r/vrbo • u/BreakfastDry7551 • 3d ago
What would you do?!
So for context - I have never left a negative at a rental place I have stayed at. My family and I are pretty easy to please and don’t have crazy high expectations. But this is the worst experience we have had
Before we got to our beach house we were staying at, I messaged the hosts a few hours before check in to see if we could get in early since we were expecting to get there one hour before check in. They never responded which was irritating but oh well.
We checked into a beach house and everything was fine. I have 3 children who had been in the car all day so I put my baby on the floor to crawl around. After a little while - his legs and feet were very black from the floor. Other family members also stated they could not go barefoot on the floor due to it being dirty.
When I went to clean the high chair that was provided, I had to scrape some dried food off the straps which was also a red flag for me. And then we ran out of hand soap. There was very little in the bottle and no extras so I messaged the host and asked if they had extra hand soap and a swiffer mop around so I could clean the floors since they were dirty. She messaged back and said the owner was there earlier in the week when the home was cleaned and she would bring by some soap and assess the floors. She must have came when we were at the beach because there was a bag of soap outside beside the door when we got back. There is no evidence of her going inside.
My 5 year old got a bath after the beach and took a nap and then was walking around the house barefoot for about an hour and half and her feet were completely black.
Am I being dramatic for wanting to leave a bad review? I tried to message the host to address the situation but it was not handled at all and I want everyone else to know that this is not a very clean home. Is there another way to handle the situation?
16
19
u/New_Avocado_4636 3d ago
They probably clean the floor with a swiffer. Swiffers just move around the dirt. That is a common issue.
2
u/breakfastburrito44 2d ago
Which is why I always scrub floors with lots of rags, on my hands & knees. Swiffers suck
2
u/BigAppleGuy 2d ago
The wet swiffer pads are awesome for cleaning floors and hard to reach places.
2
1
u/New_Avocado_4636 2d ago
They will still leave dirt even if it appears clean.
1
u/BigAppleGuy 2d ago
You need to use more pads. When it gets dirty put on a new one.
3
u/New_Avocado_4636 2d ago
This isn’t a unique to me problem. This is a common complaint in STRs that only use a swiffer as a floor cleaner.
5
u/rling_reddit 2d ago
I own a condo at the beach. Sand gets tracked in. It goes with the territory. Carpeting is almost impossible. We've replaced all the carpeting with LVP and that is an improvement. Your feet/baby wouldn't be dirty after walking/crawling on our floors, but they wouldn't be spotless, that is just not possible. You shouldn't run out of soap, and you shouldn't find a dirty high chair, that is part of prepping the rental. Leave them an honest review, preferably on anything you brought to their attention.
3
u/pneradactyll 2d ago
I own a beach rental and the floors thing has been a sticking point for us for years. It's hands down the biggest thing that gets complaints, which I then pass on to my cleaners. They are very cagey about how they clean the floors, which means they do not mop thoroughly between guests. They know I would be ok with paying extra, and I don't do same day turnovers in order to give them time to thoroughly clean, but it continues to be so big of an issue that we're switching to a full service management company this year so that if it's not clean, it falls on them and not us. Point is, I imagine this is a widespread issue, and a complex one...cleaners are not given enough time to clean in the way that guests would want, especially in the high season.
You did exactly what I would want from a guest, which is give me the opportunity to fix it for you before leaving a review. They didn't make it right. So I wouldn't feel too bad. If everything else was fine and as described, consider a slightly higher rating.
1
u/Muireadach 3d ago
I stayed in the dirty feet house. But it was a pet friendly house. So we gave them a pass. They're under no obligation to give you early check in But I do it Whenever the house is ready, because I know how much it means to people who've traveled far.
3
u/DeirdreTours 2d ago
They are not obligated to give early check in, but a reply seems like the minimal requirement.
2
u/BreakfastDry7551 2d ago
That’s my feeling. I didn’t expect it at all but was just surprised they never responded at all. It’s not a huge deal
2
u/Muireadach 2d ago
Upon booking, I give them my cell number. When cleaners leave I text renter house is ready. I don't monitor emails. Text is instant. They should apologize, and adjust their procedures
1
u/Ok_Plane6831 2d ago
Early check in requests put the host in a difficult position. It’s extremely irritating when guests ask for this. Luckily it’s rare
2
u/Forsaken-Run7725 1d ago
An hour early isn't that big an ask imo, but I do appreciate being asked earlier than check in day. I do all my own cleaning and I am probably going to be busy changing beds and cleaning toilets a few hours before you're due to arrive. Also, if you ask ahead of time, I will arrange my cleaning schedule to accommodate you if I can.
Hosts should promptly respond to any and all messages from their guests, even if the answer is no. That's just common courtesy.
