It doesn’t matter how clearly you describe your location and travel distances; you’ll still get dinged on location. We list the distances to most major attractions in miles and kilometers. We describe how Los Angeles is sprawled and public transportation is inefficient. I think the traffic and driving times in Los Angeles are known world wide. We still get dinged on location for: being too far from the beach, being too far from the mountains, being too far from Downtown Los Angeles, being too far from the relatives the guest was here to visit (several times).
We have wild parrots and they squawk and chatter very loudly at dawn and at dusk. I mean, it’s so loud that you can’t have a conversation without shouting. I think they are wonderful and a fabulous part of sub-tropical life. (We didn’t have them in Yorkshire!)
But I’m just waiting for a guest to ding our ‘quiet and peaceful’ location because of the parrots. 
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There is a mango tree in the back of my Airbnb, currently has fruit on it . Lorikeets during the day and bats at night. And the drop the fruit on the tin roof. So far it is " local colour" Just waiting for a nervous light sleeper to stay… sigh
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I would love to stay at a place with a mango tree. Especially if I was permitted to eat the mangos.
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I did a house swap with a family in Puerto Rico, southwest corner. In the garden, there were mango, papaya, sour oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, and coconuts. Bonus? Chickens that provided us with eggs [and a massive swimming pool.] This was the definition of an unequal trade. We spent two weeks in luxury with as much fresh fruit as you can imagine. Yes. Rum was purchased to enjoy with this bounty.
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Love to have you!
Welcome to the fruit…but I am amazed that few guests set foot in the back yard except to use the washing line. But they love the verandah which is on 3 sides of the house. there is a cane lounge suite that gets a lot of use.
our rental(s) are only 5 miles from the centerpoint of the desirable city downtown…one of the most popular tourist location cities in the USA.
The fact that we have large secluded property just 5 miles away is a huge asset…
and when one street light went in a few years ago I almost had a meltdown, and have had to learn to live with it.
We dont want the light pollution, or the disruption to the natural wildlife that is left from all the clearing of the land.
what a way to turn a positive attribute into a negative. Yuck.
When I went to the Big Island, Hawai’i in 2013 I chose an Airbnb specifically for the birds both wild and caged in the yard. They also had koi ponds. I didn’t care about the ocean view, I wanted to live like a local in a neighborhood. I wanted to be on the tropical side of the island because I’m from a dry area. I got up at 5 am so I could drive to the Kona side for activities over there. Everyone is going to have a different idea of what is an ideal location. I agree that what’s intolerable is when the location is described and then the guest makes a bad choice and dings us. I recently got location feedback (is that new?) that said it’s a “good little drive to downtown.” I don’t even know if that means a colloquial “long way,” or that it’s good that it’s a short drive.
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Do you mean you stayed on the East side, Jaquo? I’m like mid way between east and west… These last guests cracked me because I was an hour from town. Which was where they did their activities. This is disclosed all over my listing, and mind you I was also cracked for accuracy. As though I mislead about the location!??
I guess I felt especially hurt because I had so many nice conversations with these guests… It just makes you feel jaded. Like you cannot trust anyone. They smile to your face and have a knife behind them.
This is how I disclose that my listing is in a neighborhood that some might consider “a bit sketchy” - which, again, is entirely subjective as I live here with my 5 year old with no problems and most people seem to love the neighborhood which is downtown and super walkable to lots of great stuff, but I’ve had one or two who freaked out about how unsafe they felt, etc etc. My location rating does seem to get knocked down less since I added this disclosure.
" ***Please note: Downtown Albuquerque is a hip up-and-coming neighborhood that is undergoing revitalization. While we love our neighborhood’s history, character and walkability and feel perfectly safe here, it may not be the best fit for everyone."
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I have one apartment that is “internal” That is, there are no “views” The kitchen overlooks a car park (a very quiet one) but the apartment itself is stunning. I describe the location carefully. But otherwise , re its location in the City it is perfect. Still get dinged and criticized becauase people just don’t read.
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In my efforts to be super accurate, for a week I included a picture of an upside down, burned out car that was up the street from us for a little while.
My fellow hosts in a different group suggested that was a little too real. 
Now I stick with “when my grandmother was worried I was moving to the big city, I reassured her that our graffiti was grammatically correct”
… it’s true, too. 
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When we visited Prague, we were a bit alarmed by all the graffiti. But then discovered it didn’t mean crime was around… it’s just kind of a holdover from Soviet occupation, and by the end of our trip, almost looked a bit artful! I had my son take my photo in front of some of it!
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Ha!
I win!
New to Airbnb, left me low stars on location.
Had to contact her because I found a real gold bracelet on her departure. In the exchange of messages I got to ask about the low review.
Turns out THEY were tired and didn’t like getting back in the car to get dinner…
I pointed out that there is an excellent restaurant in the next block and I hoped her next Airbnb is as nice as mine and the the host goes to as much trouble as I do to make sure the fridge is stocked for breakfast including her favourite style of bread she asked for.
I am not usually passive aggressive- but gee that felt good!
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You go girl! Sometimes it gets old always turning the other cheek because more often than not there’s no satisfaction in doing so.
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She is very lucky that I have an honest cleaner!
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The bad part of me would be tempted to keep that bracelet in lieu of an edited review.
Maybe not suggest straight extortion, but something like…
Good news Guest! I found your bracelet. Of course I will be returning it to you. But how about in exchange for my honesty, you contact Air and replace that bad review with a nice one?
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Even if they had read your description and fully understood what they were getting into, it doesn’t mean they’ll give you a 5 just because they know whatever “warts” there are. It’s just that they’re willing to put up with them.
No - there is karma…
Years ago I lost a valuable diamond ring in a department store. A cleaner found it and handed it in.
My turn
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