What does the Location rating mean in the guest reviews?

Nancy-And-Paul0
Level 4
Pickering, Canada

What does the Location rating mean in the guest reviews?

I noticed we had a 4-star rating on location. What does this mean? If a guest doesn't like the location, why did they book it? If a location doesn't match a listing, for example, wouldn't that be more an accuracy issue? 

 

At least in my case, I can't imagine why someone would have an issue with the location - it's a high end neighbourhood in a park/ravine setting surrounded by nature on 3 sides. This category needs contextual instruction to make it a meaningful to hosts to address. Too much guesswork.

47 Replies 47

@Mala4  and anyone else:

 

For the guest who gave you a lower rating based on her presumtions about difficulty for other guests...that is grounds for removal of her review.

 

I had a guest downgrade me for making her review based on what she thought might be difficult for other guests.  When her review did not match her feedback I asked why she stated that reasons specifically...in writing.

 

Because of that, I was able to negotiate it's removal because she was NOT sharing her personal experience (and it was not accurate either) and I had evidence to prove that. 

 

That stipulation of writing reviews based on personal experience is clearly in thier instructions.

 

So, if it were me, I'd call Support and pursue it till it's fixed.

 

Good luck!

@Susan1028 You are replying to a post from 2016.

Airbnb should remove location stars rating from the STATS. You may be a great host but if your apartment is in a location that is not centrally located then it is something you cannot improve to become better as a host.  Guest should know before booking where the apartment is located following airbnb location guidelines and maps and reading the property description. If they still book it it might be becasue they love the apartment, the reviews, the price,etc .... and currently, if they rate low because of the location this is not in your hands and you are penalised by low-ratings with no reason.

 

Why Airbnb is not improving the STATS to remove location ratings?

I have had my first taste of this, getting 4 stars and even one 3 based on location.  The reason?  I live directly next to a bus stop that provides service to a local subway.  The guests giving 4 and 3 stars have said it would be nice if I just lived next to the subway instead of having to take a bus - now, my listing clearly says the property is located next to a bus stop with service to a local subway.  So unless I can teleport my house, thats not going to change!

Andrew200
Level 3
Louisville, KY

If Airbnb inisists on a location rating (something that you can't improve and is clearly listed on your page to begin with) than they should change it to a SAFETY rating.  When I book Airbnb, I read the profile and look at the map.  Then I get a cross street from the map and GPS how far that is to where I will be going.  I know not every guest will do that, but how is it fair to me to get 3 or 4 stars (and screw up my superhost status) because someone had to drive 20 mins to get to where they wanted to go?  I think that if the category is to remain, it should be changed to safety: did you feel safe in this location?  You can take steps to more secure your place if need be. For hosts like me that get five stars on everything and live 2 minutes from lots of cool stuff and 20 minutes from other things...it just plain isn't fair to get dinged for something beyond our control (espically when Airbnb gives guests an approximate location of the place before they book).

 

Either stop counting that category or change it to safety.

@Andrew178

The problem with that is, for people who are not familiar or comfortable with being the country,  being in the city, ethnic diversity, winter driving, summer insects, the crime rate in New York City, being in a foreign country, or being pickpocketed in Marrakesh (which is famous for that)...etc., and choose to book it anyway, they will still downgrade us for "safety" for things we have no control, with the same result.

 

Airbnb needs to clarify what aspects the categories actually include and make the distinction that the rating cannot include aspects the host has no control over, eliminate them from the HOST rating statistics, or do away with them.

 

Some hosts say they have included descriptions of each area in their house manuals.  Others are uncomfortable with that.

Ira4
Level 10
Athens, Greece

Location, always location!! 

@Nancy-And-Paul0@Andrew200@Xavier15@Mala0@Dede0 and everybody else in this thread, check out this link. It is a thread of @Andrea in Host's Voice about Location.

 

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Host-Voice/Location-rating-is-an-Achilles-heel-for-many-otherwise-gr...

 

You can give thumbs up to that thread (it helps a lot) and you can also comment there. 

And let's all find wheels for our listings!

 

Karin5
Level 5
Levittown, PA

I don't know how guests interpret location.

