How Guest recommedations work

[Kelly25]

I have a question/dilemma. I have a guest coming that has 5 reviews, yet it says "Recommended by 2 hosts." The reviews are not bad- some are kind of neutral, for example: "Overall were decent guests." 

Does this mean that 3 of them pressed the "no" button at the end when it asks you if you would recommend this guest? Or can it be skipped? 

I had an uncomfortable and unfortunate issue with a guest recently, and I'm on "high alert." I really don't want my next guest to be a problem as well. But I don't want to ask and sound accusatory, and set the stage for conflict. 

Mind you, I am a Super Host with 116 reviews, 5-star rating, and definitely not oversensitive. Just a little on edge...........

Thanks!

Kelly

[Kath9]

@Kelly25, I've noticed some of these lately as well and have wondered the same thing! I don't think you can skip the 'recommended' question at the end of the review process so presumably 3 of the 5 hosts would not recommend the guest. I'd love to know whether any other hosts can shed any light on this.

[Emilia42]

@Kelly, I'm with @Kath9. I would like to know the answer to this as well. I do believe you can choose not to answer the thumbs up or down question but why would hosts skip this if they really loved the guest. You could choose a host that previously had the guest and send them a message asking for a little more detail. Or maybe you could call Airbnb and ask them to shred some light. They can probably see a lot more then we can. I lost the ability to see whether or not a guest is recommended about a year ago. It really sinks as it feels like I am blindly accepting guests.

[Lawrene0]

@Kelly25 and @Kath9, there are three reasons I know of that the number of recommendations do not match the number of reviews.

One is when more than one of the reviews comes from the same host. The bot counts a single host as a single host recommendation, even if there were two or more positive reviews from that host.

The second one is when a person has a review as a guest of a guest. When it is "This review was for a trip booked by [not the guest name]", that review does not count as a recommendation even if it was a thumbs up for the booker. 

The third is that, yes, those hosts gave lukewarm written reviews, and hit the thumbs down button. You can call Airbnb if you feel uncomfortable about hosting this guest if he has no duplicate or guest-of-guest reviews and only two recommendations out of five stays. 

[Kelly25]

Thank you so much Lawrene for this information. It is very reassuring, and helpful!

[John1080]

Related to this, I have never been able to see if guests recommended or gave a thumbs up. I've discussed it with other hosts on threads and even in private conversations, but it just isn't there for me to view one way or the other.  I finally got in touch with Airbnb over it a few weeks ago. They say there is some type of glitch and they're working on it, but haven't heard back yet. 

So, if there are any other hosts reading this and other threads and wondering, "What are they talking about," hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.

[Emilia42]

@John, same. I could see it when I first started hosting but it went away a few months later and I haven't see anything in almost a year so i doubt it is a "glitch" being worked on. Nothing in my settings has changed. I'm still using instant book, etc. I always thought it was just one of the many features that Airbnb adds but then deletes until I read on there about it being available to other hosts. My co-host on one of my listings can see it so that helps a little but I am blindly accepting guests, not that Airbnb really seems to care.

[John1080]

@Emilia42, it took a while to get Airbnb to comprehend what it was I was talking about, but assure me their technical team is working on it lol. We shall see! It would be helpful to be able to see that information. 

[Kath9]

@John1080, @Lawrene0, @Emilia42, @Kelly25, thanks for shedding some light on this. @Emilia42, good idea to message the previous hosts for more detail. @Lawrene0, thanks for your suggestions. The first one would be easy to spot; the second one is a breach of Airbnb policy (booking under someone else's name) so would raise alarm bells anyway. @John1080, it would be extremely helpful if we could see for each individual host whether they had given the thumbs up or thumbs down.

It would really help though if hosts could just be very clear and honest in their review if they are going to give the thumbs down. In 370 or so guests, I have given the thumbs down to 3, and have clearly explained in my review why I have done so. It makes it difficult if a host says "overall were decent guests" and then gives a thumbs down - it doesn't make any sense and isn't helpful for other hosts. We hosts need to have each others' backs as there is no protection from Airbnb!

[Lawrene0]

Sorry I wasn't clearer, @Kath9. I was not referring to third-party bookings. I was talking about cases when one person books for a group (including him/herself). For instance, I book for my husband and myself. He has an Airbnb account, so I "invite" him. The host's review goes on both of our profiles. However, only I (the booker) get the thumbs up. He gets a good written review, but no recommendation. In my husband's case, he has a few reviews, but no recommendations, since he has never done any bookings himself. A host might be wary of him, but he's a nice guy. 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Lawrene0  Well, i think it might be time to get that guy to book under his own name the next time the two of you travel. You could still do all the booking work, just under his account 🙂

[Kelly25]

Thank you everyone for your input on this. It's very helpful and reassuring. I am going to circle back and let you know what happens. I am going to have them stay, as I do not want to use a "cancel" on them when they could be just fine. But I do have my radar on!

[Tony134]

@Kelly25 Hi Kelly. If you look around there is also a browser extension for chrome that will let you see the reviews a guest has left for hosts. Checking the reviews this guest left will give you a pretty good idea of how previous stays went.

[Kelly25]

Great idea, Tony. It will also give me an idea of how conscientious the person is. I'm always puzzled when a stay goes really well, and the guest can't be bothered to write a review, even after I've left mine. 🙂