I am a super-host for the past 6 months and regularly receive 5 star ratings.
In context, I have a 3 bedroom house priced at under $25 per room per night.
I had an interesting experience not long ago, where two ladies arrived, demanded to see “housecleaner”, even though no house cleaner fees are applied. Rubbed finger along bookcase shelves, declared dust, finger was not dusty. Other demands were made and met - well above and beyond what is advertised. Gave a 1 for cleanliness and 2 for value. My neighbor, who is a regular Airbnb user, was incensed as she compares my rental offering to the ones she visits and gives my place higher cleanliness and value marks than the ones she visits. She was also present when I was cleaning and knows the duster was applied to the book shelves and living room surfaces just hours before guests arrival.
Airbnb sends regular notices that potential guests looked and chose less expensive accommodations. I don’t know where they are booking as I cannot find any Airbnb bookings for $25 per room per night in the area.
Many of my guests are couples - extended families or just travel companions and find it a bargain.
I’m taking this one on the chin as Airbnb will not remove it. Feeling a bit bruised - after working very hard to give stellar individual “customer service” to guests
No, I’m not seeking to be an Airbnb Plus host - my house is older and I don’t plan to renovate to reach Airbnb Plus status. I’m very happy to be the best Super Host there is and most of the time succeed!
I think if I had guests arrive in start nitpicking and making those kinds of Declaration straight off the bat then I would let them know that I’m no longer comfortable and that they are to cancel and go. Tells you right away what type of guess they are and what kind of reviews you will likely be getting
Thanks, SarahBeth - Got it. Next time.
To answer your question about spotters I don’t think anyone here knows for sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do or if Airbnb employees use Airbnb and make a separate report. @Joan hosted some Airbnb employees once and didn’t have a good experience.
Many members here claim to have more problems at lower prices and that lower prices attract a kind of guest that is more likely to be problematic. I haven’t had that experience but I don’t host an entire home. Maybe your prices are too low.
That’s ridiculous and if someone did that to me they would be asked to cancel, unless their complaint was valid.
You will be well served to ignore Airbnb’s mind games.
It happens to everyone eventually it seems. I had a guest give one star overall on accident. I asked her to contact Airbnb to change it but she says they wouldn’t do it. It hurt at the time but that was hundreds of reviews ago. I have others who gave 5 stars when they could have deducted stars so it evens out over time.
I have no idea where you are but that seems way too cheap. Cheap prices atteact cheap people. Not all the time, but often. I would double those rates.
RR
You obviously have done an excellent job as a host. There will always be complainers and they tend to steal a little of your thunder. BUT, I’ll bet any amount of money that you’ve had more wonderful guests than negative Nancys or Nathans! Let it roll off your back and keep it moving. Also, create your own simple website, featuring your home (video would really turn heads) and bounce back from any negative reviews. Push through!
In my view a 1 for cleanliness really leaves them nowhere to go since you can’t give a 0. Ridiculous. A 1 would be a student share house where no one has cleaned the toilet or carpets since they moved in, there are bongs and full ashtrays in the living room, the kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes and the fridge has turned into a biology project. The lowest I ever got was a 2. I did get a friend in who had worked as a housekeeper for 20 years to give me an honest assessment and got my average up from 4.2 to 4.9 but that doesn’t sound like your situation.
Did they ask for a discount or hint about it? Usually the type of people who walk in and start out like this are looking for a free or discounted stay no matter the price point. I would as suggested as just advise them that you may not be up to their standards and it would be better if they stayed elsewhere. Good heavens…I thought I have had some doozy of individuals but nothing like this.
Last week I had a girl staying who saw an empty cup in her nightstand that I left when I was cleaning and told me that room.ia not ready. I was not home and asked why she came.to this conclusion as I cleaned it myself half an hour ago.
She sent me pictures of a cup, a dresser that was moved a little from.the wall as I washed there and left it to dry and she also sent me pictures of a bed and said someone definitely was laying on it. I told her that there is no one at the house but her and us . I just made that bed and I think she is just making up stories right now. I asked her if she wants to leave , she is welcome . She stayed and there was no more complains .
