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I’ll start… This latest is our lengthiest stay yet at nine days. Turns out we are near an Amazon management training center and Amazon reimburses them! I hiked with the lady every day and then both of them on the guys last work day, they also traveled to Santa Cruz Island and Joshua Tree while here<><> We hope to get more like this!!
“100 stars! The Tiny Tiki Retro Hideaway is amazing! Beautiful, clean and charming! We cannot say enough about how wonderful the experience was. We hope to be back someday! The view from the property is stunning. Every detail from the pillows to the tea cups has been thoughtfully designed to make your stay unforgettable. Highly, highly recommend! This is the HOLY GRAIL of AirBnB !”
To be honest, we get these kind of reviews all the time, obviously not about views etc, but I’ve never considered sharing. In fact, I’d feel a tad embarrassed, as sometimes I wonder where the fuck these folks actually stayed!
So you don’t think your str deserves those nice reviews? Or is it that it’s hard as owner to see your great offering through a guests eyes and experience?
We get great reviews all the time too, but I thought (unabashedly) that this one was kind of special, especially after everyone here agreed the longer stays get stinky, and I originally thought they were scammers for sure.
There are so many posts on hosting forums about bad guests, revenge reviews, etc, that I agree it’s nice to share stories about guests who are lovely and appreciative about things.
New hosts often come to forums for the first time and get scared, thinking awful guests are the norm when they read all the horror stories. It’s good to counter that a bit.
I once posted a great guest review on the CC, not to toot my own horn, but because the review that guest wrote made it so clear that she totally understood the concept of a home share and the type of hosting a home share guest appreciates. It also made home shares sound like a really positive experience. I’ll find it and post it here.
So this is the review I really liked. Almost all my guests have been generous with nice reviews, but I thought this one was worth sharing simply because she gave straightforward information that other guests would want to know, and it’s a good example of a guest who understands and appreciates the original concept of Airbnbs.
“Absolutely stellar. A luxury space for one—a beautifully decorated, tastefully designed, inviting little room. The bed is divine. I loved the bathroom too, especially the shower Sarah’s home is charming; she herself is as warm, entertaining and helpful as she is discreet—she lets you take the lead. The kitchen is big and easy to find your way around in. The house is far from the maddening crowd, but I walked to town easily and often. This Airbnb is the real deal: a real host, a real house share, a local experience. Highly recommended”
I doubt that many of us can be truly objective when it comes to this, and from my perspective all I can ever see is things that could be done better, or small maintenance tasks that need done.
We provide, in my opinion, simple accommodation in a restored two hundred and fifty year old casa de vecinos, which by definition will never be luxury accommodation. Small room sizes, slightly awkward room flows (we call it quirky!) and generally a low level of natural light throughout (less windows equals less heat when it’s 44C in the shade outside).
That said, guests seem to like it, and they also apear to like our style of hosting. On site and able to answer questions, provide good recommendations for bars, restaurants etc, and let them back in when they manage to lock themselves out!
I’m pleased that guests not only have a good time here, but that they also take the time leave good reviews. Within a market flooded with Chinese and Russian (backed) investment properties, our USP is our reviews. Our conversion rate (on BDC) from page views to bookings is always around 3.2%, the area average being 0.61%.
Yes, you’re right, and I’m guilty of making the occasional feel good post myself
One reason I often state that I have 600+ reviews/1000 guest/4.98 average is to do just that. So many people come and post about how you can’t trust guests with toilet paper or revenge reviews and that simply is not the norm for most hosts.
This is probably my longest recent review but I have plenty of nice ones over the last year. Since it’s a small space with one night guests I tend to get good but short reviews. There’s just not that much to say. I’m especially baffled by ones that call my neighborhood “nice.” LOL.
In the FWIW category, I think the best way to view your own place “through a guests eyes” is to BE a guest, both at your own place and by visiting other STRs. It is only by staying in my own place that I have discovered some of the things that I want to change. I’ve had my eyes opened to several real upgrades and possible amenity offerings by staying as a guest at other great places. I only mention this because I have read, several times, that some hosts that post here have never stayed in their own place nor have they ever been a guest in a vacation rental.
I’ve had my share of difficult guests lately, but this review from the 30-something German couple just gave me the “happys.”
We only stayed only one night but it was the best one during our US trip. The place is amazing, has its own privacy, coziness and also great company of the two friendly Ladies D’Arcy and her cat D’Arcy is an amazing host, she cares about each detail to make your stay comfortable and simply the best out of any you experienced before. We would definitely come back and recommend it to any of you
And then the couple who needed some comfort:
From start to finish the experience was exceptional. D’Arcy was kind, sensitive to our needs, caring and respectful of our privacy. The space was clean, organized and the common areas spacious. We enjoyed the peace of the back patio with views of the pool and waterways. The location was perfect as we visited family in both Tampa and Sarasota. Bella, the Bengal cat is a beautiful being giving a definite royal flair to the place. We enjoyed our time
These definitely make hosting worthwhile and help when some guests can be a handful.
My house is quite small- about 1000 sq. ft. total on 2 levels, including outside terrace. So none of thee rooms are large, but they do flow well.
My living room is small and while it has plenty of windows and is open plan to the kitchen, it has almost no direct sunlight at any time of day- I designed it like that specifically because it gets so hot here in the summer.
I get upholstery clients who have these big fancy vacation homes built on the hillsides with killer ocean views whose homes have a wall of glass or glass doors to look out on that view, but then they come to me and say “We need curtians asap! The sun streams in those doors and windows all day and the place is an oven!”
So they end up having to spend an extra thousand bucks or more to either have a wall of curtains made or blinds or something to block the sun that beats in all afternoon because they never thought about that when they were having the house designed.
Sarah’s home is charming; she herself is as warm, entertaining and helpful as she is discreet—she lets you take the lead. The kitchen is big and easy to find your way around in. The house is far from the maddening crowd, but I walked to town easily and often. This Airbnb is the real deal: a real host, a real house share, a local experience. Highly recommended”
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