The 5 things I do to get 5 star reviews.

[Daniel-Rusteen0]

Hi everyone,

I have been playing with different things to get 5-star reviews, I've noticed it is not only a matter of having a top-notch listing.
These are the 5 things  that have worked for me during the last 7 years I've been a Superhost:

1. Set guests' expectations: What you tell your guests they will be getting and what they get when they arriving at your listing needs to be congruent. It is better to undersell your listing then have the guests walk into a nicer place than they expected than the other way around. Also, less than 5-star reviews normally come for the latter. 
2. Send your guests a check-in message: Sending them all the information on the listing the moment they book is not necessarily the best way to go, we all know most guests don't read, if you send them a welcome message a few (I go for 4) days before their arrival, their attention will already be on the trip. Make sure you make them feel welcomed, and to keep it at 200 words max.
3. Help them feel at home: Having a guidebook (especially a digital one), will help them get familiar with your space and neighborhood, spare them from all the figuring out while making the most out of their stay. Feel free to add additional activities and tips for the house and area.
4. Address issues promptly: And do not downplay their concerns or complaints. I would even recommend you make them seem bigger, without being sarcastic, that will make you look more of a hero when you solve the situation by going above and beyond the call of duty. Guests want to know that you care and take them seriously. 
5. Send a checkout message: About six hours after check-out, I send a message through Airbnb to the guest thanking them for leaving the place in good shape (no matter what shape they actually left it in). I also let them know that I intend on leaving them a good review,  that way I set the benchmark for our review exchange.

I  hope you find these useful!

Happy hosting!
Daniel Rusteen

[Heather133]

@Daniel-Rusteen0 you've perfectly described the secret sauce of hosting! There are other things of course, but you've really hit on important ones. I agree with @Brad-And-Kim0 that guests have been a bit more difficult to please during the pandemic, particularly when we first opened up again and then again more recently (now). 

I do share @Sarah977's frustration with reviews that don't give the full picture. However, I am sure I am guilty of the same. I'm especially concerned when I see a glowing generic narrative from a host and then notice fewer than five stars on a review. I'm finding I need to really try to read between the lines, as after hosting some challenging guests, when I go back in to read their reviews again I see that I missed the clues. Perhaps it isn't fair that I leave clues as well for other hosts rather than being absolutely frank - for an excellent guest who leaves a place spotless, I pour on the superlatives (5 stars). For so so guests I choose words like tidy, or in good shape (4 - 5). When they are fairly messy I don't mention anything about cleanliness in the review. When they were disrespectful total slobs I don't say I would welcome them back. 

[Sarah977]

"I'm especially concerned when I see a glowing generic narrative from a host and then notice fewer than five stars on a review."

Hosts who use IB need to be aware that hosts who don't aren't able to access guests' star ratings. All we have to go on are the written reviews. So a non-commital, say virtually nothing of importance written review while giving low stars and checking that you wouldn't host this guest again is useless and misleading to hosts who don't use IB.

@Heather133

[Heather133]

I agree. I host a number of properties and not all of them are IB, so I have relied on reviews as well. To clarify, I don't rely on checking the box or not checking the box to convey information, I specifically say they are welcome back in the review. 

It can be difficult to parse the language any host uses in the review. And to be fair, some hosts have different expectations of cleanliness, as do some of the housekeepers we use. 

Further, guests do not see their star ratings, so they may read the glowing review and have no idea they are rated a 4 overall. When guests in these situations want to book, I let them know their rating and set clear expectations with them.

[Gonny1]

Fascinating conversation. I'm not on instant book at the moment because I don't want to host guests that are flouting lockdown rules so they need to tell me the reason for their stay before I approve them, but I didn't realize that was the reason I didn't see their star rating, useful to know.

When I get a guest that hasn't left the property quite the way I would like them to, I say things like " overall the cottage was left in good condition" indicating it was ok but not brilliant. 

I have found it useful to send my guest a departure message the evening before they leave. In the morning they're too busy running around trying to get out of the door to read my message so that's why I send it the night before. I always start by saying that I hope they have enjoyed and are still enjoying their stay. I don't want them to feel I can't wait to get shot of them! And if I don't have a back to back booking I often give them a bit of extra time in the morning to check out . More time for them to tidy up!

In my message I ask them to turn appliances off leave it tidy and lock up properly and where to leave the key.

This seems to work quite well most of the time, you can't really expect your guests to live up to your expectations if they don't know what they are. 

Not every guest is very good but most are pretty good and since I started charging cleaning fee I remind myself that you can't expect too much if they're paying for it.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Hmm... maybe it's because I am born and raised in an ex-communist country but people in this part of the world dislike this overly kind, bend-over-backwards approach. It just irritates us because we know it is not sincere, it is just acting. We prefer simple, friendly, sincere and casual communication.

If I would receive a message saying something like " .... I will give you 5* review... please review your stay... " it would be off-putting.