Hosting Experiences and the Review Process

I stopped hosting in my home a few years ago except for occasional seasonal events in my area, and when I go on vacation.
Started hosting Experiences, as it’s a part time biz for me anyway, and thought it made sense to use the platform as advertising.
Review process for Hosting Experiences is as stringent and inviting of criticism as hosting house rentals.
So this is just an FYI for anyone considering hosting an Experience, a guide for what you need to offer.
And there is NO ability to leave a review of attendees, other than a public response to their review. So, the attendee that shows up 35 mins late, drunk, and inconsiderate to other attendees is not really able to be noted.
More photos in comments.

2 Likes

Excellent information - thank you!

2 Likes

Overkill. When I worked for a better cruise line I often accompanied guests on tours. These were $200us a pop. Reviews were basically go/no go.

A FYI and a question…

The FYI bit is that even though Airbnb pesters your guests to write a review, if they don’t so so they get an email when the review period is over.

To me, please tell me if I’m wrong, this negates the common practise of leaving reviews to the last minute. If you’ve given the guest a bad review, they might have already seen it when they see and respond to this in their email:

Continued…

Sorry, pressed go before I meant to.

1

Then you rate it thus:

2

My question is, what do Airbnb do with this information?

1 Like

I don’t think any of us know.

I’d suspect there is a database for every host. They know every time you’ve called in, how many claims you’ve filed and for what amount. They have your reviews, which of course you see, but they also have this information which is just for them. They know how many complaints or reports there are about you. Perhaps they drop you down in search ranking. Maybe they tell you no when you call in to get a review removed. Maybe they say no to your request for reimbursement for damages.

In other words, the all-seeing, all-knowing, powerful Airbnb :smile:

It does show though that the reviews we see aren’t the be-all and end-all.

2 Likes

Thank goodness since apparently a sizeable chunk of hosts don’t leave reviews/honest reviews.

1 Like

This is why I think every host needs to be a guest :slight_smile:
Even if it’s made up, I get it, that’s not completely honest, but if you have a friend that has an ABB and it is not booked one night, have them lower the price and ‘book’ it.
If only for the purpose of seeing how ABB sends emails and review processes to guests.
This knowledge is invaluable and can help you hit all the marks that guests will be questioned about during review process.
Tax deductible as it’s research and development.

3 Likes

I had no idea ABB did this!
I haven’t used ABB as a guest in a couple years.
But goodness gracious, leave us all alone already with the reviews.
Sometimes I just want to go somewhere or do something or buy something without having to review it

1 Like

I used to give international courses in financial derivatives for a training company. At the end I would get them to fill out the voluntary and anonymous reviews. Then I would check through them and keep the ones with 5s and chuck the rest.

1 Like

A simple “Are you glad you went?” or even “would you recommend this to a friend” should be enough. Then they add a scale 1-10 and make it more annoying with the additional “You gave a score of 7 - could you explain why you chose that score?”. No. Delete.