We have had a rash of guests either give us 4★ overall or not leave a review. Our review percentage is now down to 80%. I hadn't bothered checking my progress for a while but I think I had roughly 90% of my guests leave me reviews previously.My husband always asks our guests to review - his wording is "it helps us & it helps you."
After being guests ourselves on a NZ holiday I think I know the reason for the change.
We stayed at four different Airbnbs, each for one night only.
Here is what came up when it was time to write my reviews..
"How was stay?"
Stars now have an explanation - & 4★ "good" will look good to most guests. No explanation that aything under 5★ will hurt a host.
Next "was anything extra special" this is where the "sparking clean" & "extra touches" comes from on our listing page. These are little emoticons - checking them the work of a minute.
Next is where it gets a bit loaded. "How did stay at ****'s compare with your expectations." The final one technically met my expectations as this is a very well known Airbnb but surely that isn't as good as "exceeded my expectations." so I checked thatinstead.
"Then private note."
Then individual star ratings (this is a long way from the overall rating)
The first 2 Airbnbs had "tell us more about ****'s place which was a 3 page (!) optional checklist of what was offered at each Airbnb.
Then finally the most important thing - the review.
The final 2 Airbnbs had the checklist afterwards. I didn't bother filling out for them. I'm on holiday after all.
Then an offer to get $30 off next trip.
Airbnb, this may be fine for guests that are just going to one place but not for travellers using muliple Airbnbs. I was actually relieved when I used other accommodation options, so I didn't have to go through all this!