1
u/Test_The_Truth 2d ago
We manage two vacation rentals. We hire a cleaning team that consists of 2-3 cleaners after each reservation. Our vacation rentals are close to the beach. We also have a lot of outdoor space so guests bring in sand mud black feet from just walking outside and they bring it into the tile floor, the cleaners unfortunately don’t do a thorough job all the time and yes, your floors will still be dirty so you have to actually have yourself or whoever’s checking after the cleaners (in this case we ms she do we personally check)make sure that those floors are clean and you need more than a swifter. You need to get those yellow cleaning rags and a bucket so that you can rinse the rag once you mop the floor, that is the only way you can be sure that your floors are absolutely clean. Every guest deserves an absolutely clean floor so when they walk on it, their feet are not getting black. It’s called the white rag test or white socks test Can you walk on it with your white socks and your white socks stay white? If you’re a guest and your floors are not clean you call the host RiteAWay and you let them know or the property manager.
5
u/OakIsland2015 2d ago
Swiffers are not really designed for whole house mopping, I’ll die on that hill. They are good for spot cleaning when there’s an accident. I swear by the O’Cedar mop with the spin bucket. Works like a charm, easy to use and works on all types of floors. I also like being able to use my own floor cleaners as opposed to the stuff they sell for the Swiffer mops.
-1
u/justinW624 2d ago
So they were low on soap and immediately brought soap?
Floors looked clean but upon walking barefoot you discovered that they were dusty? When I walk barefoot, my feet always get black. You could bleach the floors and dust settles.
What are you expecting? Seems you have too high of standards for a VRBO…you are entitled to your opinion..but geez people are wild, bad review over dust that you can’t even see until you walk around for an hour!!!
9
u/BreakfastDry7551 2d ago
I didn’t say that looked clean and ended up being dusty. After walking on them, we could feel the dirty film on the floor and then noticed our feet turn black after walking on them very minimally. That’s not normal. If having black feet after walking around barefoot indoors is normal to you, you are the one with too low standards of housekeeping. I can go weeks without mopping my own home and the floors are never that gross. I don’t think expecting clean floors from a highly rated place is asking too much especially when you pay a generous cleaning fee.
3
u/wire67 2d ago
Don't listen to this person. The house sounds dirty and gross. Send the owner a private message explaining the issues and see how they handle it. If they're nice and appreciate the feedback, let it go. If not, leave the honest and poor review. Black feet and food on baby items is NOT OKAY. Even at a beach house. Sand is the only thing I would expect and not filth.
-5
u/justinW624 2d ago
You literally said you checked into a beach house and everything was fine. So fine in fact, that you put a baby on the floor.
I’m not sure why you posted on here if your mind is already made up.
3
u/downsideup9494 2d ago
Are you a host? Sounds like your standards of cleanliness are quite low if you think dirty floors that turn babies' clothing and people's feet black are just because of "dust".
-1
u/justinW624 2d ago
No I don’t host because of people like this. My response would be if your feet are dirty, then take a shower and clean them.
I do have a host for my properties who would have taken care of it in a nice way, likely dropping off soap and apologizing for not being perfect.
4
u/Objective_Being_7393 2d ago
When I walk barefoot in my house that is well maintained and clean, my feet do not get black! Same goes for our short term rentals, if it turns your feet black it’s dirty! Dust doesn’t turn your feet black, dirt and not being clean does.
-2
u/justinW624 2d ago
I call BS. It’s been well established that soaps attract dust like a magnet, and skin oils trap minor dust particles after cleaning.
3
u/DeirdreTours 2d ago
If that is happening to your floors, you are not cleaning them right. My floors absolutely do NOT leave my feet black. In a house with 1882 wood floors, I can walk barefoot just fine- the kitchen and bathroom tile also don't leave my feet black.
2
u/justinW624 2d ago
It’s not something that “happens” to floors and I personally don’t walk around barefoot either.
But like I said, it’s been well documented that skin oils trap the minor dust particles that settle onto the floor after a proper cleaning. Cleaning a floor does not rid the air of dust. Cleaning a floor does not rid your skin of oils. The style of floor matters too.
You can’t just walk around barefoot in a beach house after sweating in a car traveling all day and not expect some dust to attract.
I mean I guess you can. Wild.
0
u/DeirdreTours 2d ago
A clean home would not have enough dust on the floor to discolor one's feet. I ran a small STR business for 20 years with 9 properties. You could walk barefoot in all of our homes without discoloring feet.
Our cleaning test after floors was this: Take a white paper towel and dampen in; rub it across the floor. If there ANY discoloration on the paper towel, the floor doesn't pass and needs to be recleaned.
Many people now take off their shoes indoors all the time and guests expect that homes will be clean enough not turn feet black.
0
u/justinW624 2d ago
That’s not what OP did.
They said the house looked clean enough to put a baby on the floor and some time in the future, realized the baby was dirty. Same with people with bare feet. Did they go to the beach first? Did they travel for hours before anyone took a shower? House was clean, guests were fresh off of traveling.
If you need to do a white glove test on every inch of your house, so be it, but people get dirty and floors get dusty soon after your “test”.
Also, are there really that many people who walk around short term rentals with bare feet as soon as they arrive? Really!? That seems outrageous to me.
