The short review

[Laura2592]

Do you read into this at all? The two or three word review? 

I have a neighbor who is a new host and the first few reviews she got were one and two words. The star ratings were good but the reviews don't say much. We have occasionally gotten these, and in our case, they have been from guests who had some kind of issue. Likewise, when guests aren't awesome, I have seen a lot of "good guest" or "great stay" or "friendly."

Is a short review code for a so so experience? Or is brevity the soul of wit?

[Jillian115]

@Laura2592 I have received several short reviews usually from young people I think they don't get what's appropriate or are maybe just lazy. I don't worry about it.  As long as it's not bad, what they write doesn't bother me as much as the stars. I had a review "Stay here" all 5's. Totally fine with it.  

@Huma0 I had a guest recently who wrote in the guest book that the cabin was spiritual and wonderful and in the public review said it was a wonderful place for a vacation. But they were expecting the Ritz I could tell from their feedback on the checkout form. Basically, it would be great if you could add about $20,000 in improvements to your property. lol. I struggled to give them a good review because technically their communication was good, they followed the rules, and left the house clean. But I knew they would  mark me down and when the did it really annoyed me. They gave me 4 stars on value and accuracy. I still don't think it would have been right to leave them a bad review but it bothers me that they will probably do the same thing to the next host. My review was short. "followed the house rules, left the house clean and communication was good.” But I would not host them again so I did not recommend them. I couldn't really mark them down for suggestions no matter how rediculous. 

[Emilia42]

@Jillian115 Just a thought on the review if this situation happens again (but it likely won't.) "XX followed the house rules, left the house clean and communication was good. We appreciated the detailed list of improvements that they left in the guest book, but unfortunately, we cannot incorporate them without doing a full renovation." A.k.a these people are super unrealistic.

[Huma0]

@Jillian115 

Oh dear. In that circumstance, yes it sounds like the guests are clueless. However, it might not necessarily be just down to age and the fact that they clearly don't know what it costs to renovate a property. Also, the guest book is clearly not the appropriate place for this feedback.

In my experience, it's usually not the young guests who bombard you with suggestions for improvements, but people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, and sometimes those are hosts themselves.

Early on, I hosted a guy in his late 30s who was also a homeshare host. He left me detailed feedback, including that I should replace the windows because they were not sound proof. Yep, sure. I have Victorian sash windows and live in a conservation area. My neighbour, whose house is much smaller than mine, is spending around £45,000 to change his windows and that was the cheapest quote he received by far. One quote was around £70,000 or £80,000. He also said the mattress was uncomfortable and I should replace it. I've never had a single guest before nor since complain about the mattress. In fact, they usually tell me the bed is super comfortable. 

A couple in their 40s sent me links to videos on how to renovate my stairs (I live in a large, four storey house). They marked me down on cleanliness, choosing floors as the reason. The floors were perfectly clean. I vacuumed and mopped them right before the guests arrived and I do clean under the bed and all other furniture and the skirting boards... I guess they just couldn't find another place on the review form to mention that they did not like my Victorian floors. Really, I don't understand people who booked a clearly old house and then complain that not everything in it is modern.

Another couple in their late 40s left an essay of feedback, but written like it was for future guests not me, and was totally nonsensical, e.g. "Listing was very detailed and accurate, but you won't know about X, Y, Z, if you don't read the listing. There were stairs, which we knew about and didn't bother us, but might not be suitable for you." = 4 stars for accuracy. By the way, the stairs are in the photos, not just the description...

I don't ever remember getting this type of feedback from younger guests. If they mark me down, it is usually on value. I have done my research and the listings are good value, but a lot of younger guests simply want something cheaper. 

[Sarah977]

@Jillian115  "usually from young people I think they don't get what's appropriate or are maybe just lazy. "

I think it's more a matter of them having grown up in the texting age, where they write 5 words and hit send. And when people are young, they tend to just move on to the next thing in life. Their stay is over, and they don't think about it anymore. 

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

My experience of younger guests is they either leave quite a long review (but not much private feedback other than a nice private note saying thanks) or they don't review at all because, like you say, they have moved on and aren't thinking about the stay anymore. The ones that do leave reviews take put quite a lot of effort into it. Perhaps that's because I host long term guests, but I found that when I hosted short term as well.

I've never had a guest, young or old, leave a list of improvements in the guest book though. That's just weird, but perhaps they were newbies and didn't realise that they would have the opportunity to leave that feedback during the review process.

[Jillian115]

@Huma0

The booking was their 3rd review. They said they come to the area for an annual snow trip but didn’t leave the cabin for long and we are below the snow line. Lol 

[Huma0]

@Jillian115 

Oh well, sounds like cluelessness then.

Sorry, I misread your post earlier as the guest book, but just realised you said 'check out form'. I have never done one of these. What is on the form and what's the purpose of it? Is it just to get feedback?