"Location" As A Guest Review Point

"Location" As A Guest Review Point

I was always lead to believe that a review or review point, was a gague or meter to let me know how I, as host am doing.(??) Whereas all the other review points such as "Accuracy, Value, Cleanliness, etc" are points of review that tell me how I'm doing, (on-point, or possible improvements) I have never understood why the guest is given the opportunity to review my "Location."  "Location" to what?

 

"Location" is subjective to the agenda of the guests visit. If, for example,  they are visiting thier sister down the street, then, my home is a great "Location." If she is visiting her sister in hospital 30 miles away, maybe not so much. 

As I cannot in anyway (especially with "instant book") immediatly  know the reasons or agenda of the guest,without a lot of prying,  and I certainly cannot  move my house to better suit anyone who decides to rent, I am completely confused why this would even be a point of review to a guest? 

 

It seems to me that we as hosts should be utilizing "Accuracy" as a way to inform guests as to the proximity of key landmarks and goings-on, in our respective areas. If I am, indeed "Accurate" in my descriptions, and not exagerating the truth about the other points of review, such "Cleanliness, Value, Communication, etc)  rather than leaving to chance, that a guest decided: 1. Not to do thier homework when searching for a stay, and knocks me down a star or two becaise of their negligence in researching, 2.  Because they were too budget conscinece to pay more to stay closer to what they wanted to do or see. 3. Or because what they wanted to do or see was already booked in a location that is closer on thier respective dates.

 

I have personally put in my opening short description, as well as (again) in the long description,  the exact distance to the 2 main attractions that the vast majority of my guests want to see, yet have received less than 5 stars 10 times  because they didnt want to pay more to stay a few miles closer. 

 



Response from Airbnb

As a helpful criteria for many guests, we are not intending to remove this at this time; however, we always appreciate this feedback as we regularly refine our platform to best meet hosts and guests needs. Location is intended to help future guests get a sense of the area and tends to reflect proximity to nearby destinations. It was created to help establish potential guests’ expectations, setting both you and your guests up for fewer surprises. While this isn’t something we are planning on changing, we are investigating including transit score and walkability score on the listing page in order to clarify location as a criteria. Since it’s not something you can change or control, it doesn’t impact the overall Star Rating for the listing or Superhost status.

85 Comments
Sheena9
Level 1

Absolutely agree with this. Why do people book a remote rural location if this isn't what they want and then have the cheek to mark us down for it?!

AirbNb please remove the Location review section.

Nancy79
Level 3

I totally agree. I state how far away I am from the nearest big city (15 minutes) and I charge a lower rate than the intown Airbnbs to make up for it. If they want to pay more to be in the city, they can. Please take "location" off the list of reviewable items. It makes no sense. As Nancy said, it all depends on what the purpose of their trip is.

Yasmin2
Level 7

Location is certainly a guests point of view ...and you can't please everyone. In our minds, we often create our own picture of how it should look, ie a dream location right on the beach, yet where we are it is a 20min walk to the beach, so in some minds, it doesn't quite fit. So when filling out the questionnaire of course they are not going to give a five star rating for location.  I personally say Location is too broad and difficult to rate . 

Mike127
Level 2

Agreed! One HUNDERD PERCENT. It seems some guest are just to lazy to read descriptions. They rather rely on their expectations. And then blame host for not forfilling them. DELETE RATINGS for location. Do guest understand they get what they pay for? Less location means cheaper prices.... All guests have to do is use Google maps and see for the best location. (and pay more).

Miguel65
Level 4

Totally agree. This needs to be changed by airbnb, it is totally unfair.

 

Naomi8
Level 2

I could not agree more.  A great location is entirely subjective. A secluded property would be a poor location for someone seeking a bustling city and so on. This is already covered with under Accuracy.

Wyatt
Host Voice Admin
Status changed to: Popular
 
Jan90
Level 1

What does that mean?

Nancy67
Level 10

Jan -- I hope it means that someone at Abnb is listening. I got dinged again on it yesterday-- funny thing is that this young lady wasn't going to have any fun or be happy about anything. Anything. I could have dressed like a circus poodle and shot quarters out of my arse and she wouldn't have cracked a smile. She is staying down the street about half a mile. I will be interested to see if my host neighbor fairs any better. 

Mike127
Level 2

Nancy I could not agree more with you.

We got paused again because a guest "expected" the room to be bigger. Photo's were taken by a professional Airbnb photographer and to make it really "clear" we also give the size in sq meters in our ads. Yet the guest complained on his feed back and we got "paused" again. This same guest also complained;" That there is no tv or fridge in the room". He also did not like the location.....  The room was advertised without both of these items and were not in the pictures.WHY do we as HOSTS get dinged for guests that are to lazy to read, look at Google Maps etc. everytime??. He booked the room but obviously NEVER read the description. I'm really getting tired of airbnb one-sidedness and only consider the guest's opinions. Some guests are just not to be pleased, as Nancy wrote. Yet Airbnb make us hosts the culprit. I'm also seriously considering "switching off" the "Instant Booking" feature. People book instantly, yes, but later mayby realize they "forgot" to read all and just looked at the price. We have had many bookings, over 90 this year and most people love our "real Philippino neighborhood" location and see it as part of their holiday adventure. But two or three who do not will make our ratings drop beyond the magical 4 stars.