I have a 2 on Amenities in my ratings! WHY?

Yasmine82
Level 3
Wappingers Falls, NY

I have a 2 on Amenities in my ratings! WHY?

Wrote this post and there was an error, so here's the shortened version. I have ALMOST every amenity that AIRBNB thinks I should include. Short of food! 

What am I missing! 

I stock the fridge with bottled water and leave Starbucks and dunkin  with all the fixings!

 

NEW and clean pots and pans dishes and cookware, strainer, grill. Basically everything short of food? 

 

 

What am I missing! 

24 Replies 24
Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Maybe they expected a restaurant, swimming pool, spa and masseuse. 🙂

 

Seriously though, why don’t you ask the guest? Maybe there is an amenity worth thinking about.  I’ve taken advice from guests occasionally (purchasing a rice cooker, a French press, and children’s dinnerware come to mind).

Colleen253
Level 10
Alberta, Canada

@Yasmine82 Do you mean the 'value' category? There is no amenities rating category that I know of. You're probably not missing anything.  I know it's frustrating when guests give a lower rating in a category, but there will always be the odd guest who just cannot or will not appreciate your efforts no matter what lengths you go to, even if you had the Taj Mahal of Airbnb's and offered everything under the sun. The best thing to do is let it go and focus on providing the best guest experience you can, without killing yourself.  Having said that, it's not a bad idea to ask guests directly for their feedback, to give you ideas on how you can improve, and to potentially save that feedback from showing up in the review process. I do this, and have gotten some interesting ideas, and some I just could or would not implement. With each guest, we have the opportunity to improve.

Yasmine82
Level 3
Wappingers Falls, NY

@Colleen253 @Pat271 

Thank you so much for your response. I liked your response Pat LOL. I’m actually going to do that, and it was helpful for both of your responses, Colleen as well, to ask my guests for a quick message on what they would suggest to improve their stay. Very good advice. The space is brand new. It has literally only had 5 , two day, stays. It’s new down to the refrigerator in pristine condition -there is not a speck of dirt in that entire place. Cleanliness received a four.It’s a renovated barn but it’s completely brand new on the inside and out. When I go to the stats like I normally do just to check things out., I somehow ended up at a spot where it looks like they can rate each aspect of their stay and that lends itself to the stars reviews you get based on how many stars they give you for each aspect. Sorry I’m using my microphone in the car so I hope this comes out properly. I have everything that Airbnb suggests, except a hairdryer. And a washer and dryer LOL. I even do have a pool nearby that is usable in the summer LOL.

@Yasmine82  You haven't done anything wrong and you shouldn't agonize over this. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to understand why guests do the things they do, or give the ratings they do. 

 

Try to keep in mind that star ratings are completely subjective- one guest might give a location rating of 2*s because they were upset that they had to walk 10 minutes to the nearest grocery store (even though that information was clearly stated in the listing ad), another who likes to walk, considers it good daily exercise and enjoys seeing things along the way would rate it 5*s.

 

Ratings for accuracy and cleanliness tend to be less subjective, but even then, what one person considers clean, some OCD guest who checks under to fridge for a speck of dirt may not.

 

I think you know that you are providing a lovely space with plenty of amenities, so don't let some guest's star rating get you down, or waste brain cells trying to "understand". There's often no logical explanation.

@Sarah997 and @Yasmine82 this happened to me with a guest giving me 5 but chritised me for accuracy saying when she received the address and instructions. She started asking questions about the cottage where it was located. On my introduction it stated that the cottage was behind the main residence.

There were other questions asked before arrival. The alert sign went up within me to be careful with what I do and say. Then after they left with the reveiw you start to question yourself and yes it did interfere with my headspace.

Learning to let go of these thoughts, l have decided that when I think a future guests sends alert signs I wont be doing a reveiw for them. 

I do ask each guests is everything ok do they need anything after the first night. So I hope this will breakdown any barriers. I also think from nursing experience that not all people are honest in case they hurt your feelings face to face.

Lastly, I  am new at hosting only 3 months experience, still learning. Reading the community topics informs me of different aspects of hosting for Airbnb.

Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Your Overall Rating is what is incorporated into the star rating that guests see, so concentrate on providing an overall 5-star experience.  Maybe tell the guests that it is a brand new place, and you would love to hear from them what would have given them a 5-star experience, as well as asking for specifics for the individual categories.

 

Also, some guests don’t know that on Airbnb, too many 4’s can actually start to jeopardize your ability to host, as Airbnb will start to send warnings.  It’s not like star ratings for hotels, restaurants, movies, etc. Some guests need to be educated about this.

