How do you review a subpar Superhost when you're a Superhost?

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The difficulty here is that we can go on until the cows come home about the fact that guests don’t read but that doesn’t change anything. They still won’t read. So many times when we have a problem, it’s because ‘guests don’t read’.

In fact, there are hosts who have posted here that they themselves don’t read when they are on the other side of the fence and are looking at listings as a guest.

So then, because it is we as hosts who are being bothered by this, isn’t it up to us to minimise the effects of guests not reading? We are in control, after all.

We write our listings, no-one else. So if we believe that guests only read the first few sentences, we can put our most important information there - the listing is completely under our control. If we believe that guests spend much more time looking at the images than reading the listing, then important information an be added as captions.

Airbnb also provides us with the ability to message guests and keep an online record of all our communications. If remote hosts are unable to do the house tour, Airbnb gives us the facility to have a co-host in our place who explains house rules and peculiarities in person.

So hosts too have to take some responsibility for making sure that guests get the messages we want to get across.

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42

My basic answer to how to review is HONESTLY, no matter the situation. However the actual wording seems to be what is always up for debate. @KenH seems to be the resident guru though!

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43

What kind of review do you give? Honest, factual, unemotional.

Going 'way back to the OP’s first post, it seems that you’re complaining about things you didn’t read about – the long flights of steps. It’s Tennessee for Pete’s sake! There are LOTS of hills in Tennessee. Was the pool advertised as swimmable in November in Tennessee? I don’t think so! Most pools in cool climates are green by then. Had you planned on swimming? Why would you let your dos near even a pristine pool like the one outside my door right now in Southwest Florida??? How do you KNOW that the Folgers was Five Years Old??? Did you actually read the “Best By” Date or is that a wild ass guess? Some people make their coffee stronger than others.

NONE OF THE ABOVE should have been mentioned in the review. The possible mixup of rooms/bathrooms, and the condition of the pool should have been mentioned in the Private part of the review not the public. You haven’t written anything that would warrant less than 5 stars. No it may not have been perfect by your standards. You obviously only like flat land with parking at the door, gourmet coffees and year-round heated pools. But if the place was clean and well kept up, and the host was pleasant and helpful, I would have given 5 stars across the board, or perhaps 4 stars for description.

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44

I don’t really find reviews very useful. Reviews seem to say way more about the reviewer than the reviewee. If I can’t leave a good review about a guest, I just don’t leave one. Reviews are usually so subjective, the detail is meaningless. The review system would suit my tastes better if all I had to do was answer…“Would you host this guest again yes/no?”… and … “Would you stay with this host again yes/no?”

However, if I could see a guests responses to other hosts… I’d get a good clue about how fussy they are.

We seem to get a negative or lackluster review about 1 in 20 stays. I could care less. One 1-star review for every nineteen 5-star reviews still keeps us 5-star superhosts.

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If by responses you mean reviews, you can do that.

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46

Thanks in advance for telling us that the host did not have the amenities promised, was difficult to deal with, etc. By giving them cover and simply letting them continue being a bad host, you damage the community. Not reviewing this host means the next guest will suffer.

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47

He or she said they don’t review the guest, not the host. But either way, I wish all hosts (and guests) took their responsibility to the system seriously.

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