Hello fellow hosts, I’ve been hosting for about a year now and I have about 60 - 70 reviews, most are excellent. Some are not so great over small issues that are beyond my control. I’ve become a little review obsessed, I get so upset if someone leaves me a negative review lately because Ive worked so hard for all my positive reviews that at this point any negative one feels like it just dismisses all my good reviews I’ve earned since my year of hosting and I do feel every time a negative review pops up its all people read. I obviously need to evolve and find a more mature business like approach and would just like some feedback on how I can improve my attitude towards the review process or maybe someone can just share with me if they feel the same anguish over the review system. I’m so defensive if I feel someone is going to leave me a bad review that I often leave them a negative to counteract only to find I’ve been completely wrong and what they left me was NOT THAT BAD! Thanks in advance for your feedback.
My only advice for you is to try and take the emotion out of it (something I myself have to work on). With a negative review ask yourself: is there any truth in it, can you learn something from it. If you can find an improvement opportunity that fits with your business model, then great! If not, then just breathe and let it go. If you can’t let it go right away, have a little vent with your bff and THEN let it go. Of course I’m talking about the mildly negative reviews…if there’s one that’s grossly unfair post it here and ask other hosts for their advice. But don’t allow it to take years off your life.
Regarding leaving reviews for your guests, unless you know for sure you’re going to get a good review, keep it factual and park the paranoia…or don’t leave one at all. Someone on this forum came up with a star rating system for their guests (search it) which I thought was a great idea. You could do the same. That’s the easiest way to take the emotion out of it.
And finally…give yourself a pat on the back for all the good work you’ve done this past year and go read the reviews from your guests who appreciated it! 
Hello thanks for your advice I agree I better start being very careful about how I review my guests and taking the emotion out of this. Thankyou for your response. The star rating will also be something I look into for guests
Niika, first good for you for being so conscientious and dedicated, but you are your worst critic.
Let me give you an interesting perspective. In the real world, with real-world products, satisfying customers (guests in this case) ~80%~ of the time is a major coup. There are a thousand reasons for that, human nature, competition, differences, etc etc. When hosting, meaning dealing with people at large (numerous guests) perhaps best to view them as a whole, not individually; if you satisfy 95% of your guests that is an exemplary achievement! It is a philosophical approach versus an emotional one,
Can you share your listing?
And you’re not the only one who has difficulty with this aspect of hosting. I think everyone does. I have yet to get a bad review (I just started) but I’m sure I would find it difficult to cope with as well.
I for one don’t have a problem with the review process.
Learn to relax and “go with the flow”. I never without a review of a guest, and only once have responded when I got a negative.
All you can do is the best you can do. You can’t please all of the people all of the time. But if more than one “negative” review mentions the same thing – fix it! Whatever the issue or problem, it obviously isn’t right, whether you think so or not.
What @Mearns said! If you browse around other listings you’ll probably see that almost nobody has 100% positive reviews. In my experience about 1 in 15 guests are just going to be the type that you simply can’t get 5* out of, so when i get one of those reviews I just try to think of it as their problem, not mine.
As for the reviews you write, personally I just copy and paste the same, bland review text unless a guest was especially good/bad.
See my thread on this subject… "The Review System is Wearing me Down."
It’s by far the most difficult aspect of this business. The way I deal is not review them first unless they review me, or unless I am convinced they have had a stellar stay. But even that can backfire. I have such a good property and like all of us, put my whole heart and soul into making sure the guests get all they need, yet it still happens… The dreaded nit picks. Some guests are just not a fit or don’t get my place. Nothing I can do.
If I have a really bad guest, I wait until the last minute and then drop the review in so they cannot answer back.
I had one negative review, I just replied saying thank you for your comment then I basically made them sound like an idiot (which they were) by telling the truth haha