When Size Really Matters...

[Huma0]

I find this a bit frustrating, but it's the second time now that I've been downrated for accuracy in terms of the size of my home.

The first time was with a guest from Texas. I guess the houses there are huge. She felt that it looked much smaller than the photos (although these are verified by Airbnb and what you see in the photos is what you get). She also complained that the five minute walk to the underground station was far too strenuous.

Now it's just happened again. A very lovely guest who left a five star review still mentioned in her private feedback that the listing was inaccurate in terms of the size of the property.

I'm guessing this is a cultural issue, but my place is 2.5 times the average UK house (more than that for the average London one) and almost everyone who comes here thinks it's really large! The house is on four floors and while the bedrooms vary in size, the smallest one is still a good sized double (double four poster bed, two double wardrobes, desk, chest of drawers, bookcase and enough room to wak around all of these). The largest one is actually very big and has a four metre high ceiling. There is plenty of communal space, including good sized kitchen, dining area, living room, a bathroom the size of most double bedrooms in London (in addition to another shower room), front garden, back garden, roof terrace, big hallway the size of most people's living rooms here...

Most guests don't end up even using the whole place. The guest from Texas who complained only used her bedroom and the bathroom and never even ventured into the other areas so I'm not sure why she felt short of space!

Should I remove the references to the size of the rooms/property? Or, should I just ignore the occasional review from a guest who was disappointed by the size?

This is the bedroom the guest who just complained stayed in. I've put in two photos because the photographer couldn't get the whole room in one shot.

[Jann3]

The other thing to CYA? Mention "The room is 10' x 7'" or something like that. That way, unless they don't know what "feet" are, you are somewhat safe.

The other thing, just so you know? I'm gonna have the SAME issue here. I *know* once my studio goes up it will be complained about for size (it's 420 sq ft...) So, I am keeping it sparsley furnished in order to make it feel larger. Also keeping the walls cream color and the colors of the furniture lighter & using a quilt instead of a puffy comforter. Anything to soften the blow for someone who doesn't understand what 20' x 20' is! (heh!) Feet are still feet in UK aren't they? (grin)

[Huma0]

@Jann3, yes feet are still feet here! But, I think @Andrea9 is right that it is best to include metric as well.

[William247]

I don't think it matters what you put in the listing - some people are just going to complain.  My listing title is "The Little Yellow Cottage", and in the body of the listing I state that it is a 520 square foot studio cottage!  I had a guest from New York complain that the cottage was a little small and dinged me on accuracy.  How much clearer could it be that it is a LITTLE cottage?

[Huma0]

LOL @William247 yes you are right! My listings clearly state the house is Victorian, but some guests have complained that is is old. What were they expecting? A NEW Victorian house?!

[Ange2]

@Huma0  Some people will always fnd something to complain about, most of your guests  seem pleased with your Large and Huge rooms.  I would keep it or add Large for London and the footage - but, not sure that will make a difference to people who are intent on pointing out the faultlines between hard fact / reality and their perception. 

I have had the opposite problem, people say my room is so much larger than it appears in the images and I get dinged on inaccuracy, and I do say Huge!  Maybe huger than huge would do it.  I laughed at the "five minute walk to the underground station was far too strenuous",  I had a couple here,  I had told them it was approx. 7 minutes as per google to nearest subway (it's less than a 5 min New Yorker walk), they actually timed how long it took them  – eight exhausting minutes – and they marked me down.  Luckily, these kind of guests are few and far between for me, but it does suck because of Airbnb's lcd reaction and the many reservations it takes to cancel out lower than 5 star ratings. Now I go with I can only do my best and leave it at that.

[Huma0]

@Ange2 how weird that people mark you down for the room being too big! It really does seem that some guests are just looking for something to complain about.

I have always thought that the size my rooms and the property was a real selling point, so it seems a shame to downplay that. But yes, you are probably right that I should mention 'for London' or something similar.

Re the walking distance to the underground, previous guests have described it as anywhere betweeen 3 and 10 minutes. It takes me approximately 5 minutes at a comfortable pace and Google also estimates the walk to be 5 minutes, so that's what I put. I will add that it is 0.3 miles. As you can see, hardly a strenuous journey, especially as it's over flat ground with no hill or slopes to climb...

[Ange2]

@Huma0  It is weird, but other hosts have noticed the same down rating when a positive, something better than described or pictured, is perceived to be an inaccuracy. I don't think for the most part they are doing it to be petty, I just think they see it as honest and do not know how negatively it affects the host.  Some guests for whatever reason feel obliged to be 'honest'  as if they would be had up on perjury charges if they were not to stick to the 'letter of the law'.  I have had guests who offer information not even relevant to their stay, such as xxxxx is in the description,  it didn't bother us we had a great time but it might bother other guests!  Mostly it is those who are heavily into commenting on social media and documenting an opinion of everything they do. The new weird transparency !

[Huma0]

@Ange2 that's an interesting theory. I think you may be right. Social media certainly has a part to play.

I had a guest stay who was super nice. His review was meant to be positive and he rated everything five star, but in the review he mentioned several small 'faults' that he said didn't bother him and that he thought were kind of charming (fiddly door knobs, cats treading on everything). This really confused me, but then I remembered that he was an aspring writer, so he probably felt an urge to write something descriptive, flowery and witty. I don't think he was trying to be petty, but why mention these things if they didn't bother you (he loved the cats by the way)? Potential guests might misread this as a negative review.

