New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here ‌👇

[Bhumika]

Hello everyone! 😊

Welcome to the Community Center! 👋  I'm @Bhumika , one of the Community Managers for our English Community Center along with my lovely team members @Quincy @Paula and @Rebecca   and we are thrilled to have you join us.

Let's kickstart this thread with a little about us Community Managers:

@Quincy : I'm from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 I have been on the Community Center for 6+ years, and have been an Airbnb Host myself. I love cycling🚲, playing football⚽, and travelling🌏 . I love how dynamic and diverse the Community Center is as we meet Hosts from all around the globe. 

@Bhumika :  🌍 I was born in Gujarat, India 🇮🇳 , and shifted to Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 last year! 📷 I recently realized my love for photography and aesthetics. I love to capture mundane life and candid pictures. 🌆 When I'm not working, you'll find me binge-watching thriller movies or exploring history.

@Paula : I am from Colombia 🇨🇴 and currently living in British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦. I have a passion for Latin American culture (I love to dance 💃) . I've had the opportunity to visit around 20 countries 🌎 and plan to visit many more. In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities, especially mountain biking 🚲 and hiking 🏔.

@Rebecca : I'm from Cardiff in Wales originally but being a military child and a veterans spouse, I've travelled and lived in a lot of different places in the UK and Europe. I'm an environmentalist 🌿 and like to minimise my impact on the planet 🌎 as well as volunteering in my local community.  I love sea swimming 🌊 yoga on the beach 🧘‍ and I'm a children's yoga instructor too! 🙌 

Now it's your turn! Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? And is there something special about the location of your accommodation that you'd like to share?

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Warm regards,

Bhumika

[Olga1399]

Good afternoon. Nice to meet everyone. My name is Olga, I am from Belgrade. I posted my first ad for the first time. While I'm studying. Thank you all in advance for your help, support and friendship. Good luck everyone and have a nice day!

[Bhumika]

Hi @Olga1399 , Welcome to the Community Center 😍 It's so inspiring to read that you're looking to start your journey as a Host while also studying. If you don't mind me asking, what are you studying? 

How has the process of setting up your listing been for you so far?

[Olga1399]

I'm studying to manage Airbnb. I'm studyng with your help to became a good Host. Thank you very much for your words. The process of setting was very easy and didn't take a lot of time

[Danielle1781]

Hello! I'm Dani a Technology Compliance Manager in Denver, Colorado. I'm a first-time homeowner and host. My townhouse has a private basement apartment and I have enjoyed being a host so far but it hasn't been without challenges! Looking forward to connecting and the advice that this community will have!

[Bhumika]

Hi @Danielle1781 , Welcome to the community! It’s wonderful to hear about your journey as a first-time homeowner and host. 

Hosting can indeed come with its fair set of challenges. What has been the most challenging aspect of hosting for you?

If you have any particular challenges that you'd like to discuss with other Hosts, please feel free to start a new conversation , our helpful Hosts in the Community would definitely love to support you. 🌻

[Danielle1781]

Thanks @Bhumika! It's been challenging to manage and optimize everything (bookings, pricing, turnover) while working full time. I did want to manage everything myself for a time so that I would understand what it took, but it's quickly become overwhelming. I also have a high level of anxiety about the guest experience and that's difficult because this is also my home (my townhouse is above my rental unit though both are private). I got a poor review early on that really knocked the wind out of my sails 😞 And I have have not had the same frequency of bookings since, so I feel like I'm having to redeem myself and it's very stressful. 

[Bhumika]

I'm so sorry to hear how the review has affected you @Danielle1781 . You really have a beautiful listing , and I'm sure there will be guests who will absolutely love your hospitality. I hope this one instance, doesn't knock you down 🌻 

Managing everything yourself while working full-time sounds incredibly demanding. Have you thought of appointing a Co-host to your listing, in order to ease off your work load? 

[Danielle1781]

@Bhumika I haven't but I don't know much about the co-hosting process. I am looking to get a cleaner to take care of the turnover. I think that should help a lot.

[Bhumika]

I see @Danielle1781 ! Having a cleaner service also sounds like a great plan! 

In case you're curious to know about Co-hosting for future reference, I wanted to share some resources that could be helpful : 

• Everything about Co-hosts 
  
  
• How to find and become an experienced Co-Host on Airbnb? 

Wishing you all the best for your journey! And remember we're always here to help and support you 😊

[Karlis3]

Hey @Danielle1781 ,
It sounds tough to receive a poor review so early on that it kicks down your enthusiasm. And that can be the reason why since then the low frequency of bookings appeared.

