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Please anyone help me with a response to this four star review?
A bit of background - first message came at 9pm on Friday night and by 10.30 we’d exchanged 40 messages (in a non stop conversation). He was arriving late and was self checking in plus he had questions about how to get here etc.
I don’t normally accept one night but It is rare I have one night free so I upped the price from £35 to £50 on this occasion, not expecting to get booked. Left the fees at £20 cleaning and £10 for linens. No one complained before but I can understand why it might grate a bit for one night only.
Here’s the review:
Great communication and help with check in at short notice for-which I was grateful for. Price was dearer than I expected because the cleaning fee was so high (£30 for a small bedroom in a shared house seems excessive). Thank you for the stay
Here’s my unedited response:
Thank you for taking the time to review. I’m glad I could help with your accommodation for this stay. Like many hosts, I don’t normally take one night bookings. A cleaner needs to come in specially, even for one room, and she needs to clean all of the communal areas, in addition to the bedroom, for every new arrivals. In addition there’s a lot of laundry, even for one guest for one night - three loads (bedcover, sheets, towels). This is why one night’s accommodation is usually relatively costly in comparison with longer stays. I hope this helps to explain.
The review does not require a response. You don’t need to justify or explain your one night cleaning fee.
If you really feel you need to explain, what you have written is far too long.
“My cleaner has to clean the room and do the laundry between each booking regardless of stay length, which is why cleaning fees are per booking, not per night.”
Leave the “communal area” cleaning out of it- it makes it sound like the communal areas are not kept clean unless there is a turnover.
Don’t respond it only calls attention to the review and it’s a nice review. He’s doing a favor by pointing out the cleaning fee. Your response doesn’t reflect well on you. Saying
is irrelevant to guests booking longer stays. Lots of hosts offer one night stays based on my searches for said stays. What fewer hosts probably do is offer last minute stays. I suspect many hosts don’t offer same day or even one day notice. So if you must respond maybe that’s the point you should make.
NO NEED TO REPLY. NO NEED TO EXPLAIN. Your prices are what they are; he didn’t have to book. You are not creating a post-stay dialogue with the guest. Four stars is acceptable. Plus, your reply has far too much information that will never be read by anyone, so it’s a waste of your time…
Okay thank you I’m not going to reply! But I was never going to post my ‘review’ I was just wondering which of those points, if any, anyone else thought I should put in! Looks like none! Appreciate the advise, thank you!
I agree with Muddy. It’s really not a bad review and no need to bring attention to it. It’s on him that he didn’t read the price before he booked the place.
I also think that people know that cleaner’s rates have gone up.
I would not respond, if I saw his review when considering your place I would just think he’s like most people right now, overwhelmed with how everything is gone up, and just joining the chorus of most people believe the cleaning fees and fees by Airbnb add greatly to the final cost of a stay.
There are plenty of articles I see all the time at hotels are making a comeback from Airbnb due to price. I think the Airbnb model is morphing a bit.
I just returned from a trip where all four of the Airbnb’s I booked were between $100-$150 a night. Hotels in the same cities and distance from location I wanted were $150 and up. I stayed in one Holiday Inn Express in a nowhere town in Arkansas for $163 but it did include breakfast. Those are just anecdotes but I’ve shopped around regularly for Airbnb’s vs hotels over the last 14 months in cites that include Phoenix, Austin, Nashville, Columbus OH, Asheville, NC and Lexington, KY and I’m not seeing hotels as competitive on price as they need to be for me. Maybe 15-30% savings isn’t enough for some people. In my town, one can still get a nice Airbnb room for $70 a night.
My airbnb is not trying to compete in price. Guest who shop by price get what they pay for. My pricing is not set to be lower than a hotel - it is based on the value I place on the combination of quality, cleanliness, etc. Guests who counter your asking price, or ask for discounts etc are guests that are constantly discussed on this forum as ‘undesireable’.
Writers and shills of hotels are looking for reasons to be in print. Making this a ‘war’ is simplistic reasoning - no, airbnbs are not ‘supposed to be’ cheaper than a hotel.
