How many positive reviews i need to push down a negative one?

[Michael1107]

I recieved a couple of negative reviews, i want to improve what i can to recieve more positive ones so the negative one becomes not immediately visible. I also lowered the price so I'm more likely to recieve 5 stars for what i offer now while i improve what i have been negatively reviwed for. 

So I'm asking, will this actually happen or airbnb will keep the negative review up?

Because if the negative reviews stay up then it would be better to create another listing or close this account and create another one once i completely transformed my house

[Helen3]

You've received far more than a couple of poor reviews to get those low ratings I'm afraid.

The best way to improve your reviews is to address the areas that are leading to the bad reviews on your listing.

A key area  people are complaining about in your reviews is the cleanliness of your listing. This is a simple area that you can improve by ensuring the room and communal areas are clean.  And make sure your bedding and towels are sparkling clean.

You also need a more comprehensive description of what amenities are included in your listing, where you are located etc.

Put a few pictures on the wall and decorations to make your place more homely. You can do this very cheaply.

Lowering your price is just likely to attract problem guests @Michael1107  not lead to five star reviews.

[Michael1107]

Everything is different now, i bought forniture and other things, i don't want to pay a photographer because I'm gonna buy a professional camera and take pictures myself. (because I'm a musician and i need a professional camera for my band anyway). 

I changed stuff in the bathroom and i need to do more because the old stuff looks dirty even if its clean.  Take the toilet for example, it looks dirty even if its clean because it goes from white to white to kind of greysh... Thats why i will change the toilet and the sink next week 

[Helen3]

Don't worry about having a professional camera. All my photos are done on my iphone. 🙂

[Dale711]

Hi @Michael1107 

@Richard531  are right! 

You own the listing, you know better than others.

Lowering the rate is not an issue. Your listing with the good value doesn’t attract the problem guests. 

Do more and better communication  with the guest during the apartment tour, educate the guest of the other detail. Add in the conditions that the guest is necessary to clean up before leaving . As a shared home manner and the low rate private room,  the guests surely will happy to do that.

You could clarify in the title and description, as ‘ Great Value and Spacious Private Room”, reminded the guest cleaning before the check out. 

The Airbnb reviews system is out of your hand!
Do focus the future guest, the cleanliness issue  and the upcoming reservation. 

Has you tried to use the vinegar and baking soda to clean the bathroom? 
sHere are some recipes to try. Freshen your sink by mixing one part of baking soda with two parts of vinegar.

https://youtu.be/AnokrIaTE5s

In addition, keep a bowl of bay leave in the bathroom for a good scent and a decor. 

[Huma0]

@Dale711 

I'm not sure if I understood your response, but are you suggesting @Michael1107 relies on guests to do the cleaning before the next ones check in? That's not a great idea...

[Robin4]

@Michael1107 

Gee Michael, an overall rating of 4.00 is not going to do you any favours where potential guests are concerned. It appears cleanliness is an issue with your listing and keeps on coming up in your reviews.

It's not as simple as starting another account, you can't just start over again....your past stays with you!

With 11 reviews it is hard to hide, and as @Helen3 suggests I would address these issues to get a few more guest reviews on your side.

Michael, once you have 40-50 good reviews they start to do the talking for you. When 45 guests give you a 5 star and a guest suddenly gives you a 3, who do you think we are going to believe? That one guest or the other 45. It make the guest that gave you a low review look like a prickly difficult guest.

But Michael you need to put the effort in to get to that point....Guests are not coming to you out of the goodness of their heart, they are paying to come to you to have a nice comfortable stay. As it stands at the moment every few guests of yours complain about your cleanliness so, as long as those complaints keep coming you are going to have to keep wearing them, it's not a matter of great photography, it's a matter of creating a property a guest feels comfortable in.

I host in an old converted garage Michael, it sure isn't 5 star, but I make sure my guests have nothing to complain about.

You have to earn good reviews Michael, they don't just naturally come!

Cheers.........Rob

[Michael1107]

The complaints are mainly about the bathroom, like i said it's a matter of cleaning more, i think old things look dirtier even if they are clean.

If professionals converted your garage it should still look better than my old bathroom 

Thats why i need to replace the white stuff that don't look great even after cleaning and even painting the tails if i still recieve negative reviews. It's more about perception. 

The odd thing is that the last month was fully booked even if i have the ugliest pic of my entire city hahahhaha 

This gives me hope it means there is not many options in my area but I'm sad for the negative reviews

I didn't even have forniture when i started and it was still fully booked with some 5 stars reviewes and even if i didn't have the time to take new pictures of the new room with forniture and decorations i still recieve requests. 

[Lenore22]

Don't lower prices. Can you hire a cleaner to clean the room once? Watch what they do and see how the room looks afterwards: this level of cleanliness should be your goal everytime. Also, once it is well cleaned, it is easy to maintain that way.

Lowering your prices rarely improves your ratings when "cleanliness" is an issue. It's impressive that you are replacing the sink & toilet. Hopefully this will help you.

Also, you might ask these guests who have given you these ratings what they would like to see changed.

With only 11 reviews on this property, you could try a new listing, but unless you are able to address this issue, the new listing will quickly have the same issue.

