Your experiences hosting airbnb superhosts

Wow! that really bites! :frowning:

Yikes! sounds horrible!

We’ve had a few hosts and superhosts, five stars overall from all of them. None of them looked for anything extra, none of them were “picky” and only one took a star of for location (prob because our parking was full and they had to park 300m away).

Just had three bookings on the trot, all from superhosts U.S./U.K. based.

I wonder if, in five weeks time, I’ll still be able to say the above… :thinking:

JF

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Yes, I am able to still say the above.

5* overall from two SH’s, and both sets of guests said they had a great time. It was only two bookings from SH’s, no idea where I got three from! Too much sun and cerveza probably :beer::beer::beer:

One gave us 4* for value. Given that they’d booked for Moto GP weekend, one of our most expensive weekends of the year, and had no interest whatsoever in the GP I thought it was fair.

It appeared to be a case of buy flights months ago then start looking for accommodation nearer the time, without doing any local research. They were lucky to get anything, we were only available due to a BDC cancellation!

In conversation with both sets of guests, the term “Superhost” wasn’t mentioned once. We chatted about other platforms, the restoration work we’ve done, work they’ve carried out, guests that can’t read their native language, etc - like a 3D version of here really :smile: and not much different to prior hosts/superhosts.

We don’t treat hosts any different to guests, therefore if you do your job properly and don’t give folks reason to complain, generally speaking they won’t.

JF

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You know when someone posts here and pointedly mentions that that they are a superhost (half the time not even remotely relevant) upfront, they usually seem to be somewhat clueless. The type that post “I’ve been a superhost for two years and (fill in the blank with clear evidence that they don’t know airbnb policies). This is really unfair and I want everyone to hate Airbnb as much as I do!” When you get those SHosts in real life, that’s where the trouble starts.

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Lovely comment John and very true. I sometimes think that some hosts have problems with guests because they forget to treat them as people. Hosts especially, maybe.

So very true. It’s a definite pattern we see over and over again,

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When I book, I send a request first, calmly explaining that we are pretty laid back. That if they don’t take us we will understand. Just courtesy.

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Just had a 4 star review from another Superhost, the reason given - " Although the hand book was very useful I feel you are not entering in the true spirit of Airb&b by explaining the impact of ratings a guest gives, It actually makes you less inclined to give a high rating ." - so pretty much out of spite she rated me down. (5 stars given for all sub-sections, 4 stars overall)

I have in my house guidebook a small section explaining that AirBNB require Superhosts maintain an average of 4.8 stars so a sub 5* is actually a bad rating etc.

OMG, what a vindictive twit.

I have similar language to yours in my handbook, as well as framed and posted by the front door. Consistently, I receive five-star reviews from my guests. Every so often, though, I will get detailed private feedback that includes comments that should have warranted taking a star off (like the guy who mentioned that he found some popcorn kernels on the floor in one of the bedrooms, and two long hairs on the shower wall), but they didn’t. It’s been my experience that explaining how the rating system works to your guests, and then enlisting their help, works to my advantage much more often than not.

She honestly sounds strange and a bit picky. Don’t think the guest is going to give a care about maintaining the hosts superhost status. They’ll just rate the way the see fit. That is more of an honest review than the kind of influence she is describing. Honestly as a guest too, the review rating system is pretty straight forward to understand from airbnb. It’s really not rocket science and I don’t need someone to tell me what 4 or 5 stars is

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Do people really think that finding two hairs on the shower wall is sufficient justification for a 4* rather than a 5* rating? - just interested!

I might. (Edited to add: I meant 4* for cleanliness, not 4* overall!) We’re talking very long hair - there was tons of it left by the previous guests throughout the apartment, including in the refrigerator! I’m guessing the ones in the shower were pretty noticeable. And I hadn’t vacuumed the bedroom rug, because it looked clean to me. (Oops.) My point is that my guest could have easily taken points off, but he didn’t, and I’m pretty sure it’s because of my messaging in the handbook and signage about the importance of five star reviews. :slightly_smiling_face:

It’s a sad reflection on today’s society that far too many people, when given a stick and the power to pretty much anonymously wield it, will do so because it makes them feel powerful.

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Seriously?? That’s beyond ridiculous. Akin to a guest leaving 3* for accuracy because “it was much nicer than the photos”. (Yes, there are reports of that happening).

Actually, scratch that. It’s not the same at all. As CeeBee said, it’s just vindictive.

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