Location rating is an Achilles heel for many otherwise great reviews

[Andrea9]

Guests so often give a lower than 5-star rating for location because it's not midtown or in a more posh area while they consciously chose it because of lower price or availability.

It's awful and STRESSFUL for hosts to repeatedly get dinged for this.

And that juvenile Airbnb alarm sign apearing after several -5 stars is just insulting.

Let's just drop 'Location".

[Sharon114]

I have been a host for just over a year and have noticed several issues which come up repeatably.  I would like to know if the powers that be at Airbnb are actually taking note and listening to our concerns as hosts.  If it were not for us, there would be no business at all.  We are important and our views must be taken note of and addressed.  The biggest problem appears to be a lack of communication.  I am told that, as a superhost, I have a special team ready to assist and I have had to contact them a couple of times to get matters resolved.  However, when a large number of hosts are stating serious concerns about how things are managed, where is the response?  Some of these comments on here are several weeks old and yet there appears to be no response from Airbnb.  If you are out their monitoring these threads, then please do something to make our lives, as hosts, easier and the pleasant experience that we all hope it will be.

[House-On-Blaine0]

I doubt they care. One host stopps hosting, they get a new one. Like Uber drivers: disposable.

There is no way to prove if any of negative reviews nor low star numbers are valid if the guest did not like you or whatever, even if you do their laundry, like I did, and talk to her making sure she was comfortable. She wrote her bed was a sofa (not true at all), and it was too soft... The fact: the mattress has a label Extra firm and we put a memory foam to make it softer that could be easily removed by her or me if she even mentioned any of it. 

Airbnb wrote me a warning that if I get another low rating, they will block me. 

Even if I argue the review, little chance it will be removed but my reply would be hard to prove since there is no way to include pictures. Also, there is no way to change the star rating if the guest was not right.

[Jeff70]

Andrea,

It's all about location and you can't expect guests to not comment on that.

Jeff

[Rachella0]

@Jeff0, they pick the location before they book, so it's absolutely not fair to hosts. My guests often come specifically for my exact location but get all garbled in their heads when they see the location rating option. There should at least be some explanation of what they're rating.

Rachella

[House-On-Blaine0]

Jeff, my location is most central and 99 % of people find it super convenient to everything. But, one guy booked it KNOWING he needs to get to a part of the city that requires a transfer. He booked it because nothing else was available. In a week and a half, he asked me if I could cancel it because more listings got available at that time close to where he needed to be, but I did not cancel because it was a one month reservation. He gave me low stars for the location and wrote something in the comment that location as not convenient.

So I am asking you, how that is relevant to the rating overall if it is a personal preference??? No matter how great the location is for one renter, even in you are in the center of the center, it will not be convenient to somebody who needs to commute away from that "Top location". It hurts most when people do know that and book anyway.

[Cathy65]

To add a slightly different perspective, I agree that the location criterion is entirely  irrational. My listing is "waterfront property" -- we are one block away from the famed Music School of Indiana University. AND YET -- we have had Music School 

[Cathy65]

Guests downgrade us for location. Go figure! The neighborhood is perfectly nice, and safe. The Music School is one block away. And they rank us badly for location. For some reason, this question invites insanity, by any rational measure!

[Todd-and-Reese0]

THIS. I am super clear that Denver is NOT a mountain town and you MUST rent a car to get to the mountains because Uber/Lyft don't go there and STILL get guests who give us less than 5 stars. Now I have to mention it also in the pre-booking and pre-arrival messages to be sure they know!

[House-On-Blaine0]

I totally agree with you. I am repeating myself, but my location is very central and most people give 5 stars (by the way, how can you know if it is less than 5 stars on every guest??); and a person write he like everything except the location because he had to commute somewhere else.  Location should not be rated, but people can give description if they want.

[Nicole158]

@Wyatt How long does it take Airbnb to really consider these things? You made this thread "popular" a month ago.. nothing has changed.

[House-On-Blaine0]

Maybe this site is only to let people vent and to help each other. 

Think of Airbnb as a big wall that nobody can reach or get through. A mysterious company that does what it wants moticated to make money. There is nobody to complain to about anything because it is useless and even more frustrating when you keep your hopes up. We can only complain to each other and hope they won't put any of us on their black list.

I am going to the Airbnb open in hopes to find somebody who I can ask about their customer service system, community board, and other issues, and maybe (maybe), I get some kind of answer.

[Xavier15]

Agreed 100%. Location should be removed or should not impact overall rating at all.

Moreover, and also very very very important Airbnb should map the apartments location using a big circle instead of adding a wrong and random positioning on a map.

[Ira4]

Hello, everyone!

Today I received a review with this text on the section of "Location feedback"

"Location feedback:
Nothing in the power of the host, it was just the taxi driver who did not know the neighborhood. At least one thing with 4 stars to make it believable to the people reading reviews:) "

Can you imagine that??? 

And it should be noted that I have 2 kinds of neighborhood maps in the house and I also send them to the guests by email before they come.

The route to the house is drawn on the map and I suggest them to take it with them so that they can show it to everyone (taxi driver or any person), if they get lost. 

That's for now! 

Really frustrating! 

[Marcia65]

Well I just got hit with this. What infruiates me is my very close neighbors got Super Host designations and they are 1/4 - 1/2 mile away...this must be altered I work too hard to have my ratings ruined by this evaluation!

[Serban1]

I just had a group of 3 that paid 36 euros (discounted last minute) for two nights in an European capital that rated me i believe 3 stars and mentioned location a bit far from center. The center being 2,7 km away (30 min walk), 7 min to metro walk and then two stops by metro, or a 3,5 euro cab ride!!!! Who forced them chose my location??? How cheap can one be? And believe me when i tell you that my location is on the edge of the center area. Definetly not suburbia!