Speaking for our properties, comments made by guests have helped continuously improve experiences for the next guests. We really want your feedback. Our properties have a book which we encourage you to write in. This book is available for all guests to read. At the end of your stay, we want you to reward us with a five-star rating.
The rating has to be earned. You as a guest can help us not only earn a five-star rating but keep it. Sometimes we experience the “can’t see the forest for the trees” syndrome. You may notice something that we have overlooked. Everyone who stays at one of our properties or any property has a different experience depending upon how they utilized all of the features of the property.
For example, some use the washer and dryer to launder their clothing so they will be in a position to tell us how that experience was. Others do not use the laundry and are unable to contribute to our continuous effort to improve. While I am speaking about our properties here, the same holds for any vacation rental that you visit.
Most owners strive to keep their properties in great condition. A few and they are the exceptions, can create a bad impression for all of us. This is why you should take the idea of leaving comments seriously. If you stay at a vacation rental and it is dirty, not well organized, fails to deliver on multiple promises, reflect your experience in their book and online.
This burgeoning democracy of the internet is at least for this industry helping to make us all better at being good hosts. The bad ones will simply go away. Many of our guests are not first-time vacation renters. On occasion, we do have a guest who is new to this type of accommodation. Recently one such guest stayed at our newest property and had wonderful things to say about it. “Extremely clean” was one statement that felt good to hear.
Some of our properties are historic homes and they do require more maintenance effort than newer homes. We are constantly adjusting the doors and other things that wear as the property gets older. That said, there is no reason for the property not to be clean and presentable inside and out. If there is an issue the hosts should communicate the to you.
This past year one of our primary properties suffered some damage due to a hurricane. The damage was strictly outside and did not affect the interior. The porch piers are damaged and we had them repaired soon after the hurricane but not before guests arrived who had already reserved. They could continue to use the porch but the repaired columns needed more cosmetic work. We explained this to our guests and they understood.
This is different from a property that is deteriorating and the owners have failed to keep it property maintained.
A comment one of our guests made was well taken. The property needed mirrors in bedrooms because with a large number of guests (up to 8), people were trying to get ready to leave at the same time and not everyone could use the bathroom mirror. Mirrors were installed within days of the guest’s comments.
At another property, a guest called the host and explained that one of the beds was hard to sleep in. Our host went to the property when the guest was out (with their permission) and found that the bed was indeed worn out. Before the guest returned the host replaced the mattress with a new one. The guest was very pleased and rewarded us with a five-star rating.
Obviously, I can not speak for every host or property owner however, it stands to reason that comments from guests will only help improve future experiences not just for the guest who is commenting but for others as well. Not all guests will be satisfied with our properties. It’s a fact. One guest left a lower rating on one of the third-party websites for a property. As it happens the guest just did not like the area, not just where the property was located but the Gulf Coast. This leads me to a few comments of my own.
Guests should be thoughtful about their comments. Do not blame the host for things beyond their control e.g. a neighboring property where there was a fire or other incident which kept them up all night. The area because the waves were not high enough. Local restaurants because they did not serve a specific food.
Some guests give hosts low ratings because they are upset about issues that have nothing to do with the property itself. On one occasion a guest left a low rating because guests at a neighboring property were loud. We had no control over that property. Had we known that the guest was offended by that noise, we would have attempted to contact the hosts for that property.
Remember that vacation rentals are a business and that the suggestion or failure of their business will depend in part on comments from guests. If the property can not achieve at least four stars on average they will have a hard time staying open. It’s fairly simple If you enjoyed yourself at the property, it was as advertised, give the host a five-star rating. If the property had minor issues and they were addressed consider a five-star or four-star. Any rating lower than four stars will hurt their business.
If you believe that there were issues that could have been corrected and were not but they were minor in nature, give no rating at all. Leave comments in their book or communicate directly to the hosts. If however, the property was a “dump”, leave a rating commensurate with your experience there.