Location Star-Ratings

[Nancy67]

A year ago, last October I wrote a scathing diatribe on the ills of allowing guests to rate  Location in a review. At the risk of another crush of emails that hosts in agreement, filled my in-box for, for months, (and another just the other day) I am still frustrated that this rating point, continues to plague, we hosts.
 
As I have stated the exact location of my property in the description a minimum of 4 times, including the subtitle of the property, I cannot make it any clearer where I am. As I  cannot "improve" my description or location of my property, and am at a disadvantage, as the guest chooses me and not the other way around-- I am reaching out once again to beg the Powers-that-Be to reconsider this as a review point. Whereas, when I have received less than 5-stars, (it's usually 4) it is inevitably from the dreaded, 1st time newbie guest, writing his/her first review,  who feels the vast weight of adnausium details, to illuminate potential, future  guests, ignoring the review of the 460 thus far, who came before them. Ironincally, I dont receive lass than 5-stars, ever for accuracy-- so explain that rationale, Airbnb...
 
Please-- I'm begging you, answer this simple question Airbnb-- WHAT are guests rating "My Location" to? Help me understand.

Afterall, It's their itinerary, and they are, choosing ME with a map of my location in front of them before booking-- This entire catagory is grossly unfair, (because there is no way to improve)  and makes the hosting experience unnecessarily stressful.

If hosts "5-star Location Rating" is so damned important, perhaps you,  <Airbnb> should start vetting hosts, properties and locations before allowing a listing to go live,  to make sure the new hosts are holding your high "Location" standard?

[Russell49]

I got a 3 star on location due to the guest having to drive...I mean, come on! I have a simple philosophy that location rating should be abolished. The guests choose their location and it is up to them to do their "due diligence" to where they wanna book and where....instead we get punished by the lack of brains from some of our guests.

[Alberto113]

I totally agree with Nancy and whoever keep pointing out the wrong rating system about  "Location". I've joined this conversation to raise one more voice and ask for improvements.
I keep receiving plenty of 5 stars but never on "Location". I've tried to improve that by adding a better description, photo, and other possible indications. Lately, I'm also sending a PDF file containing instructions to my guests with map, photos and a clear description. Lately, I've been asking my neighbors the permission to hang signages pointing at my property.
All this doesn't change that rating at all...
I've realized that I am improving the instructions to get to my house but I will never be able to improve my "Location".

Please, we all beg you, rethink that rating point.

[Kay203]

Hallelujah!! 
I could not agree more!

Most guests come and stay with us because we're relatively close to the snow fields. The closest town is a 40 minute drive from the mountain, and we are 20 minutes further on from that town. We are also 1/3 of the price of the available accommodation in that town even though the quality of ours is equal to, and often better than those. Guests clearly choose to stay with us because we are a much cheaper option, however our overall star rating is  impacted because these same guests consistantly rate us 3 and 4 stars for location.

I understand the need that guests have to "warn" others that we're a bit further away, however that factor should not be able to have an impact on my overall rating, when we are consistantly getting 5 stars for everything else, for the things in my opinion actually matter.
When I book somewhere I am responsible for knowing where that place is in relation to the things I want to do and see. If I choose to book a place that's further away for whatever reason then I souldn't be allowed to whinge about it later on.

[Sarina-and-Fiona0]

Having just received a rating of 3 for location for the first time (normally a 4 or 5), I tend to agree with those who suggest that these ratings often come from 1st time Airbnb users.....when will guests actually start reading the descriptions!!!!!!

We cannot be more descriptive about the location, the distance from the city and how long it takes to get there by car or by train (30 mins).

The less than 5* rating is more often than not, “a long way from the city”, nothing to do with the area itself!

If you want to be close to the city...then book somewhere in the city for twice the price if you like!!!

We even provide public transport cards for guests to use, with a train station less than 10 mins walk away.

Question - do any hosts out there ever question their guests when they get a low rating for location? Do you get a response?

This rating needs to go!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

If ABB wants to keep a "location" rating then they need to clarify to guests that are rating that it should be based on "how accurate was the host's information about location of the listing" not how close were you to where you wished you were. 

