How would you go about describing your location/neighborhood?

[Ladan1]

We've been hosting for years and it's so hard to describe our neighborhood to people. We get disappointed every time someone leaves us a 4 star or below rating on the neighborhood because we have no control over it, and yet they are the ones that picked our house knowing the general location it's in. We were recently told that our neighborhood is sketchy — it's not. It's beyond frustrating seeing some of these borderline racist comments guests have left about our neighbors!

I've been thinking of updating the wording to say:

Our home is located in a very diverse neighborhood in the heard of San Jose known as Roosevelt Park. While the neighborhood is middle class, there are a lot of young families and we know all our neighbors by first name. There are low crime rates, but please be mindful of your surroundings just as you would in any other neighborhood. Our neighbors like to have block parties in the summers, and occasionally you may get invited — feel free to stop by if you do! There's always a possibility for noise, given that we're in a downtown neighborhood. We're located near a church, so it may get busy with people and cars during services on Sundays. There are small markets close by and a short high street just a few blocks away. All in all, San Jose is a very eclectic place with people of all nationalities living and working amongst each other. If you have any questions about the area, don't hesitate to reach out!

Thoughts?

[Emilia42]

@Ladan1 I think that sounds good! It makes me want to go there and is a good welcome introduction to your community. I would add the blurb to your listing and I would also add it (or a condensed version) to a "Thank you for booking message" or a "Important info one week before you arrive" message. 

[Sarah977]

@Ladan1  Very good wording. Many hosts just seem to try to make their places sound fantastic, without mentioning anything that could cause guests to be displeased (Of course, that can be an ongoing process of tweaking the listing, as we can't always anticipate what guests might be fussed about). Seems like the hosts who have the least problems with these kind of guest issues are those who give full disclosure and understand that there's a way to put a positive spin on it, just like you have done. No, or bad Wifi reception? " Unplug, unwind, read those books you've been meaning to get around to." 

But honestly, don't stress yourself about the location rating. Most hosts find this to be a real pain. I remember a post here from a host who had a stunning, modern home overlooking a beautiful beach in Asia. All the bells and whistles. Yet he still got low location ratings from guests who were upset that it was a 10 minute drive to the nearest grocery store.

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Ladan1 @Sarah977 @Emilia42 

We have sort of the opposite problem and have to use lots of words like remote and rural and even warn people that some aspects of their driving skills may come under pressure.

Ladan you are right it sounds like racism. 

[Ladan1]

@Mike-And-Helen0 its frustrating because I have no control over our neighborhood or neighbors. They are all kind, hardworking people. We get a lot of people comparing us to their quiet suburban neighborhoods back home, and I think that’s what’s most frustrating. I’ve noticed that a lot of guests don’t read, frankly. Recently we got feedback that we’re too far away from a town that’s 20 minutes away. They also complained about traffic in the Bay Area. How am I supposed to control that? They chose the location, I didn’t force it upon them. 

Sorry for ranting...I guess I’m just at my wits end and want to stop being punished for something I can not control. 

[Emilia42]

@Ladan1 Location is really weird and I don't know how to explain it. One of the biggest tourist draws in the state is 1.5 hours away from me. About 80% of my guests stay with me to drive the 1.5 hours (one way) as a day trip. As positives, I am half the price and away from the 'crowds.' 100% of those guests have given me a 5 star on location (yes, 100%.) Even if I am 1.5 hours away from where they really want to be! I've had two guest who were attending things that were in my town (within walking distance or less than 1 mile away) and they both gave me a 4 star for location. I can't explain it.

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Ladan1 it is so frustrating.

We had one mark us down on location because she couldn't find us (forgot to bring directions).

The location rating doesn't affect overall stars at least.

[Ladan1]

@Mike-And-Helen0 oof that is indeed frustrating!

Right, it doesn’t affect overall, but the guest gave us 3s in location, accuracy, and value with a note saying “sketchy neighborhood” in each category. Their overall rating was 4. Because I’m curious, I reached out and asked what had happened and they said “we only had one car, so we felt unsafe walking around your sketchy neighborhood during the day.” When I reached out to Airbnb to flag it per the new content policy thinking it violates the neighborhood clause, I was told it didn’t. Ugh. 

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Ladan1 that is so rude!

[Mark396]

In my opinion, complaints about "neighborhood" come down to two things:

1.  Excuses made for some other reason completely unrelated to location and

2  Racism

In every single case where a guest tried to get a refund on a strict policy because of "neighborhood" in my experience, BnB backed me up and said the neighborhood is something that is the responsibility of the guest BEFORE booking, not when they arrive.  In all those cases, BnB cancelled the guest's reservation and upheld the no refund policy for last minute cancellations, BECAUSE THAT IS THEIR POLICY.  This has been confirmed to me (as policy) in every single case, and by multiple people just today.  However, for the first time, It seems I'm having trouble with a reservation where BnB is trying to get me to refund the guest, and I wonder, Why?

Is it part of the prevalent bent toward favoring the guest while throwing hosts under the bus?  I am pretty sure that the most recent catastrophe of changing the contracts, yes CONTRACTS, that we have for the policies we choose without notice or justification was a big mistake for everyone, especially the Host and AirBnB itself.  I sincerely hope that they are seeing that it's also in the long run not in the interest of the guest either, since there won't be any hosts and therefore guests left if everyone leaves the platform.

In any case, we all spend so much time dancing around issues to be "politically correct" so much of the time, it literally wears me out.  If we can't finally recognize and talk about racism NOW, then when?

[Huma0]

I have had similar experiences to @Ladan1 on location ratings.

I live in a very ethnically diverse neighbourhood. There is also a lot of diversity in terms of income groups, with social housing blocks sitting next to multi-million pound historic houses. That is typical of many inner London areas, but I am aware that in many cities around the world, the poor and the rich never live side by side.

A lot of guests seem to think that the area is 'sketchy' or dangerous, not because of anything bad that they see or that happens to them. I have lived here for 11 years and nothing bad has ever happened to me here, nor any of the numerous housemates or hundreds of guests I have had during that time. A handful of guests have experienced pickpockets, but not in my part of town. That was always in some tourist destination they were visiting.

This perception of 'sketchiness' is usually formed as soon as they arrive. Why? I can only guess that in a lot of cases it's because they see so many dark skinned people, especially 'youths' because there is a high school nearby. It's sad really, but I can't change the colour of skin of my neighbours and neither would I want to. That diversity is one of the things I have always loved about London. But, as I have said before, there are many guests who come here expecting it to be all Hugh Grand, vicars on bicycles, cream teas and WHITE faces. Being white, they don't expect to come to London and find themselves in the minority!

[Huma0]

Also, to illustrate how 'sketchy', i.e. suspect, guests' location ratings can be, I realised quite early on that my most popular, and arguably best, room got the lowest ratings, especially on location, which was around 10% lower than the two other rooms which are in the SAME location. If anything, it should be marked higher on location as it faces pretty gardens while the other two face a busy road.

I really scratched my head about this for a while and eventually concluded that the best room was attracting fussier guests. It was as if people who booked that 'fancy' room came with expectations that the area should be fancy too.

So, location ratings don't matter, right, because we are not assessed on them? Wrong. Not only do the stars show on your listing, but guests who rate down on location are also more likely to give you a lower overall score even if they are happy with every other category. Others will also mark you down on value due to the location, without having done their research into prices in 'fancy' neighbourhoods, or on accuracy, not because you haven't been honest about the location, but because it did not match the fantasy of London they had conjured up.

[Ute42]

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@Ladan1 

Your wording is the best location description I've read so far.