A question for French hosts and guests

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

A question for French hosts and guests

If you're a Superhost, or aiming to be one, or probably just trying to do your best as a host, you will know how your heart can sink each time you receive a 4 star review, especially as it seems to take so many 5 star reviews to recover from one.

 

Luckily, I don't get too many 4 star reviews, but a disproportionate percentage of them come from French guests. It has come to the point where everytime I host someone French, I brace myself for that 4 stars, regardless of how much they seemed to enjoy their stay. When you check up on them during their stay, they always say everything is perfect and they don't need anything else, but then complain about stuff in their feedback that you could have sorted out for them.

 

It happened again with the French couple who stayed this week. They seemed to be very happy here, we had lots of nice chats and when I checked up on them, they said everything was great. They wrote a charming note with little pictures in my guest book saying they would love to stay again, a very nice message thanking me after they left and a positive review, but gave me 4 stars overall. The only feedback was that I could have turned the heating up a bit. If they had mentioned it, I would have!!

 

My question is, do the French just not give 5 stars? Is this a cultural thing? Also, why won't they tell you if they are not happy with something when you ask them if there's anything else they need? It's not like the French are particularly shy! Sorry to generalise about a particular nationality, but I seem to experience this with almost every French guest. I'm trying to remember one that left me 5 stars and can't.

 

I don't want to stop hosting French people, so what can I, and other hosts, do to get that all important 5 star rating from our French guests? Help!

68 Replies 68
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Oh and my first French guests marked me down for communication and check in because I didn't do the house tour in French. So, with this week's guests, all the correpondence (and there was a lot because they had many questions) was in French. I even sent them a translation of the house rules as they couldn't work out how to do it. I did the whole welcome tour, which is quite detailed, in French and made an effort to chat to them in French throughout their stay. None of that is easy for me as I'm not a fluent speaker at all, but I really tried my best!

Yes, not to over generalize, but I have found French, as well as Belgians and Dutch will often give a 4 star rating, despite never having any complaints during their stay and not having any reasons to give why it was 4 and not 5 in follow up.  Off the top of my head, we got 4* from a French couple who we allowed to have a dinner party, including bringing down additional China and dishes for them, they broke a towel bar, never offered to pay, never had any complaints; a Belgian family who gave us a 4* for not inviting them to drinks [?????, we had for these guests even gone on an errand for them to buy something for their daughter, which, again they never reimbursed us for!!], a Dutch guest who gave us a 4 because we were the first airbnb [okay, at least that guy said he regretted not giving a 5, and another Dutch guest who gave us 4, because he 'always starts at 3 stars and works from there'...

I  can relate to this as I have had guets from all over the world and they have been pleased,pleasing and gracious.I generally get 5 stars The French guests I've had were difficult to please and pushed the envelope at every opportunity.Moreover,their comments nearly all were geared to expecting French foods(yes,I did offer whatever I had to eat and they seemed to expect same and thus did not appear very grateful),customs,etc in my American home. There were no complaints as I recall nor do I recall the # of stars they left. it is disconcerting however to feel that nothing could please guests enough and this is the feeling I have been left with when my guests were French.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sean375

 

I wonder, is there more of a culture of sharing food in France than in the UK or USA? It would be interesting to hear from French hosts/guests if this is the case. The reason I ask is because, before I did Airbnb, I had lodgers in my home. I do recall that almost every time I interviewed a potential housemate who was French, they asked if we all cooked and ate dinner together.

 

Now, in London, housemates sharing a home might occasionally cook togeher, but it's not all that common as everyone has their own schedule and most people have very busy ones. The French candidates seemed a bit disappointed in this lack of communal cooking/eating. 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Thanks @Mark116. It's good to hear I'm not alone in this experience.

 

I was starting to think no one was going to reply! I really hope that people don't think I am being racist. I don't dislike French people. In fact, when I was a teenager, I wanted to be one because I thought they were so super cool and later in life, I've often thought about moving to France.

 

The only problem I have with the French is the ratings they leave me! I have also found that it can sometimes be difficult to get a 5 star out of English and German guests, but not as consistently as French ones. I am genuinely asking for advice here, not just venting about 4 star reviews.

 

The most annoying thing is not the 4 star rating, but the fact that you only hear of complaints (if they have any) after their stay. This was not the first time French guests had told me everything was perfect and then waited for the review to mention that the heating was insufficient. Well, it's too late by then for me to do anything about it!

 

Sometimes, the complaints can seem a bit bizarre, like those you mentioned. I had one couple who gave me 3 stars for communication because they said they did not see me after check in. The reason they did not see me was because they weren't here! They were visiting their daughter who lived a few minutes away and only used my place to sleep. They were gone from 7am and came back late at night, going straight their room. The only way that I could have seen them was to lay in wait outside their bedroom and ambush them. I don't think they would have liked that either! Nevermind that I follow up with all my guests to ask how their stay is going but this couple didn't bother to reply. On top of that, they gave me 4 stars for location, even though they chose my specific location for its proximity to their daughter's flat. What can you do?

