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I’ve rented vacation homes since more than 5 years, but I’m not a super host. I’m a 4,5 star host and will never be a superhost because of the amount of bookings I receive. Last year I welcomed more than 250 Airbnb guests to my private apartment. I’ve seen very few superhosts with more than 40-50 bookings as sooner or later the bad or less good reviews will appear, it’s a matter of statistics.
Still, hosts with only a few bookings and a few good reviews (you only need 10 reviews) are getting the superhost status, meaning they get a lot of advantages (super host badge, priority support, product exclusives and travel coupons). I mean, when you’re hosting several hundred guests a year with a great result it’s pretty lame to be put on hold when calling Airbnb because some random “superhost” with maybe 10-15 bookings has priority.
I think the whole super host program is ridiculous and pretty unfair to the really devoted and active hosts.
There is a share of people who will never be happy or give 5 star reviews no matter how much you do for them. There is also a share of people who are mean or difficult. Furthermore, with a high number of bookings the risk of something going wrong is higher, also things totally out of the hosts control. For this reason I believe it’s getting more and more difficult to maintain the superhost status as the number of bookings increases.
By giving the superhost status to hosts with only 10 great reviews it’s more a matter of coincidences than skills. This way Airbnb will end up with a lot of less experienced “superhosts”
I am a Superhost. I have over 100 separate trips per year and I’ve been hosting over 2 1/2 years. I think that the only problem with Superhost status is that it’s too easy to qualify. I think that the bar will probably be set higher now that there are so many Superhosts. I think that it is fine for Airbnb to offer rewards to hosts and guests who are improving the image of their brand. It’s their company; they get to decide how to run it. We’ve had several guests who say that they will only stay with Superhosts.
It must be hard to keep that many people happy, though. But maybe if the place is just fantastic, and everything is very organized, it works. I’ve seen some very fancy places available for rent on this forum.
@EllenN Congratulations, you’re doing a really good job then, and in your case the superhost status is totally deserved. But giving the superhost status to a lot of hosts with only 10 great reviews (who will loose it the next round) is just ridiculous. That’s the reason why there are so many superhosts, it’s like a superhost inflation. So yes, I agree with you - the bars should be higher - especially number of guests hosted - then the program would make more sense.
Our place is not fancy at all. We have a small house and guests share the bathroom with us. The things that guests usually praise in the reviews are how hospitable we are and our dogs. Our dogs are our secret weapon for breaking the ice with guests. Here is a link to our listing.
I do agree that Superhosts should need more than 10 reviews per year, but as I said it’s not my company so I don’t get to choose how to run it. I assume that the reason hosts only need 10 reviews per year is so that hosts who focus on long term guests aren’t left out.
It looks pretty nice to me. I particularly like your kitchen, and the outdoors. I suppose the house is on a separate plot of land. And those are a lot of books!
Thank you for the compliments. By American standards it is a very modest house as it is small, old and has only one bathroom. By on a separate plot of land I assume that you mean that it is a single family dwelling, not an apartment and yes it is.
Hi Ellen,
I took a look at your listing - very cute! Reading the first few pages of the review, it really stood out that almost all of them start with “Ellen was a wonderful host” and then they describe the house. This is the critical element, I think. They might still like the house without you there, but would they gush about it or just say something “convenient location, house was clean”. I have noticed a difference in my own listing that the guests who I connected with the most left very personal, detailed reviews, and the ones who didn’t connect so much left factual reviews.
The problem I see with Superhost is that it depends on too critical of a star system: besides the 5-star tends tends to be confused immediately with the hotel star system on the part of guests, especially those new to Airbnb. . Make it a 10-star system and divorce it from a hotel mentality, Airbnbers are not hotelers. (No idea if that is a word)
Now 9-10 stars (4.5+ in old system) more than qualify for SH. Also the only-10 review requirement is odd, may address the exception but bastardizes the main concept: a host is ‘rewarded’ by being consistently a good performer, over time.
I would also have the option that anyone with 25+ reviews is allowed one ‘wipe’ of a review, to cover the occasional genuine ‘nutcase’, like the type that gives 1s out of down right meanness. In fact, one 'wipe to be allowed per every 25 reviews. Eliminates the fluke.
I still vote the icon should be a saint-like halo! LoL
Thanks very much for the compliments. What you are saying is the point I was trying to make. I believe that Superhost status depends much more on the hosting style than on the place itself. I’ve seen lavish listings with poor reviews because the host didn’t give the guests enough attention. I believe that guests respond to a personalized experience and to having their requests answered with yes instead of no. I am not trying to get the dander up of anyone here who prefers to set more boundaries. We all have our own style of hosting that works best for us. Many here don’t care about Superhost status. However, for those who aim to be Superhosts; I believe that a hands on, flexible style of hosting is the best way to achieve that goal.
@Jan_J . Would you be willing to articulate what you think the criteria should be and how AirBNB should identify extraordinary hosts? I haven’t been doing this for all that long, and would love to hear your thoughts, based on your extensive experience.
Also, even if you meet the criteria and are in certain cities like Barcelona, you can not earn SuperHost status bc of local regulations. Even if we could become SH, I doubt we would bc we are solid 4.5 hosts, as we always get dinged for value. Unfortunatley, the cheap flats in BCN are not legal, and the owners do not submit the required taxes, so they are much cheaper to run.
No. I’ve talked to three representatives in the last couple of week. Each time I get reassurances that they are taking all the right steps and alerting the correct team; then they go silent on me. I’m close to giving up hope. How about you?
I must admit, I don’t follow the logic that the more guests you have the harder it is.
The more guests you have, the less that one bad review will pull your average down!
The number one difficulty in achieving superhost is if you are NOT in a busy, tourist area - because you will get continually dinged for location. I was getting all 4/4.5 star reviews in my previous property, glowing comments, and yet because I was a 10min walk to transport and supermarket, and in a quiet residential area, I almost never got a 5 for location. 100-odd guests in a year and no superhost.
Now in my new, city location, I’m at 79%. I will probably make it next review, because my previous location reviews are dropping out of the assessment over time.
No solution yet but the evidence was so clear that the girl that handled my call finally accept there is problem in my account. I still have to wait until I get a response back from the tech team. I´m not sure if they don´t understand what is going on or they don´t want to help us on purpose. I might have called CS 30 times since I started seeing problems with the stars. If I don´t get a solution soon I´m planning of starting again with a new account. I´m very tired of this