I can share 3 points:
*"Hiring" a Co-Host can help you a lot. Even a fresh view on your listing and some ideas can create a shift of perception for you on your own listing.

*Simply making everything on the listing effortless for the guest to understand and receive the necessary information when it is necessary is a KEY point to making also your Hosting experience much more effortless and easier.

*There is always the possibility to apply to remove the poor review. I have done it with some of mine from some picky and complicated guests, and have felt such a relief after they've been removed.

If you need any help in this or might need a fresh look on your listing, feel free to send me a message.

Happy Hosting,
Karlis

[Danielle1781]

@Karlis3 thank you for your feedback! It's very helpful. I would appreciate a fresh look at my listing - feel free to let me know what you think or where I could improve. 

I did reach out to Airbnb support about removing the review but that has been denied. I am trying to get some help with the listing issues that I have because of that review (see below) . The guest gave a very low rating because of inaccurate location but this was actually because of the unit description. I used "garden level" and the guest preferred the term "basement" - I have corrected this in the listing but I can't update the address because that is correct. Any ideas on how to fix this if at all? Thanks!

[Karlis3]

Hi @Danielle1781 ,

Thanks, I had a look at your listing.
In general, it is strange that in a few reviews guests like everything, everything was great but in the end they give you 4-stars.. Which somehow does not make sense.
There I would encourage you for guests to give you 5-stars - with a checkout message add that sentence where you ask for a 5-star review.

Secondly, the 3-star guest gave you VERY valuable information.
In my view, the squeeky floor would be the most annoying or upsetting. So you can work on your side to minimize those effects - have earplugs available for every guest, let the guests know that someone might walk upstairs during the night to the bathroom, respect the quiet hours you too, as the Host etc.. These are just examples and ideas but you know what I mean. Work on your side to minimize those issues and guests will notice it. And then even if the floors squeeks, they know YOU know and are doing something about it.
The same about the neighbors or entrance into the apartment. Provide instructions, make videos, make the guests feel informed about everything - the good and the bad. If it happens - it happened and they again know YOU know about it. If it doesn't happen, they will not even notice it. If they do notice that something 'bad' did not happen, then they will probably state it in their review as a positive thing - "The neighbors dog did not bother us at all" or "The squeeking floor was not an issue as we are tight-sleepers" etc..

About removing the 3star review - it could be difficult because the guests statements are quite factual and non-emotional. The guest is not blaming or expressing a bias. You can try to approach that the address and location is exactly that mentioned on the listing. But as that part of review is not visible to other guests, only to you the Host, I think airbnb will not remove the review because of that..
Other than that, then you have to look for bias in the Guests actions or conversation. If they have stated in their communication on airbnb (!) with you that "everything is perfect" but then in the review make a list of things that were not.. that is quite bias.
Did the guest break any house rules?  --> that can be a reason to take it down.
Things like these..

Another VERY important thing about you receiving less bookings might be because of airbnb itself. The profile shows you have been hosting for 1-2 months, that means your listing is/was NEW. Airbnb gives SEO boost to every new listing for 30 days. As new listings cannot compete with the experienced superhost listings, airbnb gives them a SEO boost for 30 days to "prove themselves" and that way "determine" their future level of success and their 'rating' among other listings.
If your 30 days are over that means the SEO boost is also over. And you are there where you were left off after the rating of all your reviews. So you have to have a slow come-back to the top.


Hope this helps.
There are definitely more things you can do to make your comeback to the top but that needs some more time and attention for which I would have to charge you.

Happy Hosting,
Karlis

[Danielle1781]

Thank you @Karlis3  - I agree that the rating was factual and ultimately valuable - I have made a lot of changes based on this that have been positive. I did reach out to Airbnb support to see if they could at least take down the inaccurate location rating since that was not true - but they would not adjust it as that is not externally visible. Oh well. 

I am focused on improving, adding transparency, and getting more good reviews. So far that's been going well. 

I appreciate your feedback and support!

Dani

[BnB302]

Hi all,

Am Diocles from Rwanda, I'm photographer lover, I love to connect with new people so that I can gain the new experience and culture. I love travelling and driving.

if you're planning to visit RWANDA kindly connect with so that i can give you a great experience about Rwanda and Africa as well.

[Bhumika]

Hi @BnB302 , Nice to meet you! 😍 

What are some of your favorite spots in Rwanda for photography? 😉 What has particularly inspired you to start hosting? 🌻