Oh, if I was actually trying to be snarky, it would be much snarkier than that. 
4 Likes
Oh, I really love this response and I would totally use it if I were the host!!
I do respond to reviews if the guest left misleading or inaccurate information and my response would be useful to future guests. Like the one that complained there were no curtains and they didn’t feel they had privacy. I pointed out that there were cordless cellular shades in every window and I wish they would have asked instead of feeling uncomfortable.
Responses are not for the guest that stayed but rather potential guests that are reading the reviews.
1 Like
I’ve responded to one review out of close to 700 for exactly that reason. But given how little guests read, I probably wouldn’t bother to do it again. And I absolutely wouldn’t respond to every review.
1 Like
Sometimes you see that a host responded to every review when they first started out, often to thank the guest for the nice review, but over time they stopped.
If a host gets a lot of turnover, and the misleading review is just going to end up halfway down the review page within a week or so, with complaint-free reviews above it, it might not be worthwhile responding to, but if a host only has a few reviews under their belt or not high turnover, it might.
I have no idea what a cordless cellular shade is, so if you don’t have any explanation for using them in your house manual, I would probably have thought there weren’t window coverings either. (Altho I’m pretty mechanically inclined and might have figured it out on my own)
I reply to reviews from time to time- it might be thanking them for the great review etc It feels like good manners to do so.
When the guest is unhappy with something i could have fixed during the stay as i live in another part of the house, I’ll comment on that politely. It lets potential guests know this too , if they’ve bothered to read the review.
‘Its my party and I’ll cry if i want to, cry if I want to’
PS
(Yeah, ive puzzled you there I reckon!
If you know this song- answer with the next line !!!)
You would cry too if it happened to you.
I’m old.
4 Likes
Woohoo- but you still have your ‘marbles’ !! It was a good song wasnt it !!
2 Likes
Disagree about responding to reviews. I respond to all of them, in a personal manner, thanking them for their stay and (sincerely) hoping they return, soon.
You realize that your responses appear on your review page, not the guest’s? So the guest may likely never read the response, as they would have little reason to look at a host’s review page after their stay is over (unless they wrote a bad review and check to make sure it got posted) . Responses are really for the benefit of future guests.
I already personally thank guests for booking with me, tell them they can contact me directly if they ever want to come back, when they check out.
1 Like
It’s amazing to me that there are hosts who don’t realise that.
It’s such a waste of time for a busy host when, as you say @muddy, the guests aren’t going to read it. I don’t think I’ve ever read what a host has written about me when I’ve been a guest.
I know that we say this all the time here but reviews are for future guests, not to massage a previous guest’s ego. The thank you message should ideally be sent on the evening before checkout along with details regarding checkout time etc.
I always had the impression that hosts did the “thank you” response to guest reviews so they would appear to future guests as gracious hosts. But once you have a bunch of good reviews that already say that, it’s pretty redundant.
I’ve noticed that many hosts left the “thank you” responses when they first started out, but then stopped after they had lots of good reviews and realized it was an unnecessary waste of time.
When I am an AirBnB guest looking for a situation, I look at the host’s reviews. Along with those reviews, is the host’s comment. Please to explain why the host’s comment is unhelpful?
How is it “helpful” to prospective guests for a host to thank a past guest? It doesn’t provide any information unless the response corrects misinformation in the review.
1 Like
It certainly informs me what the host is about. How one handles criticism is revealing. 
But you didn’t say your responses were addressing criticism, you said you thanked them for their stay and that you hoped they returned soon. And why would you want a guest who wrote a less than positive review to return?
And the reviews themselves usually make it clear “what the host is about”. Mine sure do.
I am a five-star host. I write a response to every review. Works for me.
I’d prefer to reverse the question because I can’t figure out how it can be?
So I’m looking at a place I’m thinking of booking … and I’m reading the reviews. After every review the host has said “thank you for staying with us and we hope you return soon”.
What possible good is that to me as a potential guest?
2 Likes
When I see a business respond with a personalized message, I think that they are taking feedback seriously.
But if it is a canned message with a generic thank you and we will take your feedback under consideration for it improvement, it doesn’t make me feel that they are taking the feedback seriously.
I’ve seen many review pages for listings run by property management companies that say exactly that. Tons of reviews complaining about the same things, and the generic response about noting it for improvement, yet obviously they do no such thing.