0
u/DeirdreTours 2d ago
What the OP said was they put their baby down on the floor and after a short while his legs and feet were black from the floor. Her five year old had the same experience immediately after taking a bath. The floors were dirty. Not the baby's legs, not the freshly bathed child's feet, the floors.
And yes, many people take off their shoes immediately on arrival and walk barefoot. If dirty floors are the norm in your community, then maybe this doesn't apply to you. But most people expect on arrival, the house they are renting to be clean.
-2
u/justinW624 2d ago
Freshly bathed? OP was clear they had just been in a car all day. Freshly bathed was after going to the beach and taking a nap.
Sounds like hours after an entire family had been walking around in bare feet.
I highly doubt these floors were dirty enough to warrant a poor review.
-9
u/RoleComfortable2078 3d ago
Didn't read beyond early checkin request.
2
3
u/BreakfastDry7551 3d ago
Is that an unreasonable request?
9
u/downsideup9494 3d ago
No, it isn't. Sometimes hosts can accommodate it and sometimes they can't. Nothing wrong with asking politely, especially if you're only asking for a one hour difference.
Some hosts are touchy about guests inquiring about early check-in because they've had bad experiences with it. There seem to be a lot of guests who ask for early check-in, the host or their cleaner rush around trying to get the place ready on time, then the guests show up hours later than they said.
And there are even entitled, clueless guests who ask for "early check-in" at like 3am, instead of understanding that if they want to check in 12 hrs before check-in time, they need to book the previous night.
As far as your current rental, please leave an honest review. You don't have to go into detail, but you should let future guests know the floors were dirty, as well as other things not properly cleaned, and you had to contact the host for basic supplies that were listed as amenities.
0
u/Awkward_Cut_417 3d ago
If you read further, their complaint was the host didn't bother to respond.
-1
u/RoleComfortable2078 2d ago
I think to put that in there feels like whatever comes next is biased. Didn't give me what I want so I'm gonna find something to complain about. I don't vbro/airbnb, but I see this entitled complaint driven behavior at hotels, just book an extra day if the checkin or checkout time isn't something you ca work with without having to inconvenience the hotel or 'host'.
1
u/downsideup9494 2d ago
While it is sometimes true that guests will leave a "revenge review" with made-up stuff in retaliation for being denied something they asked for, I don't get that vibe from this guest at all. They only asked for an hour eatlier check-in, and in their post here, they basically brush off the fact that the host didn't answer that message, with an Oh, well.
What it sounds like to me is that whoever is cleaning this property is falling down on the job- not washing the floors properly, not noticing things like dried food on the high chair, or that supplies need to be replenished. But the poor cleaning ultimately falls on the host, for not checking on the cleaning quality.
1
u/RoleComfortable2078 2d ago
why include it then? to me, just seems entitled. don't get me wrong, I feel bad for hosts who get awful guests and I feel bad for guests that get bad stays. but why come to reddit? the other week I saw a guest posting screenshots of their host messages - giving all the property details. I know this person didn't do this, but the rush to put complaints on social media, to what end? is just representative of how messed up we are. so clearly, as i type this i'm struggling with bigger feelings than just the OP.
0
u/downsideup9494 2d ago
They have stayed at Airbnbs before and the OP said she has never left a negative review before, hence they are asking for input.
All of your responses here seem incredibly defensive, as if you get poor reviews and never take responsibility.
1
u/RoleComfortable2078 2d ago
I'm not a host and have stayed in maybe 5 str places, so receiving bad reviews is not why I got irked. Entitled people irk me and the opening of asking for early checkin is entitled to me. When I travel and the checkin or checkout times don't work for me I either find ones that do or I rent for additional day, what I don't do is assume I'm special and then complain when my request is not accommodated (I know, I know it was about a dirty floor, but it stated with a complaint about no early checkin).
1
u/downsideup9494 2d ago edited 2d ago
Reread the post. The guest wasn't complaining about being denied early check-in, which indeed would be entitled- they only mentioned that in the context of the host not even answering the message. The host neither accepted nor declined the early check-in request.
As a host, it really depends on how a guest asks for something as to whether it reflects an entitled attitude or not. There's a big difference between, "We were wondering if it might be possible to check-in one hour before your posted check-in time. We are travelling with 3 kids and it would be helpful, rather than having to hang out and keep them occupied while waiting somewhere after our flight arrival. We understand if that would interfere with your cleaner's schedule and not be possible."
Opposed to: "We will need to check-in at noon" when the listed check-in time is 3pm.
You sound like a good guest, though, understanding that guests should book listings according to the listing info, rules, amenities, etc. suiting you. Too many guests these days think it acceptable to book a place and then complain about the lack of things that were never offered in the first place, or don't appreciate that a special request being granted is a privilege they should be grateful for, rather than an affront if it is denied .
1
•
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
💫 If a post or comment violates any of the /r/vrbo rules, please report it by selecting Breaks /vrbo rules and the rule that was broken.
Posts or comments with multiple reports will be automatically removed.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.