Why not any Super-Guests?

[Troy9]

Or sub-title: "What's the point of hosts writing guest reviews when there's a thing called Instant Booking?"

So, AirBnb promotes and loves their Instant Booking correct?

And there are reviews for the guest, great that makes sense, but alas who cares, mediocre guests can book no problems.

For a host not to activate it could mean a drop in bookings, or atleast more management time in the (very slow) messaging area of the website.

Yes, I am aware of the feature for 'Instant Booking' to require a host review recommendation, but it seems many host reviews need subtle language and may not be strictly disapproving of the guest, but still mention a particular issue in their stay that was not a high-point.

Perhaps AirBNB can reward GREAT guests more???

We hosts (apparently) all strive to be superhosts, why not super-guests also?

As a host, we are gauged on percentage-points and star-ratings to a fine-point.

It seem for the guest ithe rating system is very blunt --thumbs-up-or-down. Why?

I know, perhaps it's the money, we are the expense --they are the customer, simple.

But surely it shouldn't be that black-and-white. Better guests are also less expensive for AirBNB to manage.

So thoughts?

[Sabine42]

what a great idea, big thumbs up from me!

[Crustt0]

Mmmm..... not sure all hosts aspire to be superhosts, many just do the best they can at providing exelent service and get on with the job, striving to a superhost often ends in tears or being backed into situations with guests that you normally would not put up with to keep the super host status.

When I see super host, I smell fear 🙂 

[Troy9]

Fair point. At the same time, one doesn't want to go 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

To float on AirBNB hosts have to still put in some effort.

Currently it seems a little lop-sided.

[Peter156]

Thumbs up for me also.

[Bee-and-Rog0]

Yep, great idea Troy. I like the idea.

[Helga0]

@Troy9, what do you mean in the end? Seing the average stars, which could be very misleading for a long time, if a guest travels only once or twice a year and has a host in the beginning, with whom he has no common grounds? 

Or even setting the IB feature to a star percentage? Superguests with 80 % 5star reviews can book or 50% 5 star reviews? Or a real average between 1 and 5 stars and they need 4 stars? The possibilities are endless, but from a business viewpoint, given that hosts may rate as abritrarily as guests and that guests get less reviews, they all would produce frustrated guests. 

Most people who try to book but can't, don't understand that their profile does not correspond to the IB conditions and may not find a way to make a request, but give up. 

It's a frequent request to see the guest stars, I'd like to as well. But thinking about it, there is another argument against it: airbnb became a society phenomen and they sure aspire to have global coverage. For some people, it may be bad enough to have a bad review on the profile, which can be found, when you google with first name, city and maybe other information relations may have. 

A bad review could still be explained, but if there are stars, they look so objective. This could ruin a person's job chances or impact their private life. 

People may be ashamed and delete th account or bring a lawsuit for emotional damage. 

And as hosts, many of us have had dire times, where a booking by a 3 star guest still pays the electricity bill. 

[Troy9]

I don't know what you mean "in the end?" did it mention something?

Mis-leading Star-rating?? -- Well without it (like ABB does w/ hosts) until their numbers are up.

Frustrated Guests?? --Well tecnically an AirBNB host could only host 5 people a term and miss out on qualifiying for the super-host status, so, swings-and-round-a-bouts / that's the way the cookie crumbes.

Guests giving up etc: Again, it would be up to ABB to inform them (very easy to do) that they don't qualify for this place because of the hosts settings. Currently like requiring Govt IDs if you tick-box that option. 

Impacting their Private life etc: I am not actually advocating that ABB make star-rating or even a percentage factor visible to public/hosts. Only that Guest can become super-guests, if they get enough ratings from hosts. 

Emotional Damage: All hosts are human beings, correct?? I don't think any hosts are currently suffering emotional damage???

Finally, I don't think you understand. I am not proposing as host exlude anyone if it's not their own choice.

[Annette33]

@Troy9 ,  oh what an interesting idea! your logic is very convincing. I just don't see the ratings system going anywhere: As you pointed out, I also don't think Airbnb is terribly interested in guest reviews - they are the ones to put the money on the table, so in case of doubt, they will always be the ones catered to, not us hosts.

And a lot if hosts bite their tongues and leave a favorable review for a guest- even when they complain about that guest here. So it's not worth much, anyways.
Same the other way around : almost all hosts have a LOT of those coveted 5 star reviews. How can that be, really? a lot if fake praise going on here - and I don't think Airbnb cares, it's just a way to keep hosts in line, and make them hungry for that super host status. Some hosts obviously take pride in it, I personally don't care, it's just a gimmick which fell into my lap.
On the long run, the more Airbnb is morphing into a regular booking site, host reviews of guests will slowly but surely get phased out - leave it to Airbnb to cleverly get there.....
.

[Troy9]

Absolutely, I agree with many of your points Annette and Curtis.
AirBNB (Like eBay perhaps) has Host/Seller rating skewed to the extreme. 

Perhaps this.

Being a Super-Guest, one should pay less fees/commission to AirBNB.

- That way, there is a goal for guests to be co-operative, it costs them less

- Less overhead for AirBNB to deal with disputes/legal issues with hosts/guests.

- More trust with hosts/guests.

[Annette33]

@Troy9 , I like that idea! But it all hinges on honest feedback/reviews, and that's just not there. I have seen some hosts being able to get rid of less favorable reviews, and hosts hardly ever publicly voice their discontent with a guest.

[Troy9]

And that's part of the problem.

And as a result the really good guests have a slightly faded review, because as a host you really cannot say anything anymore nice.

[Melanie58]

I wouldn't want "super guests" to get a discount because I couldn't afford a discount in my rate. Arguably, hosts can also achieve super-guests by restricting activities in their properties, i.e. simply not allowing behaviors that are most annoying/costly, or developing a more specific description of the environment that would attract the super-est people. (The profile for a super guest for some would be a guest that is traveling solo, very quiet, and not around much. The profile for a super-guest for me is a family traveling in the summer that provides my rowdy family with instant play pals, or someone that is going to arrive late and leave early.) When I first started Airbnb my profile was really limited and generic and I was getting some strange requests. Now I require that local bookings not use instant book, parties larger than four not use instant book, etc. It has turned into a novella. These changes are all based on experiences that just didn't work for us. The great majority of our guests are super guests, but for the one or two who weren't I wish there was some kind of host smite stick like a lifeline we could use once a year to protect other hosts from the pain 🙂 But logically that isn't a realistic idea. Like it or not, it is probably better for business for guests to be able to use Airbnb without fear of being publicly flogged. 

[Troy9]

As a host, I wouldn't avocate you/us incur their (the super-guests) discounted rate.

Simply that the commission AirBNB takes in be reduced a little for the super-guest.

This (hopefully) would provide a bit of an insentive.

If not a discounted rate, howabout entry into a competition at the end of the year for a holiday etc.

I am thinking of incentives for super-guests rather than simply the fear-factor of a bad review.

But that's a fair point. Every host has a different idea of their own perfect/ideal guest.

Cheers

[Bee-and-Rog0]

Apologies for going off-topic here - can anyone explain what the "Levels" are here? Troy is a Level 3. We're Level 2. Can't find anything in Air's "Help" (chuckle) pages.

Back on topic - some interesting perspectives coming through. This is why communication is such an amazing thing! xxx