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A couple months ago I stayed at an Airbnb and was surprised to get asked a ridiculously long list of questions when I reviewed it. I think some others have posted screenshots of the questions here (and I wish I’d taken screenshots myself!).
Now (I first noticed this for a guest checking out yesterday), Airbnb is asking hosts for more information about guests. It’s not as detailed as what they ask for from guests.
I’m curious to know where that information goes and how it gets shared (I can’t find out yet because my guest has not yet reviewed me so my review of her isn’t public). It says it will go to my guest and to other hosts, but I don’t know if it will show only the positive things I say or if it will also show the items I didn’t tick.
If the latter, I’ll be grumpy about this because they some of what they assess are things that I don’t ask guests to do – for example, I explicitly tell guests they don’t need to take out the rubbish, so then it will look like they’re being dinged for something they weren’t asked to do.
Overall I can’t decide if it’s good that they’re asking for more details or not. Would love to hear folks here debate that. And has anyone yet seen how this presents on the Airbnb site?
Well, hang on, spoke too soon – she has reviewed us, and so I can see her review of me and my review of her – and none of that information I chose is visible. So instead of being shared with other hosts, as Airbnb claims, it appears to have disappeared down some black hole of Airbnb marketing.
I don’t quite understand how we would see the checked off things from other hosts. I guess I’ll see it at some point, but I’m curious now. The screenshot above shows what things JJD herself checked, but where will we see what other hosts checked off for a guest? If 5 hosts marked clean and tidy, are we going to see 5 check marks or what?
They’ve been asking guests heaps of extra questions for years now, and never shared any of it with us hosts. I was initially hopeful that this new system would allow me, the host, to see any custom review notes left for guests, but so far I haven’t seen anything.
This has unfortunately always been there: “…and tell them what they can do better”. Especially for new guests, this prompts them to search their memory for fails and subtly suggests that a 5 star for a category is too high…
I posted about this recently with a screenshot of this info. This is for a guest who booked but didn’t stay. He was at my home at 7:30 am trying to get in but didn’t return to stay for the night he booked.
This is better than nothing but it’s not going to replace an honest review. I’ve long been an advocate of the honest and unemotional review. Here is my review that is cut off of the screenshot above:
Here my review of another guest I wouldn’t host again:
Yes, I hope this change doesn’t lead to hosts just writing “Good guest” and thinking that just checking boxes is adequate.
At least one of the choices shouldn’t be there, IMO- “Took care of garbage”. It presumes that hosts all ask guests to take the garbage out, that it’s something basic and expected, like good communication and leaving the place tidy, when it isn’t. Especially in home-share listings and many entire homes, as well.
I hate the adjectives on the checklist for guests’ reviews of hosts. “Pristine”, “Squeaky Clean”, “Spotless”. Pristine literally means “in its original state” or as if brand new. So Airbnbs are now all supposed to be new builds, with brand new furniture, the place looking like no one has ever occupied it before?
Honestly, those adjectives sound straight out of a 1950s commercial, with a June Cleaver-type orgasming over her sparkling kitchen floor.
You notice the checklist for guests doesn’t use any of these flowery adjectives that indicate perfection. No “Spotlessly neat and tidy”, no “Articulate and
thorough communication”, no “Kept in perfect condition”. Instead guests get kudos for “good” condition, while hosts apparently have to present things in “pristine” condition.
Me, too. For those of us with glamping accommodations (open houses, yurts, etc.), the property will never be spotless or squeaky-clean. Beachside accommodations will most likely have a few spots of rust here and there. Yet another broad-brush approach that doesn’t work from a company that advertises their huge diversity in accommodations as a selling point.
Except it may taint the guest’s thinking when they give the overall rating. With these adjectives, they’ll think 5 stars is too much for cleanliness if there is a speck of dust somewhere or a spider.
If we weren’t talking about AirBnB, I’d agree with you. But after ABB’s Global Head of Hosting used a leaf in an outdoor pool (oh, no, a leaf outside!) as an example of setting expectations so guests aren’t given refunds, I’m a little gunshy.
And, yes, I’m currently a Houston gal, but I grew up in Iowa, the land of polite people.
actually I was worried about that too, as my rustic cottage has a really basic kitchen (circa 1989), and we painted it white, put in a plain white tile, and replaced the faucet, but it’s still pretty original, so it’s hard to have a “pristine” kitchen in such a situation, but I did recently get that 5* “pristine” in a review. I guess if people have a great stay and it’s clean as it can be for the era of the property, there are still some sensible guests out there who aren’t comparing me to the uber chic marble kitchen at some inner city apartment they stayed in once.
Does anyone have the full breakdown what the guest can check off for each category?
I would be curious to see them all. I see bits and pieces above but not full list of options.
