In Case You Missed It: Review update, Host Guarantee & more

[Airbnb]

We’re excited to share what we’ve been working on over the past few months, from expanding our efforts to tackle inconsistent reviews (we heard your feedback!) to offering new promotional tools that can help your listing stand out. Read on to learn more.

A review update inspired by your feedback

Late last year, we announced a new tool to help address inconsistent reviews. Here’s how it worked: If a guest gave you a 5-star rating in each category (cleanliness, value, etc.) but 1, 2, or 3 stars overall, they’d get a prompt asking them if they wanted to correct that inconsistency.

We got lots of great feedback from hosts on the new tool, and some of you asked why we set the threshold at 3 stars or less—in other words, why wouldn’t a 4-star overall rating trigger the prompt if the guest gave 5 stars everywhere else? We heard you, and we’ve changed the system so that now, even a 4-star overall rating will trigger a prompt if the guest has given 5 stars in each of the specific categories.

With this update, we’re continuing our work to make reviews more relevant and useful for hosts and guests, and we look forward to sharing more changes later in the year.

New custom promotions to get your listing noticed

We recently rolled out our new custom promotions feature, which lets hosts choose their own date range and discount amount. Hosts who set custom promotions can get access to special perks, including:

• An eye-catching strikethrough price in search pages and on their listing (e.g. $100 $85/night)
• Special callouts on their listing page, and the discount clearly detailed in the price breakdown
• A spot in the emails that go out to guests who browsed their listing

If your dashboard doesn't currently show custom promotions as an option, it may be because you're in a location that isn't supported or because you've had fewer than three bookings in the past year. In the meantime, you can still offer deals to guests by setting a lower price for specific dates, or setting up weekly and monthly discounts.

Host Guarantee will soon cover damage by assistance animals

We know that assistance animals (which include service and emotional support animals) play a crucial role in the lives of many of our guests, and we appreciate your willingness to accommodate them. We also know that there are rare cases where an assistance animal causes damage to a host’s property, so in the coming months, we’ll be expanding our $1,000,000 USD Host Guarantee to cover those incidents. (Keep in mind that the Airbnb Host Guarantee is subject to certain terms, conditions, and exclusions—you can learn more about it here.) We hope this update helps bring peace of mind as you continue to welcome guests with different needs into your spaces.

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on these changes in the comments below. We’ll continue to work on updates that help make hosting easier and more enjoyable for you, so stay tuned for more to come!

[Terry544]

Hi!  Thanks so much for the changes to the review system.  I do have another suggestion which might be helpful:

 I have hosted brand-new Airbnb'ers several times, with a few of them giving me 5 stars in every area EXCEPT value. 

I have been puzzled by this. 

If they have never stayed in an Airbnb prior to their stay with me, how do they have any way to determine if my place is a good "value"? 

It seems to me that determining the value of something is only possible if a comparison can be determined - and first-time guests do not yet have the ability to do that.

Perhaps "value" is a review only possible after the first 2-3 guest experiences?

I'd love to hear thoughts on this!

Thanks!

Terry from Phoenixville, PA

[Lien911]

Totally agree with you. 

[Pamela481]

If only they could force people to read the descriptions of our homes. I have a cabin on solar power and it’s clearly in the title and the description yet I get guests that are baffled by the off grid home. Or, my recent favorite, when a person left me my first 4 star review because of the solar and the sky wasn’t dark enough.. during the full moon. And of course, there’s not a darn thing I could do about it. Definitely knocked the wind out of my sails.

[Julie363]

The review change I want is:  If a guest cancels before check-in, they should be able to review the host on communication, but nothing else. How on earth are they supposed to know about cleanliness or other matters?

[Jean719]

We are pet friendly but I don't feel that the deposit properly covers damage by pets of any kind.  Of course you don't charge the deposit up front, which is a real positive compared to some other booking sites, however, it would be helpful if they could pay the pet deposit in conjunction with the reservation.  I have had two guests that ignored the pet deposit request after they had paid the reservation in full.  Both let their pets sleep in the bedrooms and they were furry pets, which causes cleaning to be extended, and didn't clean up outside in the yard.  I charge $25 pet fee per dog to help with the extra cleaning issues but if they ignore my request for that fee after they've paid for everything else, what do I do?  Should I have been requesting part of the deposit to cover the pet fee?  Thank you, Dudley Cove

[Jean719]

I have also been confused about the reviews.  If I'd had positive reviews on cleanliness, communication, location, amenities with 5 stars, how come my overall is 4.9?  If they cancel ahead of time, I don't get the chance to review them.  The only thing they could review is communication.  We have a lake property so I have gotten reviews because of the lake level, which is totally out of my control and we have posted on the website what the lake levels are for all year according to the Corp of Engineers. Maybe there should be a check list for, are you bringing a boat, what type, so I can inform guests more easily. Some people tell you nothing.   I know people don't read everything on the website.  I now spend a lot of time corresponding about lake levels and what boats are available to rent in the area.  The website cancels out any phone numbers I give guests so they can check on boat rentals, etc. in the area.  It's frustrating.  I agree, maybe first time users of Airbnb shoud post a review as their first time to use the system. 

Dudley Cove

[Barbara2004]

WHAT?  Since when does Airbnb force us to take animals ...period.  I'm allergic to lots of kinds of animal dander and I don't want any in my apartment since I am often the one who cleans it.

[Sharon794]

Emotional support animals should not be mandatory to take. Those people with those needs can find a pet friendly listing rather than forcing their way into someone’s home. Also, if people must bring their pet for travel anxiety, they should be getting a Rover sitter or something instead of leaving them in peoples homes that don’t want them there. 

[Harold-And-Barbara0]

We all should have access to custom promotions. It is clear that Airbnb is biasing host competition.

[Dale650]

Assistance animals.  I keep wondering when someone is going to stand up for us who have pet allergies and asthma.  Doesn’t anyone care about us?

[Carole121]

I absolutely agree with Alexander about hosting pets with the guests.  In fact the rules of my condo prohibits any animal on premise unless management receives the authentic/legal paper work that they demand weeks in advance.  Therefore I could never accept a service animal unless they complied with the house rules. Air BnB should be very transparent  in its policies on this issue BEFORE the potential guests  makes a committment.

[Anabel160]

It's great to hear that you now have " assistance pet cover" but I have a pet friendly establishment as a lot of people have pets that are like their children and they prefer to travel with them than leave them at home or in kennels. Although my house rules stipulate that no pets maybe left unattended in the apartment or garden I feel to only limit cover to "assistance pets" is a bit discriminatory. Generally pets that travel with their owners are very well behaved and probably better behaved than a lot of human children.  I think your cover should include these pets too.

[Josie-and-Carl0]

We have allowed most animals since 2016 - no problem except for one set of mini-blinds on a French door - $12.00.  We have been very fortunate over the years, no real problems. 

We think letting guest discover little extras not expected enhances their stay - their being pleased protects our space.

[Andre43]

Is the custom promotion available in the Philippines? I cant seem to find it. Thank you!

[Mutawintji0]

I had a guest who brought a camel. He asked me if it could have a drink. Well, I wasn't gunna say no to his thirsty pet. But I only have tank water and I'm in a drought stricken area (1 min showers) and the camel just kept drinking, he kept sucking it up, he looked like he was never gunna stop.

After about 10mins I asked the guest if there was any way he could turn the camel off, or there'd be no water left at all. So after both of us pulling on the rope and beating him with a stick he eventually lifted his head out of the tank, looked at us, and burped.

He was a nice guest, and so was his camel. But I think he just booked in to quench his camel's thirst. What the hell, I gave them both 5 stars.