Hi Huma, I have found that the guests from Paris are great, but I did have a four star review from one middle aged couple from 'countryside' France. Let's just say their manners were somewhat lacking, and I was glad it was only a one night stay! I, like you, find it harder to get five stars from some British guests. I don't get many markdowns, but the English are more critical. I am also finding that I am doing a lot more 'running around ' for these guests, ie, picking them up from the bus stop, dropping them down into town etc At least these have given me five star reviews. I think the whole brexit thing has dwindled numbers visiting Ireland this year, and those coming are trying to get as much as possible for little money. Honestly, your rooms are so lovely, I think any four star ratings are just difficult customers. I get miffed when I get one, so I  understand totally. You can't make everyone happy all of the time, no matter how hard you try.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Thank you @Rosemarie9. Yes, it's true you can't please everyone. There are people from every country who would just never leave 5 stars, but I was wondering if there was a cultural reason behind it in this case as, with my French guests, as opposed to my guests in general, most leave 4 stars.

 

 

The French couple who stayed this week raved about the house and were very thankful for all the help and advice I gave them. They gave me 3 stars for value and I have no idea why. Surely, they knew the price when they booked and, as far as I can tell, felt they got what was promised. They even said the bedroom was "fit for a princess". So why only 3 stars for value?! 

@Huma0    Value:  did they make full use of all the amenities you offer?  Sounds crazy, but a few guests who marked me down on value said I should have charged less or given them a discount (not that they ever asked for one) because they were out all day and didn't use the kitchen or any of the amenities offered.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ange2

 

Yes, they did use all the amenities. At first they said they wouldn't really use the kitchen/diner except to make a cup of tea, but many guests say this and then change their mind. So, on the second night, they ended up making and eating their dinner there. They used two of the three bathrooms.

 

The only amenities they didn't use were the garden and roof terrace, which no one is using in London in the middle of December, and the living room, which is lovely, but hardly any guests use in general.

Pete28
Level 10
Seattle, WA

As I posted in the other thread where we were attempting to get 97% 5* by constantly msging the guest, the underlying problem is that people are random, and that Airbnb needs to move to a fairer review system.

 

In our current reality the best guest on the review side are young uber users who have internalized that the gig economy is constantly trying to destroy the livelihoods of its workers with avg 4.8

 

We might as well hang the signs up that make it clear we get terminated if don't get 5* - in French and English:)

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Pete28

 

I'm in total agreement with you about the review system, which I think is nonsensical. If guests are told that 4 stars = good, then naturally you are going to get some pefectly happy guests who leave that rating. I agree also that young people more used to the gig economy are more likely to leave 5 stars. Like @Rosemarie9 I have found that middle aged guests are also more critical/likely to leave 4.

 

However, that's not really what I'm talking about here. The vast majority of my guests give me 5 stars regardless of whether they thought absolutely everything was perfect or just pretty **bleep** good overall. I'm finding it almost impossible to get 5 stars out of the French though and wondering if there's something specific I can do to change this.

 

So, I have tried my best to speak French as my first French guests really didn't like it that I didn't. Next time perhaps I will pump the heating up to maximum. Or, maybe it's all a waste of time because I am never going to get 5 stars out of them no matter what I do.

@Huma0

 

I think it's worse than that. We are all on a slow treadmill to 4.7avg. All it takes is 1* review and then you need 20ish 5* to make up for it.

 

If you have a perfect property in the ideal location then maybe. But then you would probably be on Home and Away charging more 🙂 

 

If we were French we would wear our yellow jackets and boycott Airbnb....

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Lol @Pete28 if I had the perfect property in the ideal location, I would be on Onefinestay. The director of that used to LIVE in my house and is a friend. He told me the house would qualify, but my location wouldn't.

 

Actually, I'm joking because Onefinestay only rents out entire properties and I live in mine, so that would be an issue, but I totally get what you are saying.

 

Has Airbnb brought into practice the idea of removing an 'outlier' review from every Superhost's ratings once a year? This was touted recently in the forums but I don't know if it's become a reality. That would at least sort out the random 1 star review (which has got to be a retalitory review I reckon if you're a Superhost).

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I'm also starting to think it might be to do with my location, which my French guests don't seem to like so much. I think that Location rating (something that most hosts seem to hate) has a lot to do with where you come from. If you live somewhere that is quite picturesque, even if it is not posh, my neighbourhood might seem a little down at heel, even though it's not and I actually live in a conservation area.

 

For the price of a one bedroom flat in my area, you could buy a beautiful big chateau in some parts of France. Sure, some of those chateaux need a lot of work and investment, but if I sold my four bedroom house here, I could buy a conveniently located chateau with outhouses in France that has already been done up and set up for rental/weddings. Believe me, I have done the research so I'm not making this up.

 

London is a very, very expensive city (as is Paris, but then @Rosemarie9 mentions that guests from there are great, so maybe they get that). My listings are very competitively priced so it totally baffles me when a guest gives me 3 stars for value.