Urban ratings vs Rural ratings

[Laura2592]

Ive been noticing something interesting and wonder what my fellow hosts think. I am looking at stays in a few different urban locations. The overall ratings of listings seem to be quite a bit lower overall than listings in a more rural location outside of the city. 4.6s, 4.7s are not uncommon for listings among the urban group. They look perfectly nice and the reviews mention things like "I had to walk up the stairs with luggage" or "kind of expensive per night" or "you can hear traffic." When reviewing these listings it seems pretty darn obvious to me that all of those things are just part of "living like a local" in that city. 

On the other hand the rural listings (and I will include mine in this pot as well) have lots of 5s and high 4.9 ratings and glowing reviews with the occasional grousing about bugs or an amenity like a dishwasher not working. 

Is it just me, or do you think guests are tougher when rating stays in a city? If so why do you think that is?

[John5097]

@Anonymous 

Some of the areas in Charleston urban area are hip. Its not nearly as big as Berlin but there are still a lot of new places opening  all the time and a lot of them don't make it a year. If a guest is young like 20 (which have been fine) and inquire how far it is from all the bars, restaurants and night life, I suggest a place downtown. I've started mentioning that the STRs are in commercial areas. I also mention that all my previous guest have been great about being back before 11 pm which usually means I don't hear back because I'm in residential neighborhood so try to keep it low key. 

One of the main issues is also gentrification. Locals all got pushed out a long time ago. People are moving here and locals are getting pushed further and further out. Most of the houses are second and third houses. As I recall Berlin is huge compared to Charleston. The downtown area is a penincilla like NYC, so its like of like a very mini NYC but with historic houses and commercial and residential zoning boundaries. Its fun though. I always enjoy going down there. I got involved with a lot of contentious local issues, writing LTE and such, that may not have been popular, and the fact is economic development has the most influence, but I seem to keep making progress. I do wish we had the public transportation like big cites and all in all the reality is the public policy is pretty regressive IMO. The city its self though has always had a lot of affortable and public housing, while the county and other adjacent cities provide none, yet always blame the city for everything.   

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592  That's funny - I've had the exact opposite observation when comparing listings in urban Berlin to those in the rural parts of eastern Germany.

One thing that's going on there is that Airbnb guests in Berlin skew pretty young and international, and tend to be pretty easygoing and happy to be here. Whereas rural stays in the region tend to be German city-dwellers, who are extremely critical of everything when traveling within their own country. I get it - some little detail that's quirky and amusing when it's foreign can easily become a cringe-inducing annoyance when it's familiar.

The other thing that's going on is that the more competitive a market is, the lower a place can be rated and still attract bookings. Before Corona, if you had an affordable listing in Manhattan or Paris or Venice, you could have a 3.7 rating and dozens of horrible reviews and still keep a 100% occupancy rate purely based on location. The average rating for listings in major tourist centers was pretty abysmal in 2019. But since the pandemic hit, now it's the outdoorsy rural spots that are really crushing it, whereas low-rated listings in urban cities under any kind of lockdown are just not attracting multiple-brain-cell guests.

For me, the bottom line is that unless a listing is truly a disaster, the ratings are more a reflection of how much of a fit the guests are for the environment than of the quality of the home. My best guests have always been in the low season, when people have infinite choice, because you know that the place they choose is the one they really want. The worst ratings come in peak season, when guests have to settle for something very different than they hoped for and can only find fault in it.

[Michelle53]

@Anonymous   The other thing that occurred to me on reading your post is that the biggest difference between an urban stay and a rural stay is the amount of time someone spends at the property. 

I think the majority of people booking a downtown location - unless it is truly a luxury space - plan to be out and about most of the time, so are mainly looking for a place to sleep and shower. 

If one is planning a trip to a rural area, it's generally less about the tourist attractions, and more about spending time at the property. 

[Anonymous]

@Michelle53  That's a really good point, and I can relate to it as a guest too. When I book a home for a city trip, I usually choose something cheap, basic, and central, based solely on the location. I've lucked out at times with some places that were truly lovely, but sadly, most of their charms went to waste because I tend to stay out as late as humanly possible. I've also had some times when the experience might have merited 2 stars if I was reviewing candidly, but the Airbnb stay wasn't the point of the trip so it wasn't a big deal.

When I have a rural stay, it's usually a base for daytime activities like hiking, rather than just hanging out on the property, but once the sun goes down I'll usually be on site. Knowing this, I choose the rural listings much more carefully - stuff like the kitchen and the seating become so much more important. I don't think I've rated my rural stays differently from my urban ones, but I know that I've been much diligent in the selection process when I've booked them.

[Sarah977]

@Michelle53  In my case, guests tend to do both- although town here isn't urban, in any sense, just a small (but ever- growing) beach town, it is now so overrun with tourists, restaurants, shops (from the ones who sell cheap Mexican souveniers to ones that sell expensive, high end stuff), art galleries, etc. that it almost has a city feel, without the cultural aspects like museums, big art galleries, concerts, and so on.

So my guests tend to go into town and the beach after or before breakfast, are out most of the day, then come back and stay quiet. The young ones might have a shower and a nap and venture back out for dinner and nightlife, the older ones tend to call it a day, and often make their own dinner here.

Often after a few days, even the younger ones have had enough of crowds, noise, sun and sand, and just spend the whole day here, reading, relaxing, and taking walks up the arroyo.

So they sort of get the best of both worlds here- hustle and bustle and a choice of hundreds of eating establishments, and many bars, with the option to be quiet in the countryside and get a good night's sleep.

[Ann72]

Love this convo @Laura2592.  From my perspective it's simple:  guests come to relax and once the rural life has worked its magic on them, they find it easier to rate something higher.  Even last year, when people worked remotely with sub-par technology, they ended up relaxed enough to give good ratings.  

Also, so many cities have put the squeeze on Airbnb.  I wonder if the available listings aren't in the best buildings?  Even without city regulations, I imagine many a top, well-maintained apartment building would forbid STR in order to keep its residents happy and secure.  No one paying many thousands a month in rent, maintenance, or mortgage wants a parade of rolling suitcases going down the hallway day after day.

[Michelle53]

@Ann72  That's certainly true in Chicago.  HOAs can ban STRs in a condo building.  Actually, entire precincts can vote to ban STRs. 

[Fred13]

   I always thought people pick places that somewhat 'compliment' their own existence and mentality, at least with a place with a destination theme. It is no wonder why our rating stays about the same, we just do not get 'wild cards'.

   For example, we have had but a few outside of being from smaller town/city suburbia. How they behave and what they expect is very similar; they are polite, friendly, appreciative, do not tend to complain about minutiae. What they do for a living does vary widely however. Their age ranges from 35-55 years old, few are outside of that age bracket.

   After being in this business  6 years, I tend to not pay much attention to ratings with less than at least 50 stays, because it is after that when ratings are 'more 'truthful and not by chance.