Refusing Early Checkout Means a Negative Review? How Can Hosts Defuse the Crisis?

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Hosts, have you encountered this situation?

“Partway through a stay, the guest suddenly wants to check out early. If I insist on payment, I worry about a bad review; if I want to preserve a good review, I worry about losing income.”

In the past, this was not difficult: hosts simply followed the cancellation policy.

But by 2025, things have changed.

If you watched my earlier explanation, “The Route to Removing Airbnb Negative Reviews Has Been Completely Blocked*,” you will know that things are different now.

*Reference articles:

Has Airbnb Completely Closed the Door to Removing Negative Reviews?! Only This Method Remains (Part 1)

Has Airbnb Completely Closed the Door to Removing Negative Reviews?! Only This Method Remains (Part 2)

👆🏻 For more short videos sharing management experience, follow 阿蓝 on REDnote! 👆🏻

The Current Situation: Negative Reviews Are Almost Impossible to Remove

Today, if a host refuses a guest’s cancellation or early-checkout request, the guest can openly leave a negative review, and Airbnb will almost never remove it.

In other words, a little carelessness could damage the good reviews a host has built over years. What can you do?

A New Approach: Flexibly Adjust the Checkout Date

The solution lies in flexibility. First, consider the timing:

Before check-in: the guest can cancel themselves and the cancellation policy applies. At this point, they cannot leave a review.

If they keep delaying cancellation, encourage them to cancel: they can at least recover the cleaning fee, which is better than recovering nothing.

On the arrival day or after several nights: directly refusing the guest will almost certainly result in a negative review. Our new approach is to explain that the policy does not allow free early checkout, but we are willing to cooperate.

We change the checkout date so they can leave early and release the remaining dates. If those dates are booked again, we refund the corresponding portion.

A Win-Win Outcome

This gives guests a chance to recover some money, so they do not immediately leave a negative review. The host does not lose income and their earnings remain protected, with only a little additional management work.

More importantly, guests see the host trying to cooperate. Psychologically, they are more willing to remain courteous and less likely to leave a negative review.

A Brief Conclusion

In the 2025 environment, where negative reviews are difficult to remove, this flexible checkout strategy offers hosts an effective way to defuse disputes.

Rather than a direct confrontation, adjustments within the rules can achieve a win-win outcome.

If this topic interests you, send us a private message or join the WeChat group below for discussion. We will share more with everyone.

If you:

Hope to increase rental income through short-term rentals;

Cannot spare a great deal of time to handle the small details;

Occasionally need to use the home yourself, making it unsuitable to empty out the furniture for a long-term rental;

Then:

Snowball Rentals’ management team is your best choice.

From pre-launch vacation-rental styling, big-data analysis and online marketing to tenant screening, dynamic pricing, customer service and sales, cleaning and repairs, Snowball Rentals provides everything as one complete service for your home.

This Week’s Booking Results

Through long-standing relationships with insurers, assignment companies and technology companies, Snowball Rentals rents homes for medium- and long-term durations at short-term rates, then gives owners a rebate of 5% in management fees to maximize their income.

As we enter September, Seattle’s peak short-term rental season is drawing toward its close. How have you performed this year? Feel free to share in a private message or the comments. :)

Short-term rentals in peak season; mid-term rentals in low season.

Looking back at earlier large bookings, this strategy has achieved some results, allowing us to retain confidence even in a cold winter!

Although peak season has arrived, we still cannot let our guard down. Policies and broader conditions are full of changes and challenges. Making steady progress will remain the main theme going forward.

For the following detached home in Seattle, Redfin shows an estimated long-term monthly rent of about US$3,978.

With the owner’s trust and support, we carefully furnished the home and immediately began short-term rental operations. Fortunately, because the home’s condition and location are both good, short- and mid-term bookings have continued to come in.

As shown in the booking screenshot below, a guest recently rented this home from October 1 to December 20, a total of 80 nights, at an average monthly rent of

US$6,650.

In summary, after Snowball Rentals operated this property, monthly rental income rose from US$3,978 to US$6,650, an increase of about 67%

.

For homeowners, combining short- and mid-term rentals in this way can earn more in peak season and help them get through low season smoothly. Even if the low-season rental figures look less dramatic, they still outperform long-term rentals and give homeowners a strong sense of financial security.

More importantly, the owner does not have to worry about maintenance or cleaning. When something needs to be discussed with guests, we also help with communication and oversight.

Here, we again thank the owner for placing trust in the Snowball Rentals team!

After nearly two years of Airbnb’s downturn, we at Snowball Rentals hope to help owners make steady progress in low season, navigate the challenges safely and lay a better foundation for next year’s peak season.

Once again, heartfelt thanks to our homeowners for their trust and support. Whether the market is strong or weak, Snowball Rentals will stand with you and look for ways to increase your income!

Some homeowners will surely ask the hard question: was a large booking like this just a stroke of luck? What if the home does not rent? A long-term rental is more stable—even earning less is better than earning nothing!

Our answer is: the outcome depends on what we do.

Vacation-Rental Styling

Competition on Airbnb is becoming increasingly intense. The days of piecing together secondhand furniture, taking phone photos and earning easy money on Airbnb are over. Airbnb hosts have moved toward professional operations.

Careful design and furnishing before launch, followed by professional short-term rental operations, will be the only choice for a rental that continues to generate high income.

Here is another of Snowball Rentals’ core services: vacation-rental styling!

Here is what the detached home described above looks like after our careful furnishing:

When choosing a short-term rental on Airbnb, would this home’s appearance attract you?

If you would also like to make your home more attractive and earn more rent, please contact us at any time!

This Week’s Short Videos

We regularly update short videos every week.

The content you need is all here.

👇🏻 Homeowners are welcome to follow us 👇🏻

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Snowball Rentals

We also share practical vacation-rental styling plans and creative ideas to help you achieve more with less spending and keep rental income growing!

Xiao An’s Vacation-Rental Styling

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Referral Rewards

If you are already a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$500 referral fee for each referral.

If you are not yet a Snowball Rentals homeowner, you receive a US$250 shopping voucher for each referral.

Snowball Rentals Management

1. Full service — We provide pre-launch rental design, furniture procurement, furnishing, professional photography, online marketing, copywriting, tenant service and sales, cleaning, supply purchasing and property repairs. You only need to be a hands-off owner; we handle the rest.

2. Multi-platform promotion — We promote the home on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway and other mainstream platforms for maximum exposure.

3. Dynamic pricing — Using big data, we adjust prices every day according to seasonal demand, holidays, last-minute vacancy offers, weekends and local activities, maximizing the owner’s income.

4. Income-improvement SOP — We follow 44 secrets for maximizing short-term rental income, optimizing each property’s online marketing, on-site operations and other aspects to work toward maximum income.

5. Flexible owner stays — Owners can flexibly choose when to stay themselves. This is especially suitable for owners with multiple residences around the world.

6. Terminate at any time — Management does not require an annual commitment. The owner can end the agreement with one month’s advance notice.

7. Corporate housing — In addition to nightly rentals, we work with insurers and assignment companies to provide executives with hotel-style managed accommodation for stays longer than 30 days.

8. Transparent fees — For rentals longer than 30 days, we charge 15% of accommodation revenue. For nightly rentals under 30 days, we charge 20% of accommodation revenue.

Author’s tip: Personal views, for reference only.