Is anyone seeing lower stars from guests?

[Inna22]

I have been getting crushed by poor reviews. Guests are just not happy. Typical compliant is either something along the lines of "thin trash bags and toilet paper made me feel unwelcome" (both are from Costco) or there is a train behind the house, I could not sleep (yes, there is, mentioned in the listing and marked as potential for noise). The train did not bother 300 previous guests but now is mentioned by every other person (accompanied by a one or two star rating). It would be very convenient to say that people are just not happy these days and only strange people travel in groups and rent big houses downtown Chicago these days. However I do not want to be the person who always thinks "it is them, not me". Is anyone seeing a similar trend?

[Simon2782]

"Small is beautiful" 😍 (Schumacher)

[Sarah977]

I agree. I've loved hosting solo guests. People who travel on their own tend to be quite adaptable, self-sufficient, and have good social skills. Even hosting only couples would be different, as they have each other to relate to, and might make a home-share host feel a bit uncomfortable, as they might somewhat ignore the host since they have each other to relate to, whereas single guests (they may be married or have a partner back home, but they are travelling alone,) are generally friendly and don't just scurry in and out of the bedroom, making it feel like you have strangers in your house- most are conversational and behave more like a new friend. 

@Simon2782

[Andrea4648]

I have also been crushed by poor reviews since COVID started. I was a Superhost for 2 years and then had a string of guests who were new to Airbnb and unreviewed and clearly didn’t read my listing description at all. Shouldn’t be news to you that I live here... it’s the second sentence. Giving me a terrible review because I have tools in the house, have a bar area (I asked them not to drink my alcohol, a warning since they had minors present), asked them to be respectfully quiet and that I would be downstairs, etc. 

[Sarah977]

When you see that a guest is new to the platform, it's a good idea to message them when they first request to book, making sure they've thoroughly read through the listing description and have absorbed the salient points. I do this even if they aren't new users if they haven't said things in their initial message to me that makes it evident that they've read the listing info. 

If a guest addresses me by name, says that my place sounds just like the quiet vacation spot they're looking for, that they are looking forward to meeting me and my dog, and so on, ad doesn't ask questions that are addressed in the listing info, I can tell they have paid attention, not just looked at the photos and price. 

If they just send a message like "I'll be arriving around 4PM" then I ask them questions to ascertain whether they understand what they have booked.

@Andrea4648

[Sarah977]

When you see that a guest is new to the platform, it's a good idea to message them when they first request to book, making sure they've thoroughly read through the listing description and have absorbed the salient points. I do this even if they aren't new users if they haven't said things in their initial message to me that makes it evident that they've read the listing info. 

If a guest addresses me by name, says that my place sounds just like the quiet vacation spot they're looking for, that they are looking forward to meeting me and my dog, and so on, and doesn't ask questions that are addressed in the listing info, I can tell they have paid attention, not just looked at the photos and price. 

If they just send a message like "I'll be arriving around 4PM" then I ask them questions to ascertain whether they understand what they have booked.

@Andrea4648

[John5097]

I'm glad I read these comments. Makes me feel  a little better for leaving a kind of stern response to an inaccurate statement in a review. Wish I hadn't though because very next review I didn't realize was was spot on. I had a long term renter who came and went at all hours before I started renting short term. I agreed to rent it to her for a year, and even got a sound machine from BBB that puts out white noise for sleep. Its a Marpac and got the best reviews as its a real fan inside. They were more expensive but would try to put a few of these in places and mention them in the listing as a solution for blocking out occasional noise from train and have directions for how to use it, as it can be adjusted. Maybe include a picture of it. 

[Sarah977]

I read that response and it's true that it wasn't the best way to respond. First of all, you shouldn't address the guest in your response (unless your response is just thanking them for staying and being great guests) or mention the star rating they left. It would have been better to just say that the time to downtown varies, depending on the traffic, but that many of your guests have made it in as little as 9 minutes. The response is just to clarify inaccurate or misleading info for future guests. The personal stuff you said in that response could have been sent as a private message to the guest, if you felt it necessary.

If you get a low star or bad written review, it's always best to sit on it for a few days before responding, so you don't have a knee-jerk reaction (which is natural when a guest writes something misleading or fabricated) in your response which you might regret later. 

@John5097 

[John5097]

@Sarah977 Yes thank you. I think you are right. It was just frustrating. The guest also ruined the towels, broke an ironing board, etc.. but definitely could have rephrased that differently. There is no traffic to get to downtown, only traffic once downtown. She stated it takes twice as long to get there as it does, so wan't accurate. But should have worded it differently. I've included another paragraph with the listing as well that should help prevent inaccurate review because someone wasn't happy with their Uber fare deep into a dense city. 

[John5097]

I've also had a guest say they wish it had an oven, when its very clear in the listing description, and pictures that there is no oven. I reworded it to say the city doesn't allow them in short term rentals. Wanting to be closer was also a wish list expected future host to conform. My listing is becoming more restrictive: I've gone from 4 guest to 2. Don't have a cooktop of any kind. And may also limit first time guest as most experienced guest say its one of the nicest Airbnbs they have every stayed in. I do appreciate the feedback though. I've made tons of adjustments to reduce issues like this.