 

I've gotten quite a few 3's in location for my listing (but the guests give me 5's in everything else). I'm in a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, people take care of their properties, and neighbors generally keep to themselves, and I never hear about any criminal activity (and seeing no evidence of it anywhere in the neighborhood) There's nothing scenic, but just the sight of people's updated houses and well-landscaped properties. My listing clearly states that there is nothing in walking distance and public transportation is not available, and a car is needed. I also have a couple of photos of the neighborhood view in my listing.  Before a guest books, there is that map with the blue dot showing the location of the property.

 

I'm not in the middle of nowhere but I'm not in a big city either. I'm in a suburb. My property may be "far away from everything" but that is what a car is for.

Crystal46
Level 2
St. Louis, MO

Have any of you written feedback to Airbnb about this?  I just did, crossing my fingers.   This category is insane.  My experience is that the guests who give lower than 5 always state in the written section that they loved it and want to come back, many have said it was a great location for them but they rated 4 for location only...insane.  Anyway, wondering if the right Airbnb people see this discussion trail?  Please try to send them direct feedback and maybe, if enough people at HQ read the logic and complaints from the hosts they will do something about it so it's actually useful.  I'm at least hoping to get an explanation from HQ how any group benefits from this category.  As of right now, it helps absolutely no one without a written explanation.  It truly seems like it's an issue of guests not reading or planning well enough and we are dinged on it without any explanation of what they wanted, and it may not be what the next guest wants.  

 

My suggestion is to have location be a private rating with required drop down and written description.  But if the guest feels they need to warn future guests of the location they can write it in their review for the public to see.  But an unexplained/vague rating does absolutely nothing for a host or future guests.   

 

It took me a minute to figure out how to send feedback....Go to the "Help" section and then at the bottom in tiny print it says "Give Feedback".    

I've sent feedback. 

Barbara586
Level 2
Ventura, CA

Thank you for everyone on this thread! I am an airbnb host and I randomly get 3/5 stars for location and im like ...but you knew before booking where this is.... so nice to know that it isnt just us hahaha

Una13
Level 2
Cork, Ireland

I have found two guest reviews where one said I was to far out from the City Centre of Cork & another said I was hard to find. I have mentioned that it takes me 45mins to walk to the centre & its a 15mins bus journez without traffice. 

Very annoying that guests do not do the research on the location at all & expect it to be very near the centre of town.

 

Where I live (Seoul) any home with a subway station located within a 10 minute walk would be considered a really good location. If that station happens to be a transit station, then a GREAT location. Also in Seoul, if you have a 40~50 min one-way, door to door commute from home to work/school then you are lucky!!! But this would not be the case in a smaller city in Korea - like Daejon or Suwon. So depending on the local situation 1 hr could be seen as totally normal travel time or unacceptably far away.

 

Some people think a 10 minute walk is unacceptable because they are so~ used to driving around everywhere while others think why bother spending money on a short bus or subway ride that is only 2 stops away when I can walk there in 25~30 mins. 

 

I agree location is way too subjective, open to interpretation and personal whim.

 

 

Edward---Scarlett0
Level 2
New Westminster, Canada

Agreed. It's a little disappointing, but even more frustrating, to get rated only 'average' for location when it's something that we hosts can't do anything about to change! I can't uproot my house and place it in an 'ideal' location where the cool spots are in town. Plus, we live in Vancouver BC where there's not a lot of highways and mainly city roads to drive on - so of course there's traffic, congestion, and distance to downtown Vancouver. Guests didn't like how the house was a bit of a drive to downtown... we live here and I commute to work (in downtown) and I don't mind lol. Why are the guests so picky? Why have this rating where we can't improve it personally... *sigh

Yan3
Level 10
Hong Kong

Same deal here. I received a few 4-star ratings on location, and subsequently, it costed me the super host status. My apartment is a prime real estate next to a major train station and dozens of bus routes in the center of the city. Yet the guests commented that they need to make transfers on the trains to get to their destinations. If they aren't fully satisfied with the location, then why book my place in the first place? They should book a place closer to their destinations instead.