I see that there was a discussion about a year ago regarding host reviews of guests. I have recently questioned myself more about this process. I am effusive about great guests and give them 5 stars. If something small occurred or there was miscommunication, I usually mention it in a private note. Recently, I am finding some guests (typically American—forgive me if I’m being inappropriate) are more critical than in the past. I’ve given them 5 stars but get 4 stars for location or value (how they determine that is beyond me), even when they choose my place specifically for being close to family or friends. I really go out of my way to make a welcome environment.
If someone is really bad with cleanliness or violating a House Rule, I give them a 3 or 4 and make a mention in the review. But overall, I’m generous.
One incident lately made me question whether or not I want to review every guest. (Is there pressure to do so?) A guest asked me several questions before arrival, sometimes the same ones that I already had answered or were in my description/opening comments. She wanted an alternative access to bring heavy suitcases in and I gave detailed instructions twice. She ignored them even though I was waiting to facilitate for her.She had a problem with her phone, was panicky, we offered suggestions. I reviewed her with 5 stars—she didn’t really violate anything–but I was not excited in my comment. She gave me all 4s. Then I was so angry with her that I responded publicly stating that she was a difficult guest. In 8 years hosting, I’ve never gotten all 4s, never more than 2 in one review, and rarely one. I learned from this experience that you really can’t please everyone. I’ve been so fortunate to have guests who were really lovely, so I know that this person was stressed and unpleasant. Now I’m feeling shy about reviews. And why are we not allowed as hosts to rate someone in increments — a 4.5 instead of 5, etc.?
If a host comments only “Nice guest,” I can pretty well read into that that the host was less than pleased. Isn’t that enough to say if the guest was just “okay”?
In short, reviewing and being reviewed is tricky. I don’t think AirBnB would be happy if hosts always said what they really want to say!
I wouldn’t read into “Nice guest” that the host was less than pleased. I would take that as a host who can’t be bothered to take a few minutes to write an informative review.
The company really doesn’t care about what reviews we give.
But the importance of giving honest reviews is paramount.
One way to look at it is this - assume that your latest guest is now going to stay with a host who is your best friend - or your sister - or your mother etc.
You’d be honest about that guest, wouldn’t you? (“Lovely couple but too noisy” - “a bit messy” - 'didn’t take the garbage out" etc. etc.)
Well we are your family, your friends. Your fellow hosts need to know if your guests were noisy, messy or didn’t take the garbage out.
Some hosts don’t care - (if a guest of mine doesn’t take the garbage out, fine. But some will, so tell us.)
Please help your fellow hosts - it’s important.
Pressure to review from whom? Airbnb doesn’t rate you on whether you leave reviews or not, but not doing so means you are doing other hosts a disservice.
However, as far as you having given this guest 5 stars, in that case, I would say your reviews are not honest, so wouldn’t be of much value to other hosts. So if you are going to shy away from being honest, it’s probably better if you don’t leave a review at all, rather than a misleading one.
(I am not referring to nit-picking guests over some minor annoyance- no one is perfect. I am talking about things many hosts might decline a booking for after reading the guest’s reviews)
Just because a guest didn’t violate any house rules doesn’t mean they are a 5 star guest. This guest’s communication was poor- she ignored your responses, asking questions that had already been answered, ignoring your offer to help deal with her luggage, didn’t even thank you for the offer. That’s something other hosts would want to know. Communication is one of the few things we are given to rate guests on. So why ignore poor communication?
Now if a guest were to ignore messages, but then said, “So sorry, I’ve been crazy busy lately and not attending to messages or reading things thoroughly. l apologize for asking questions you had already answered” then I wouldn’t mention it in a review. Everyone screws up sometimes- it’s their consciousness about it that matters.
Same if a guest spoke to me rudely- I would mention it in the review. If, however, they said the following day “I think I may have come across rudely yesterday- sorry about that- I had had a long and difficult journey and was sleep-deprived and exhausted. It was nothing to do with you, I was just on edge, so I hope you didn’t take offense”, I wouldn’t mention the rudeness in the review.
