"VALUE" reviews as Hosts

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"VALUE" reviews as Hosts

I just submitted feedback to Airbnb but need to rant a bit as a host. I work full time and we have 3 Airbnbs we host to pay for our home, mortgage, etc. 2 in our home and one in our guest house. We live in a nice area of Los Angeles with rising real estate. The homes in our area are starting off at $3-4 Million for a new home and at least $1.5-$2M for an older home. The houses here are expensive. Period.

We work really hard as hosts to keep our home. I clean my own rooms. I bake snacks. We are super hosts and try hard for 5 star reviews and to give our guests a great experience. However I've gotten a couple reviews of less than 5 stars on VALUE. Cause am not charging a ridiculous cheap rate for my room in my expensive area. If I were to do that- I wouldn't make any money. Rent is so high in our area that honestly we are probably going to stop hosting and rent instead cause we would make more money and never have to be reviewed. So when I host and have to go down to something like hostel rate to be considered VALUE, it makes me upset. Especially when the hotel down the street costs 3 times as much. 

When guests are ranking us as hosts- I think Airbnb should change the VALUE section of the review. When you think of VALUE you think of- am I getting something CHEAPER than what it is worth? Like going to Walmart and the 99 cent store and getting a deal. I know I should be paying $50 for this purse but its $25- so that is a value. Not Louis Vuitton. Not Prada. You don't consider it a VALUE. Never would you associate something of high quality with value. No one ever says I got a VALUE Louis Vuitton. Instead that is QUALITY. Value implies that us as hosts, we have to cheapen our homes. Am I getting a stay that should be $300 for $150- wow I am- that is great value! Here are 5 stars! Its completely unfair as hosts to be ranked on VALUE. 

1 Best Answer
Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

@Angelina-And-Preston0  Ugh.  I hate the cheapskates who mark down for value.  

 

In @Branka-and-Silvia0's answer is the solution.  Raise the rates, raise the quality of guests, raise the stars.

View Best Answer in original post

29 Replies 29
Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Angelina-And-Preston0 

aahh... value and location are subjective and fortunately doesn't affect the overall rating so just ignore them

when we start hosting 3 y. ago I forgot to change the price for New year evening so I got booking in August for the regular price. That group gave us 4* for value 😛

The next year I've set the double price and got 5* for value 🙂

 

Hey, I'm also  looking in the system, how to place a special price for a holiday period?

What I must twick to make it work?

 

@Branka & Silvia1

I had heard location didn't count, but where have you seen that value doesn't count either?

 

I just got a 'great location, great value' review, both rated at 4 stars.

I guess 5 stars = 'greater than great' to them.

 

I do wonder how Airbnb poses the question for the ratings - there is a huge disconnect between what is said in a review and the ratings given - anyone know?

I agree with you. In the last month, I have gotten (3) 4star ratings on value, yet nothing has changed in my "product".  

I'm at a loss

@Joanne155  I think that guests have become more entitled, whether through Airbnb's lax attitude to guest's transgressions or its marketing that implies 5*hotels on the cheap, or prior host's behavior. I know why I got low value on a few from in person remarks or feedback. Tellingly, some suggested that other hosts had bent over backwards to accommodate them.

1.   4* Didn't use kitchen, should have gotten a discount

2.  3* We weren't offered breakfast ( I do not offer breakfast)

3.  1*  No daily maid, no 24Hour concierge service, no check-in and check-out whenever I decide, no extra people allowed

Mike1034
Level 10
Mountain View, CA

@Angelina-And-Preston0 @Branka-and-Silvia0 I do think that value is not only subjective and also depends on what the guest's mode at the moment of writing the review.

 

A serious guest will put a star for value based on the price compared with the listings nearby.

Ann72
Level 10
New York, NY

@Angelina-And-Preston0  Ugh.  I hate the cheapskates who mark down for value.  

 

In @Branka-and-Silvia0's answer is the solution.  Raise the rates, raise the quality of guests, raise the stars.

Helen427
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

@Angelina-And-Preston0 @Ann72 @Mike1034 @Branka-and-Silvia0 

I had one of the first guests who I hosted publicly write "it would be a lot better if it was xyz dollars".  I knew he had been staying in hostels & suchlike so I tongue in cheek wrote a matter of fact reply - you are all welcome to read it & use it as a template...the one about "camping grounds" 😉

 

Touch wood  I've not had anyone else be so disrespectful, alas everyone's homes are different, and like with your Location I live in a more expensive area & have higher expenses to cover, hence the price I charge which is still very cheap for the Location & very good VALUE. 

 

Most locals know & understand it's a more expensive location & are thankful to be so Central To All in a great neighbourhood.

 

All the best.

 

 

Elena87
Level 10
СПБ, Russia

@Angelina-And-Preston0 

 

Leave a print-out in your listing of how much it costs to book a place in a typical local hotel.

Alon1
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Elena87 

 

In my case, it would be more relevant re costs of large local Youth Hostel, less 5 minutes from my home.

A private room there costs 2 - 3 times the amount I charge!

Though of course they have dorms of various sizes and prices.

 

I only raise the subject during Enquiry for a discount.

It's become even more pertinent in the last year or so since the Youth Hostel actually listed on Airbnb! 

In other words, they are now one of my local competitors.

Indeed, Airbnb has evolved well beyond it's home-share ideal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nina204
Level 6
Pittsburgh, PA

@Angelina-And-Preston0    I would print out a comparison what a hotel would be compared to your property so they can see it and actually realize it’s a great value!  Your listings are beautiful.  If you don’t already have a guest binder put one together and put that in there. I was getting dinged on location all the time until I put a description of our urban area and how property values have doubled and tripled and it’s a perfectly blended community.  I mostly get 5 stars now all the time. Sometimes you have to spell it out for people!!!  I write a welcome note and always say please read the binder for important information about the house and our area.  They do! 

Hi @Nina204 - Can you copy your description of your area? I live in a gentrifying area with a lot of cultures and my sense is my location and value less than 5 star reviews are because some folks aren't used to/are uncomforable with an urban area with lots of cultures.

@Valerie192 

 

The exact one is posted at the house and I can't find it on my computer! but basically I say Some people have expressed concern driving to our home.  The neighborhoods directly surrounding the city are not exclusive to any one ethnic or social class.  You can have a CEO living in a million dollar home with a HUD house right next door.  The real estate in our area has tripled in value and has become a popular place for investors and private home buyers.  One of the areas you drove through if coming from the airport or west is a perfect example of this. There is a dollar store a few doors away from a high end Italian restaurant (Ala Familia) whose menu goes up to $118 a plate which shows the diversity of the neighborhoods here in the heart of the city.  I am sure for some people coming from the suburbs and cities that are laid out different Pittsburgh has quite a different vibe.  We are proud of that and that is what makes our city so special.  We hope you enjoy our area as much as our past guests!

 

Of course you will have to focus on other things.  I am familar with LA as I met my husband there but haven't lived there in years so I am not sure what changes Inglewood has gone through since then.  A friend owned an adorable house there.   I would focus on the up and coming establishments in your area and your proximity to different sights!  

Thanks @Nina204 - I like this approach - it's very positive! I love the access to mom and pop places here and I hope we don't lose it in the gentrification process. But I will be happy to see more healthy eateries and shopping options come in here...they are building the largest NFL football stadium to date about a half mile from my home. We will be hosting the Superbowl in 2022 and the Olympics in 2028. Exciting stuff - have a good day!