Yasmine82
Level 3
Wappingers Falls, NY

@Pat271 i didn’t know that! Thank you!!! 

Yasmine82
Level 3
Wappingers Falls, NY

@Sarah977 @Thank you so much amd I appreciate the encouragement and advice . I  thought that I may have possibly received responses from seasoned hosts, such as:

maybe a hairdryer

maybe you should leave muffins out

maybe you should leave them milk eggs and butter LOL

 

...so I really appreciate the feedback and welcome all amd any advice !!!

@Yasmine82  I have a home share listing and quite a bit of interaction with guests, so at some point during their stay, I usually try to work in a discussion of Airbnb ratings. But I never ask for a 5*rating, which can totally backfire, just explain that while guests are led by Airbnb to think a 3 or 4 star rating is fine, Airbnb doesn't consider it so for hosts. I even say that if a guest doesn't think it deserves 5*s, that's fine, but they should just be aware that how it is presented to guests isn't how it is applied to hosts.

 

Of course this is much easier to do with guests who I sit around and chat over coffee with, or share a bottle of wine with, and with whom I have conversations about all sorts of things. It requires a different approach in a stand-alone listing, and many hosts  disagree with doing it at all.

 

But here is a thread where hosts discussed this, which may give you some ideas:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/How-can-we-Hosts-quot-educate-quot-Guests-about-how-the-...

Yasmine82
Level 3
Wappingers Falls, NY

Ps !!

I don’t educate the guests on the fact that the stars, LOL, are important. Also, I didn’t know  that too many 4’s would jeopardize my standing,  eventually. Does anyone have any specific verbiage to explain in a shortened way, to ask them for 5 stars? Do hosts actually do that? Or rather, maybe I would not be asking  

for five stars, but encourage the guest to leave five stars unless something is truly a concern? 

I am sure there’s some beautiful verbiage somewhere to send to guests that would say “ if you enjoyed your stay please try to give us your highest rating because it affects us.”

 

Anyone have any verbiage to share? 

Yes, my technique works well. From the moment they book we start planting “five star” into their subconscious. All staff who interact with guests are trained to say “Your five-star review is so important to us” whenever we’re receiving a compliment or when fixing an issue. In the welcome packages, “Let us know if you need anything. Your five star experience is important to us.” In our departure message, “If anything wasn’t quite to your satisfaction, please let us make it right before you go. Your five star review is important to us!” We get a lot of compliments throughout their stay. “Thanks for the cookies!” we would respond, “You’re so welcome! If you enjoy our special touches, please mention it in your five star review!” Seems like a lot when you condense it here but it’s well dispersed in our messaging. And, we do a LOT for guests, so I’m not ashamed to suggest to them that we have a need too. It’s a business, not a hobby, after all, and I’m usually mentioning the importance of the “five star review” when I’m being thanked for going above and beyond! 

 

The Johnsons

@Yasmine82 my daughter has an Airbnb in NewZealand aand she has stayed in another Airbnb the host left a note to say leave a five and I'll leave you a five. But you really don't know what they have left untill both parties have left a reveiw.

But she did send him a text after the reveiws to say what he needed to do to fix and improve his place. Rationale was it can affect her personal reveiw if she left it at the time of leaving.

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Yasmine82 

 

Out of your 5 guests, one has given you a 4 star for value. Is that what you mean by amenities?

 

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Guests don't necessarily take star ratings away because a random amenity is missing from Airbnb's long list. It could be anything. Ratings in any category are bound to drop below 5 stars at some point or another and it's oftentimes exhausting and stressful to come up with plausible reasons for guests' crazy way of thinking. Don't stress about it.

 

John5097
Level 10
Charleston, SC

@Yasmine82 You could ask the guest. I noticed your listing says it includes a stove but looks like a cooktop only. There is a picture which is good. I think this would run a risk of guest lowering accuracy and give the reason amenities. You could keep stove checked or unchecked and mention in the listing exactly what is offered,  but in my experience if you have an amenity checked and don't offer it a guest will lower a star for it. Mine once was shampoo that had run out. But the sub categories are separate from the overall ratings. If you can figure out exactly what it was often times you can simply improve the listing description. Most of the lower ratings for the sub catigories were odd balls where only one person will mention a mirror was dirty when its an antique with tiny imperfections behind the glass. I have a kitchenette and not many amenities or extras but listing is very accurate, clear and concise.  I also don't mention ratings or stars to any of my guest.