[Andrea9]

@Huma0

@Branka-and-Silvia0

@Farah1

@Jann3

@Ange2

Hi, whatever happened to travellers open to cultural differences?! Or leaving your own familiar little world behind to discover a different one? Unfortunately, travel ease and reduced air rates make it easier for narrow-mindedness to travel along too  :((

Probably no remedy against such sillyess. Though you could describe it as "very large for London city"...

And remarking very nicely on any request from Texas that the room is large for European standards, esp. downtown London and repeating the measurements.

I do that now with my bed size when couples past 30 want to book my room after I had a somewhat corpulent couple from the UK mention it, haha.

One tip: not all of us are familiar with non-metric  measurements -

Not everybody will have a metric conversion table to hand, and I'd say give both sizes for easy reference:

"The room is 10' x 7' (3m x 2m)"

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Andrea9 @Huma0 

I also wander what happend to travelers... they become so critical about the accomodation like they are renting long term... or  like it is a house hounting trip while they just need a clean and safe place to sleep for a night or two.

I traveled a lot and it really didn't metter to me is it a cheap motel room or friend's house, a tent or a back seat of my car 😄 The important was to travel, to see new places and different countries and to have fun 🙂 

 It is sad when I see what they consider important and what bothers some of them ...

The best is when they complain that there is no toilet brush, cleaning supplys, toaster or something else trivial.... while there it was, but they were staying to short to even noticed it .

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Andrea9, yes it is amazing to me also what people choose to complain about.

I mentioned on another thread the guest who wanted me to put the heating on in the middle of summer because he had been for a run in the pouring rain and couldn't be bothered to put on dry clothes. When I remarked that the temperature was quite warm, he barked at me "Well, it's not where I come from!". Why would you come to London and expect Miami? I gave him an electric heater even though that's very much against my environmental beliefs, especially given that he spent his whole trip in shorts and vest tops.

My property is clearly described as Victorian and most guests chose it because they want to stay in a period, 'typically English' house. However, there are those that then expect the house to be the same as a new build, modern property and complain that a floorboard creaked or that the windows were not like the UPVC ones they have at home.

This is not quite the spirit of travel and adventure I expected from Airbnb guests! I am especially surprised at this attitude from younger guests. When I was young, I stayed in all sorts of hell holes, but some of my favourite and most memorable experiences were also the basic kind. I spent weeks on a Mexican beach sleeping in a tiny tent, taking cold showers and cooking on an open fire. It was bliss and I didn't want to leave. I'll never forget a romantic night spent in a roofless shack in Namibia, gazing at the incredible star studded sky. I spent one trip in Africa mostly sleeping on top of the truck. I was happy as Larry (as we Brits say). I loved my little $1 a night beach hut in Thailand.

Now, I know my guests are not paying $1 a night, but they are getting incredible value for London. Have they even looked at the other London listings in my price range?!! They get so much more at my place, but still find something to moan about.

[Huma0]

I would like to add something positive though.

I just had a lovely couple from Canada stay with me for a week. They were so appreciative that they were able to use the kitchen and how much money it would save them. When they needed to do laundry, they heeded my house rules and decided to use the local laundrette. Because they were so nice, I offered them the use of my washer/dryer, which is normally out of bounds for short term guests. They did one wash on the shortest cycle and then took the rest of their stuff to the laundrette so as not to take advantage of my hospitality. A recent guest had broken the lock on one of the bathroom doors. The Canadian guest saw I was struggling to fit the new one and so he just did it for me while I was out. He also sorted out a problem I was having with the shower door.

Unfortuntely, I had a problem with my broadband while they were staying. I had to wait days for the engineer to come out and in the meantime, the WiFi was erratic. It then took an entire day for the engineers to fix, during which time we had no broadband at all. My guests did not complain once.

Now, I don't know if they will leave me a five star review. If they leave me four, then that is fair enough. Things weren't perfect during their stay and they should expect good WiFi as that is stated as provided in the listing. I have sent them a partial refund for the inconvenience.

So, I don't expect perfect ratings everytime. If a guest has a genuine reason to mark me down, that is fine. It is the petty or inaccurate complaints that bug me, like the guest who said my carpets were dirty when I don't have a single carpet in the house!!

[J-Renato0]

Hello @Huma0

I used to write in my listing something like "5 minutes walking to..." - I had a problem with this.
Now I write "5 minutes walking to... or 3 blocks away..." because it is more accurate.

You have a great and big house indeed. However, If I were you, I would not use the word "huge" to describe that bedroom because it is somewhat subjective.
Moreover, although it is a big bedroom, the best qualities of the room is not only "being huge", but its decoration and style, not to say the house whole place and the interesting experience of staying in a Victorian house.
Some 4 or 5 star hotels (in the US) has considerably more space between the foot of the bed and the wall in front of it. The width of the rooms can be even twice the lengh of a queen bed.
In many situations, I think it is better to let the pictures describe the rooms by itself.  
IMO, the ones who have good taste will be interested in the bedroom with its beautiful furniture and details instead of being interested only  in the size of the room ! 

[Huma0]

@J-Renato0 thank you for the feedback.

I guess I need to stop thinking in European terms. I stay in a lot of four and five star hotels in Europe as part of my job and the rooms are rarely as large as this one. My European guests have no issue with the size of the place, but then I guess we just have less space in Europe. I have stayed in some really, really huge rooms in the USA and Asia.

I will remove 'huge' from the listing title. I am sure you are right because my smallest bedroom gets great reviews and no one complains about the size even though it is a similar price to the largest one. People sometimes describe the smaller one as 'cozy' but they always seem to do it in a genuninely positive way.

[Huma0]

PS I don't think people should compare an Airbnb to a five star hotel, especially at the price they are getting it for, but I guess some folk will still do that...