As I'm hosting more and more guests and delve into each review that I receive and give, I find that there are quite a few major flaws in Airbnb review system. I do think that Airbnb should reconsider it and maybe seek to revise it--
1) Lenient Hosts and Inaccurately Positive Reviews of Guests
I have found that many fellow hosts are too lenient to their guests and thus leave inacurately positive reviews for their guests. For example, I have had a guest whose reviews from previous hosts indicate that he is "a joy to host," and leaves the room clean and tidy. Only one review expresses the host's "disappointment." The fact of the matter is that this guest is not a joy to host, but turns out to be a pain in the ass. Also, I have received tips on writing reviews from some fellow hosts that ask me to write polite words while ascribe their misconduct to "language and cultural differences."
2) Irrational Star Rating for Location
The location of my place cannot be better. I purchased this house only because of its location, and my realtor reminded me "location, location, location!" However, I don't know why two of my previous guests gave my location 4 stars. Was it just because my place was not next door to their faroroute tourist attraction? How do you evluate location? What's the criteria? I think this is way too subjective!
3) Cross-Reviews?
This has happened a couple of times. While my place is immacurately clean, one guest would give the cleanliness 4 stars only because another guest did not keep the bathroom clean after use. I have announced in my House Mannual that I do clean the guest bathroom on a daily basis, but I'm UNABLE to clean it after everyone, so I would ask all guests to maintain the cleanliness. Most of my guests would clean the bathroom after their use, but one or two have been really really inconsiderate and untidy, leaving stains, water and fallen head and body hair everywhere. This has affected others' stay. It turns out that two previous guests leave feedback (one made it public and one in private) about the problematic cleanliness of the guest bathroom caused by his/her fellow guest.
I feel that it will be probably hard for Airbnb to think of a better way to resolve these issues, but I do think that as hosts we are vulnerable, we open our home to strangers, and we need more objective and fair reviews. Currently, it seems that guests have more control over the review system than hosts.
Any ideas???