Two things:
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Who’s doing it? You or me?
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Would you mind sharing here real quick what was disappointing despite the great reviews?
I thought you. (People might be fed up of hearing from me. 
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A curtain instead of a bathroom door was one thing. Windows with no glass in them was another. (Or bug screens). Outdoor furniture with green moss growing on them. AC that didn’t work … I could go on…
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Is it fair to assume that these were issues that could be written off as 'listing/property not kept up to date/in working condition"?
What bugs me a lot is when hosts post 50 photos out of which 40 show paintings or other decorative items in the accommodation instead of the actual rooms in their entirety. Often I think, they don’t post certain areas of a bathroom for a very specific reason 
Windows with no glass is a ‘good’ one. Did the previous guest break it just before you arrived or was this an ongoing thing?
You’re saying these were issues at rentals that had high reviews? I would definitely contact air about that - sounds like the reveiws are fake.
Yes, they all had good reviews. However, I’ve given honest reviews and written to the host in question to tell them why I wasn’t satisfied.
At least two of those places no longer host (or at least, they’re no longer listed with Airbnb) so maybe they realised that hosting wasn’t a good fit for them.
I’ve just looked at a place that did exactly that. It’s no longer an option for me for that very reason.
Ongoing. There were only three windows in the apartment and they had interior shutters in place of glass or bug screens.
The place was very dark as we had to keep them closed all the time. Needless to say, they were open in the photographs and the place looked lovely.
This was in a warm-weather location so there were bugs around. And because of no glass, it was incredibly noisy round the clock.
I’m speechless how such hosts get away with it? You couldn’t be the only one having an issue that the place cannot be lit with daylight because the shutters had to be closed at all times…
If I would see one comment like yours amongst 5 star reviews I would ask the host for current photos of the place to make sure it matches their listing. But hey, there seem to be guests who don’t even care about that…
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We “get away” with that all the time. That’s how our home was built. It’s up in the hills in a rainforest on a Caribbean island and there are usually gentle breezes and the temperature is usually not too hot for most of the year. The majority of the homes near us (also short-term rentals) as well as a nearby world-class resort (Jade Mountain) are all built the same way, some with only three walls.
It’s “glamping” (glamorous camping). We have a full kitchen and a TV theater room. We do have screens on the villa windows (there weren’t any when we bought the house), but the doors are left open all day to “let in the view” (my avatar is our view). We work really, really hard to keep the little critters outside.
We are really clear in our listing and I have “our house is open and Mother Nature’s critters are likely to share the house with you” as a pop-up message before guests book. So our guests understand what they are getting.
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There are lots of open-air homes in tropical countries, just as is PitonView’s. My neighbor across the road has 2 Airbnbs- they have walls on three sides, but are totally open on the third side, with thatched palm roofs.
My house has glass in the windows, but no screens, and the windows and doors are almost always open.
@muddy as well.
Oops, I think something got lost in translation.
Originally, I was under the impression that @jaquo was disappointed with her accommodation as she unexpectedly saw that there was no glass in the windows.
I (perhaps wrongly) assumed that she saw listing photos of the accommodation WITH glass in the windows and that was the reason for the disappointment.
I don’t think your guests are having a problem with no doors or no windows if you advertise your accommodation this way.
Sorry for expressing myself so poorly.
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It sounded to me like she assumed there was glass in the windows- the shutters were open in the listing photos, so it looked bright, and if it wasn’t mentioned in the listing info that there were only shutters, it probably wouldn’t occur to most people that windows wouldn’t have glass. I don’t know that it would necessarily be obvious whether a window had glass or not just from a photo.
Again sorry for expressing myself so poorly - this is exactly what I understood as well. I’m not sure which part of my response lead to believe that I thought otherwise.
I haven’t researched or stayed at higher-end, special or obvious locations where glass in a window cannot be expected 
but it may be a little snobbish of me to assume that a window has glass in it - even if it is in a place where it is generally warm. Lots of places use A/C, so glass would be very welcome to separate the interior from the exterior.
Wherever there is an accommodation that doesn’t have glass in their windows, it should be clearly visible and/or mentioned in the listing description just to avoid any misunderstandings.
I mean, if our guests cannot even find a drawer underneath their twin size bed, I obviously have to be more specific about some features that may not be clearly visible in the photos…
Exactly that @muddy.
