OK - looks like the overwhelming weight of opinion is to review guests every time. So I have gone back and reviewed all my past guests in the last 14 days. They were all good so it wasn’t hard to say something complimentary to help the next host. As noted by some the harder part is there is some criticism, So far that’s only happened twice in the last 10 months (knock on wood!)
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@lchiu7 - well, it’s good that you have realised the error of your ways. But you still need to explain your logic in your original post. As you say, you’re new so why do you think that the system is something you can ignore? I’d be interested to know.
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There was a requirement that 50% of your guests had to leave a review (not that hosts had to) to maintain Superhost, but they did away with that requirement about half a year ago. It was a ridiculous requirement, since we have no ability to make guests leave a review, so it’s good they eliminated that.
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My logic was, I would dutifully review all guests but only about 50% would review me back. So if a guest reviewed me, as a new host, I would quickly review them so I could see their review. But then decided that there was no need to review them to see their reviews - hence my thought of discontinuing reviews if the guest has not bothered to review. Maybe flawed logic but it had not occurred to me that hosts look at reviews to decided if or not to accept a guest since I have automatic acceptance for any guest who has provided confirmed Government ID etc.
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Well, I also look at reviews to see how guests have reviewed their previous stays, not just to see how they have been reviewed. It can tell you whether this is apt to be a entitled complainer or not, which verifications don’t.
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@justMandi Mandi, I didn’t understand your comments; what happened that made you change your mindset?
I’m similar to you in that I have Instant Book but reviews can still be useful. I’m not like hosts who decide to accept or reject guests based on their reviews but reviews are still useful. I don’t look at them all the time but if I have a few moments when I’m waiting to greet a guest, I’ll sometimes look at their reviews.
If they have great reviews, that’s marvellous and I know that I’m not going to have any trouble with the guests.
If they have comments about behaviour that’s less than perfect then I bring the subject up with them. For instance "I saw in your review from xxx that you’d left food out. Please help me out here and be careful not to do it - in this climate it attracts bugs’ or whatever.
Whenever I’ve done that guests have been as good as gold. 
I’m a chatty person (I talk way too much!) but reviews are also handy for hosts who want a bit of information to break the ice when talking to guests “I saw in your reviews that you stayed in [town]. I’ve stayed there too, whereabouts were you?”
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I review all of my guests and honestly. If I get a sense that I may get a bad review or if I know my review is going to be bad I will wait until the 13th day and the 23 hour and 50 minutes. I schedule it on my calendar with an alert so that I don’t forget.
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Would you be open to share (or PM) the boiler plate version of your check out/review message to guests? I stopped sending these for awhile and my % of guests reviewing me has plummeted. I’d love to see what you (and other hosts’) are are saying to guests that has proven successful.
I can’t recall what kind of rental you have. Whole house, just a room? Do you live there?
One private room/private bath in my home - yes I live here. Lot’s of common spaces, no private entry.
I’m surprised your review rate plummeted. I don’t ask for reviews and I only use boilerplate for the check in message. If I needed reviews I would definitely drop it into a convo though. As they check out (if you are there) maybe mention it would really help you if they would leave one.
Often after a guest leaves and I’ve peeked in the room to make sure all is well I’ll message with something like “I enjoyed hosting you, come back anytime. Have a safe drive.” I also do things like remind of time changes or tell them where to watch for speed traps. If they left anything I message right away so they can come back for it. I ask during the stay if they need anything if they are here more than one night.
I go into more detail about my “plummeting” reviews here:
I messaged my 6 night guest who checked out this morning. We’ll see how it goes…
Well 78 is down from 91 but it’s not horrible. I get around 85% but I’ve never asked for reviews. It sounds like you were doing everything right. I always think a “I need your help” approach works well to make it seem like it’s something you really want the person to do without seeming bossy. At least it worked well for me as a teacher with kids, parents, fellow teachers and admin.
I guess it’s not horrible, but the two 4-star reviews I received from recent (5-star veteran) guests gave me motivation to start leaving the “check-out” letter again.
If nothing else, it gives me the opportunity to educate them on how the star rating system works and importance of 5-stars to hosts. (I don’t want to post anything in my shared space, it would seem pushy, and I don’t have a house manual.)
I do try to talk to guests about reviews, when guests want to talk about Airbnb…But more and more this past year, I seem to be getting the “hotel crowd” meaning that they are private, keep to themselves, and there is very little conversation after check-in and the dreaded tour. (Not that I mind this at all, but there simply is little opportunity to talk about reviews in person.)
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I don’t explicitly ask for a review. What I do is send a boilerplate email, personalized a little, that says we hope you got checked in with ease and are having a great time. If anything doesn’t meet your expectations, please let me know. AirBnB/VRBO prompt the guest to leave a review and send reminders like it does to us. So I don’t want to also be asking for the review, too. I just want to know why it didn’t meet their expectations if that is the case.
Edit to add… to date any negative feedback has been in private. I think asking for it first before Air or VRBO does helps funnel it that way.
Me too, but through messaging or I just print it out. I have only emailed guests when I cannot get ahold of them through ABB messaging and text.
Off topic Do other hosts here have better luck with guests reading email in a timely fashion? I find most of my guests don’t have notifications turned on for messaging, even though I suggest it in my welcome message.
Me too, thankfully. My two 4-star reviewers left nice reviews, no private comments, but 4-stars across the board:roll_eyes:
I know…I believe if I can subtly educate them on the ABB review system, they will be more likely to review me or at least not give me 4 stars or below.
I don’t know if you and LoneStar mean email or Airbnb messaging. I never use the Airbnb email. I only use the message thread on Airbnb or their cell number. If I have a foreign guest I only use Airbnb. I don’t find that most guests are very plugged into Airbnb messages of any kind, especially not once they have checked out. I’ve messaged guests to tell them they left something and they don’t see it in time, for example.
Can’t speak for @LoneStar but I only use ABB messaging, and/or send a text to let them know they have a new message on ABB when I don’t get a reply.
Same here.
Again same here. I have to text them.
I was just wondering if any one has noticed quicker reply through the ABB email in general vs. ABB messenger. Maybe I’ll do some experimenting.
i didn’t mean a 3rd party email. it’s boilerplate templates in each platform.