@Stephenie3 In the future, you might do well to read through the reviews on a place, how the host responds to negative comments ( defensively and attacking, or conversely saying that they'll look into the cause for the complaint and remedy it if need be, altho what you may not realize is that there are many guests who actually lie about a place just so they can claim some bogus refund), and to stay away from listings where the host is basically a property manager with tons of listings. Private suites in homes where the host also lives, separate buildings on properties where the hosts also live in another dwelling, etc, are more likely to care more about their guests, give more personalized attention, and be happy and appreciative if the guests are polite, respect house rules, and don't leave a mess or damages behind them, without expecting guests to do the laundry, etc. In fact, most of those hosts prefer that the guests leave the bedding on the bed, so they can easily check for stains that might have to be pre-treated prior to washing.
As far as what the host wrote about the reviews- what many guests are unaware of, because Airbnb does not inform them, is that when guests go to review, it is worded for guests in a way that the guest is led to believe that 3*s is "as expected", 4*s is good, and 5*s is for something that far exceeds expectations. But then Airbnb turns around and threatens hosts with delisting if their overall rating falls below 4.7. So it's a very flawed, untransparent, and unfair review system. While there are definitely some hosts out there whose accomodations are unacceptable, and they should be marked down, there have been hosts who have 100 great reviews from very pleased guests and then have their ratings tanked by one guest who either has an axe to grind (they booked for 1 and showed up with 3 and were made to pay for the extra guests, they threw a big party and trashed the place, and had their security deposit docked, etc) or actually thought they were giving a good review when they marked 4*s without realizing that the host would, in fact, be punished for that rating.
So, many hosts, myself included, have had to start educating guests about how hosts are affected by reviews. Most of my guests have been shocked when I tell them that Airbnb considers anything less than a 4.7 average to be grounds for removal from the platform and ask why Airbnb doesn't tell them that. Good question, and one that hosts have been asking Airbnb for a long time, met with silence.
I would never ask a guest to give me a 5* review, and it's not at all comfortable to have to even mention it to guests, but until Airbnb tells guests that a 4* review will lead to a host being delisted (or count a 4* review as good), letting guests know how the review ratings are applied to hosts seems to be necessary. Most of my guests have actually thanked me for letting them know- some say they gave a previous host 4*s when the place and the host were fine and if they'd known, they'd have rated 5*s.
