3-star review question

[Tanya898]

Hi all,

We have had an unfortunate experience with a guest who reported inaccurate information on our home and as a result of the process, his 3-star review remains.

We reported this to Airbnb.  They declined the dispute.

We have been Guests for 15 years, and just this year 2025 we listed a remodeled, professionally designed home as Hosts on Airbnb.  It is located in a developing area of the state, so investors / landlords like ourselves are buying and remodeling properties quickly in the area.

This guest expected an upper class neighborhood and although his experience with us as Hosts was stellar, he was unhappy with the neighborhood and advised others not to stay there.

We take away from this that we now should ask every potential guest what their expectations are for the area, or the neighborhood.
And, as Guests, we should ask the same of every Host (we have stayed in some super unsavory areas before, but never reported this on the Host's reviews).

My questions:
We are interested in resolving the issue any way we can.

a. We had 6 former Guests stay in the home and none reported any issues.  We have  a guest now in the home, and they are also happy in the area and in the home.
What do you advise we do as new Hosts? (if Airbnb has resolved the dispute and said the review will stay)

b. We are considering just listing on other platforms and removing our listing entirely from Airbnb, what are your thoughts? (We are on 8 other platforms now, for mid term rentals primarily)

c. Are there any other suggestions Hosts have for us that we are missing or not thinking about that would help us resolve?

Airbnb has not been helpful. I tried emailing or calling with any one in "review" team but they are actually NOT available to Hosts.

Listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1380721911308535695?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=23010f2e-565...
Thank you.
T

[Joan2709]

@Tanya898 

Most other STR platforms also have a "location" sub category, so guests can still rate the Host on that sub-category on other platforms.

The guest review mentioned problems other than the neighborhhood/location. Problems inside the listing and also that the grass hadn't been mowed (12" high) and garbage all over the front yard?

"...The exterior property was not taken care of during our stay - the grass in the fenced in backyard was never mowed and was at least 12" high and there was garbage all over the front yard..."

Don't think you will be succesful in removing the review because the guest mentioned these other issues and the review doesn't violate Airbnb review policies.

[Tanya898]

Thank you!  
Yes we have actual security camera footage that shows the guest was not telling the truth.
In fact, we shared screenshots from the days during his tenure at our house that both were innacurate.
We thought showing Airbnb these actual screenshots would be useful.

No matter what, we are still wondering if we should de-list off of Airbnb OR if others have any experience with this kind of thing?
We have had, and have now, tenants that are enjoying their stay with no issue.
I'm just curious if there are other means of resolving this:   Leaving Airbnb / delisting and coming back later?
Or just hang in there and see what happens?

Or any other options?

Thank you.

[Mary1523]

Hi, I haven't read the listing or the review but here's my 2 cents.

Welcome to airbnb - as I've said before to many other hosts with the same question, we are product suppliers to airbnb. Not customers. Guests are customers. You'll never get a bad review removed, never even if you can prove what they said was factually incorrect (which is hard at times) because its the 'guest perspective'.

If you are relying upon airbnb as a professional source of income, then don't, because there will always be things out of your control - again we are just a supplier to them. The analogy is being a supplier to a supermarket, all power is with the supermarket buyers. I know,  I've been in that industry.

To be honest, I think airbnb has lost its mission purpose trying to be all things to all people. It originally was for sharing your house with others. Professional investors like yourself doing this for income over community purpose and the love of hospitality and hosting means every little thing you can't control will just annoy you. So I think you answered your own question - airbnb isn't for you.

Go on your other holiday platforms, and yes, always manage guest expectations, always! It's time consuming but its the personal touches that count.  It may not be as profitable but you'll get better reviews. So its a balancing equation of how much time you are willing to put in on airbnb given airbnb listings live and die by the review system. Other booking platforms are more forgiving and you can spend less time as a result.

The other comment I will make is that the best Airbnb hosts understand their target market and what they want and set up and manage the property to that. If you don't want to do that, and always continually refine your product offering, then other booking platforms again are more forgiving.

Perhaps not the answer you wanted, but you asked for opinions...

All the best - I'm sure it's wonderful reno !

Kind regs

MK