Thanks for your great response! I believe you are onto something with more experienced hosts, more understanding glowing reviews; Armchair hosts, more unhappy nit-picky reviews ( I really loved the unhappy turds comment). We do our best but as was once said by a wise man, you can make some people happy some of the time but not all the people all the time. I gotta look up the red flag guest summary and Air Review app. Thanks again for your great feedback.
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oops my malapropism…I meant haphazardly.
That chrome extension is so great! I try to make time to look up people inquiring, but I would especially look up reviews left by fellow hosts to make sure they’re not nit picky jerks. I think it’s human nature- a lot of people don’t want to see others be more successful than themselves. If you’re a realtor trying to sell middle income family homes, you don’t drive them around in your new Mercedes, because they would be jealous and fire you.
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lol I bought a modest home, but my realtor had a pretty flash car! It did cross my mind that…hey, maybe I’m just small beans to this guy, but then I went to his house once, and it was almost the exact same value as mine… lol 
Humans. We’re so basic…
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It can work both ways, as a host myself (but not yet a guest) I would never give another host less than 5 stars - unless things were incredibly bad to a ridiculous level. Both out of courtesy but also as I know how anything less than 5 stars will harm their profile, we’re all in this together working against AirBNB’s rating system at the end of the day.
I also would not be overly critical as it’s not my place to tell another host how to run their business/home and probaly only mention anything if I felt it may be an issue for them going forward from picky customers.
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I’m often the odd one out here (or maybe just odd in general 
) but I’ve never had a bad review from hosts.
There is however another way to look at it which most hosts won’t like to think is the case but here goes. As hosts we know how important it is for guests to give accurate reviews. Only if guests do that do we have an honest system whereby potential guests can judge fairly. (The same is true of hosts writing reviews, of course. We all wish that previous hosts write honestly about guests, right?)
So could it be, and I’m just throwing it out there, that these reviewers are actually being more honest?
Isn’t that the sort of thing we want to guard against? That people are leaving good but fakey reviews ‘out of courtesy’? As @KKC says in this thread:
“I’m an advopcate of honest reviews…”
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That is not my experience.
The problem is that most (super)hosts try to project their style of hosting onto hosts.
“I do it this way”, “I would have done it that way”, “I supply this”, “I supply that”.
“I give so many free stuff, I do not understand why this host is getting such high ratings”
Most often hosts do not look at the rate they are paying, but only compare stars and badges.
Hosts do not seem to understand the saying “You get what you pay for”, strangely non hosting guestst have a more realistic expectation.
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Based on what I’ve seen on this forum, ABNB Hosts are as diverse as the guests. In the OP’s situation, the guest was abusing the system that she may have learned from her own guests and/or her knowledge of the system. Whether a host or not, she was not a nice guest or person.
With that said I will admit that I’ve been nervous prior to hosting other ABNB hosts*. It’s occurred twice in the last year and in each instance I was happy that they were very gracious and appreciative. Both sets of guests gave some suggestions and took some ideas from my listing.
*Prior to their arrival I did view their listings, reviews, and their reviews of there guests. It gave me a sense of what to expect and and what their expectations might be. … something I do (try to do) for any guest, host or not.
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I am a host and with one exception - when things got horrible - I gave other hosts 5 * reviews even when they clearly didn’t deserve it. Thats because im a host and I know how tough it is.
No I’m another @jaquo, who has only had great experiences with my fellow hosts who have stayed with me (had about 15 sets of guests who were hosts).
All left five star reviews including two of whom left me private feedback around issues which I hadn’t picked up on in terms of cleanliness, which hadn’t impacted on their stay, but that they had noticed and fortunately were ones I could easily fix. I was very grateful.
I think there is too much of a tendency on this and other forums to stereotype people based on age, nationality, because they are fellow-hosts etc. Let’s take people as we find them rather than generalise based on whatever pigeon hole the poster has stuck the guest into.
I recently stayed in a beautifully furnished home in a lovely location. However when we arrived it was very cold as they had an automated heating system that didn’t kick in until the evening, there was no guest book to tell me how appliances and the heating system or Aga worked. There was no wardrobe for my clothes just two small drawers (the furniture pictured in the room was full of their clothes so couldn’t be used and their description of the room had said it had ‘generous storage space’.
I was conflicted about what sort of review to leave, because the location and the place were lovely, but the lack of storage and guest book made it difficult for me to cook and get the place warm (I went online in the end and looked up how their heating system worked as the host didn’t respond to my message and text asking for help till four hours later).
In the end I didn’t leave a review as if I had I would have had to mark them down.
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I have to disagree a little with @helsi regarding the stereotypes. For example every time I get an indian guest I know up front they will be good guests because most likely they are in IT and thought me out because I am in IT and I won’t have any pb with them regarding the no_shoes_in_the_house policy because this is how they do it in their own house.
As a Guest-Host, I give my hosts the review that their property and service deserve. I will also, in the private comments, offer suggestions of things that we notice which would make a guest experience better.
Case in point – we just got back from a 2-night trip to the middle of the State. The listing was way out in the country on 5acres, a detached cabin, and advertised as ‘shabby chic’. It was beautifully decorate in that style. But the place was so dimly lit that when it rained all day Sunday, you could not read a newspaper inside – 40 watt bulbs where 100s were needed, bulbs burned out on fixture not working, etc. And the window mounted AC was so noisy you could hardly hold a conversation with someone 8 feet away.
They’re getting 5 stars for the listing – exactly as described. But in the Private comments I will be mentioning lighting levels and a few other things.
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Completely disagree. Realtors drive nice cars because they want to appear successful. They also frequently drive clients around looking at houses and so they would want them to be comfortable.
Jealousy might be at play but I kind of doubt it. I think that we might be more critical because we know how much time we put into our own listings. In a situation where I [a host as a guest] pay a similar to price to rent as what I charge guests, and I know that my house has more amenities or nicer furnishings etc. I’d be more likely to give less than favorable review. I would never give someone a bad review because they had a nicer house than mine, lol, regardless of the situation.
Example: we set up our house for Airbnb guests, but everything in it is brand new (the house itself also brand new). We put away all of our personal belongings that might make it feel like someone else’s home. Last summer my step-sister got married in a small lake town and we stayed at an ABB. The hosts left all of their half-used condiments with messy lids, all of their own loofahs and sponges and personal soaps, shampoos, etc. in the bathrooms. We would never dream of leaving our house like that, so we mentioned it in our review.
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Lol, I find the opposite true (RE broker here). People like to associate with successful people. When I am not driving my Tesla I am driving my husbands Mercedes. And I do not want petty clients who would not hire me because of what I drive.
RR
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Or because they are successful…
RR
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Haha, very true. I was responding to the notion that they’re driving cars they can’t afford. But yes, absolutely, actual successful realtors would drive nice cars too 
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Aside from tax write off advantages, I always associated Realtors driving nice cars because they were ensuring that their clients are comfortable while touring potential listings. They are providing a service and want to do it the best that they can.
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Mentioning it in the review sounds fine. It’s facts. What light did you paint it in, though? What ratings did you give and which ones were affected by the personal belongings (the clean and the dirty)?