We're considering adding prose along the following lines to our
standard Welcome message, after having our listing "suspended" because
our rating fell below 4.2 as a result of a run of 4-star ratings plus "great place, had a
wonderful stay, we'll be back" comments:
We hope you enjoy your stay, but do want to hear about ways we could
improve, so please do write a review. We love to hear about your
experiences, and always pay very careful attention to what you
write.
But the star ratings are a problem. They don't tell us anything
specific enough to be helpful, and have consequences you are probably
not aware of and that may surprise you: Five-star does not mean
"This was like a 5-star hotel" or "This house is top-of-the market
luxurious". It means "This house was just as it advertised itself to
be, or better". And four-star does not mean "This was like a very good hotel".
It means "This house fell short of what it it claimed to be".
The sad fact (for us) is that AirBnB treat any review below 5-star
as a negative review, and too many reviews of 4-star or less
cause your listing to be removed.
Has anyone tried anything along these lines before? Do they violate
AirBnB policy as far as anyone can see?