This is just one more example of ABB not making guests take responsibility for their decisions/actions.

I've had guests who I know were completely happy with my listing and home, I explained about how reviews work and they seemed to understand. I still got 4 stars for location....... probably because if they HAD to rate "something" down it was the fact that I am a 7~8 min walk away from the nearest subway station and it WOULD HAVE BEEN nice to be closer to the station or to their school and this is the only negative they could come up with. I've decided not to care so much about it but doesn't change the fact that it is still very frustrating. 

[Letti0]

@Sarina-and-Fiona0  Question - do any hosts out there ever question their guests when they get a low rating for location? Do you get a response?

I did ask my four guests about the 4 star for location and got no response. I state I am rural! They know this when they book, but still nail me for it. If they want to be in the dang city of San Antonio then book an apartment or condo in the city, not my house outside the city limits. I am right outside of the city limits and actually closer to SeaWorld and Lackland AFB than the city. Since those are my target places and I am literally 15-20 minutes from both I do not get it. I am 25-30 minutes from the heart of San Antonio, but I tell them this mupltiple times in my listing. I am rural! It's one of the things they must acknowledge for heaven sake. 

[Kenny109]

Same for me.. I got 2 times a 2 star review and 1 time a 3 star review for location. One of the guests was even hostile when I asked them why.. They said it is their right to rate whatever they want.. Well yeah so we just have to take whatever they think is fair? They are incapable of reading the description followed by writing **bleep** reviews just beceause they are too lazy to read?

[Jill2]

Location ratings make absolutely NO SENSE at all.  One person wants to close to crowds and a beach another looking for convenience of freeway.  And as many hosts point out they can see where the rental is located on the map if they took the tiime to look or read!  Dont get me started on the guests not reading...LOL

One persons fantastic location is another persons bad location...depends on what you are lookiingfor.  .Very very annoying!

[Larry--And-Julie0]

My issue is the same why do they give you lower stars on location but do not provide an answer as to how you are able to fix the problem. You can have great standards and great reviews yet this is the one  defines your status but no answer as to why

[Susan17]

Can we all just be clear on one thing? The location rating feature has far less to do with informing potential guests of the finer details of the host's neighbourhood, and far more to do with being a crucial tool iin Airbnb's algorithms identifying and promoting the highest-performing and most lucrative enclaves of each city/region. As such, you can be assured that it won't be going anywhere, anytime soon. 

[Kenny109]

I'm just going to share my experience as well, not that is going to change anything:

I have an AirBnb in Overijse, which is a city in Belgium 20 minutes away from Brussels. I get tons of tourists, most of them with the same goal: visit Brussels. By car 20 minutes is pretty close to get the advantage to sleep in a super green area with 0 city noises. Our house is in a street with 3 houses, surrounded by nothing but agriculture. In other words: super calm and very nice for a walk. 

Most of our guests love the area and are always saying how well they slept etc. But you always have some guests that look for a place to sleep near Brussels, take public transportation and are pissed at us for being 1 hour away from Brussels! Every time again I'm lost for words and I just feel powerless.. We have mostly 5 star reviews on all categories and about 3 reviews with either 2 or 3 stars for location. Argument: we had to travel 1 hour with public transportation to Brussels! How is it possible that these guests are surprised by that? I ALWAYS check out how to get somewhere before I book.. 

When asking feedback to 1 of our guests giving a low score I got a pretty hostile respons that they have the right to place whatever review they want to warn future guests. I assume by that they mean other guests incapable of reading the description and incapable to use a 2 min google map search. Do we have to be responsible for that kind of guests? That same guest gave me a 2 star review for checkin because they did not read the self-checkin procedure to find the key (we were not at home) and gave us a 3 star review for accuracy since according to them the house number was wrong! Again: what??? Some guests really think they are the queen of England and just throw arround wrong reviews and defending theirself as "I have the right to review like I want".. But what if it is wrong and incorrect?? We as a host (who make airbnb work btw), need to take those lies from guests and be thankfull for their "opinion"?

