Got 4* rating and was explained why

I just had a very nice guest who kept on praising my house, his room, bathroom and me for accommodating him on such short notice. When he left he bought me a bottle of wine and chocolate. He texted me after words saying how he wanted to actually meet me and regrets we didnt have a chance as it was a weekend and we both were out a lot.
I was happy to see his review with
Praising me over and over. But the shock was when I went to see the star rating and he put overall experience, communication, location and VALUE at 4*.
I asked him very politely to explain to me why he put 4* instead of 5* even for value, while he expressed to me verbally in his text what a great value Airbnb is in general and especially my house being so beautifully for 55$.
He said, he is very new to Airbnb, and 4* for him is the same as 5*. He just clicked on 4* instead of 5* thinking that it’s basically the same and in his opinion is a very high rating. He told me that he could not find anything thati could improve on, that everything was perfect even location across the park.

Now , he is asking me if he can change it, buti don’t think he can, can he?

Hi Yana_Agapova,
Ive had this exact same thing before!
Guests contacted airbnb to see if they could change, but seemly could not.
Either some guests are two faced or stupid. Its terrible I dont believe anything that comes out of a guests mouth now until I see their review, and most importantly star ratings.

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I did a webinar all about reviews and was talking to a guest about it. He said he never gives 5 stars and I said… that’s what we strive for. For some guests 4 is the same as 5

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I really think that Airbnb should use only 4 stars max…not five : Poor, Good, Very Good, Best

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Well in your case the 4 stars was clearly deliberate for whatever reason and not by mistake, so I would leave it be!

Why you think it was deliberate?

Some people can’t bear to give full marks! I had teachers at school that would give me 9/10 but couldn’t help me work out how to get the 10/10 (yes I was a swot!)

He sounds such a lovely guest. Chocolates and wine! Wow! I’d take chocolates and wine over 5* anyday

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When guests see the ability to rate and the best is five stars, it’s pretty obvious that if they thought your home was the best they would give 5 stars. I think older people are more prone to marking down to a four. It’s hard to know what on earth he was thinking. I almost choke when I see value low on places around the $50 mark. These stays are so cheap that pretty soon people really won’t be able to afford to keep doing Airbnb if the pressure keeps pushing prices down. At best he was not very thoughtful in the way he graded you, especially your value, at worst he wasn’t honest and felt there was room for improvement in all areas.

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5 stars is a very high standard. It is like saying “This place was the Best you could hope to find”. Now I run a nice place, house is a new build, so everything is brand new. Yet I know that I am not Five Star overall. I have minor drawbacks that mean I expect 4 stars as fair. Granted, I get 60% five star and 40% 4 star.
I am realistic. To get five stars I would need a better location, my city block has some ugly old houses, and across the street another ugly building. This is made up for by being 2 blocks from the waterfront, hiking trails, museum, Light House, beach etc. But I know 5 is never going to be possible with the junker houses nearby. Same with bathrooms. Mine a nice, perfectly clean, but you must shower downstairs, and that is not 5 star. Basically, as long as reviews are uniformly excellent, I don’t let stars get to me. I accept my limitations, when I went Air BnB I knew I would never be uniformly 5 star. The place just doesn’t reach that level. I do get five stars for other issues not directly related to location and internal layout.
One hint for other hosts. Your bath towels and especially wash cloths. Take great care with these. Brand new, very clean and soft. Also check sent, use a pleasant sent softener when drying. If a guest smells anything stale you are gonna really hear about it. Sometimes if you are not careful, just the washing and drying process can give a hint of stale smell. You gotta use a scent to ensure guest feel happy. I didn’t use scent added to drying, and just went with clean! Bad idea. I did the smell test, and the guest was right, a slight stale smell was there, From where, I had no clue, but there it is! Use nicely scented dryer softener.

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Well because he knew there were 5 stars, but deliberately chose four (different from those that think there’s only 4 stars).
It is weird but not to worry. There are people who feel perfection cannot be attained unless they spending thousands of dollars, and giving you a 5 star would seem wrong to them.
They don’t realise that giving you a 5 star doesn’t mean that your home is the Ritz. It means it was all that could’ve been expected and more at that price point (I wish AirBnB would have a few lines explaining this to guests before they review).
Otherwise, the only legitimate 5 star reviews would be places charging thousands of dollars!

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Thats what i thought some people think about ratings on how pretty a place is. Thats not how i rate any hotel or Airbnb. I stayed in place not even close to pretty for very low price with awesome host who we had whiskey with. Shower was not to be taken for more than 5 min as the water heater was tiny, and with my long hair it was just impossible. There was a barking doggy right under my window at 6 am. He got all 5* from me for many reasons. i felt welcomed, all was clean, and it was not his fault that neighbors dog woke up early. I rate based more on effort of a host not on the prettiness of the place. Although my house is beautifull.

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i have to go with the market. Even at 55$ i am not 100% booked

I disagree with using scented products. Personally I really dislike the strong fake scents in commercial laundry products. I use a very small amount of a natural laundry liquid that has only minimal natural scent (essential oil of lavender), and is barely able to be smelled after the wash. I have never had a problem with smells. If you do it is because your items aren’t getting laundered properly, or drying sufficiently. Clean laundry should just smell like clean laundry.

I believe that scents are such a personal thing, that it is not a great idea to use scented products when it can be avoided (especially the cheap fragrances used in laundry products). My nose is so sensitive after not using any commercial chemical products for so many years that we have to air the home after a guest that uses typical supermarket/pharmacy deodorants, shampoos, and other scented products stay. The smell is overwhelming, and not in a good way. All the chemicals that go into creating these scents to cover up other chemical smells are not good for the body either!

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Hi Imo! What’s a ‘swot’ ?

swot is a slang term it just means you study lots

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Which would explain why I’ve never heard it, lol!

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I received many really wonderful reviews (over 200) and for two years I had “superhost” status. However I cancelled a guest once in the early part of the years and now TWO Airbnb assessments have come and gone and I have not got back my superhost designation. Any suggestions? Thank you, Wendy : )

I actually know why - I spoke with Air the other day because I had the same problem. Basically, if you cancel a guest you get blocked from Superhost for 12 months, non-negotiable.

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Well it looks like mine is out the window then! I had a leak and had to cancel on a guest. Not only have I gone down the search rankings but now this :frowning:

yeah I was less than impressed, too. Before I understood Air I had my house listed with access to all rooms = whole apartment. A girl booked and then realized that I would sleep there too, so she called Air and they cancelled the booking in my name without asking me first (I could have spent the night somewhere else). Now, automatically, I’m not going to be able to be a superhost which, to be fair I don’t want to be, but if I did I couldn’t.