Why are some Superhosts actually mediocre?

[Amanda960]

I have stayed in a few places over the last couple of years, one listed as AirBnb I discovered after booking it through a holiday cottage company & another through a recent booking my daughter made for a week away just the two of us. Anyway, both properties are listed as Superhosts & I was really surprised. The first place was very basic and not that comfortable at all and the second was full of cobwebs and had the funkiest smelling shower room which meant the bathroom had to be pressed into full service.

I know my space is spotless, it’s cleaned fully between each and every guest my online and guest book reviews attest to the efforts I make…. Yet the Daily Telegraph & their comments section are taking chunks out of us🤦‍♀️ Anyone else got a view? 

I have my own booking later this month and am looking forward to it…. Just hoping that I’ve selected a place that is as good as the blurb says….

[Anonymous]

@Amanda960   How do you rate these "mediocre" properties after your stay?

If comments on here are any indication, just about every host seems to react to anything other than five stars as a grave act of emotional violence.  Some of them even feel the need to "educate" their guests about it, which just feels icky from a hospitality standpoint. As a guest, I've found myself leaving plenty of 5-star Overall ratings for mediocre hosts just because they didn't do something so terribly wrong that I wanted to hurt them. A 3 or a 4 is usually a more accurate reflection of the experience, but why bother? Once that dumb little badge goes to a host's head, there's no persuading them that there's any room for improvement - all they take away from a disappointing rating is that you're a bad guest.

So I always take the ratings with a grain of salt, unless they're alarmingly bad, and keep my expectations for Airbnb stays substantially lower than those for hotels or selective platforms.

[Gordon0]

I find the whole 'This is how rating works on Airbnb' hyperbole toe-curlingly painful, but people believe the ar5e who was originally going to biff you somehow won't after reading their begging letter. Not gonna happen; **bleep**'s always going to be a **bleep**. 

In terms of 'up-reviewing', the same can be said about tipping in the USA, and the folk on TripAdvisor will berate you for suggesting 18% (minimum) shouldn't be handed over for the worst possible service in a resto, after all, you didn't contract salmonella from the food that was effectively thrown at you, sans smile, naturally. Likewise, an NYC taxi driver who didn't open the boot for you, spent the entire ride on his mobile cussing and doesn't say a single word to you; he didn't crash so must be worthy of a 20% tip.

I don't get it. 

[Amanda960]

@Anonymous As the second booking was my daughters she has submitted her review. The first was a holiday cottage company that is also an AirBnb….. I did review honestly to the cottage company. 

I agree the ‘Superhost’ seems pointless insofar as the ‘bar’ is not really set as guests views are subjective to their own experiences and standards.

I wonder if a ‘mystery shopper’ approach would be better….

[Anonymous]

@Amanda960  With over 7 million listings, I don't think a "mystery shopper" approach would scale. And for hosts who are personally engaged with their guests or host in their own homes, the possibility that their guests might be inspectors sent to spy on them would be a devastating breach of the trust that's so crucial to sharing a home. I could not support that at all.

If it were up to me, I'd ditch the whole Superhost concept, eliminate the meaningless star ratings, and train the focus solely on the written feedback. Now that virtually every location and product has various rating scores on the internet, we're long past Peak Star; consumers need better tools to filter and assess their options.

[Amanda960]

@Anonymous  crumbs hadn’t realised AirBnb was that big. I’m inclined to agree about improving the quality of the reviews…. The badge though….. I think there needs to some

kind of filter…..

[Anonymous]

@Amanda960 Ha, working for that badge is like spending a lot of money on a nice designer outfit, only to go into town and see dozens of people wearing a cheap fast-fashion copy of the same outfit. 

But it's actually even worse, because no store is going to threaten to take your outfit back away from you 3 months later.

[Amanda960]

😂😂👍

[Gordon0]

Despite being a SH myself, I don't believe it actually stands for much in terms of quality. It's about chasing numbers and many (not all) guests are likely to fall into the review 'trap'. They see a highly-rated gaff, book it and effectively suck any issues up. After all, everyone else liked it, didn't they?

I've gone back to a particular place on a handful of occasions. The listing stated the garden was being done up (or some fancier explanation) when I first booked it several years ago. It hasn't been done and remains the sodden bog until today (and undoubtedly will remain so when I turn up later this year). There aren't enough comfy chairs for the size of the place. The wifi is a bit iffy. And it isn't a clean as a whistle. But it's run by a SH, and it just happens to be in the right area for me. So yes, I live with it, and they get five stars each and every time.

On the other hand, @Amanda960, I'm obsessive about our little room on Airbnb and it's ridiculously clean. It even gets the once over once my cleaner has done his thing. I'll always get five stars for cleaning and then will get biffed for location...the same location the poxy guest knew about when they booked. Sigh.

It's a tough old game this, and I'm not sure we're ever 'winning'.

 

[Amanda960]

@Gordon0  Yes I think you’re right,  it’s ridiculous when you get bumped for location especially when it’s made abundantly clear!  Similarly I clean after the cleaner -  the bathroom alway needs extra attention!  Looks like new all these years down the line 🤦‍♀️ I’m pretty good at ripping out and replacing silicon plus I’m desperately trying to get stuff to grow in the garden. It is tough, it’s really hard work at times which is why I get so frustrated when I see other much less than perfect places getting ‘rave reviews’ !! 

guess we just have to carry on sucking it up 💁‍♀️