Reviews?

[Jessica454]

Hi. We are new to Air BnB and we want to try and get our reviews up to help our listing. We are planning to rent directly to some friends and curious if there is a way for us to be reviewed if it isn't booked directly through Air BnB? Or could we charge them a minimum fee (like $1 or $5) on the listing in order to get a review posted? Not sure if this is possible or not but we wanted to rent to a few friends first in order to get everything right and work out any kinks before opening up to anyone and everyone. And we were hoping they could give us a review since it's a new listing. Any tips would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[Natasha-And-Dale0]

I'm pretty certain that a guest must book, pay, and complete a stay through airbnb to be able to give a review. There is no reason your friends can't do this...i personally know a few of my returning paying guests. Have them do a booking inquiry and give them a special offer...there may be a minimum but I think its around 15. They will have to pay the airbnb fee of course. It's a great idea to practice on friends and family...especially if they ham it up with odd requests for you to manage.

[Cathy172]

@Jessica454 Hi There! Everyone starts with zero reviews and, for all our fuss and focus on reviews, you're going to book that place anyway and pretty soon the reviews will stack up. If the place is priced appropriately and shoppers see you are new they will understand why there are no review yet. NO review is way better than many lackluster reviews. Anyone out there have a problem with this?