Location Woes

[Tim-and-Holly0]

We have a very nice house that guests constantly tell us is wonderful great, etc., however we are consistently given less than 5 stars for location and overall categories due to the neighborhood. I have talked with several of guests and they say they would give us 5 stars for everything if the house were not where it is. The house is not in a bad neigborhood, but the neighborhood is run down. It is even in a good location for access, seeing sites, etc. I have changed the description to indicate the area is run down and lowered the price to get a different clientele which has helped but we are in danger of losing our superhost status. How do we overcome this predicament? Thank you for your suggestions.

[Deborah0]

The problem is not your location, your house or neighborhood, the problem is with the star rating system, which does not work so well (for reasons you are giving, among others) and which is being too much emphasized.  Not everyone can offer luxury accomodations.  I think you'll be happier if  you do not pay so much attention to star ratings or Superhost and just be as clear in your listing as possible about what you offer, and do the best you can.  As hosts it is better to meet our own goals for ourselves, rather than someone else's goal for ourselves.  

By the way, Tim, you are a little funny looking - like you just popped out of a Tolkien novel. Or maybe out of a toy store? 

[Tim-and-Holly0]

Hi Deborah,

Although I completely agree with your assessment of the star rating system, unfortunately guests do not know how it really works and when choosing a house/room some weigh their decision heavily on the rating system. I have had numerous guests mention they chose our place over others with fewer stars or who were not superhosts. Therefore, losing stars and our superhost status will eventually cost us reservations. Perhaps this is an area that Airbnb can look at if attention were brought to it.

Thank you for your thoughts!

[Deborah0]

Yes, Tim, it's true -- guests don't know how the star rating system works, and sometimes, even if they are carefully instructed on how to use it, they will still not do ratings correctly, or fairly.  But what can we do about that?  I think it is unfortunately out of our hands.  We can only keep advocating for changes to this system that make it more fair, or to minimize the significance of the star ratings overall. 

[Daria1]

This is so true!! This drives me nuts - I have a great little place in Prague, Czech republic. I describe the location, access, etc and STILL we get less then 5 stars on location! It is making it impossible for us to have any chance of superhost status 😞 Wish the guests did not have this option.

[Jodi0]

Hi Tim,

Yes, I too am a bit concerned with my less than 5 star reviews on location because I lost superhost status.  My neighborhood is not as desirable as some in Portland as far as walking to nice shops and restaurants; however, I believe it is priced accordingly.  I changed the description to say that mine is "not a destination" neighborhood.   Will see how that goes.

Best of luck!  Jodi

[Carrie1]

I'm going to play devil's advocate a bit & say that I actually think the star system is mostly fair... or, if not exactly fair, at least the fairness quotient balances out in the end. For example, my neighborhood is just outside the tourist area, and right where I am isn't very pretty. So, I get points off for it not being pretty and not being in the hub of everything. The plus sides to not being in the middle of everything is that it's quiet, and that there's parking, and parking is free. But, still, for tourists, they'd rather be one block from the Liberty Bell rather than fifteen. That's fine with me, and I think it's fair.

I think the star ratings are, by their very nature, subjective. One guest might absolutely love my acommodations, while another will not. That's what reviews are - a subjective assessment based on an individual opinion. When we read restaurant reviews, we might read several to see what the consensus is.

[Russell49]

At least with restaurants, we can make this subjective opinion based on a culinary degree or background of food-at least in ideal situations...by an educated means and by standards.

With AirBnB guests the standards of judging/reviewing is just preference based and sometimes intangible falsehoods.This is often why that 1 out of 100 guest will complain about something quirky that nobody else on the planet would bat an eye over (and thus their review/rating is pushed onto you as a host and you have to be dealt with their quirkiness).

This is the distinct difference why opinions from some guests just have to be laughed at, because there is no such thing as an AirBnB connoisseur. No matter who thinks they are an expert at having what is essentially a slumber party at someone elses house-they still cannot be an expert,nor educated on this matter.

[Russell49]

We all know when it comes to reviews that the most motivated people are either the ones who were very gratified or very put off ...rarely is it someone who had an "ok" time.Sometimes you really do have to shake your head. I have gotten 3-4 stars off of some of the dumbest things ever...someone said my standard pillow is too big, someone complained that they had to drive to my place, someone said the shower is too big, someone said the bed was too soft, someone said the place didn't look like the bird'seye picture (as if they were on a **bleep** helicopter anyways-lol), etc etc....BUT the good thing is for every one of the fruit baskets I have hosted, at least a dozen or so respectable and friendly people I have met, actually engaged in great conversations.You really meet all types at AirBnB.