The new Superhost review standard that will roll out after April (I believe it is now a 4.8 out of 5.0) is quite detrimental to Superhosts. I don't know of any other company where the hosts who are your actual "bread and butter" are treated more unfairly. Take a step back from this, Airbnb, and reconsider. Your Superhosts represent the bulk of your revenue concentrated in a small minority. They do the most hosting and attract the most guest loyalty. Yet your new review system sets out a "5.0 or bust" standard of achievement (because, truly, anything less than a 5.0 might as well be a 4.0 the way things are weighted).
But let's talk about weights, because I think this is where a reasonable solution lies. The reviews themselves need to be weighted based on the aggregate number of days that a guest has stayed with you. Most of my renters are what I would consider "long term" renters--they remain with me on average a month or so. When I get a review from them at the end of their stay, it is honest and involved because of the duration of their stay with me. It is critically disadvantageous to have the review of a "one night" guest weigh as much as someone who stayed with me and actually enjoyed the hospitality of my home. If the reviews are calculated over a rolling 12-month period, then the guest reviews can also be calculated as a percentage of that time frame.
Think about the benefits to this method, Airbnb and Superhosts. Using this method, a bad review is far less damaging than the reviews of those who were guests in your home for longer periods of time. If you get a bad review from someone who was with you for a while, then it probably is an accurate review. You have more opportunity to interact with and respond to guest needs over longer periods of time.
The way the system is currently slated, hosts are striving to do more while guests are allowed to do less. Airbnb will start to find that hosts make adjustments that result in fewer, more controlled bookings and that equates to less revenue from your "bread and butter" base. I'm to the point now where I am going to start adjusting my minimum stay requirements just to ensure that I have host interaction time. I have already removed Instant Booking because the review process is so deeply flawed that hosts are erring on the side of good reviews just to placate guests which means some not so great guests are slipping through the cracks.
Another suggestion is to allow hosts to see the kinds of reviews that a guest gives. If they came recommended, we should be able to see how they reiewed their past hosts. If reviews are made public, then we should have access to that information.
Airbnb needs to look into this adjustment seriously. It is possible to recalculate and necessary to ensure that the host community is not alienated from hosting.
