I got dinged again for LOCATION. So annoying!

[Donald28]

I recently had a family of 4 come for a 2 night "staycation". They live about 20 miles away and came basically for their kids to use our arcade. The 1st full day they had the arcade on from 9am to 11pm. On checkout day they awoke and were in the arcade at 8:30 and right up until the 11am checkout time. It costs about $5 an hour to run the arcade I think. 

What I realized about "staycation" guests is that they don't seem to go out sightseeing or anything because they're from the area. So, they end up staying at my airbnb the entire time, using the amentities a lot. The usual travelling guest is only here using the amenities for short times between sightseeing and exploring. I have to start rethinking the staycation guests. They're very costly compared to travelling guests. 

Anyway... the guy left me 4 stars for location! You'd think that our airbnb being CLOSE TO HIS HOME so his family can have an inexpensive, fun staycation would warrant a 5 but no. You'd also think an darcade on the premisis would add to the location rating but nope. 

Airbnb needs to change the wording of the LOCATION RATING. It is a ridiculous category and something I have no control over changing to make better in the eys of my guests. 

[Sandra856]

@David126 That's the point I guess. Guests aren't aware that less than 5 stars is bad for the host.

And we can only blame it on airbnb. My brother who works in the communication department in one of Denmarks biggest companys says that it is a classic neo-liberal way of doing business. The pressure will make the host run faster and faster but we can never really win. It puts quite a pressure on us. I have taken down my add because of that. I'm fed up and no longer wish to be a part of airbnb. 

[David126]

@Sandra856

I agree and am fully aware of the game they play and judging from some of the posts I see it seems to work.

I ignore it so it is not an issue to me. You do not have to play.

[Donald28]

It's not that we hosts think all of our airbnbs are 5 star locations... it's that we describe our rentals as accurately as we can in our listings. When a guest shows up, stays with no complaints and then gives less than 5 stars for location, we get a little annoyed... because there's not a damned thing we can do about our location. Guests knew everything they could about our location before booking. If they didn't like the location for whatever reason, they didn't have to book. Booking and then dinging our reviews is just a crappy thing to do. 

Location is such a subjective thing. One guest wants it to be close to everything and another wants it to be quiet and away from everything. Hosts can't win with the location category. 

[Mark116]

I think that most hosts believe they should be getting a 5 star location rating, unless there is an inaccuracy because it is the guests who chose the airbnb, and so unless there is misdirection in the listing, then it's unfair to ding the host for a choice made by the guest.

[Huma0]

@K 

While your comments are pretty logical, they are also a perfect example of the lack of awareness guests have of how Airbnb's star rating system works. It's not the guests' fault, but Airbnb's for not educating them about it, or for not having a more sensible rating system in the first place.

No, of course we don't think we all have 5 star listings in every category, but Airbnb expects us to have 5 star ratings in every category, or they will penalise us in the form of no Superhost status, lower rankings (and therefore bookings) in the search results, threatening warnings and, finally, being removed from the site, all for having too many 4 star ratings.

Even if you forget about Superhost status, which so many of us work extremely hard to obtain/maintain, Airbnb's BASIC requirements for a host are: 4.7 out of 5 stars, 98% response rate (that's not about responding to 98% of queries, that's responding to 98% within a limited timeframe), 0% cancellations, plus a list of amenities that we must have. These are the BASIC requirements, without which you are at risk of having your listing removed.

To quote Airbnb re the above targets: "Targets represent the average level of performance for all hosts on Airbnb. They help us ensure a standard level of quality for every guest stay. Your listing could be removed if you consistently fall below the targets."

So, can you see now why a 4 star rating is actually very bad news for a host? 

We therefore work really hard to get 5 stars in every category, but other than being as accurate about it as possible, Location is the one category we are unable to do anything about. That is why you will see hosts comment that if they were accurate about the location, a guest shouldn't rate them down on it.

Luckily, location is the one sub-category that doesn't count towards our overall rating as Airbnb admits that it is something the host has no control over (but still won't remove the category despite this). However, a guest can sometimes give 5 stars for everything else, but 4 stars overall because they didn't like the location. Plus, it still has an effect on how potential guests will view our listing. I believe @Sarah0 is right that if a listing has a low rating for location, many guests will be put off by this.

There is also the logic that the guest should do their research, which is usually as simple as reading the information the host has provided for them before booking, not complain about it AFTER! If the description of the location was inaccurate, then fair enough, but if not, it is the guest's error in picking a location not suited to their needs.

Sorry for the long response, but I think you comments really highlight the crux of the problem, i.e. Airbnb's lack of guest education.

[K42]

Unless there's confirmation from Airbnb that the rating is supposed to be for accuracy of location rather than quality of location, then no, I don't understand why hosts keep berating guests for this.

I put a lot of time and thought into my reviews (a lot of which is private feedback to the host, so not visible to the public). Reviews become meaningless if hosts expect an automatic 5 for everything, and seek to retaliate against guests who prefer to give their honest impressions, including those that are for the benefit of potential future guests, not just for the hosts.

And I definitely don't understand all the people saying that people who give them four stars for anything are hypocrites for going back to their place. If you go to a vacation destination, unless you find it almost perfect it means you never ever want to go back? As I said in a previous post that disappeared, going to Disney World on the busiest day of the year might be a three-star experience, while going back on the slowest might yield a five-star experience you would have missed out on if you'd never given it a second chance.

