First 4 star review

41

Yes!! That is the one! I saw it on one of the ghost shows!

42

Emily my dear, they just behaved like most people do when they stay in a hotel. They don’t feel the warm and fuzziness of what we Airbnb hosts offer and the extra trouble we go to. They aren’t aware of it and treat us as a business transaction.

However, these people probably were truly assholes; so don’t let it bother you. Most of my guests have been very appreciative. I’ve only had a couple out of nearly 100 who–though not total jerks–weren’t the “thank you for giving me a wonderful place to stay for half of what I’d pay at a hotel but get twice the attention” types. They came, slept, bathed, left some "public hairs"and were gone. :0

5 Likes
43

been a host since 2010 end 2011 start - seems like a distant memory now - well the guests they come and go like waves - most are wonderful lovely people and am delighted to get to know them hang out etc - then in 2014 airbnb had a very aggressive ad campaign here in the UK and it jumped from 2400 hosts to 16thousand then 22 and last year around 40 thousand - interestingly enough those people with rooms to rent from 2010 - to 2013 left - I guess airbnb was not for them and a new wave of hosts appeared like the campaign they were commercially minded - this created a different dynamic to the site the hosts and the guests - and the complaints pour in as did the horrid people who travel to complain - they forget they are staying in peoples homes - influenced by the glossy travel ad campaigns airbnb started to appeal to the car crash tourists - the ones who travel\complain - I am sure if you talk to a hotelier they will give you a chapter and verse about this kind of tourist -
chin up - the longer you are a host the less you will start to care about guests complaining - and accept that those that do - set out on holiday knowing they chose airbnb over a hotel hostel etc because they can and will compare it to thier life home etc and if its not the same then its worth telling everyone how brilliant they are by comparison -

footnote - airbnb not as big as you might think - of the 40 odd thousand properties in london 74% approx are whole properties - the rest are rooms approx 10.5 thousand rooms - in room terms an increase of 2-10k rooms in 6 years is not really big league business but when viewed against the travel market for homes from homes a jump of say 500 apartments to rent in 2010 to 32 thousand in 2016 - a with that comes the tourists and travellers than usually stay in cheap hotel break deals and complain -
sorry just saying! you will get people who hate your home and you give you no stars or 1 at best - will be vile the whole stay and write terrible things just because they are being given a platform to do so -

1 Like
44

Man, you can’t win sometimes. Sorry for your vengeful guest.:confounded:

1 Like
45

I try to always send a similar message to my guests. I am truly interested in their feedback, but also desire to let them get the bug out of their britches before they leave a public review. Sometimes it works. Sometimes not. But I feel better for having gotten a chance to resolve an issue.
Also, as has been mentioned on another thread, don’t let Superhost status jerk you around and take all the joy out of hosting for you. I realize most host for the money, not the :kissing_heart:, but I try to remember that some things are not as important as all that.
Good luck in the future with your rentals.

46

Calm down, Kaelint. I regularly get 3-star reviews, or worse, and I still get lots of bookings on Air.

3 Likes
47

You have lots of replies but thought I would add something I didn’t see posted. When this happens (or before hopefully) I educate the guest how this works. It’s 5 stars or nothing to Airbnb for your super host rating. If there is anything that doesn’t rate 5 let me know asap and please before you leave. Better no review than a non-5 star.

I find it’s usually new airbnb guests and/or older people who review concepts are different. This isn’t your grandmother’s grand faitmont hotel and they don’t know if we don’t tell them. It’s not the same type of review metric.

4 Likes
48

How old should they be before we “teach” them about how they felt about their stay? ls that 50, 60, 80 when they no longer can grasp the metrics?

4 Likes
49

:slight_smile: if they still own a vcr, flip phone, or think Uber is anything really large. :slight_smile:

It never hurts to talk to all guests about the rating system especially newbies and/or over 40. I’m 47 and would do the same 4-star thinking of my common reference of hotel star ratings, not a satisfaction rating.

2 Likes
50

Your listing is amazing. I totally get your frustration. Sometimes it would just be nice to have a ‘right of reply’ so that we can spell out all the good things we did for these people, and still only received a 4 star rating. In your case, you don’t need to change a thing!

1 Like
51

I have to agree with everyone here you have a great listing! and it’s something that it’s not really fair comparing the other locations she’s stayed.