Also exactly right. The apartment had AC which was basically useless unless we sat in the dark.
It’s very hard to show that there is no glass just by typical pictures. About the only way I can think of to show we don’t have glass is to stick my hand through the shutters and take a picture of that!
No offense taken so no need to apologize. You aren’t being snobbish about assuming windows are covered by glass. That’s the standard in many places. But not having glass on the windows in our house was a design decision and wasn’t because of a lack of money.
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I understand and I never wanted to imply that it would have been a matter of money. I can see that certain accommodations benefit from having no windows but I’m not trying to compare apples and oranges.
When @jaquo described her experience I (foolishly) assumed that we’re talking about an accommodation that usually has glass windows. I might have been a little pretentious by assuming so. I didn’t mean to discredit any host who offers ‘glassless’ windows for evident reasons.
I was merely trying to emphasize the importance of hosts having the duty to properly describe their accommodation in order to avoid misunderstandings and to increase guest satisfaction.
Language barriers and my mind going 100 miles per hour sometimes cause a little confusion… 
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I do have to say though that I’ve stayed in many truly wonderful places. The bad ones stick in my mind more, that’s all.
I’ve been to many truly five-star places.
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I have strict cancellation policy so i always get half. I have never felt it held back bookings.
Hi im about to hopefully take the plunge in being a host around fall this year ( 2025) What is the best / Most common cancellation policy to have in place?
I don’t know the stats on what is the most common cancellation policy, but which one is “best” depends on the nature of your listing, location, the demographic of guests you market to and attract, and what you feel you can live with financially.
For example, I have always used the Moderate policy, which works well for me for the following reasons:
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My listing is a homeshare in a touristy beach town in Mexico. I get primarily international guests. They have flights booked, time off work, may have other activities like surf lessons booked. They have too much in play to be likely to cancel last minute, unless it was an unforeseen event, like illness, accident, or death in the family.
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I didn’t become a host with the thought of making a major income off of it. I just had a guest room in my home that sat empty most of the time, unless family or friends came to visit. Also I don’t mind ending up with some unbooked days if a guest cancels too late to get another booking. Because I host in the home where I live, I actually appreciate having the place to myself sometimes and a break from cleaning and dealing with guests.
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Hosts with strict cancellation policies get more guests trying to get refunds they aren’t entitled to if they cancel. I prefer not to deal with that. Because my listing is inexpensive and guests who cancel after the cut-off date only pay for the first night and half the remaining nights, I have only once in 9 years of hosting had a guest who cancelled last minute and tried to demand a full refund.
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When I set up my listing, I considered what policy I would be willing to accept if I were a guest and chose that one.
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None of this is to say it doesn’t irritate me when someone’s booking blocks my calendar for 2 months in my busy season, only to cancel 5 days before check-in. It is irritating, but it just doesn’t happen often enough to be a big deal.
A host with a more expensive stand-alone property in a location where they are quite unlikely to get a replacement booking for a last minute cancellation, or one who is trying to wring as much money as possible out of their listing and aim for full occupancy, or who is a hard-nosed type who considers it to be “just business” without any consideration for the unforeseen circumstances any of us might have as a reason for having to cancel a booking and doesn’t have any qualms about keeping hundreds of dollars of a guest’s $ if they cancel may find the Strict policy is best for them.
And a host who lives near an airport or a major highway, who gets lots of last minute bookings from travelers who didn’t anticipate needing to book accommodation ahead of time, and who is likely to get replacement bookings for cancelled ones may be fine with the Flexible policy.
Also, none of the settings you choose are written in stone. If you find a setting or cancellation policy isn’t working for you, you can always change it. (However, changes only apply to future bookings- already booked guests are subject to whatever settings were in place when they booked)
Hi thanks for the information. The location im looking at is my home town of Liverpool England. The exact location of the property will be in the heart of the biggest most popular beatles tourist attractions in the city. Not only is Liverpool known for the Fab 4 its also home to 2 very well known & 2 very successful soccer teams, So my target is definitely them, I guess to ansaw your question ( If you was lol) is i feel the bulk of my guests will be International tourists. I want to be fair but also do not want to be out of pocket. Plus i will be s host from the USA.
Hi all im hoping to become a host on a property in the UK by the end of the year, What are the early difficulties hosts face in the beginning? THANKS