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My 3rd 4 star this summer, what is happening with guests this year??? Its the worst year in terms of bookings for me and guests are basing their ratings based on their imagination of how they thought things should be or how they are used to back home.
My recent guests checked in telling me my apartment is beautiful.
However, when it came to review their stay this is what they REALLY thought about it:
Basic - I can’t exactly understand what they mean by this. My apartment is not luxurious, and I certainly do not advertise it to be luxurious in any way or form. My apartment is exactly as it looks in the photos with the amenities I have listed.
Expensive compared to what they are used to? - This is August peek season when prices are the highest but still my apartment is very reasonably priced compared to my competition. Also these guests came from a totally different country… comparing oranges with apples I guess.
There are no bars in the neighbourhood - People come to my area to experience the historical character not for night life. There are many restaurants and bars in the neighbourhood but to relax, eat and have a drink not night clubs that open all night long. If they asked me I would have happily directed them to many open air night clubs less than 10 minutes drive away.
They would have been better off to visit in spring or autumn as it was too hot in August. - Yes on the island it gets hot in August, it is the hottest month of the year and a simple Google search before booking their plane tickets would have saved them all the grief.
Superhost is now out of the window for me after 3 years. Thankfully the review they wrote is good apart from the 4 star overall rating, most of this got posted in private feedback.
I gave my guests a great rating now I regret giving them 5 stars for communication because they never communicated any of this during their stay. Although in retrospect I have no idea how I could have improved their stay.
Wishing you could go back to lower the rating or add negative feedback is basically saying you want to retaliate. It’s an emotional response and you just need to take a breath and let it go. Always be objective and factual in your review of guests and cover the behaviors that are important to other hosts. Anything else is a disservice to your fellow hosts.
I’m guessing this guest would’ve given you 5 stars if you had spent a bunch of money on furnishings or remodeling to make the listing not “basic” to them. Probably not worth it unless there is common feedback from guests that the listing isn’t meeting their expectations.
Superhost is a psychological game that Airbnb is playing to get hosts to behave the way Airbnb wants them to. You really only need be concerned with your income and occupancy rate while making sure you meet Airbnb’s minimum requirements to stay on the platform, not whether or not you make Superhost.
When I hear the word basic in reference to a stay I feel that it’s because there were no extras. For example, does your kitchen only have the basics? If so, may I suggest you go to a garage sale and buy a waffle maker, panini press, Keriug coffee maker, etc. If guests are staying for 7 days these extras make their stay more enjoyable.
I don’t understand. Why did you give them five stars for communication yet you didn’t have any communication with them? Didn’t you have communication with them before the stay?
Every time I messaged them they replied. Had no issues with communication both before and during their stay. That is why I opted to give them 5 stars for communication.
I found the article I wanted to link to regarding Superhost. You mentioned you were on an island and the data shows that Superhost status is less valuable to hosts in the Caribbean and other established resort destinations.
Agree with you on all except that OP desire to change rating on commo is retaliation. We assume that the commo a seemingly happy guest gives is great until we know that it isn’t…I had a guest tell me her first night was perfect and then in her 4 star review she complains publicly that the first night one of my dogs whines for hours when I left preventing her from sleeping…well had I known that I would have docked her for not only commo but for filling house rules because I have a rule that states that the guest needs to inform me of any issues to address them, particularly if a dog bothers them when I am not there. Had I been properly communicated with I could have been home in less than 15 minutes and ended the “hours of whining” she complained about ONLY in her review. Hardly retaliation to want to mark her more ACCURATELY and let hosts know the REAL deal instead of the lie she told me.
ok, i’ve had people saying that my house is basic. I never say it is luxury.
I’ve had guests whom I gave lower ratings and they gave me 5* ovations ratings.
I’ve had guests whom I gave 5*, ovations ratings and they gave me 4 star cautiously reviews.
We’ve all been there done that. There’s a learning curve. After that things get a bit easier.