To All who answered,
Thanks, you gave some good feedback. I feel a bit restored. This community is great!
—and appreciated.
Sue
The funny part is same girl just reserved with me again an hour ago
Yes, I did. Good memory skills there! Three young women, two French and one French Canadian. I mentioned that I’d noticed on the Canadian’s (the booker) profile that she worked for Airbnb, more along the lines of seeing if they were getting a freebie from them. One of the French girls responded that they all worked for the Company and were checking the place out.
I realised on their first morning that “they” had helped themselves to using an extra bathroom across the landing, belonging to another bedroom/listing. What was interesting when I challenged them was that the two French girls were mortified, apologetic, offered to pay for cleaning, and no, they weren’t inspectors. The Canadian, very rudely, went on the defensive. It was, in fact, only her who had used it. He reasoning followed along the lines of “it was there so why couldn’t/shouldn’t I? One of the others was using our bathroom and I needed a pee.”
So blame your mates. Pathetic.
What really bugged me was that she had to have opened doors to find it, so where else had she snooped about; our own bedroom?
Thanks, It felt like someone inspecting the place to see if it was truly a candidate for AirBnB Plus. Then the cleanliness rating of “1” which ensures that I won’t get Super-Host rating next quarter.
Just a thought.
Perhaps a way to rate should be for guests to have a “6” rating to chose from if they think the place is “Plus” - Hotel quality and service.
That would give Super-hosts a way to stand out from the ordinary and guests a place to voice the issue of “not hotel-like”.
Rating standard could as currently exists with an addition, such as,
Regular, nice place but not extraordinary.
-
no amenities
-
bare minimum furniture
Super - Host, extraordinary service and quality but not hotel standard
-
responsive (concierge -like)
-
comfortable environment (yet not “interior designer” quality)
Plus, hotel quality and service.
The “all or nothing” is sometimes a bit extreme.
I’ve had guests express (“non-hotel” like) as an issue and rate accordingly. I’m not a hotel, I’m a individual offering my home at a more affordable cost with adjusted services.
Thanks for listening - this group is a real help.
I thought Superhost is based on overall ratings not category ratings. But even if she gave one star overall, if you have 5 stars overall wouldn’t it take more than a single one star rating to pull you down below 4.8?
I have no patience for these kind of people. I would have asked them to go.
I like the idea of being able to give a 6 for hosts who are especially helpful when needed.
Years ago there was a box guests could tick asking “Is this one of the best hosts you have ever stayed with?” Bit silly if you had only stayed in a couple of Airbnbs but I remember ticking it when a lovely host helped me when the airline had lost my luggage.
When searching for places to stay I tend to avoid looking at Airbnb Plus places as the name gives me an impression they’ll be cookie-cutter. I could be wrong about that but it’s a handy filter for me to filter out some listings out of the hundreds that are available. I treasure my memories of interesting, quirky Airbnbs and wonderful, friendly hosts.
I hope they continue to keep “Plus” and “Superhost” separated so I can find old, character-filled “flawed” houses with great, friendly hosts.
Fortunately, the Plus Programme doesn’t work like that. This sounds like crap guests, and I too would have told them to leave, rung Air and asked them to cancel such people. How dare they!
Me too. Plus isn’t suitable for live-in hosts, unless you’re prepared to allow self entry by complete strangers. Air simply doesn’t get that this invalidates my insurance cover. But I have a lovely, flawed (chimney fell off in snow last week…) characterful 260 year old house and I’m a quirky, friendly, and probably flawed host!
I have wondered if they’ve dropped my listings down after refusing to join up.
Thanks, your response, anomaly14 - like.perfectly flawed.
My county requires, by law, that hosts live on the property or serious fines.
I have found the same thing. I just had my first guest from hell when I lowered my prices. They are back up again. I will let it sit empty before I deal with people like him again.