Host ratings of guests

Joanne155
Level 4
San Gregorio, CA

Host ratings of guests

Hello y’all. I have a question 

 

When I stay in an Airbnb, I have multiple dimensions to rate the host.  Though when rating a guest, I find it lacking.

 

When rating a guest, we are give only 3 categories.  Cleanliness, observation of house rules and overall ( I think that is correct)

Anyway - what about did a guest READ the description of the property and what to expect when here?  I’m finding that people just don’t read and ( in a few cases) rate me lower for not understand the location.  Now, in most cases, hosts will not know if the guest read any of the information until they leave an unfair review.  And maybe the only way to tackle this is to respond to that review but that can get confrontational and unnecessary.

 

Am I alone on this?  Could we possible get an upgrade on rating guests?  At the least, I would allow hosts to see that a former host has rated a guest that need a bit more guidance?  It would help us all and only be positive to manage expectations.  

 

I believe it is our goal as hosts to manage our guest expectations so as we can offer the best experience possible.  Perhaps a rating for hosts would help with this.

2 Replies 2
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Joanne155 

 

When I get a guest that hasn't read the description properly or not understood the house rules, I would rate them down on communication and/or following house rules if they then broke the rules as a consequence. You are right that this doesn't specifically tell other hosts that the problem with the guest was that they didn't read/understand.

 

However, if the problem you are experiencing only surfaces after the guests have left their reviews and rated you on location, it wouldn't make any difference to have a star category for this as, by the time you realise there was a problem, you would have already rated the guest and it's too late.

 

It also doesn't serve to manage the guests' expectations as they can't even see the star ratings.

 

My advice would be to do as much as you can to ensure the guests read and understand the rules. I am sure you already do this, but if it's a persistent problem for you, I would suggest that you reiterate important points, such as about the location if that's a stickler, in correspondence with the guests ideally before booking, or as soon as they book if you use IB.

 

I have included an Easter egg question in my house rules that guests need to answer so that I know they have found the full version. I will simply not accept a booking from a guest who doesn't do this. Even then, I will message them reiterating key points like cats, stairs, traffic noise, and they need to respond saying they have understood those things and are fine with them. It's a bit trickier with location, but perhaps you can identify what it is about the location that they misunderstood and make this clear in a message to them?

 

I'm not saying this is fail safe as you will still get the occasional guest who then complains about things they said they were fine with, but it has greatly reduced the number of guests who mark down on stuff that was communicated to them beforehand. I have seen my ratings go up as a result. 

Joanne155
Level 4
San Gregorio, CA

Thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback.  I’ve been racking my brain trying to get guests to read what is sent to them.  

 

I am going to try bullet pointing pertinent information.  And I love your “easter egg” idea.  I’m willing to try anything.