Compliments to the host

[Airbnb]

There’s nothing like getting a “job well done!” when you’ve worked hard. And so many of you do go the extra mile to create magical stays for your guests. Our team that works on reviews knows how much positive feedback matters. So during one team brainstorm, they came up with this idea: What if we gave guests a way to quickly and easily specify what was so great about their stay with a host? We could identify the most common themes that guests love about their top-rated trips and list them out for guests to choose from. Fast forward to today and their idea is coming to life. Here are the top seven themes that emerged:

Now when a guest gives their trip an overall rating of 4-5 stars, they’re automatically prompted to give a little more detail about what made it memorable. Guests can choose as many of the seven compliments as they like, and (as always) they can elaborate on their experience in their own words in public or private feedback. So the next time you wow your guests, here’s what they’ll see:

And we’ve added a special “Compliments” section to your review summary when you’re viewing it from the Airbnb app on your mobile phone—so you’re sure to see what they appreciated about your space and your hosting style. The team is adding the final touches to this feature on the web, so soon you’ll see the Compliments section when you’re on your computer as well.

There’s more soon to come. We’re working on ways to make these compliments show up in guest searches so that they can see what makes your hospitality shine. It’s another way to help set guest expectations and reach your hosting goals. Whether you already have a few compliments, or you’re looking forward to that first one, we’re cheering you on.

[Patricia982]

I agree it is best to keep it simple and fast most of the time thats what people want because most of the time the people staying are short stay and you do your best for them so they enjoy their stay .

[Theresa220]

This is one of the best ideas I have heard.  We are not against negative/constructive feedback, it is the only way we can grow.  Moaning Minnies can make us depressed and feel like throwing in the towel.  It seems sometimes they were staying somewhere else, because the reviews before them and after them are so complimentary.  I answer them thanking them for taking the time, and talk about any good points they may have put in, and then as tactfully as possible point out the negative points that more often then not are not justified.  I must admit I have to stop myself being sarcastic.  On one occassion Airbnb left my answer in it's full state.  I must admit I  think I made a negative into a positive, by highlighing all the good points, and it is good value for money, which people forget.  At least other punters can read this, but it is so unfair how the rating comes down and takes time to redeem.

[Leo202]

1000% agree with you.  I have 71 reviews   But because of single guests that was here for 2 days didnt think that the rating was that important And screwed me over . Doesnt matter how many more 5 stars i got ... numbers never changed . 

[Adel31]

I totally agree, I do my best to make my guest home, and one unhappy guest brought me down to 4.9 just because he never read the instructions, and Airbnb didn’t want to take that rating out! It’s like my fault. It’s a lot of stress trying to keep everyone happy. I’m better off without Airbnb because it’s not fair. 

[Rob110]

I am seriously dissatisfied with recent changes at Airbnb..and now this....if you give guests an opportunity to nit-pick they will....none of us set out to be 5 star hotel competitors.. The present system ( other than the sudden and inconvenient loss of Multi-calendar for anyone with more than one listing but Less than 6 ) had been working fine for me... Now I invite the CEO and anyone else at AirBnb to take a look at my listing and be aware that alternative Booking providers are happy to take over, no hassles, slower to pay perhaps but no bother. AirBnb has been built and thrives on HOSTS...I am one host ready to go elsewhere....

[Helen350]

Rob, I too was alarmed, & miffed at the sudden loss of the multicalendar. I contacted airbnb who were no help at all - did not undestand my issue. The I chanced upon the solution in the community forum.... Now I have my multicalendar back! - . 1. Click on your profile pic top right. 2. Click "settings" 3. Click "settings" again 4. Click "Professional hosting tools" This gives access to the multicalendar!

