leave mixed review for a vacation rental or no?

[Anonymous]

We just stayed at a rental over the long weekend that had a lot of 5-star reviews on all platforms.
To be honest I wouldn't stay there again, my reasons being the entire ground floor where the bedrooms were felt like a basement, vaguely damp, and shabby. (It's one of those homes built on a slope where you enter on the second floor. The ground floor is entirely above ground but still felt basement-y). Stone tile showers and floors couldn't quite tell if it's clean or not. Wall to wall carpet pretty old, stairs down were kind of uneven and steep, definitely not advisable for elderly, etc.
At the same time I don't want to ruin these peoples' business with a bad review. Living areas were clean, they checked in on us a couple times, and the price was on the mid-to-possibly lower end for the area.
I would give it 3 stars, for comfort. Location 5 stars. Upon leaving they messaged us asking us to leave a 5 star review as well.

[Anonymous]

All the things you complain about were knowable from the listing.

[Anonymous]

I wanted to for a recent one that was nice but overall I didn’t like the scent of the house. At all. Like I despised it 5x per day as we walked in from outings.

It smelled so strongly of this one hand soap in the main bathroom that was supposed to smell nice.

I didn’t mention it on the review, or also just that it was a little shabby too. I mentioned the positive things and people can read into it however they want.

And maybe they will enjoy the strong perfumy scent.

[Anonymous]

Yes please. It’s only fair to other travelers to be honest and candid in your review. I hate arriving at a place with all five star reviews that is less than ideal. We must pay it forward with these reviews.

[Anonymous]

Was there poop on one of the bathroom walls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the things you complain about were knowable from the listing.

+1 to this. Weren't there photos of the listing when you booked?

Also, hotels are nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just stayed at a rental over the long weekend that had a lot of 5-star reviews on all platforms.
To be honest I wouldn't stay there again, my reasons being the entire ground floor where the bedrooms were felt like a basement, vaguely damp, and shabby. (It's one of those homes built on a slope where you enter on the second floor. The ground floor is entirely above ground but still felt basement-y). Stone tile showers and floors couldn't quite tell if it's clean or not. Wall to wall carpet pretty old, stairs down were kind of uneven and steep, definitely not advisable for elderly, etc.
At the same time I don't want to ruin these peoples' business with a bad review. Living areas were clean, they checked in on us a couple times, and the price was on the mid-to-possibly lower end for the area.
I would give it 3 stars, for comfort. Location 5 stars. Upon leaving they messaged us asking us to leave a 5 star review as well.

Did this rental advertise itself as a good place for elderly people?

[Anonymous]

I would share what you shared as long as you already told the owners the same thing.

Did you give them the chance to come back and clean the bathrooms to your satisfaction? Did you tell them they should consider changing the carpet? Did you tell them you felt unsafe on the stairs?

[Anonymous]

Please leave a review, particularly about the steps.

[Anonymous]

leave the review and express the positives. be neutral about the other things - say it had a lot of stairs, describe how the house is built so the rooms are on the ground floor. you can be fair and honest and that will help other travelers.

[Anonymous]

People will want to know this. Be factual and not emotional. Don't go over the top or dramatic or the host will be more able to have your review taken down.

[Anonymous]

I generally am honest in the statement part of the review - as long as I've already told the owners so they've had a chance to fix the issues - but go ahead and give the highest rating unless there was something really bad & really unexpected.

[Anonymous]

I would skip leaving a review.

[Anonymous]

Can you leave a review without emotion?

For example, could you say bedrooms are on first floor which I do not prefer so I mark them down a little bit for that. Or something like that.

Because the things that you’re saying are not facts, they’re just preferences.

I just stayed in an Airbnb where they said floors are uneven, but everything else is clean and new and up-to-date.

So when we arrived, we realized I look the floors are uneven no biggie.

If there’s anything you think they need to fix I would put that in the private message to the owner.

I would not give them three stars.

[Anonymous]

Is it at the beach? Every beach house seems to have the bedrooms on the lower part and they're always kinda damp feeling.