A guest who is completely oblivious as to how her behavior wastes others’ time and tries their patience, is not a 5 star guest IMO.
Did you host my sister? Haha!
She says she’d never give 5*s, even if it was perfect.
I don’t agree with her.
Does she provide any rationale for this? If she wouldn’t even give a 5 if it was perfect, is she just the kind of gal who would relish the thought that she tanked someone’s rating, and pat herself on the back that she was the one responsible? 
Riddle me this one:
We had a single traveller from the opposite end of the globe to stay with us a couple weeks. He was communicative, respectful, quiet, discrete and very friendly. He respected all of our house rules and left the place clean.
He went to another Airbnb after that in Switzerland next to us - receiving a terrible review from a host there. Also the guest’s review about the hosts was clearly showing that these two didn’t get along. That host claimed damage to the property, a mess being left behind and the advice not to host this guest.
This guest already booked with us before he left the first time and came back after his Swiss trip - to be the nicest, most polite and perfect guest we could have asked for.
We reviewed him accordingly as there was literally nothing bad we could have said about him.
Now, how would you as a host handle the negative review (the only bad review he had to that point) if he was to book with you? The Swiss host explained in length what was wrong with that guest but we did not see that behavior when he was with us. He was a little flaky and did reach out to us multiple times whenever he needed help - which is something that we gladly provide but for example the Swiss host considered it overly needy when the guest required help to get the coffee machine to work. I mean, if you don’t want to help your guests, then get out of the business right?
Because I use IB, there’s not much point in looking at guest reviews but sometimes I look if I have time to spare in the minutes before the guest arrives.
I believe that most people will have a poor review at some time for various reasons (crabby host, clash of personalities etc.) so if there’s one bad alongside plenty of good reviews, I ignore it.
If I see that a review mentions something that I really, really object to (noise if a big one for me) I mention it to the guest when they arrive.
“I saw that a few of your reviews said that you were noisy - you’re not going to do that here, are you? The HOA are really strict about that (or whatever reason you give) so I’d be really grateful … etc”
It’s worked so far. 
Like many others, I don’t think she realizes the gravity of the star rating.
And if I were to venture a guess, I think she believes a 4 is still very good. Even ABB tells you that as you’re reviewing, (at least as you are reviewing a guest), 4 = Very Clean (under Cleanliness), for example.
I am very much like you @E_S_MARK - if it’s a small thing that I feel they just haven’t learned about airbnb etiquette I tell them privately. Airbnb is a learning curve and I’m not comfortable being responsible for someone not being able to rent given, as hosts, it doesn’t take much for us to not feel comfortable renting to someone. But if it’s something bigger, I put it in the review. I’ve only had one terribly difficult guest who gave me a 2 rating because she was angry I had to message her several times when didn’t move her car after ignoring the parking instructions. It was a long messy saga (including demanding a partial refund from airbnb which after I explained the situation, they refunded back to me.) I’ll spare you details but it was unprecedented. I was diplomatically honest in my review including that she was not a good fit for airbnb. Her review was scathing but here’s the point of my post. If I had not reviewed her within the 14 days, I would not have had the opportunity to respond to her review which was critical to be able to do for perspective guests. To me, a host’s response to reviews can dramatically impact how I feel about renting their place. If they’re terribly defensive and nasty in retaliation, I’ll likely not book because it conveys so much about attitude. It was a hell of a creative writing challenge, but I managed to make sure my response conveyed in a diplomatic non-defensive way that she was a nasty nut bar and I was a responsible ethical host. I’ve also learned after 12 years that the things that might mildly annoy me are often just because I’m set in my ways of how I like things done. All this is to answer your question about - should we even bother reviewing? YES, so you have time to respond to their review if need be as it will be published regardless at the end of the 14 days!
Oh, I know lots of guests have no idea of the impact of the rating for hosts, and that Airbnb misleads them. I was assuming because she’s your sister, you had explained it to her, and she held her ground regardless.
Well, you know what assuming does 
.
She’s my big sister and she’s very set in her ways. Some people think they know more than you. I’m sure you’ve run across those types.
Anyway, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink.