Same here. I can’t imagine why someone local in this town would need an Airbnb, unless they had to move from wherever they were renting and wait to move to a new place. And they wouldn’t pay str rates, they’d just go crash at a friend’s place.
This is actually a really interesting tidbit. We have a guestbook and the only few people who haven’t left airbnb reviews wrote something in it. I always wondered because they all seemed pleased. I’m old fashioned so I love the idea of it, but maybe its not a good idea.
HVAC service technicians just left my home. They did a GREAT job. Polite, neat, professional, considerate, and thorough. On the way out the young man asked if I wouldn’t mind leaving a review for him and his partner. I had already been thinking how glad I was I’d chosen their company. I was surprised that I didn’t feel bothered by the request after all the negative attitudes I’ve read about asking for reviews. I am glad they asked. I was pleased to provide it and they earned all 5 of their stars in spades.
I know we do our very best and some guests still cannot be bothered…but I’m one of the hopeful.
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@RiverRock @casailinglady I actually liked RR’s request narrative for the review. It points out that an email is on the way (from Airbnb) and that the guest has a review coming from the host. We take a similar approach to what Casail does and tell good guests that we’re leaving them a 5-star review and hope that they would do the same. It’s a smidge pushy (to which everyone above concurs), but we feel that it’s OK. And we feel without it, we’d get less reviews.
I think the crux of the question of the OP was “Are we seeing less reviews more recently?”
For us, that answer is yes. We got reviews just over 80% of the time from our calculations of our guest #1 to guest #925 (let’s call that pre-pandemic). Post pandemic (guest #926 to present), we’re closer to 75%. And more recently, that number is feeling like it’s definitely trending downward.
I think it’s all the 1st time guests. But that’s just anecdotal. We’ll have a few 0-review folks not give us a review and then all the sudden a person with 5-reviews will still not review us.
We all want everyone to review us, right? The #1 rule in sales is to ask for the sale! It’s so hard to ask for that review (and hopefully nudge to 5-stars) without asking for the review. If only guests knew how much we all thought/opined about it and how important it was to all of us. . . LOL
@JJD how in the WORLD did do you rock a 99% review rate?!? That’s crazy amazing. It sounds like your tactic (sorry if I missed it) is to say literally nothing? And you still get virtually everyone to review you? Are all your guests seasoned guests? At 300 guests, how is that? I’m super intrigued. . .
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No, when we get the guest who is less than ideal and we anticipate a less than 5 star review we don’t want a review from that guest. In that case we wait until the last minute to review them.
Asking for a review is not a sale. You’ve sold someone something and now you are asking for an assessment of the sale. Asking for a 5 star review is like the kid who asks for a A. You either earn the grade/stars or you don’t. Some instructors have a rubric to explain how grades are awarded. Some hosts have a rubric for guests to explain how they see the star system. But asking for 5 stars is just ick.
Back when Airbnb told us our review percentage I think I topped out at 88%. It was higher when I hosted a room in my home where they shared my entire home with me. Once I separated it and gave them their own entrance and no shared spaces it declined to about 80%. It doesn’t feel like I’m getting fewer reviews but I’ve been mostly closed during the pandemic. I’ve had a lot of friends stay with me while visiting town and multiple repeat guests who contact me directly. Who knows what my review rate will be if I ever go back to the pre-pandemic style of hosting?
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I’ve said this before. If a host suggests (in any way) a five star/10 BDC, or tries to influence my review score by subliminal messages, you can guarantee that what I leave will not be what they desire.
You stand or fall by your product, if its worth top marks, then generally that’s what you’ll get.
Saying that though, we’ve recently realised that there is one nationality that rarely leaves 5*/10. Talking to a few others hosts locally last week confirmed it, they were finding the same.
It’s an odd one, maybe I should start competition 
fiver a guess and money goes to a deserving charity!
JF
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The Netherlands! X 202020
I don’t have guess but I am curious about the answer.
That would be odd indeed. One of our former members, Guthend, was Dutch (or was he Flemish?) and came up with the much loved 5 star rubric that said 1 star means the host should be put in jail.
Bloody spoiler.
Yup, the ol’ Dutchies just can’t see it in themselves to give top marks.
I posted the above while enjoying a wee Oloroso round the corner, and by the time I got home, our current Dutchies were sitting out on patio having a drink.
They suggested I joined them, and after thinking for around four milliseconds, I plonked my fat arse down beside them.
Turns out he’s in hospitality as well.
So, two glasses of wine later, I say why do Dutchies never give high rating on BDC, Airbnb etc?
His answer, “I don’t bloody know, but it’s really irritating to us also”.
So much for getting an insight into the psyche of Dutch guests
Essentially, he gets low scores from domestic guests and high scores from international guests.
Not that it’s an issue right now, his hotel has been contracted by the government to house refugees, and they’re receiving the grand sum of €15 per night.
Let’s just say he’s a man who is not happy with his lot in life right now.
They check out tomorrow, so it’ll be interesting to see what we get 
JF
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@JohnF Was married to Dutchman. Knew most of his 7 brothers. Have other Dutch friends. Nothing can ever live up to their standards. Homes, other people, whatever.
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Don’t I know it. For a good number of years in Istanbul my business partner was from Alkmaar, and he was a pain in the arse when it came to press releases.
Every time I did one, he insisted on correcting because my English wasn’t good enough 
Despite that, he’s still a good friend, just.
JF
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To be clear:
Let’s say you stayed in a 5-star place, you had a 5-star experience, and the listing deserved 5-stars. Then, the host asked for a 5-star review in some leading/subliminal/annoying way. You would then not give them a 5-star review?
Just want to be sure I’m following.
They’re an interesting bunch. Somehow able to be both personable, funny, charming and overly critical and obnoxious, all at the same time. Full of self-confidence and “you don’t measure up” yet able to make fun of themselves and own their behavior. I like them.
Yo también 
What used to be really annoying was that my fecking OH used to agree with him!
We’re still good mates, even though it’s a very digital relationship, him now working in Malta and me in Spain.
JF
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Sorry, of Dutch extraction and know what they can be like!
The next group are the French!
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Russians. Богатые русские плутократы! 
Seems there’s quite a few nationalities that say they never leave 5*s. So far we’ve got Dutch, Russian, and I’ve read hosts saying it’s the French.
Glowing review, 10’s across the board, and an 8 overall.
Even when they suffer the same issues from their own countrymen, they still can’t bring themselves to go that extra little bit in the overall rating.
When I checked back, the vast majority of Dutch review (on BDC) at 8, with a couple of 8.8’s and one 10. Fortunately, these lower scores don’t affect us that much, the regular 10’s we get mitigate them sufficiently that it doesn’t lower our overall score.
His wife confessed that some of the places they’ve stayed in while touring Andalucia were complete dumps, so one wonders how they fared!
Incidentally, all our French guests have been great and given good reviews. Mostly 10’s, with only two 9.2’s. Only ever had a couple of Russians, but were with partners of other nationalities and both times gave good reviews.
JF
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It is unfortunate the host didn’t leave a review. I always leave a review and many hosts who post here also leave reviews. Since the host was unresponsive, it seems as if she/he may have not activated notifications. Yep, this one may have to be chalked off as a loss. At least no review is better than a negative review. I think this may be a one off.