Requiring at least five airbnb reviews

[John5806]

Hi,

We feel more comfortable with potential renters having at least five Airbnb reviews and we decline those that do not.

We have rejected 3 this week alone so I am wondering what is the best way to let people know our review requirement before they send us a request?

Should I put it at the beginning of the property description? somewhere else? Looking for suggestions. Thanks

[Colleen253]

@John5806 Five reviews is a pretty high bar. You can headline it in your listing description but it will not likely have the effect you hope for. 

Declining a large number of booking requests will harm your listing over time. Also do take note of  “When guests are turned down” under the Personal Preferences section of the non discrimination policy.

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2867/nondiscrimination-policy

Everyone has to start somewhere. Your first guests took a chance on your listing when you had no reviews. Far better is to vet your potential  guests through thoughtful  communication, and being mindful of red flags.

[John5806]

One of the reasons we list on Airbnb is that we can see reviews. This is our weekend house, not just an empty property for rental only. 

We had a request over a recent 4th of July for 10 guests, no reviews. We didn't feel comfortable so we declined. It turns out they rented a house down the street from us and all weekend there was loud music, cars coming and going, illegal fireworks, and lots of beer cans. 

I see your point that we had no reviews when we listed our property but we did have a full description and 40 plus photos of everything but back up the description so people had information to make an informed decision.

If anyone requires reviews I would appreciate your suggestions on how best to make them known.

[Helen3]

Presumably you already have set up your listing so only guests with positive reviews can IB.

You would also need to include a statement about your minimum five review rule this in your house rules and I would suggest you have it up front in the first paragraph of your listing.

And include in your IB questions that you have set up to help you vet your guests

ie. Please confirm you have five or more positive reviews

You will of course vastly reduce the numbers who can book with you but if you aren't reliant on the income, that might not be such an issue for you @John5806 

[John5806]

Hi, thank you for your response. You are correct we are not reliant on the income, the reviews are much more important. we don't use IB, the renter must reach out to us for approval.  I was not aware of the ability to require positive reviews for IB so I'll look into that.  Thank you for all of your suggestions!

[Sarah977]

@John5806  The reality is that while you can require this, you will still end up getting requests from guests who don't have 5 reviews. And if you keep declining on this basis, your listing will likely be suspended.

[John5806]

Thank you, Sarah.  I have declined a few people lately and got a notice from Airbnb about suspension.

That's why I am trying to find a solution.  I feel I should only accept bookings that I am comfortable with but Airbnb does not agree.

[Colleen253]

@John5806 Yes of course you should only accept bookings you feel comfortable with, Airbnb be darned. But relying on reviews is not the best way to vet your guests. Careful thorough communication and being mindful of red flags is the key, along with being strategic in how you set up and market your listing. Employing these tactics can reduce the number of declines you make, help ensure you have positive guest experiences, and increase your bookings. 

Be aware that many  hosts don’t care for leaving honest reviews for troublesome guests, and will write good things no matter what. 

[Mark116]

@John5806  I'll be honest, the guest profile being fully filled out is a better indication of whether they will be good guests or not. I've found that guests who use Airbnb a lot, as in more than 10 reviews are very often poor guests and some of my best, most gracious/grateful guests have been those who have no reviews.  I will say that a lot of the recent guests who have zero info. on the profile tend to be not so good as guests. 

As others have suggested you should probably turn off Instant Book so you can vet each request.

[John5806]

Thank you, Mark! Yes I just set up IB with requirements and I agree with you, two recent monthly rentals each with 25+ stellar reviews left my place in a disappointing state.

[Sarah977]

@John5806  One thing to be aware of is that many hosts do not leave honest reviews. It's unconscionable, IMO, but it's true.

Also, you have to know how to spot a generic review, which are often given by property-managed listings who basically leave 5* reviews and generic, non-informative, "Nice guests!" written reviews. I entirely dismiss those reviews. I'll also cross-reference to see if the host leaves that same review for all the guests.

5 reviews is a pretty high bar. I have never used IB, and I find that communication is key to getting good guests who are a good fit for my listing. I've had several guests who had no reviews yet, but their communication with me was fine, and they all turned out to be great guests.

The nature of your listing- entire house, ski area, off-site hosts, 10 guests, hot tub, etc, means you are going to be a party magnet. One thing I would suggest is lowering your guest count to 8, as you have 4 bedrooms. Just because you can sleep 10, doesn't mean it's a good idea. Lower guest counts result in fewer problems. You could even turn one bedroom into a home office, since there are so many guests working online these days, and you say you have great Wifi, and have a max 6 guest count.

Your place is super nice.

[Gordon0]

When I get a booking from somebody with lots of reviews my heart often sinks. They're often a little more entitled than you'd hope for with the "been here, done it, know Airbnb inside out" mentality.

Good luck all the same, @John5806, but it's a shame there isn't a more finely tuned platform for a better fit.

[Sarah977]

@Gordon0  Interesting. That hasn't been my experience. But it also depends on the sort of places they have reviews from. If they tend to book home shares and have great reviews, chances are they have reasonable expectations for home-sharing. If they've only booked whole house listings before, or travelled with a group, they might not be prepared for a home-share experience and expect something different. 

What I have noticed is that guests who use Airbnb a lot, especially if they travel on business or are digital nomads, tend to leave what I call objective, rather than subjective reviews. I've even read posts from hosts who are used to getting glowing subjective reviews ( "This is the best Airbnb we've stayed at. Hosts were suoer nice, we loved the well-stocked kitchen, we made great use of the hiking trails, and the kids were thrilled to find toys and children's books"), feel a bit offended to get one of these objective reviews, which tend to just give factual information. 

Like "Comfortable bed, good water pressure, quiet area, close to public transportation. Good communication from host." Because they travel a lot using Airbnbs, they aren't interested so much in other guests' subjective opinions, just want to know basic info, and so leave the type of reviews they themselves appreciate.

[Gordon0]

I think you're right, @Sarah977, and a lot of this has to do with what (location) and listing type. I had a "I'm a Superhost too, don't you know" stay last week with lots stellar reviews who instantly grated.

Thankfully, I've been blessed with some lovely guests since re-opening, and long may it continue.  

[John5806]

You are spot-on, Gordon. I just had a family with stellar reviews from all over the world. They told me about a few broken items but "forgot" to tell me their kids wrote on the walls with crayons.