I’ve always wondered how it actually works. I have always assumed that when I contact a host to rent their property, a host sees at least a rating or all the actual reviews other hosts have left about us in the past? I always wondered how much hosts actually refer to these if at all? Are they important to a host in making their decisions? I guess the first question is do you actually even see them? I assume they are there for a purpose for the next potential hosts benefit, but I also understand that Airbnb doesn’t always seem to be looking out for hosts interests as much as I would expect them to.
Yes
Some hosts. Probably even more important to in-home hosts than entire place hosts. I have an entire place and I pay attention to what is written in them, and discuss with the guest if they have had problems in the past. The few I have had to ask were able to reassure me that they would be on their best behavior in my home. I have never had to decline someone because of a bad past review, but I might if it was bad enough.
I very much appreciate that past hosts have put in the effort to honestly review their guests.
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I had a guest a few months back that was extremely messy and left sawdust all over the place(not sure what she was up to). I reviewed her honestly.
Another host read my review and gave her a chance
He regretted it and said so in his review.
So I believe it’s important for hosts to read past reviews of potential guests.
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@Notahost, my husband and I are in-home hosts.
Other hosts’ reviews of guests are important. We always read them.
I can’t remember any times when a guest’s bad previous review has stopped us from accepting a guest. We do as @georgiahost does. If there’s something disturbing in a previous review, we communicate about it with the guest on the Airbnb platform. So far, we’ve always gotten the situation sorted out and the guest has been fine.
If we saw multiple bad reviews for a guest, we might handle it differently. But I don’t think that has happened in our three years of hosting.
There is a nice dynamic involved in communicating with a guest about a previous iffy (or even bad) review. I think by talking about it sincerely, we help establish an environment where the guest wants to do his/her best.
It’s a win-win!
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Anyone can see reviews hosts have left for a guest @Notahost just go on the platform and have a look.
As you didn’t respond to my previous question, I will ask again. What made you as a guest join a forum for hosts.
And why the host centric questions. Are you looking to become a host or writing a blog 
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Yes, I see them and I read them. Most of my guests use Instant Book, so I can’t read reviews before they book, although supposedly, Airbnb’s platform won’t allow guests with ratings below some threshold to use Instant book. Hosts can still cancel a reservation penalty-free if they read reviews and feel uncomfortable, too. Luckily, I have only had one potential guest that had a lot of bad reviews and it was an inquiry asking for a discount, so I didn’t have to decline or cancel.
@notahost - you’re an AirBnB guest (we think) on a platform for hosts and you are asking a lot of questions that seem to me like you’re doing research for an article or a thesis. My interest is piqued…
If you read this forum thoroughly, you’ll see that AirBnB has forgotten that the hosts actually supply the commodity Air is “selling,” yet Air consistently sides with guests in a short-sighted attempt to make money over protecting its best assets - us.
And yes, past reviews are critical to hosts, especially in-home hosts like me and others here. We communicate with the guest and if the guest is able to explain what happened, we book them. They’re usually our best guests because they want to earn more good reviews from hosts. Only once have I not reviewed a guest honestly and I deeply regret it.
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re: looking out for host’s interests… that’s not apparently the corporate culture. i had read on forums before going “live” that VRBO/HA is more host-centric in their support, whereas Air is more guest-centric. i would agree with that sentiment.
that said, i don’t fault either platform for their business decisions. we all have to make them. i had to compromise some of mine to be able to list on Air, a free choice made voluntarily.
I think they are important. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with a really bad review from a host. I have had a few guests who I would consider “difficult”. They broke rules and I wouldn’t welcome them back, but when I got to the property, things looked good and I gave them a decent (but not glowing) review because of that. Ultimately, how bad are they if they didn’t break, ruin or steal anything?
Yes, I definitely read guest reviews and they are quite important to me as a home-share host. I may not read every one on a guest’s profile if they have pages full of glowing reviews. I also pay attention to whether the host who reviewed is listing an entire place or it was a home-share. Things about a guest that are important to home-share hosts may not be important to entire place hosts and vice-versa. For instance, it wouldn’t matter to an entire place host if the guest was friendly and easy to get along with.
Yes, I read them and when providing anything other than 5 stars across the board I offer suggestions to future hosts. I’ve had 2 recent new or newer guests. Each left our kitchen in terrible shape. No lasting damage, but well used and they didn’t clean up after themselves at all.
I find that many guests think that if they pay a cleaning fee, they can leave things in quite a mess. They obviously don’t have cleaning people at home or they would understand that the fee doesn’t even cover basic cleaning, much less the messes they’ve left.
I left notes for future hosts to go over expectations and cleaning costs for additional work. I don’t think either guest was malicious and they both left rave reviews.
My rules are to leave the kitchen in a tidy condition (like most of us would if we were cleaning up after dinner) and to load the dishwasher or wash your dishes. Both of these guests cooked greasy food and didn’t use a splatter guard (2 provided) or wipe down the stove. They both left the dishwasher full and at least another load in the sink + dirty pots and pans. We provide all cleaning supplies and dish washer detergent.
I don’t expect it to be cleaned to my standards for bringing in another guest, but don’t be a total slob.
Another suggestion: Do not only read the reviews that other hosts gave the guest,
also read the reviews the guest gave to previous hosts. Difficult guests may give bad reviews.
I saw examples where the host gave a good review (like “everything fine with the guest”) and the guest gave a bad review,
where the host replied to this bad review with complaints against the guest.
Some hosts dont dare to make honest reviews …
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This strikes me as a “fishing for content” topic…
JF
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yuppers
202002202020
What’s funny is that this forum has had people lifting content and putting it in their articles and blogs for years. No one writing an article needs to create an account to read and take content from here. In fact, most the Airbnb blogs have tons of stuff that’s just like what we have here except they have far more obnoxious ads or crappy videos to watch to get the minimal content.
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That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with a really bad review from a host.
We got one once, however it was removed by Airbnb. Of the hundred or so of airbnb stays in dozens and dozens of countries, we’ve only ever ran into one host who was shady, everyone else has been uterly fantastic. That host was in Thailand, after the insta booking, the host emailed us a pdf file with an adendum to his rules and procedures (some of it was good, he had walked and taken pictures all the way from the subway stop to his highrise and gave turn by turn and picture directions), much of the rest bordered on over the top micro management, list of rules and his personal fines he would impose. After we arrived he was texting us on average of 3-4 times a day. To make a long story short he demaded that when we left we had to video ourselves locking to thedoor andshow the time so he knew we checked out on time, then video us leaving and putting the key in the lock box. We had had enough of his crazy by then and left on time as agreed but didn’t send him any video proof. The text were flying for days afterwards with threats of fines. When we returned from that trip he had an additiona charge on our account which we contacted Airbnb and they resolved the whole matter and after the investigation they told us they delisted him. He wrote a review of us bordering on crazy which Airbnb removed also.
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That is legit insane. I hope I never come across that way!
