Is Airbnb review system credible enough?

[Nikolay26]

We stayed at Airbnb places multiple times and everything seemed OK until we once booked the room in the NYC. All reviews to this place were generically well but the site turned out to be just ugly. Cockroaches, stench, unfriendly host... I just can't believe my eyes! I riched out Airbnb support and they checked whether all reviews were real. They were.  Furthermore, I kept to monitor the place and people continued to call it "gem", "perfect stay" etc. Unbelievable! 

My guess, due to a strict policy of "uncorrectable, undeletable one-chance reviews" people are trying to be overkind to prevent any chance of a bad review on themselves. While it could be good to some extent, all reviews seem to turn into "kindness exercise" rather actual ones. They are simply misleading.

As a guest ("client") I also feel sometimes uncomfortable. I pay money (comparable to the hotel most of the time) and willing to expect some freedom and service rather thinking all the time, whether I left the room clean enough or did enough kindness to obtain positive review on myself.

Recently I got another false negative review and I believe it was caused by my initial fair demands of the host. She obeyed and was very sweet, even kissed me on check-out (now I understand that is all for better stars!). Nothing looked squally, so I left the perfect review (hiding initial problems that could help future guests).  So, it looks like a kind of "revenge" from the host and simply odious.
I feel that is just wrong.

After two years of exiting of Airbnb I changed my mind due to these reasons and now booking.com or similars are my first choice again, keeping in mind the fact that many places are now listed on them too.

Any thoughts? 

[Sandra856]

@Nikolay26 Some hosts do that. I have actually added a little note on my listing last month explaining the system. I prefer to tell upcoming guests before they choose to book so they don't feel trapped into rating me with 5 stars. It hasn't influendes badly on my bookings but if it had it must just be so. I'm not interested in getting as many bookings as possible but only those guests that actually would be a great fit. If they can't handle an explanation on how the rating system is set up they shouldn't stay with me 🙂

But I really don't think it should be me explaining but airbnb. 

[Mike1034]

@Nikolay26 Thanks for the suggestion. It is good to see the rating system from a pure guest perspective as well. Even though the rating system affects host more, it does affect a guest as well. According to my experience, if a guest receives certain number of reviews less than 3 star ratings, their account could be deactivated.

When I read the host review, I noticed that you used the kettle pot to boil water. If you could send a message to host asking before you use it, you would have not be blamed for this. Therefore, communication between the guests and hosts are important. It essentially helps to reduce any potential issues and conflicts between a guest and a host.

[Nikolay26]

@Mike1034 Communication is important, of course. The point, however, is that I'm totally unwilling to stay is such places where the kettle pot and I need to communicate to ask permission to use it. Especially when inaccesible kettle is coupled with widely available cockroaches. And the rating system not really helpful to recognnize such places, calling them as "gem". 

[Nikolay26]

 @Sandra856  for the popularity growth... I'm personally was so excited with AirBnB but now give up because of many hotels/managed properties available through booking.com etc. have adjusted their prices and often very competitive while AirBnB sometimes (actually often...) has burden of excessive, unwanted socialization aspect (including almost mandatory rating system) that I not always need.

Given the fact that many hotels are doing great I think I'm not alone. Many people just get know about AirBnB but another older part goes away as I do. My bet is that AirBnB will ultimately either shrink to the specific auditory who aims socialization while traveling (think Coachserfer) or change many rules and become one "central managed" hotel. That is very typical lifespan for the many startups - exciting then turning back to the good old services. 

[Sarah977]

@Nikolay26  There's a big difference between couch-surfing and a shared-home listing on Airbnb.

Those who are couch-surfers and those who open their homes to them are just liking to meet people from all over and the hosts are usually travelers themselves and like to couch-surf themselves when traveling. No payment is expected or received, neither is any special treatment or amenities. You very much have to fit in with the routine of the home.

While many home-sharing hosts also do it in part because they enjoy hosting and like meeting people from all over, guests usually have a private room, often a private bathroom, share the kitchen or have no kitchen privileges, or even have an entire suite in a host's home. Basic amenities are expected and provided. As a host who rents a private room/bathroom in my home and share the kitchen with my guests, I do tend to have quite  bit of interaction with my guests, but that is pretty much up to them. Some are out and about most of the time and we don't see much of each other. Some are quite sociable, some tend to just want privacy. Some make use of the kitchen, some don't. Some I'll have long conversations with over coffee or a bottle of wine, some not. Some I'll take to a secluded beach they'd never know about, some have all their days full and planned. 

It's quite true that some guests are just not suited to a shared-home listing, and those should book hotel rooms or entire place listings. But most hosts with shared home listings do not impose themselves upon guests nor expect them to hang out with them as if they were old friends. We play it by ear, guaging the sociability of the guest.

There are many guests who enjoy booking home-shared listings- they feel safer, they get the local low-down from hosts about places they'd never know about as a tourist, like cool little restaurants or nice nature walks or running trails, out-of-the-way shops with unusual offerings, etc. 

If having to be friendly and interact at least a bit with a host is something you don't enjoy, then you should definitely not book shared-home listings.

[Nikolay26]

Well, all these true but I'm talking about trends not details. 

Decades ago all shops were with counters. Then people discovered that replacing salesman by self-service skyrocketed sales by at least 40% not because people do not enjoy interact and being friendly but simply because social costs they pay in self-service is much less. Now AirBnB just returned counters.

Add here uncertainty for the property with molding fridge in mind 🙂

 Look, "superhosts" is first step to the "global managed hotel" model. Superhost mark is a kind of stars for hotels (I bet they will introduce stars soon) and conditions to have rating above 4,8 hardly force hosts to be super-polite and attentive exactly as employees are pushed by rules in hotels. In fact, AirBiB becomes employer for superhosts. I'm sure, one of the next steps will be de-personalization of superhosts.

[Sandra856]

@Nikolay26 there still is the big old group of people who prefer the non-touristic places and meeting locals - myself included. I'm not into crowded city center hotels. I  usually have great guests and it is my impression that most of them would come back staying at my place if they visit Copenhagen again. My problem is airbnb and the crazy rating system not the guests or being a host.