I'm new to hosting, how do you get guests to write you reviews?

Harvin0
Level 3
Thorold, Canada

I'm new to hosting, how do you get guests to write you reviews?

I'm new to hosting 7 doing it in Ontario Canada, have had successful month & half with bookings,  but I'm unable to get guests to write me reviews, or feedback. except couple and one of them only gave me 3 star because they thought the house was small, but regardless I appreciated her feeback and i was able to fix our shortcomings proper signage for extra linens towels were posted. How do I get guests to write us reviews or is it just normal and everyone faceing the same dilema where only single digit % of hosts writing reviews? 

29 Replies 29
Ivana193
Level 2
East Java, Indonesia

@Harvin0 from my personal exepriance. I welcome the guest and have a small chat with them from this chat you can know if you have connextions with them or not. Other than that i try my best to make the guest feel at home. I provied them with tourist information. Ask them if they need any help. Just put your self in the guest situations. I also put guest book in the room so if the guest want to write their comments or experiance they can do that. And when the guest leave i will also be there and ask their experiance staying at my place.

Rosemary115
Level 3
Chelmsford, United Kingdom

I find not everyone leaves a review in spite of telling me in person how much they had enjoyed their stay.

Some give a basic comment for public viewing but a glowing one to me personally. They need to be the other way round!  One comment said the venue was not convenient for the venue they were going to- so why stay here? 

 

I totally agree, one left me 4 star despite them all of them being very happy at the check out during stay, and left 4 star. other have complained about stairs, despite i have mentioned them in listing and there are photos  of stairs.  we keep working on it till we get it perfect & hopefully can get all 5stars 

Mark1510
Level 2
England, United Kingdom

Hi all

Had my first guest last week and got my 5 stars. Now I have just got to maintain this though still waiting for my second. 

Julie660
Level 4
Rockford, IL

If some time has passed, I simply ask them to leave a review since in order to either maintain or achieve superhost status I need a certain percentage of reviews to reservations.  I don't ask for 5 stars or anything, I just ask for "a review".

Maria2288
Level 2
San Rafael de Escazú, Costa Rica

Hi, just kindly, before they leave, ask them that you appreciate very much an honest review, to give them a better place to stay...

Margaret588
Level 2
Gainesville, FL

I've found being friendly and frequently interacting with guests on a personal level is very helpful. Also asking everyday if they are comfortable and do they need anything more is important.

Host for Russian, German or American guests. Other Europeans, including us brits and particularly guests new to the platform think 4 stars is "good".

OK, that was a bit flippant, but the problem is that some people are just "saving" the five star review for that dream once in a lifetime place that only exists in their own mind. Whatever the rest of us do will never match up to their idea of perfection.

They will probably go to their grave without handing over that five star review.

It would be a better system if the system went from 0-10 instead of 1-5

@Kevin1322  Oh, but then Airbnb would require hosts to maintain a 9.7 rating 🙂

Oh come on now, @Sarah977 - you know a 9.7 rating just wouldn't cut it. Our Bri would prefer us all to be providing an 11 star, "mindf*ck experience". Aim higher, lady! 🙂

 

Some insightful tips and tricks from the man himself on how we might go about providing a magical adventure for our guests... 

 

https://medium.com/@reidhoffman/how-to-scale-a-magical-experience-4-lessons-from-airbnbs-brian-chesk...

 

From Lesson #2 - Design an 11-Star Experience...

 

"So what would a 10-star check in be? A 10-star check in would be The Beatles check in. In 1964. I’d get off the plane and there’d be 5,000 high school kids cheering my name with cars welcoming me to the country. I’d get to the front yard of your house and there’d be a press conference for me, and it would be just a mindf**k experience. So what would an 11-star experience be? I would show up at the airport and you’d be there with Elon Musk and you’re saying: ‘You’re going to space'"

 

Space cadets, one and all. 

@Susan17  It's too bad these "I'm so special" folk didn't hear from their parents what my daughter told my granddaughters:  "Everyone wants to be a star. Reality shows, YouTube, everyone sharing selfies online leads everyone to think they can be a star. Almost no one gets to be a star. So you'd better come up with a plan for something real and useful to do with your life."

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Sarah977 I'll have had my fair share of day-dreaming about being famous in my distant youth... Then, aged 40, I found myself living for a year in a remote  & tiny community in Papua New Guinea..... and being stared at... & sort of over-respected for being the doctor's wife. It all made me very uncomfortable.... When the year was up, it was wonderful to experience walking down a street in Australia, to feel wonderfully anonymous, & to know that nobody was staring, or commenting....

@Helen350  Oh, I think most people had those fantasies at some point in their youth- to be a movie star, a top model, to be a famous astronaut, to be famous in some way, but I suspect we knew deep down which were likely to be unattainable and which might be achievable.

There didn't used to be so many so-called"celebrities"- people famous for nothing more than being adept at self-promotion. There were no bloggers, no "influencers". Now almost every teenager has their selfies all over some social media site and that Instagram/Snapchat/Facebook culture seems to lead to a lot of navel-gazing, and thinking that every aspect of one's life, including what you had for breakfast, is fascinating to others, and special in some way. In the not-too-distant past, the average 16 year old girl would have been horrified to find out that there was photo of her in her underwear circulating. Now we have 12 and 13 year-olds naively posting skimpy bikini selfies on Snapchat.

And I hear you- I also really dislike being the center of attention. I loathe surprise birthday parties.

Shahbaz4
Level 2
Lahore, Pakistan

i am new host on Airbnb, how can I improve my hosting experience? 

Gary482
Level 2
Santa Monica, CA

Hi, fellow Hosts,

The problem we are experiencing with reviews is not so much the star rating, as the cut off window. We are relatively new hosts, and look forward to accumulating reviews - of any rating! What has happened twice now, is that the guests continued their trip after leaving our accommodation, and did not return to their home until AFTER the two week cut off for review submission. Certainly they could submit the review before they return home, but for whatever reason, the last thing on their minds was to write a review for Airbnb while still traveling. We sent them reminder messages through Airbnb (as does Airbnb) and to their personal email account, NEVER asking for any particular rating. No pressure,  just a very friendly reminder. Both guests were very satisfied with the accommodation, and even sent positive feed back while they were still in our unit, but by the time they returned home, and ready to concentrate on writing a review, the window had closed. When we inquired about the length of the window for submission, an Airbnb rep named Ruby told us that Airbnb wants to receive a review while the memory is still fresh in the guests memory. We are wondering if that window could be extended.