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I try to write every review fresh. I don’t use cut and paste. I don’t say “great guest!” But especially when I don’t meet guests in person it can become rather dull and rote. I’ve considered reviewing my guests with dogs in the following manner:
Pixie the pitbull and her humans, Steve and Carl, were excellent guests. Pixie was clean and quiet and if I hadn’t met her I wouldn’t have known she was here. Steve and Carl were also well behaved and left everything clean and tidy when they checked out early the next day. All rules were followed and communication before, during and after the stay was stellar. Any host who accepts pets would be lucky to host this family.
I think it’s clever but based on how literally some people take things I wonder if that’s a mistake.
You got me. Even more impressive are the reviews my guests leave for me. Have you seen them and my overall stats lately? I’m throwing 'em out there are every opportunity so LMK.
Ditto! I feel it’s deceptive of Air to tell us our status will be SH on 1/1/20 and yet withhold that actual badge until after 1/14/20. >inserts tongue in cheek, wanders off to find a cocktail<
I wouldn’t say so, especially with hosts’ reviews. I personally don’t pay much attention to them but a lot of hosts do. I agree that less is more in a wide variety of situations but hosts need to let other hosts know about their guests and, whilst that should be unemotional and factual, it can be more than just a few words so that potential hosts are adequately prepared.
We know that guests don’t read but I’m sure that most hosts are more careful. And most want the details.
I think it’s a great idea to have a bit more fun with the yawn-making job of reviewing.
You might be barking up the wrong tree here… I would paws and think it through furst.
Seriously, though, I always mention how the pets behaved in my review of pet owning guests, and will even name them in the review if I know the pets’ names.
Pretending that the review is primarily for the dog with their “pet humans” is cute, and if that is your style I say go for it. Realize it may cause some hosts not to take the review seriously, which may be a slight disservice to your good guests, if that matters to you.
That’s exactly what I’m wondering and posting about. Of course most people here get it, but how does it read to average hosts? Or even to a guest who might go, WTF is this? I’ll probably opt for safe and boring. Or maybe I’ll just do like 90% of the host review I read and say “Great guest!” There’s no upside to taking time to write a great review for a guest anyway.
I do read the reviews hosts leave for guests and I do like seeing reviews that aren’t just boring, with the standard lines. And if a guest doesn’t have any sense of humor, I’d not be that thrilled about having them in my home-share. While I know that reviews are generally thought of by hosts as being done for the benefit of other hosts, which of course they also are, I like to reward my good guests with a thoughtful, not just rote review. I should think that a dog owner guest would really appreciate your review, find it very sweet and personal and might be an impetus for them to book with you again.
I very much disagree. I can understand that hosts who have a high degree of turnover and hundreds of guests a year would find it wearying to write reviews, but I like to write great reviews for great guests so they will be readily accepted for future bookings. I even look over their past reviews and try to mention something that no other host mentioned, like that they had a great sense of humor, were easy to talk to, or whatever. Guests very much appreciate a host taking the time to write a thoughtful, even if brief, review, and I consider it a thank you for being a great guest, just as important as making sure they’re comfortable during their stay. And making it clear to other hosts that this is a great guest means the future hosts who look at that review and accept the guest will have a good guest experience.
One of my best guests, and totally unexpectedly, was a single 28 year old man. I had been leery about his booking, as his profile photo was of him and 2 other guys (which one is he?) holding up glasses of wine, his profile said he was a student, and that he liked a balance of partying and being quiet (I’m thinking, yeah, right, 90% party and 10% hang-over-quiet) and though he’d had an account for several years, had no reviews.
He was the nicest, most polite and quiet guy, and my jaw dropped when I went in the room after he’d stayed for 4 days. Aside from the used towels hanging up neatly on the bar, it literally didn’t look like anyone had been in there since I cleaned. He had swept the floor, cleaned the sink and bathroom counter, not a scrap of garbage anywhere, and he even made the bed perfectly! And it turned out that he hadn’t updated his profile since joining, was now a businessman who managed 10 Dominos Pizza outlets, and didn’t have any reviews because he joined planning to travel, but had never actually had the chance. I advised him to update his profile photo and info and took the time to write him a glowing first review, just as my very first guest had promised to do for me and did.
I know, I find myself writing mostly a version of the same thing, great guests welcome back anytime. I use as many words or more in my signature as the review, I like to identify my property in the review so people can search for it, hopefully on google.
I agree. The chances are that the guest will never read it and even for those who do, if they are good guests that I’d like to host again (98% roughly) then I’ve already told them so in person which is much more important.
Because I don’t have guests in my own home these days, I feel that I’m not qualified to say anything about their personalities (and it’s irrelevant anyway) so just mention the aspects that hosts want to know such as clean, quiet etc. - the things that matter to hosts.
I see writing the review as being the final part of the turnover process. Get the place ready, write review, shower and change to meet incoming guests…
Some weeks there’s one or more reviews per day and if I don’t do it right away, with my memory I’ll have forgotten who these people were in a few days.
Although I understand the last minute review thing in principal, I’ve never done it. And if guests were bad enough to warrant it, I’d probably still write the review straight away while the adrenaline was still flowing
This is a persuasive argument and very much in line with my thinking. I’m sure it’s related to my teaching career where I felt each student’s paper deserved to be read and fairly assessed. It took a lot more time than some “grading strategies.” And I’m not kidding myself, for 90% of the students it made no difference. But for that 10%…
Although I have high turnover, I’m not put off by the time it takes, that’s negligible and I consider it part of what I’m getting paid to do. I’d just like to spice it up a bit. But I know my humor and style isn’t always understood or appreciated. Many hosts could misunderstand. My concern is just would a majority of hosts and guests like it, or be put off? And would that 10% that it doesn’t work for ever be a critical case? I really do feel like I have exceptional guests but how much can one rave about a one night stay where you didn’t meet the guest?
Every time I’ve worried in advance about a guest due to some perceived “red flag” it was misplaced. My problem guests have all been middle aged or older, stereotypically “respectable” people. I try not to stereotype them either.
Huh. I read reviews from time to time where the host uses the review to talk about how great they and their rental are. Something like "Stan enjoyed our full size lap pool and luxurious linens during his wonderful 5 day stay at Cuartos del Sol. His fresh roasted morning coffee with carefully curated breads and jams greeted him on the terrace each morning. Stan is welcome to return for the time of his life anytime. "
Don’t be that guy.
Ok fine - we are IMPRESSED! (TEASING)
I’m throwing 'em out there are every opportunity so LMK.