It seems that some people are taking out what might be legitimate concerns with the Airbnb rating metric out on the customers. And yes, you are running a business, so maybe some shouldn't take things they have no control over so personally. Maybe there's stuff they can do to compensate for whatever location shortfalls their space might have if they evaluate common feedback. If guests say you're too far from a supermarket, maybe you can offer to pre-stock the kitchen with food they request for a fee, or send them a list of local grocery delivery services in advance. Stuff like that. Maybe some can look at the feedback as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Just a thought.

[Sandra856]

@K42 So many hosts (many of them superhosts with hundreds of visitors) have kindly tried to explain how the airbnb system works but you seem to have your own opinion as a guest with only a very few visits yourself and no hosting experience!?

At least you are now aware that when you give 3-4 star ratings it will hurt the host quite a lot. 

[K42]

Sandra, I've read hosts' opinions on what they think the location rating should be used for. But despite the fact that I've just started using Airbnb, I carefully read the surveys we're asked to fill out. There is a separate category specifically for accuracy. I see nothing to indicate the location category should be used exclusively for accuracy as well. Where are you guys getting that information?

I'm a gentle reviewer -- I have even refrained from leaving a review completely rather than leave a bad review. Now you guys are making me wonder if I should skip reviews for everyone. It seems people would prefer no review to a four-star review? Is that a safer road to go down? Because I don't feel comfortable artificially inflating reviews.

[Sarah977]

Yes, @K42  as it stands now, with the insane requirements of stats that airbnb holds hosts to, unfortunately it would be far better for guests to refrain from reviewing if they are only going to leave 4 stars or less. If airbnb considered a 4 to be Good for a host (which indeed they should), then it wouldn't matter, but as long as they are going to delist hosts or threaten to, simply because the rating isn't at 4.8%, that's the situation. But then there's also the issue of the number of reviews a host recieves- those are counted as well and we're supposed to have a 50% review rating to maintain Superhost status- that's not the number of reviews the host writes, but the number they receive, if you can believe that- I mean, how can we force guests to leave a review, we have no control over that.

It's nice to hear you say you're a gentle reviewer. And I'd say that if you ever have to misfortune to encounter a really bad airbnb listing (place is dirty, was described totally inaccurately, host is nasty or crazy, etc), you should definitely review that to warn other guests and there are hosts who SHOULD be delisted. One of my guests told me he stayed at a place where it was obvious that the woman lived there most of the time, and just went and slept somewhere else when she had an airbnb guest. He said that not only had she made no attempt to clean up anything, she came in and out of the place whenever she felt like it, never even knocked or said excuse me, let alone calling first to ask if it would be okay, rifling through the drawers for her stuff, walking right into the bedroom when he and his wife were in bed, etc. These kind of people should never be hosting and give airbnb a bad name.

Really, K, hosts want guests to leave honest reviews - but with the unreasonable terms airbnb imposes on us, it's really problematic. I would never want a guest to artificially inflate a review- I'd like to know if they felt I could do something better, but with the way the system is set up right now, I'd prefer they did that in a private feedback message.

[K42]

If I had to guess why they have a minimum review requirement, it would be because of the precise issue we're discussing now -- that they know or suspect a dearth of reviews may be an indicator of bad reviews a guest chose not to submit.

Maybe I'll start asking hosts upfront if they would rather I left no review if my review is going to contain any under five-star categories, which I imagine pretty much all of them would. But on the other hand, it seems some hosts won't leave a review for you if you don't leave one for them, and I don't see why I should lose out on reviews because they don't want one.

This all seems like way too much drama to be drawn into, and a lot of effort involved just to stay somewhere.

[Sarah977]

@K42   Sorry if you think it's dramatic- there would be no need for any drama if airbnb would just use the star rating in the way that would be logical to most hosts and guests- 3 is fair, 4 is good, 5 is excellent, and stop penalizing hosts for 4 star ratings , which should count as totally acceptable.

Actually, K, it would be valuable to hosts if you would submit your comments, which are well-reasoned and articulate, to airbnb feedback- that as a guest you'd like to be able to review honestly, but that you are aware that hosts are penalized for anything less than 5 star reviews, so now you feel you can't rate the way you would like to, since you're a nice person and wouldn't want to know that rating something as Good (4) would result in a host being threatened with having their listing removed.  Airbnb seems to listen to Guest concerns, but not Hosts.

[K42]

.

[Sarah977]

@K42   Well, I know there are some fine listings which are budget priced (mine is one of them, if I do say so myself) so I hope you manage to find some on your travels. Just because something is inexpensive doesn't mean it isn't nice, clean, comfortable, with a host who will do everything they can to make your stay a good one. Just realize that 5 stars on airbnb reviews doesn't mean it was a luxury hotel, it just means that you were satisfied- the host was nice, communicated well and attended to you adequately, the place was clean, the listing information was accurate, etc.

[Sandra856]

@K  https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2016/06/29/the-one-issue-with-airbnb-reviews-that-causes-hos...

[Marilyn43]

I just had a 4-star Location rating even though the house is only 600 metres to the town centre and shopping centre (small seaside town), 800 metres to the beach. The guest said location was 'a bit out of town but o.k. with a car' - they can't even get to stay at my place without a car!!!!!