Would you accept a return guest that gave only 4 Stars?

[Amanda1775]

Hi Fellow Hosts - Would you accept a return guest that only gave 4 stars overall, 5 stars for four areas, and 4 stars for two areas: accuracy and cleanliness?

The experienced Airbnb guest made no complaints or requests during their 3 night stay, but gave private feedback suggesting more blankets be provided (during an August beach rental) and coffee filters. The cleaning company does not provide filters, but they do provide a pour-over instant coffee pack for day 1 which I advertise in my listing.

Both of these seem easy to add, but can become a hassle for the cleaning company and would likely increase the cleaning fee. Plus most guests are happy with what my listing provides so I haven't made any changes for summer rentals. 

What's puzzling is that the guest also said in the private feedback that they want to stay at my listing again when they come back to the area. Maybe that was said to soften the 4 stars?

[M199]

@Amanda1775 

Personally, no.

 I had Halloween guests in Oct 2020 wirh glowing reviews, skip to 2021, good review, but not as much as before.  The guest from visit 1 to visit 2 became more "entitled".  Follow your instincts/gut feeling.

I try to understand my repeat guests, but somehow in 2021, I have noticed a lot of attitude, therefore, guests get 2 chances and if the entitlement behaviour comes up after 2nd stay in the review, then no.  Just my limited experience and intuition.

[Deb216]

No.

[Emilia42]

No, I would not accept them for a second stay through Airbnb; they can book directly through me where reviews don’t exist. Although, I have found that almost every guest says “we hope to come back” and maybe 1% actually do.

[Suzanne302]

@Amanda1775  Nope.

[Huma0]

@Amanda1775 

Good question. 

The guest most likely doesn't realise that 4* is actually a problematic score, even if he/she is experienced. Th guest that recently gave me 3* already had seven reviews, but didn't realise that was a low score. Hopefully, she will reconsider how she scores hosts in future now that she knows!

Even then, no, I would not want to host the guest again. Guests who mark down about minor things (coffee filters, extra blankets in summer and other amenities that are not listed as included) having not mentioned them during their stay are not worth it.

[Cecilia-Sofia0]

No

[Amanda1775]

@M199  @Deb216 @Cecilia-Sofia0 @Huma0 @Emilia42 @Suzanne302 Thanks everyone for your advice. The general consensus seems to be no.

I think guests sometimes don't realize it's a two-way street. I must admit as a guest, I didn't get this either until becoming a host too! Always learning...

[Sarah977]

@Amanda1775  Coffee filters seem like a normal thing to provide, if your coffee maker requires them and aren't some huge added expense. I can't imagine why providing them would be a "hassle" for the cleaning company nor increase the cleaning cost. I assume you provide toilet paper, soap, things like that? What's the big deal about adding coffee filters to the shopping list? How would that increase their cleaning time?

If you feel it necessary, add a dollar to your nightly rate- that will more than cover how many coffee filters a guest could go through in a day.

[Amanda1775]

@Sarah977Thanks for your comments. Yes, it sounds easy and inexpensive, but our rental is in a heavy tourist location and the local cleaning companies provide an area-standard package (toilet paper, soap, linens, small starter shampoo & conditioner, one packet of instant coffee, etc.) The package doesn't even include liquid dish soap, but I pay extra to have them refill the countertop bottle between guests (I provide the large refill bottles in the owner's closet) and I pay extra for more towels.

Out of 25+ guests this year (mostly summer rentals), only one has mentioned the coffee filters so that's why I'm inclined not to add more special requests to my cleaning company's list. However, now when I visit my rental, I leave 100 filters near the coffee maker and I'm guessing most guests leave the coffee filters they purchased instead of hauling them home. Perhaps that's why no one else has complained? May have to add eventually though if guests continue to mention.

If I lived closer to my rental, I would certainly add more perks above and beyond the competition. Alas, I'm not in that position today.

[Laura2592]

@Amanda1775no.

I honestly try not to cultivate a ton of return guests as some do rate lower on the second or third time. It has to do with the way the questions are worded in the review options. If a guest answers honestly that it is "about what I expected" (because they have been there before and know what to expect) its a low score. I prefer that return guests book off platform.

I have also run into guests who get a little too cozy and think the place is theirs to decorate or use as they prefer (the plant repotting lady comes to mind.) Again, I prefer that not to happen. So star rating or no, the boundaries can become blurred with guests who come back a lot... I feel the same way about "digital nomad" guests with 50 ratings who seem to have no fixed address. These are probably best dealt with off platform IMHO.

[Huma0]

@Laura2592 

I missed the discussion about repotting lady. Please direct me to it 🙂

I get your argument. I don't get a lot of repeat guests since I started long term and, even before that, and now, usually the guests that do want to return can't because the dates they want aren't all available. However, I don't think I've ever been downrated by a return guest. Quite the contrary. They always leave 5*.

So, while it does make sense sometimes to take these repeat bookings off platform (saves the guest money but doesn't really make a huge difference to me), the one thing I feel I miss out on is that I don't get another 5* review from them, which I am pretty confident I would if they booked again on platform.

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 fyi, the ‘expected’ question is no longer asked as part of the review process. Thank goodness

[Annie1372]

Hello @Laura2592 

I agree with you. New guest don’t have to much expectations, therefore they are very happy.

but returning guests come back because they had a great time and are expecting those great moments and memories to come back with the stay at the same place. Which we know, every time is different.

[Lisa723]

I would not. I block guests who don't leave five stars. It's ridiculous, but here we are.