[Judith354]

Airbnb seems manipulative to me and as though there is no end to the demands that can be made on hosts. Superhosting seems like another way to control us. They want me to book more often, so they tell me how many more bookings my local fellow hosts are getting by charging less. But they don't offer what we do. There is a point where it isn't worth it to host, especially when offering as many extras as we do and as we want to. Our town is looking at controlling Airbnb by only allowing its use when the host lives on the property being advertised. This way, we wouldn't have had our town gutted by the wealthy buying real estate just to use for Airbnb instead of for long term rentals. This is a very real and painful issue, and the number of longtime locals who've been forced to leave because of the above scenario is way too high, a serious loss for a small town. It lessens the flavor of the place, which is supposedly what Airbnb specializes in providing.The county has already raised our transient occupancy tax to 14%, which reflected the hostility that Airbnb is creating in our town. Is Airbnb going to address this or any other issue? Where are the Airbnb replies to all the above extremely valid comments? Or is this just another way to ask for solutions but then ignore them, supposedly giving us the feeling that Airbnb wants to hear from us, when in actuality it just wants to provide the illusion that our feedback is important to them. However, there are many great things about Airbnb that I do appreciate, like the reasonable service charge and the convenience and the protection, also the section for photos. Otherwise, I'd be just like those deplorable guests focusing only on the negative. But there is significant room for improvement. Airbnb: Respond to these complaints and let us know what you are doing about them! Or tell us your reason for the current system. I'm always baffled by those guests who rave to us imaginatively in the private personal section after a fairly cookie-cutter review. My favorite guest request was a woman who wrote asking what kind of laundry detergent we use, because she wanted to use our washer and dryer and has allergies to some kinds of detergent. She wanted to know if we could provide the correct laundry soap for her condition. Therein lies madness. I agree with previous comments that Airbnb has some guest training to do.

[Cindy203]

I think the emojis will just require hosts to exceed even higher in everything they provide. I used to provide snack badkets, breakfast, drinks no I provide a coffeebar only. The readon is because my guests never ate any treats, would not eat breakfast foods. I would end up tossing out fruit, breakfast bars, etc as guests would not eat. I hated the wastefullness. Now that I don’t provide these extras I’ll probably be dinged by this. Cindy

[Joanne183]

I agree with you Sam.  This happened to me and Airbrib published a malicious and untrue rating from a awful guest and would not take it down even when i told them i could prove it was not true.  I was upset with Airbrib after that especially as all previously ratings were 4 or 5 stars.  The one bad one pulled it right down.

[David2607]

Agree!!!  Some guests give 5 stars as too embarrassed to do otherwise, yet one gave poor checkin experience as he saw an unrelated txt from someone else, mistook it for our door code and had to know on our front door. Problem solved in 30 seconds but still rated us less for checkin difficulty!

Guess what, he is a business process consultant.  Can’t win.

we have mostly 5 star ratings yet the one or two 4 star ratings hold your overall rating down for a disproportionate period of time.

[Luxury3]

I had no idea it took so much effort to get the rating back up (35 five stars for 0.01) I was wondering why I can’t get back to my super host status after one crazy guest left a ridiculous 2 star review. This is not fair at all. We try so hard to please the guest and they just ruin your rating so easily. I agree with some of the suggestions to “throw” out the 1 extraneous rating and average the others... more attention needs to be placed on getting the hosts bookings.

[Louise26]

Agree, I had one guest here who brought my ratings down because he couldn't find a car parking space right outside the house, even though it said 'free on street parking'   on my listing - bearing in mind that our street is no more than 100 m long, he was always parked on the actual street! argh, unbelievable.

As it's already been mentioned, people really don't tell you when there's anything they feel is wrong. 

It's such a shame, as it's usually an easy thing to fix (not the parking!) but otherwise. 

I have notebooks in the rooms urging people to tell us about their experience and of how we might improve their stay, it's rarely used for positive critical feedback, we do have some lovely comments and drawing though. xx

[David1233]

I find the rating system a bit odd here at AirBnb.

I understand where it comes from and why it was implemented, however I think since the platform has grown the company has not kept up with managing it.

I had a couple who were here that didn't read the very clear NB elements in my listing: so because of that, they gave me a 3 star review,  for inaccuracy.  I find that crazy, because it is very clear in my listing description as well as in the note that is sent to people once they book; but people are strange and often powerless, so they exercise power when they can.

[Katherine118]

Oh! What a shock! Three years of guests in our remote coastal setting to get to Super Host and gone in a minutes by people who were not happy when they came and willing to lie. No summer salt would be high enough to please them. Complaining about one thing, it was apparent there was something they did not like & would not say. To get the 35 five star ratings will take me four years. Oh well!

[Steven532]

Customer service is becoming a rather unpleasant experience for hosts, in my opinion. I find that the Guest is always right attitude prevails.