[Anonymous]

@Michael1107 As others have noted, lowering the price will not get you better ratings. No matter how little someone paid for the room, they're only giving 5 stars if they find it totally clean and comfortable at a bare minimum.

Guests also rate on accuracy, so it's better to have photos of non-professional quality than to have outdated photos. And let's be honest, the ones you currently have up aren't exactly doing it any favors anyway.

If you're truly transforming the space to an extent that it's basically a different type of listing altogether - more amenities, different target customers, fully furnished, and reliably clean - it might actually merit starting over with a new listing. But if what you'll be offering is just the same room with a new toilet, don't bother. Even with a lackluster star rating, the fact that your listing has an established reputation works in your favor and helps guests trust that you're genuine. A brand-new listing looks...suspicious.

[Michael1107]

The room is completely different, in fact it's the bathroom that will stay the same because i don't have the money to change it at a structural level. It will just have new sink, toilet ect that will always look clean because they are new.

The room is completely diffferent and i'm waiting for a new tv i bought and shelves and plants from ikea, also the balcony now is like a small garden, with plants a small table and a small chair.

The room will be so different, the bathroom will stay the same but with stuff replaced with new ones 

[Huma0]

@Michael1107 

You mentioned painting the tiles, but what condition is the grout in? If the grout in between the tiles looks a bit grubby, that can really affect how clean a bathroom can look. 

I have a bathroom that was completely renovated when I got my house and almost everything still looks new but, after a few years of constant use, the grout between the tiles in the shower started looking black in places. At first, I thought it was mould and tried every product out there to get rid of it. I scrubbed and scrubbed, but nothing worked.

It turns out that the grout had worn away and that the dark colour you could see was the edge of the tiles, not mould. However, if it looked like mould to me, it's going to look like mould to guests! That shower had to be retiled because this problem had caused leaks.

Perhaps the paint has also covered the grout, but if not, and if the grout still looks old, you could try one of those grout pens. They look like a white marker pen (you can get them in other colours too to match the grout). It might not be a long term fix, but can brighten up white grout for now.

By the way, your cats are gorgeous!

[Richard531]

@Michael1107 When attempting to give advice based on your listing as it's published right now, it kinda feels like I'm at a used car lot and the salesmen is trying to sell me a $5K car for $25K.  It feels like "we're way too far apart."  But I'll try anyway!

You've gotten some fine advice here from some experienced folks above @Helen3 @Anonymous @Lenore22 @Robin4 .  Follow that advice!  I'll just give a few notes of my own, and I'm not trying to mean, I'm just trying to get to the point as quickly as I can.

1. You are getting reviews (they aren't great reviews, but you're getting them, that's good!).  However you haven't left a single review for a guest that's stayed with you.  Did you know that you're supposed to actually review guests?  Like, what's the logic on you not reviewing a single guest?
2. I've got your listing at $23/night.  Can't get much cheaper than that, so price isn't your problem
3. Your listing description is awful
4. Your picture(s) are awful
5. By the nature of how your listing is presented, people you are attracting come in with 4* reviews as a high mark and are basically sitting back and waiting to see if their ultimate review will get lower once they spot that roach on the floor or foreign hair on the pillow case
6. To answer your question, getting your average review metric up is a simple mathematical matter; you can load all your existing reviews into a spreadsheet, and create a projection of how many reviews it'll take to go from where you are, to where you wanna be.  It's not a secret formula or Airbnb "keep(ing) the negative review up".  It's just straight math.  

You seem like a nice guy and you're on a great message board looking for help.  That's awesome!  However, if we're being 100% honest, it doesn't appear to me like you're taking being host very seriously. . .

[Robin4]

@Richard531 

Good points Richard, particularly the one about taking hosting seriously.

I do have to cross swords with you over @Michael1107  reviewing guests however....he does. He reviews every guest, some of those reviews incredibly brief but he does actually review them back as far as 2017.

But your comments about the listing description and photos is spot on Richard. Those two bedroom photos are just dreadful, so cold impersonal and uninviting. Going by those photos, if that was the last listing available in Parma I would not want to stay in it.....that room looks just one step above this.....

Hosting is hard work, it's not just about the money, you have to put a lot of effort into it, you have to make it appealing and give the guest something to appreciate and thank you for.

@Michael1107  it's not about a heap of nice furniture, but a comfortable old chair in the corner, a bookshelf from the op shop with a few books in it and maybe a vase of flowers on top. A reading lamp on that bedside table, just a few little touches to make the space look inviting. A couple of pillows on the bed. And on the subject of the bed, your description says you accommodate 3 guests yet your sleeping arrangement is just one single bed! Where do you expect the other two guests to sleep?

Michael, you need to rethink the direction you are taking here, put yourself in the guests shoes, they are not just looking for a roof over their head, they can get that in any backpackers hostel. They are paying you for an Airbnb experience.....try to give them one and you will find those poor reviews will soon disappear.

Cheers..........Rob

[Mary996]

Haha...!! Loved this @Robin4 . I actually stayed on an Operating table in an Operating Theatre in Bulgaria xxx