Reviews sorted by language - I don’t like it…

[Trude0]

I know I’m not the first host to bring this up, but I’m hoping to maybe be one of the last?

Reviews for listings - in guest mode-  are sorted by language. If I understand correctly: First come all of those in your chosen language (typically English), newest to oldest. Then come the reviews in other languages, newest to oldest.

This is probably not a huge issue for many hosts; for instance, I would assume hosting in the US means most of your reviews are in English.

But to me, this way of sorting reviews is frustrating right now. Here’s why:

- I hosted from summer 2019 to summer 2021.

- Took a break for 1 year (lost Superhost status due to no bookings, even if my other stats are perfect - oh well)

- Reopened in September, and have hosted 4 times this fall

I don’t rank high in searches right now, probably due to a combination of the few bookings lately and the loss of Superhost status. 

But if guests do find my listing and decide to view it, it looks like I have hardly hosted since August 2021. Which  I don’t think helps in making guests book. 

Luckily, my first post-break guest was American, so her lovely review comes up first. But then come lots of reviews from 2021, 2020 and 2019. And there, below my very first review from 2019, come the reviews from my latest 3 guests; one in French, one in Dutch and one in German. All great reviews that I would love to have at the top of the list! I want guests planning trips now, to see how happy the guests were, who recently stayed. But it is unlikely that any guest searching will ever read these reviews, as they are so well hidden. 

Why are reviews sorted by original language, when there is a translation feature available, so that if you prefer English, you can read all reviews in English!?

Anyone else frustrated by this? 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Trude0, I hope you are well?

100% behind you!!  I am in a similar situation to you in that I host on Airbnb from May to September and then rent long term in between so like you, I have large gaps in between comments which I guess can leave guests somewhat confused and maybe a little wary as to why there is such a gap.  This is confounded by the fact that the comments left are not in a chronological order - why?  

But the real problem as you say, is the fact that the comments appear in the language where the host is located, French in my case except that for summer 2022 I only had one French guest and the rest wrote their comments in English but the most recent comments will appear after all the French comments I received back in 2021 - (Covid year so no foreign travel allowed). So with just one French traveller this year, I have a one year gap between the French comments and you have to scroll down all the French guests of 2021 to finally find the new English comments left in 2022.   As an Airbnb traveller too, I want to see the most recents comments left by guests, no matter what language they are written in, especially as the translation service used by Airbnb is excellent.  

On Booking, Expedia etc you have the option of sorting guests comments by "most recent", highest score first", "lowest score" etc.  YES! that is the way forward and cannot understand why Airbnb do not give guests this option?  Surely it must be simple to put in place if all the other platforms are doing it?  Why make things more complicated when the solution is so simple?  

I feel the same way about the search criteria - they are so limited compared to other booking sites.  An example, you are coming to Cannes, France and you want to be able to enjoy eating out on a terrace/balcony, well that is not an option that you can tick in the criteria section because it just doesn't exist so you have to sift through over a 1000 listings to find one that does offer one!  Who has the time to do that?? Just give people what they want by opening up their options and choices to ensure that they are getting a place that suits their needs and requirements, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

Simple - just put yourself in a travellers shoes!

Joëlle