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Good words, @Elizabeth. It’s true that after investing a ton of money (for me) and quitting one of my jobs to do airbnb I’ve been quite nervous about every little thing. I need to step back, for sure.
It’s such a process, becoming a host and then maturing as one
I don’t blame you at all. I can’t imagine depending on this for my income as so many do. After having a secure job for 28 years I don’t think I have the kind of entrepreneurial mindset it would take to take that kind of risk. Kudos to you.
Well. i dont think i was harsh, not even a bit. Our 2 days were basicaly ruined because the host lied. It does not matter how fast one walks, but 15-20 minutes walk is not " near metro", not even close. Our second stay was in fact near metro, not even 5 min.walk. ANd what do you mean, small miscalculation? It was not small, and it was not miscalculation. It was an obvious lie. 10 min to center? 14 stops can not even come close to 10 minutes to center, even if only metro is taken into consideration.
I gave her 1 on overall experience, because overall experience was at 1*. It was not only location, she was a poor communicator who did not even tell us where to find keys. When we got to the house we were wondering around not knowing how to get in util we luckely spotted keys under door mat that was a side door, that we did not even know belonged to the appartment.We had tours scheduled in a center, and because of misrepresantion of location and morning traffic and delays, we were late on first one the next morning, as we thought the apartment was in fact NEAR metro. Then we had to take taxies from center after concert as again we did not want to walk after midnight 20 minutes from metro to get to the apartment for 25EURO.
So, as you can see accurate location description is not a little thing but a big one, especially when we were there for a very short period of time. It cost us time and money to stay at her place, and its not ok to put people in such position only because they dont know.
As far as Google maps, i just did not google. I based my decision based on host’s description. Not only that, i even asked her prior to booking, is it in fact takes only 10 minute from her house to the center total time, and she lied to me again by confirming it.
Gusts of all ages ask me specifics about location all the time especially those without cars. I even put in description exact amount of miles to beach, airport, and how much Uber costs. And i hope that host learns from my review and never does it again to anyone.
Doesn’t it hurt our response rate not to accept or decline?
Just send them a message back. You can even send a canned one that you’ve saved.
Ah, I knew response time was based on how fast you reply, but I had thought response rate was based on how often you accept/decline instead of failing to reply.
I’d felt obligated to decline the inquiries I was getting for the wrong dates (people asking if I’d “open the calendar” for the busiest weekend of the year, which had been booked months earlier). I know too many declines can hurt your search ratings.
I guess not 'cos I’ve still got 100% response rate and I haven’t accepted or declined about a 1/4 of my enquires.
@Yana_Agapova Barcelona has very unique situation happening right now, where they no longer issue ‘Touristic’ permits and stopped in 2013, it is also illegal to trade/sell the permit. The permit itself was around 1000Euros and a bunch of paperwork, but many chose not to get the permits because up until this current Mayor Touristic rentals were not challenged. Currently, if you are renting without a permit the fine can be 90K Euro, so really not worth it. Every permit has to be registered with the community, and we are the only registered unit in our community (building). I messaged the HOA/community president about the illegal rental, bc I don’t want to jeopardize my permit in case these unpermitted hosts have bad guests. The unit happens to be directly under my flat so it is not far fetched that someone in the community could mistake their guests for my guests.
In the US it’s pretty easy to check an see if a host has a permit, you just call the city planning department.
I fully agree with you @Yana_Agapova. I would be beyond annoyed if I booked a flat with ‘10 min to city center’ plastered all over it and it was 14 stops on the metro! Even though we are located in the city center, people always think the famous street Las Ramblas is the epicentre of Barcelona, and want to know how far to there ,even when they say ‘city centre’ I always clarify exactly what they think the city centre is. (we are a 20 min walk, or 3 stops on the Metro to Las Ramblas, and we like to say amongst ourselves Las Ramblas is Spanish Disneyland with all the tourists, street ‘performers’, touristic shops, 18+ clubs, etc) I also have a blurb about how far we are by metro, cab, walking to all the touristic places. We still get dinged for location, bc we aren’t in the "City Centre’ 
Well…I’m not the principal wage earner, so that makes it easier!
For inquiries your response is based on your reply back.
For booking requests your response is an accept or decline. Replying back asking for more info from guests does not count as a response to a booking request.
I’m glad you were able to vent with us here rather than get a flag from that host!!!
It’s not worth your time and energy to worry about what other hosts are doing!
I see big exaggerations with hosts near me as well, claiming they are “near” beaches, when it is really 10-20 mins away by car. One place 11 miles down the road claimed they were near a “private” beach…when I looked at their pics, I saw they were talking about OUR beach!! You’d have to drive all that way and then down a steep road to get there. (My beach is located in our own neighborhood and is 2 mins from me. It’s hardly close To them.) And I had to laugh. Are you kidding?? The fact is they are waaaaay out in the boonies so not close to any beach! Other places promise country quiet but are right on the side of a busy highway or right near a place infested with shrieking frogs.
I never over promise and that way they are hopefully pleased when they get here.
In my county permit applications, approvals, declines etc. are public, they’re easily searchable online… but there’s also a giveaway on AirBnB - to conform to the permit rules you need to give the permit number on your listing page, and mention the 9% TOT, so it’s pretty obvious who’s operating legally and who is not.
I haven’t pre-approved most of my approximately 20 queries so far. Mostly I just reply, and never hear from them again. I’m also at 100%.
The problem is that “close” is subjective – almost all my guests state that I’m “close” and “convenient” to the train but the station is actually a 15 min walk away. But in Chicago, my apt is still considered “close,” I think largely because the entire walk is along a busy commercial street with interesting shops and restaurants so people enjoy it.
I’ve actually dissuaded a couple of guests from booking my place when they said they had parents with mobility issues with them (they asked how many stairs to the unit). If someone wants to use the train for 2 roundtrips, that’s a lot of walking in a single day. These people need to book a place that’s within a short block or two from the station. I have distances and walking times (which is also subjective!) listed in my short description but people who are unfamiliar with public transportation don’t always accurately account for what this means, esp if reviews are saying “it was so close and convenient! The station was just a short walk away”.
I’m positive that this host’s reviews will call him/her out for being deceitful. I live in Los Angeles, CA. Nobody who doesn’t live here seems to be able to comprehend how sprawled it is. We put distances to major attractions in excruciating detail (miles/kilometers, how long it will take by car, by bus, by bicycle, etc.). We still get a lot of comments in person and in the comment section that the guest thought our house was closer to whatever they wanted to be near. If we were dishonest, we would get an avalanche of criticism. Also, many hosts are dishonest about many things that you can’t discern by reading the listing (type of bed, having a pool or hot tub as an amenity when it isn’t working, etc.) so calling out one person for dishonesty is spitting in the wind.
I totally hear you!! We are 1 block from the metro, literally, and people have still complained that the Metro is not close. We typically dissuade people who heavily emphasis they was to spend a lot of time in areas of the city that are not near us. Its just better in the long run to have them stay near their preferred attractions .
I get complaints all the time about my location. They just have yet to realize how BIG the BIG ISLAND of HAWAII is!!!
@konacoconutz Wait, what…it’s only an island, how big can it be?? (kidding!! Worked in Hawaii for 4 years, I am well aware)
On the Big Island??
The truth is, no matter where you are, you are a long way from the different things you want to see!