Define "5 stars"

Dottie2
Level 4
Lompoc, CA

Define "5 stars"

It is totally amazing to me that we, as hosts, are required to have a 4.8 overall rating but NO WHERE on the Airbnb site are the ratings explained! Often older guests give 5-star for each category, but a 4-star overall score. Why? When I have asked, they have said "Well, it is a great place, but not a five star hotel!" Um, no. So the star rating is subjective, by Airbnb choice. Are hosts then responsible to define what the stars mean? If a guest calls Airbnb and asks, what would they be told? I have heard that they say 5 star is "better than expected" but that honestly makes no sense to me, as I have many repeat guests, and of course the first visit can be better than expected, but hopefully the second visit is "just what I expected" (in other words, great the first time, still great the next time.) But not, I think, "better than expected." In any case, not providing ANY definition to the star rating is really terribly annoying. Should we ban all guests that have previously stayed so they don't think it still being the same as they expected is a 4-star rating? It leaves hosts to figure out "nice" ways to educate guests, such as having a sheet on the fridge saying "We value your 5-star rating of our home!" with an explanation of the rating system. How trite, making it so we have to carefully strike the right note to request good reviews.

44 Replies 44

@Dottie2No, you wouldn't be able to see what guests see, I was explaining my experience as a guest at at least 4 different Airbnbs this year.

 

You are absolutely right that guests are not really told what overall stars mean.

 

In regards to the first question guests are asked (How did your experience compare, etc.) I have no idea WHY they ask this question but I can only guess it's for internal statistic keeping?

 

You're right, hosts never see this answer. Again, I only know because I frequently stay as a guest (well, at least quarterly if you consider that frequent, lol!). And I just asked my current guest to pull up the review page to confirm what HE sees. (He's a regular guest who books 2-3 nights each week for work, so he can review me each week...)

 

I guess, bottom line, hosts shouldn't freak out about this question as it has NO IMPACT on the star rating!

@Suzanne302 same here.

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

Shoot! I just accidently deleted my post . . . 

I had it in my email! You said:

I am really confused by this as well. I am skeptical because my 3 listings are nice but they are not "Much better than expected," especially since they are super old houses and the exterior needs a tons of work (for my most popular listing I don't even post a picture of the outside, so not to turn people away.) I would assume to be getting "As expected" or "a little better." At least, that is what I would rate it myself if I stayed there. But I continue to get high ratings. Some listings around me still continue to get 5 stars but the pictures and descriptions do not depict a "5 star experience" by any means. 

 

I have been seeing hosts post about this merging of the star ratings and expectations for well over a year now but it hasn't hit my area/guests/review process yet. I think that if it did there would be a widespread outbreak of 3 star reviews and no one around me would maintain their superhost status. 

@Dottie2 Thank you!

@Emilia42  Exactly! If this were actually the case, we'd see most hosts fall to 3 stars.

 

I mean no disrespect to hosts who have been circulating this, but I sincerely think this is a case of "host hysteria" and too many hosts see this, believe this with no evidence, and continue to perpetuate the myth.

 

I literally JUST went through this with a guest who has been staying with me each week for work for over a month now. (he books separate 2-3 day stays each week so lots of opportunity for reviews although we kinda stopped reviewing each other after week 3 because what more can you say?!) I asked him to pull up the review page for me....

 

In no way shape or form does the review process say that a "better than expected" stay equates to 5 stars. NOWHERE!

 

The question is (paraphrased) "How did your stay compare to your expectations?" Then you click "Next" and it tells you to rate your stay from 1 to 5 stars. The stars are NOT prepopulated based on your response to the previous question either.

 

The questions are in no way whatsoever related! And I don't know WHY they ask the first question, but I assume it's for some internal stats.

Good to know this is what they see, as there is NO description on the Airbnb site about what they see! Here are my thoughts, if that is how it works now:

1. If Airbnb is asking the question for scoring then eventually they will start using those values in attempting to control hosts.

2. If those questions are posed first, before they get to the rating by stars pages, you could easily infer that 5 means better than expected, and 4 as expected, for each category and rating.

 

Again, back to my first issue which is: why does Airbnb not provide any guidance in their help pages defining star ratings? All they basically say is guests give star ratings and hosts see them.

Sean433
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

@Jim472 

 

I also use a page in my house book to talk about reviews however I don't phrase it the same way. Reason being is that once in a while you get a really bad evil guest who wants to make your life hell and if you tell them that 1 star will lead to delisting you, they then know that they have full leverage over you and that if you don't do what they want, they may leave you a 1 star.

 

Instead I just talk about the difference between a 4 and 5 star and don't even want to put the 1 or 2 star thought in their head. I don't want them to feel that they have power over me which sadly they do in this case if they want to leave me a 1 star just because they are miserable.

 

I also don't love the last sentence of the review explanation for your guest. Some will read that and will just start sending you messages for any which way you can improve because you told them to send you a message whenever anything comes to mind. To me, I think it is overdoing it and would lead to a lot of messages over items that I may not even have the ability to address which would lead to a lot of stress.