I have to agree with @tps777 education can go a long way! specially for them to understand that the rating is 5 out of 5 stars based on the expectation of this particular listing, when I used to host. I would say it early and often " we really aim to deliver a great experience for our guests, a 5 star experience so please let me know how we can deliver that to you!" this will mean that if your guests leaves happy,they know you’re expecting 5 stars and any reason not to give you 5 stars should’ve been addressed before they left.

I had a few guests ask for quite a bit at times, but we delivered and it turned out great.

I went a little overboard. I created something called a wall of reviews in my entrance hall, it was 9 frames with 5 star reviews in each frame, I also had a small notebook for notes at the entrance, I would encourage guests to leave us comments, both in what we did that they loved, and also for them to let us know the areas in which we could improve.

Some people really dislike confrontation so they may not feel comfortable telling you face to face, but writing a note, you save them putting this comment at the time of the review and penalizing you for it. If we resolved everything before they left, they knew that the expectation was 5 stars, as we were 100% available to deliver that 5 star experience and if they did not receive it, it was only because they did not ask.

1 Like
52

I really loathe this whole stress about getting 5 stars all the time. It’s completely ridiculous. If everyone gets 5* all the time then the whole system is meaningless. It’s AIRBNB’s fault to make hosts chase this crazy millenial-airhead idea that only top scores are good. Four stars is PERFECTLY FINE. Four stars means it was a good stay, everything was OK. I wouldn’t rate my own place as five stars so I don’t expect guests to do so either. Talking to your guests about the rating system is a bad idea, imo. It could make you look desperate and only caring about appearances rather than experiences which, incidentally, sums up Airbnb’s attitude imo.

7 Likes
53

I agree to a certain extent, it’s a situation between " does it really matter in the end" and " well that’s the way the system is set up so make the most of it"

However the quote there reminded me of the season 3 episode of Black Mirror on rating everything, fantastic show for anyone who has not seen it!

1 Like
54

That Black Mirror episode reminded me of airbnb so much! Yes, great show and great episode indeed. Thanks for mentioning it :slight_smile: It’s on Netflix, I believe. Guys, you should watch it!

1 Like
55

The thing is, though, that many hosts (particularly new ones) get understandably hung up on this hook of nothing is good enough except 5* reviews. I’ve read crazy host responses to nice reviews saying “you only gave me 4* you bitch after all I did for you waaah”. Ok I’m exaggerating but only a little. A quick read on here, on the Air Community Forum and any other group involving hosts, will reveal the extent to which hosts feel strangled by the never-ending noose of the 5* review. I don’t have a solution other that Air releasing the rope a bit.

56

My solution was always optimize where you can, do the part you have control over and let the rest go

Kinda like the serenity prayer from AA

serenity_prayer.png944×944 31.1 KB

But yes! stars at the end of the day are just one factor in the decision making of future guests,which is the main goal here right? to drive future traffic.

So long as:

  • guests express that they enjoyed their stay and the hosts accommodated them

  • the space was as advertised

  • the space was clean!

then your reviews will be good.

57

Nice :slight_smile: But there’s recovering alcoholics and then there’s airbnb addicts… :fearful:

58

[quote=“Magwitch, post:52, topic:10720, full:true”]
If everyone gets 5* all the time then the whole system is meaningless. It’s AIRBNB’s fault to make hosts chase this crazy millenial-airhead idea that only top scores are good. [/quote]

I don’t agree. Most people want to do the best they can do and want their score to reflect the effort they put in. There are plenty of 3* hosts on the platform. However, it’s unlikely they will be on this forum because they’re not looking to improve or check what they’re doing - they’re just cruising.

I am a milennial and I have put a lot of time and effort into my place to ensure guests get the best experience. I love my flat and my city so this is important to me. Do I cry if I get a 4* review? No, but I’m not aiming for OK.

And since we’re on the topic of milennials…Let’s not forget that it’s the baby boomers who made the millenials as they are by pushing them to believe only top scores matter and we’re all special. They gave us our participation trophies. :smiley: :wink:

4 Likes
59

You have made me laugh!!!

5 Likes
60

Every, every, every older generation remarks on the deficiencies of the younger generation. The baby boomers who are so lauded now were dirty, draftdodging, dope smoking beatniks and hippies.

3 Likes