Rating System

[Liz140]

Very unhappy with the ratings system. I consistently get a 4.7 overall and rave written reviews. But I often get a 4.6 for location. I live in a beautiful area, not far from Sedona. Unfortunately, I think people are not rating me based on the beauty of where "I" am located, but rather on how convienent my location is based on their goals. 

My home and location is what it is......... it's beautiful, close to a freeway, but far enough to not hear the noise. (7min)

If this is the case, should I put up a banner that warns people NOT to stay with me if they want to get to place X or Y? 

Shouldn't my rating be based on whether or not my location was nice vs convenient? Also if convenience is the primary factor, how can many of us EVER get around that? I could never be a super host unless I live near a popular location. I do live in a very good, scenic neighborhood and my home is really nice; isn't that enough?  Being a super host should be about how guests are treated and the quality of the experience, not how close it is to, wherever....

[Farah1]

@Liz140 I completely understand. Location rating is one of the challenges for hosts. What is that exactly mean? Whether the location is safe? Whether the location is convenient? Convenient from where? Etc...

I try my best to describe my location the best that I can in my listings. I stopped using "minutes" and started using distance. Instead of 15mins to downtown, I write 7 miles from downtown. That is a fact. How long will it take to go downtown? It depends on the traffic and I cannot control that.

Communication is also a key for this location rating. If guests are willing to share/ask regarding their itinerary, I can give an advice whether my location is going to be good/not for their plan.

[Kati18]

Mentioning location by distance and not time was the number 1 thing that my host mentor told me to do.  It sets up expectations that might fail through no fault of your own.  Someone may take 10 minutes to walk 20 block while another person may take 30.  So many variables and sadly the guest is going to blame the host for being inaccurate.

[Erick37]

Hey Kati, excellent tip, thanks you

[Ange2]

@Liz140    According to Airbnb response to a host voice about location rating :   Since it’s  [location] not something you can change or control, it doesn’t impact the overall Star Rating for the listing or Superhost status."

Full answer here   https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Voice/quot-Location-quot-As-A-Guest-Review-Point/idi-p/1621...

[Farah1]

@Ange2 I recently received a lower star rating for location because of a 15mins drive to downtown apparently far and unacceptable for this guest.

Now, my overall dropped and I received the "warning" email from airbnb which is unfair. I really do not know how to be more clear about this location thing. I specifically write about 7 miles to downtown. You cannot drive 60mi/hr in the city, of course, it will not take 7 minutes. Consider traffic lights and other stuff, 15 mins is definitely not bad. I feel that I am being punished because the guest does not do the research/her homework and also do not have common sense...

[Ange2]

@Farah1   You could bring that statement, on the host voice, that location is not a factor to their attention. The link is in my other post. Let us know what they say. Would be good to know their take on it and whether it does count.  btw: I have gotten low location ratings for all sorts of crazy reasons, including one time when I said approx. 7 minutes walk to metro and the guests timed themselves – it took them 8 minutes!  Petty? Sure. And maybe they didn't know what approx. means:)   I give up on it, I can't move my house and I can't force people to read and comprehend the description, some things are just not within our control.

[Huma0]

@Ange2 I tried to respond to your comment before, but it didn't work, so having another go. Thank you for sharing this link. I had no idea that the location star rating didn't impact the overall rating or Superhost status. I wonder if that's really true.

If so, I wish Airbnb would clearly communicate these things. Not everyone is going to see that post or this one. Having a clear explanation on the Standards page would help a lot of hosts to stress less about their location ratings.

@Liz140 I have the opposite problem to you. My location is super convenient, which most guests mention in their reviews. However, location is also where I get my lowest ratings (the only one I've ever gotten 3 stars for). Why? Maybe because it is not picturesque like yours! It is urban, multi-cultural, diverse in terms of economic groups (social housing through to multi-millioin pound houses owned by celebrities) That's pretty typical of a central London neighbourhood, but a lot of guests coming for the first time expect to find Downton Abbey!

I think all we can do is to be as clear as possible, as @Farah1 suggests. Some guests are still going to have unrealistic expectations or simply not read things properly though, and their impression of any location is SO subjective.