 

Also, the problem with reviews is they are subjective to each person. A millionaire may rent a $2000/night villa on airbnb Luxe and give it a 4 star because it doesn't have a wine cellar for example. A more income modest guest may rent a very simple $30/night room and give it a 5 star. I guess usually ratings are determined by the price people paid but not always either. You may offer what you think is a good price to guests but the cheapskates will make their own mind up about what is a good deal even though the hotel down the street may charge twice the price, they can still mark you down in value. It blows my mind sometimes.

Dottie2
Level 4
Lompoc, CA

I say "We strive for 5-star reviews from our guests! If there is anything that you feel we need to improve, or find anything in the property that needs attention, we would love to hear about it, please jot it down on this page. Since we provide $1500 Accidental Damage coverage for your stay, if you accidentally broke it,  please note it here for us so we can fix or replace it! Thank you for your stay!" My goal is to give them a place to air any issues they found, and it really helps me know if something is wrong (dripping faucet, dirty closet, whatever.) This has helped me get consistent 5-star reviews. Also, when I am booking, if the guests have some "iffy" situation then I will pre-warn them with something like "Well, a group of 22 is really pushing the limit on comfort in the home. I don't know how you will get through morning showers with only 4 full bathrooms in any reasonable amount of time. I really feel frustrated when a guest marks my ratings low because they had too large of a group for the facility." This helps as they think twice before marking me low, and also grateful for letting them stay when I have let them know I have some doubts about suitability.

@Dottie2     The stars are not primarily for hosts (or even guests),  they are a marketing tool for Airbnb to sell trust and transparency, the number one must-have for a successful business - there's probably a data set point for that.  If it were set up for the hosts and guests benefit Airbnb would not be selling one explanation to guests and another to hosts.

I actually do not see anywhere they sell ANY explanation to guests! Unless you mean on the phone, which is unlikely they call about rating scales. For hosts, they sell us the requirement that we get as close to 5 star average as possible or lose status and perhaps get paused (or delisted.)

@Dottie2  What @Ange2 is referring to, I think, by "selling one explanation to guests and another to hosts" is simply that the review form for guests tells them that rating a listing means the place was "Good"- and who would think that a Good rating was a bad thing? But then they turn around and tell hosts that a good rating is actually a fail that puts you in jeopardy of being delisted. It's evil.

@Sarah977   Yes, thank you. That is what I am referring to  @Dottie2 

Howard30
Level 2
Lexington, KY

When I’m searching for a hotel on a site like Hotwire,  if I see that a place has 4 stars and a reasonable price—near my destination ..I’m booking it!

3.5 star  and 3 star guest rated hotels are usually nicer places as well.  I do not book. no matter the price, if a place has a 2 or below rating. —-My point being....this is not at all translatable to Airbnb.  Which surely makes it confusing to the uninitiated.  ——As a guest, I will pretty much only book an Airbnb with a Superhost status. Essentially a 4.8 and above. The Airbnb star system is unreasonably harsh.  —-And giving the customer so much power is a bit maddening. Angry, unappreciative, selfish guests can give a host a poor rating and a bad review on a whim and ruin one’s business & reputation.  And that’s true of way too many places these days because of the internet, Yelp and all online review sites.  Conversely, I would never give a guest a bad review unless they really wrecked my place and if they were unbelievably loud and obnoxious. A host puts up with alot for fear of being given a poor rating. 

—-I don’t have any answers for this imbalance in power. And most people ARE respectful and fair.  But, maybe Airbnb’s ratings should be better explained to guests. And 4.0 shouldn’t be “bad” when it literally represents “good”.  Perhaps eliminating the Superhost designation all together?  I have been a “Superhost” for a while, but I am motivated more by my own sense of decency and pride in my work. Plus, a basic desire to provide a nice place for people to stay at a profitable. reasonable, price.—-All guest should be required to provide the same level of verification, including a clear picture of themselves. Then hosts could feel safer with all bookings. 

Dietrich1
Level 2
Antignano, Italy

The only thing I have to point out:

As AirBnB is working for their own benefits making belife us, that it is for ours, take a moment of reflexion and you will come down to the conclusion, that the best way to do benefits for us is only networking ourselfes! When there is a part of AirBnB reservations this can help to push our own benefit up, what you will more!!!
Very often communications from AirBnB are not in line with the reality! Don't make you stressing by AirBnB!
Advertance: the above is valid for privat hosts, not for professional ones! If you look to the inserts, impression comes up that the bigger part of inserts is coming from professionals! That at the beginning from AirBnb was NOT the aim!

We make part of AirBnB - as I belive to know - since the beginning of it! Our experience as privat inserter with AirBnB is not, what we aspected, but we are tollerating AirBnB with all his difects - as written above - we have some benefits from it!
Regards from the hill of Morgnano and feel free do not comment!

Wishing all to do a good job and have some  satisfaction! Keep it calm and work!