Just so frustrated that only guests always have the benefit of the doubt. What should I do, give guests a bad "cleanliness" score of 2 stars because they sweated in my bed? Would that be fair? No.. But pretty much the same **bleep** thing.. 

[Kenny109]

Oh maybe something to add: I contacted Airbnb support as well to ask them how I can improve on location. This is their reply: 

I understand that you are not happy with the location rating that you have received from your guest. 
The guest left the rating basis his experience. And I am truly sorry to inform you that it cannot be changed, since it is automated.

As I can check the overall rating that you have received is 5. I request you not to worry as you are doing great with your listing, and everything seems to be working fine.

Since in my opinion they completely missed the point, I replied to this:

I understand this is an "automated" process but that is completely missing my point. I'm not even asking to remove the rating. You have to understand this is a massive frustration for us as a host who are trying everything we can to keep our ratings as high as possible. We got knocked down from 4.5 stars to 4.3 stars just by 1 unfair review (it happened before and we worked our way back up to 4.5 and I was very happy about that). It is even showing as a "red" score now.. And what is the logical thing you want to do as a host: "improve". Now I want you to explain to me what we have to do to improve on this.. Well, let me reply: there is no way.. I can't rip my house out of the ground and drop it wherever my guests want it to be.. 

So it's clear this makes absolutely no sense.. But anyway, thanks for the reply..

On this they replied the following:

I totally agree with you that the guest has sent you a wrong rating for the location. And for such ratings many hosts are unhappy with guest due to such ratings. 

I totally apologize for the frustration that you are having and will share your feedback with my team.

Basically telling me I'm right and that the review from my guest is wrong. But nothing they can do about it. Proof that we just have to bend over and let guests have their way. This just feels so wrong and so disrespectfull both from guests (that don't know any better) and AirBnb (that really DO know better)..

[Robin4]

@Kenny109  @Susan17   @Nancy67  @Larry--And-Julie0 

Kenny, you won't change it no matter how much you may request it. These ratings do not have a relationship to the Overall rating. A guest can give you 2 stars in every category but still give you a 5 overall....and that is what counts, that overall.

Airbnb will always persist with these category ratings because it's all about the gathering of statistics, just as the last six steps in the guests review procedure. They want to know where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Users here on the CC forum have been on at Airbnb for years to change it but the voices have fallen on deaf ears. 

To give you an idea of how little our complaints are actually acted on......

Some hosts wish not to host guests for a day after the previous guest has left. They require a preparation time of 1 day for the next guest. Most would agree that is reasonable. Well here are the options for hosts in that situation........

It is not possible to block just a single night either before or after a reservation. The only options are to block a night both before and after or block 2 nights before or after which means the host looses a minimum of2 potential nights not one ....or stick with none.

What happens is the blocked night after the stay becomes part of the stay and a new inquiry will not only take that into account but also the blocked night before the next stay so the host effectively looses 2 days between stays! This is actually costing Airbnb business but they refuse to do anything about it!

This has been reported to Airbnb for the last 4 years plus and absolutely nothing has been done about it in all that time!

So Kenny, don't hold your breath waiting for action where the star ratings are concerned, you may be in for a long wait!

Cheers......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4  I used to be really frustrated by the 1 day blocked before and after, but I finally figured out that it doesn't work like it sounds. After a check-out, that night will be blocked, but that one day after block can then also become a one day before block for the next reservation. In other words, the one day after the first reservation is also the one day after a reservation. So you do, in fact, only end up with one night blocked between bookings. At least I think so.

[Kenny109]

@Robin4 I think I saw a post from you in a different thread about the little "poster" you made to explain how the rating system works. After seeing it I made a version just like it, but also explaining the categories that frustrate us the most (location). So I hope that will help with getting some more to the point reviews. 

The topic about blocking dates was not a concern for me. I also noticed this but it is only a "problem" when a booking ends in the weekend (since I don't work in the weekend, I can clean straight after the guest checks out and set everything up for the next one). But in those specific cases (that I want to evaluate case-by-case anyway), I just go to the calendar and de-block those dates. So I don't see the big problem in that to be honest? It would have been different if it was impossible to deblock an automated blocked "prep" day.