marm' on the intro/walkthru so that they know this isn't a faceless hotel where they can dump and run. Helps that our space is in our backyard.

The last time I had a young group that wasn't awful but not awesome, mainly bc they were too young to know better, my review was accurate with stars (less for cleanliness, rules & communication) and then just said "students on summer holiday IB for 2 days" 

So, that gives away the age/maturity issue without any ageism and should alert other hosts that they weren't great, but guests may not know that it isn't a good review

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sarah977, @Kelly149, @Kenneth12 thank you for your help.

As a mother I would like to educate them and give them a chance to improve as Sarah suggested. Silvia would rather be short and skip all the details and write something like Kelly did: "students on hollidays".

I can't tell if they invited more people in, as Sarah said - 7 kids are party for themselves.

They also asked for late check out (maybe to get more time to clean the mess) but we had back to back bookings so we couldn't allow it.

My biggest concern was noise, fire hazard and a big stain on the wall. If we wouldn't have a washable wall paint we should have to repaint it. I think future hosts should be aware of this risks. A bunch of young guests + alcohol is a receipt for a disaster. We were lucky, the next host might not be.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

What do you think about this review?

"This very young group of 7 students on hollidays were polite on check-in and obviously did make an effort to clean up, however a bit more than usual cleaning time was required after their stay and evidence of candles and alcohol being used was cause for fire hazard concern. We have no doubt they will be great guests once they become more mature.  "

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Sounds pretty perfect to me.