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Just stayed in a lovely airbnb for 1 night. Nice place. On check-in the host spent a fair amount of time explaining the rating system and how important it is for her to get 5 stars.
In the space there was a full sheet of paper with lots of information about the rating system and how what it means to her to get 5 stars.
It was a nice place but I was SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Now I feel so much pressure to give her 5 stars regardless of what I think she should earn. Now I don’t even want to review her at all.
It was a super nice place and she was a super nice host - but she billed it as a restful retreat on acres of untouched forest - which it may be - but it’s also right off a very busy road, and right behind a house where the occupants played loud music all afternoon. I just felt like she oversold and underdelivered. I can stay home and NOT listen to traffic all night…
Don’t let her bully you into a five star review. Only give one if you feel it deserves one. Although I have noisy neighbors at times too, and hosts should not be punished for what neighbors do. However the busy road is what they call in real estate an “incurable defect.”
It sounds like you got the high pressure sales pitch to leave five stars. Just don’t ! If any part of your stay is not five stars, just don’t!
Yep, I agree - she can’t control the neighbors, and I get that situation too, and non of my guests have complained or mentioned it in a review. Yes, she can’t do anything about the road either. It’s just how the listing is worded, right? If I hadn’t expected total seclusion and peace I wouldn’t have been disappointed to be listening to traffic all night - this was in a camper, like a pop-up.
This is the second time something similar happened. My husband and I booked a room at an Inn that bragged about their acres of quiet, scenic property - and showed lots of photos of beautiful fields and woods. However, the house itself sat on a very busy road, right near a bridge. So the cars would be winding down as they went down hill approaching the bridge, the bridge rattled like crazy, then the cars had to accelerate up the hill. Our room basically hung over all this action.
And thanks, I won’t let her bully me. She also complained extensively about people not leaving her a review at all - now I know why. ; )
Explain – in the Private part of the review – why you can’t give her 5 stars: she is mis-representing her space in the wording of the listing. Also mention that that may be WHY she hasn’t gotten many reviews, period.
I experienced the same with a German host. That turned me really off. We have to give stars out of your experience, not because the host does ask us to.
I would probably give an honest review - or no review at all. I also think it may be worth mentioning in the review that the host was nice, but will pressure you to write a 5 star review. This is a total turn off for me! Airbnb is in part to blame for pressuring host to maintain high reviews.
We have posted here many times about the importance of 5 star reviews and how there need to be guidelines and maybe we should provide these guidelines in our guest guides, etc. It seems it could backfire if not worded properly This is something I’ve thought about before. Wouldn’t it be awkward if I stayed with one of the hosts on this forum and then it turned out–gasp–they really weren’t all that nice or their place wasn’t great or wasn’t clean? Folks come on here claim their place is this or that or they have so many stars or how their guests don’t read the profile. But most won’t share their profile and we certainly haven’t seen their place and we only have their side of the story. I’m going on a road trip this fall and I’ve wondered if anyone on here would be along my route but it would be really awkward if I didn’t like their rental.
I booked a room in Istanbul for a week last year via booking.com. The owner had three buildings on the same street, each with 3 or 4 self-catering apartments. The description of the units was perhaps a little more luxury than what we found, however, the location was fabulous and we were comfortable enough.
What I hated was the pressure I was under as we left to give them a 10-star review. In fact, I wasn’t sure that this man was going to let us leave until I “promised” that I would do this. I wouldn’t promise, and the more he pushed, the less likely he was to get his coveted stars. He invoked his parents, his children, his reputation, who knows what else. I felt cornered and assaulted. I could not have been more happy to see my cousin’s driver, who quickly pulled this man off of me, loaded up my bags, and got us out of there.
My review was not a 10-star review. The place didn’t warrant that given the value, but I would have given one more star than my eight if he had simply noted that booking.com has a review option and asked me to take the time to do this.
I do not ever ask guests about reviews or stars or my own AirBNB aspirations. I just remember how slimy that aggression felt, and keep it to myself. I have had three guests, all American, who felt the need to bring it up. The two that talked about reviews early in their trip felt a bit threatening [if you aren’t what I want, I will ding you] and one was done with total enthusiasm because they were so pleased with their accommodation. Of course, they haven’t actually written anything yet!
I’m surprised she felt the need to explain the rating system to another host. A simple “since you’re a host, you understand how important the reviews are! Please let me know what I can do to make this a great experience for you” should have been sufficient.
I don’t even talk to my guests about the reviews - I talk about the room, their visit, did they have fun when they were out, how was that restaurant, do you have everything you need? Are you enjoying your stay? A good review will follow a good experience.
The time has come to write the review and I hate it. Her other reviews are very good and they all talk about it being peaceful and quiet. What the What?! The traffic noise wasn’t so bothersome - it’s that I expected what was promised “to be nestled on 50 acres of untouched forest”.
I don’t get it. I stayed in a listing last labor day that guests raved about. The first floor had no ac, no windows that I could open, and no screen on the doors. (in the country - flys!!). It REEKED of horrible plug-ins over the top of basement/mildew/mustiness. It was 86 f in the house and there were NO directions to the promised ‘swimming hole’.
Am I the odd one? Am I the only one that stayed in that RV and DIDN’T find the sound of cars and trucks rushing by all night ‘peaceful’??
You are sooo picky. You must have missed the “charm”! We stayed in a Denver Airbnb last summer which was a complete mess so when I wrote the review I wrote mostly about the host who was a doll. In all fairness, he had said not to expect a perfect accommodation. But we did live like locals lol!
I now get airbnb review requests before my guests even checkout - I do not like this. Airbnb is in part to blame for the whole review stress situation.
XX place was super nice and she was a nice, accommodating host. However, the location was a bit too close to a busy highway, not the host’s fault but we may have booked elsewhere had we known the location would have lots of traffic.
Or don’t write that and just write something generic. In the private feedback, tell her that you could not give stars like she asked. You didn’t have the heart to slam her in a public review. That you felt pressured to give five stars and that you feel she should be honest in the listing copy about the downsides of the location. Just a thought.
I would probably just not review them… I had something similar in italy, where the day after our departure the host wrote and asked “if you enjoed your stay, please make sure to leave a review:-))” I did like my stay but it wasnt perfect…2 days after she reminded me again to please not forget to review her “if we thought everything is perfect” I felt leaving a review was conditional on having thought it was perfect. i was travelling at the time, and figured i would do it when i go home. I received 3 reminders…which really put me off. I did leave a very positive review, but i wasn’t pleased that i felt i was made to feel awkward mentioning a few things that weren’t great…
Big turn off - i never ask for reviews, at the end of the stay i just tell them i wish they had a great time and to not hesitate to let me know if anything could be improved. and basta.