[Farah1]

@Huma0Definitely very subjective because there's no guideline of what the "location rating" supposed to mean/based of. Until today, I still get a mix of review for my location regarding "how far it is to downtown" there are people that are in the same page as me that my location is convenient (please note that I live in a big city with traffic and not in the middle of nowhere). I used to say "about 15mins to downtown" then people are "upset" if it's not 15 minutes. 😑 I cannot control traffic. So, I changed to the FACT that it's 7 miles away from downtown. Even if the road is empty and you're the only person driving, the # of red lights you hit will affect your travel time, duh?! This is not rocket science, but it looks like some people cannot understand it.

Another thing, there's a map in the listing, any competent people should be able to see where my approximate location and where downtown is (if they're not being lazy to do their research). I even specify in MANY parts of my listing that I do NOT located at downtown and that I'm in the Greenwood neighborhood. You can easily google map that too.

Recently, there's this guest who complained about the location "the title close to downtown is deceiving, it takes at least 15 minutes to drive there".... yea, people who live in the city will laugh at you if you think 15 minutes driving is FAR. Talk to someone who live in a big city with traffic and I'm sure they'll be happy to lecture you about what's far and what's not far... lol
Some act like they're princesses that need to be in a dance party really quickly otherwise the king will be mad at them. Come on...

[Huma0]

@Farah1 what makes a good or bad location is subjective, but it seems even people's ideas of convenience is subjective.

Most of my guests think my location is very convenient and mention it in their reviews, but even some of those guests then still mark me down in this area.

I hosted a lovely American couple who seemed really delighted with their stay, so I was disappointed when they didn't give me 5 stars. In fact, they gave me 5 for every category except location, but then subsequently gave me 4 stars overall. What confused me is that they said the location was really convenient but, while not noisy, was 'lively' at all times. When I mentioned this to friends here in London, they laughed because it's really not lively by London standards. Although there are no pubs, bars and restaurants within short walking distance, none of them are on my doorstep or a few doors away, so you can't hear them from the house and there's no one hanging around outside at night.

However, this coupe lived in the middle of nowhere. They told me that there were bears coming right up to their back porch. So, I guess for them it was too 'lively'.

[Farah1]

@Huma0 exactly. People from LA might think my location is awesome, short drive to downtown. The thing that bothers me is that the review from the girl who complained about the 15mins drive affects my overall rating and I received the warning email from airbnb which is unfair. She does not only mark me down in location but also in accuracy saying that "close to downtown Seattle" should not be in the title. Excuse me, you dictate much?

She also marks me down in communication because she feels intimidated by the house rules and has all this assumption about me although I am actually a really nice person (her word). Duh! It feels that she is blaming everything on me even though I didn't really do anything wrong. She said that she could not cancel even though she feels intimidated by the house rules because I have a strict cancellation policy. Don't you read the house rules BEFORE you book the place? I did not ask you to book my place... it was your own decision.

[Huma0]

@Farah1 that all sounds pretty absurd, but I'm not all that surprised because so many people can't be bothered to read anything before they book. A lot just look at the photos and the price and that's it.

I often get questions like, "Is your place near a tube?" Doh! It's in the flipping title, i.e. "Large and lovely room in Victorian house near tube" even if you dont bother to read the rest. "Is your place near Biggy Ben?" Tempted to respond, "No, but it's only four stops from BIG Ben." Of course, I answer politely but it baffles me why people won't read the information that is already there for them in plain sight. If they can't even digest the title of a listing, what hope is there in them digesting the house rules?

I don't use Instant Book and I insist that guests confirm they've read the whole listing and agree to all of the house rules before they book. I don't care about the little box they have to check, I want them to tell me this themselves in writing. It doesn't always work, but it does help, because I can then reinforce any dos or don'ts during their stay wtih "As you might remember from the house rules..."

[Huma0]

I meant to say, although there ARE pubs, bars and restaurants in walking distance, none of them are on the doorstep.

[Ange2]

@Huma0   I did wonder.  But I have no idea how one could figure out if it's true or not. It is odd that it is still a rating, the explantion as to why makes no sense,  location means a million things to a million different people.  Is it in relation to transport, is it environment, is it good: busy, toursity; bad: off the beaten track; ...,  or vice versa.  Is it having to walk up two flights of stairs - they wished it were ground level so bad location! Is it because they didn't want to pay to be near the beach, their 5 star location. It's a mystery!

[Huma0]

@Ange2 exactly. How is it useful to other guests if they don't know what exactly it was about the location the previous guests did or didn't like?

For example, many young people will come to London hoping to stay somewhere lively, whereas the couple with the bears in their backyard found my location too lively even though it's a residential neighbourhood with very little happening late at night.