4 stars is bad?

Howard89
Level 3
Williamstown, MA

4 stars is bad?

Why is 4 stars a bad review? How can people be truly honest about properties if anything less than 5 stars means the stay was terrible? 

 

Airbnb states to guests that 4 stars is good. But the platform treats hosts poorly if they have a 4 star average. 

 

Why not allow for more honest critiques of spaces? The "5 stars or bad" system sets up a negative host/guest friction. It's bad for both hosts and guests.

 

I find that the most important function of any guest is the 5 star review. I' rather have a guest leave a mess and give me five stars than one who left the place immaculate and left me four. 

 

Why not a more honest system? 

12 Replies 12
Jillian115
Level 10
Jamestown, CA

@Howard89 We all wonder about this too. And truthfully, it's getting harder. There is a different type of guest since Covid. They are uninformed and often don't get that they are in someone's home. It's up to us to make sure they understand that we need a 4.88 to maintain our Superhost status, and it takes 300 reviews to overcome a 4-star rating. The only good thing is it drops off after a year.

I had one guest recently that doesn't believe in giving 5-stars but thought everything was wonderful. lol. A lot of people on the forum believe that reviews don't matter. I think they do, especially since my listing doesn't appear when someone searches my city.

Anyway, as Airbnb continues to simplify the booking process, it put the onus on us to set expectations, so we must work harder. My guests receive the check-in time five times in my communication before they arrive. At booking, in a thanks for booking note, in and e-mail, in the attached pdf with directions and lock instructions and in a message letting them know I emailed instructions - and yet they often let me know they will be arriving early and are annoyed when I say sorry I can't accommodate an early check-in.

 

Anyway, I agree the rating system doesn't make sense. But I let my guests know it's not the same as a hotel rating system.

Right. I had the similar thing. 

 

Doesn't this "five star or bust" system actually hurt guests more than hosts?

 

I've read in many comment threads that hosts look at profiles and if they sense a person who gives four star reviews they simply deny booking. 

 

 

@Howard89 Yes, you are right. I would definitely turn someone down if I knew in advance they didn't believe in giving five stars.

So a good guest that has a wonderful time and likes the place will never return simply because of a flawed rating system.

 

That seems unfair to everyone. 

Yep it ineffective. I’m told they change it all the time but it doesn’t seem to get better. 

Vanessa469
Level 2
Katwijk aan Zee, Netherlands

There is definitely something wrong with the current review system.

 

I recently got very nice written review from good guests ( with one min point even though they had not mentioned this at all during their stay) and 5 stars awarded for each of the categories: 

Accuracy

Check-in

Cleanliness

Communication

Location

Value

ALL EXCEPT   'overall experience' which was a 4*.

Why do they even ask for a 'overall experience' score? Surely this should be the median of all the 6 individual catogories and be the one used in the evaluation of the final rating. 

Or a median of all 7. 

In this case 4,85 ( 6 category x 5* + 4*   ÷ 7) which wouldn't be so bad. 

 

I queried this with customer service and indeed, their reply:

"Final rating is still the overall rating. The other categories are there to help future guests decide for the reservation."

 

This is just incredibly unfair. So the 5 stars count for absolutely nothing!

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Vanessa469 

 

Only the overall star rating counts towards your average and the Superhost assessment.

 

However, don't be fooled into thinking the category stars don't matter. They do, because they also show up on your listings (not the individual guest's star ratings, but the totals for each category for that listing) right above the reviews. These are shown as an average of all the ratings that guests left for that category and that listing.

Screenshot 2022-01-11 at 14.11.05.png

So, future guests can see what score that listing got for cleanliness, communication etc. and I believe this is important as I believe guests are quite likely to look at the reviews and the star ratings above them.

 

While I agree with the other comments that the star rating system, where anything less than 5* is bad news for hosts, the good news is that, if you are consistently getting 5* for the individual categories, that will still show on the listing itself. You have not lost those ratings!

This system is quite strange to me as well.  I have stayed in Air BnB since they actually started...back when you'd actually often "got" a little morning snack along with the accommodations.   "Bed and Breakfast ie BnB" days are over HA!   

At least now I know that a 5 doesn't mean that much given what has happened just this month.  My poor host was so jilted that I didn't give his place a 5. He had to write me twice to let me know that he would NOT allow me to rent his place again!  If he had read the whole review he could see where I had shown his place needed a little attention.  His place was clean and 'adequate' but I certainly wouldn't have stayed there or necessarily recommended it to our friends.  It was fine for an economical meeting place for a couple nights with our son and grandson.  The difficult thing is that the host took suggestions for improvement as a criticism of himself.  I t certainly is a tough game out there for the host.  And now I see that as a guest a 5 doesn't necessarily mean that the house itself will be anything other than clean.  Clean is important...but...it's not the only thing I look for.  Ill definitely look at pictures of the places with a more critical eye.

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sally895 

 

I don't really blame the guests as Airbnb does not explain it to them clearly, or even misleads guests as to what the star ratings mean, but anything less than 5* on Airbnb is BAD. Hosts are told they must maintain an average of 4.7* or above as a basic standard. If a host gets a 3* review, they will get a warning. If they get a few 4* reviews, they will get a warning. 

 

So, can you see why a 4* review is upsetting to the host? If the listing was not clean, if the host was not responsive, late for check in, or the had misrepresented the listing in some way, those are reasons to knock off stars. If you booked "an economical meeting place for a couple of nights," and that is what was advertised and what you got, there is no reason to knock off stars just because that economical place was not the Ritz! The Airbnb rating system bears no relation to a hotel star rating system.

 

Unless something went wrong with the stay or the listing was misrepresented, which it doesn't sound like it was, then it's not actually fair to leave 4* or lower because that can really hurt the host and they gave you what they advertised. I am surprised that as such an experienced Airbnb user, you would not have known that already.

Kim628
Level 2
Lahti, Finland

Yes, I totally agree.

This 5* hotel thinking is more than unfair.  What is 1* then? 

From my 64 reviews, all except one (an Italian) has been in sentences written more than positive and happy, with everything I have been offering to my guests. But when it comes to the stars - think about it, if 5* is the best possible rating and 1* the badest - then 4* is still excellent.

If I go visiting a place as a guest and I´m not happy with what I got, I would rate the place as a 2* - not as a 3 or even 4*

So, why is 4* and under 4,8* the line of a bad number?

Luxury is 5* and belongs to 5* hotels, not to the ordinary nice home of ordinary people. Period!

BTW, I have been Superhost for many years, but now I lost it because I only hit 4,75* 😞

Family Floor
Sally895
Level 1
Gig Harbor, WA

This is so sad for you to loose a client.  I will be more attentive in the future to be sure and look at the listings carefully whether they have a 5 star or Super Host rating or not.   Thank YOU so much for sharing this. 

Tony-And-Una0
Level 10
Belfast, United Kingdom

We have been hosting for seven years now and have noticed that guests are now dropping a star due to the slightest little issue.

 

So they enter a well maintained, spotless apartment, but you forget to leave a tea towel out or they find "the cooker hood too low" etc, you get four stars. 

 

Peole are now being asked to review every transaction in life, It's just another review for these guests. They don't realise the prssure we are put under by Airbnb.