Why the lacklustre ratings? Where am I going wrong?

[Huma0]

My listings are for different rooms in my house. While I mostly get great reviews, there seems to be a marked disparity between one room and another when it comes to ratings and I don’t understand why. Any advice on what I might be doing wrong or how I could improve the ratings would be much appreciated!

So, bedroom 1 https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/14527805 currently has 83% 5 star reviews and 4.8-5 stars in every category = Superhost status met.

Whereas bedroom 2 https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/14252680 only has 69% 5 star reviews and 4.6-4.9 stars in each category = Superhost status failed!

In my opinion, bedroom 2 is the better room. It is a lot bigger, has a much bigger bed, bigger windows, masses of wardrobe space etc. It was painted more recently, so the décor is in great condition. In addition, it faces the garden rather than a busy road like the other one, so is much quieter with a significantly nicer view. There are less stairs to climb and it is closer to the bathrooms, living room, kitchen and gardens. It is warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The list goes on. Price wise, the rooms are around the same, so bedroom 2 is better value, yet it gets lower ratings for this as well.

What baffles me is that the lower ratings for bedroom 2 aren’t specifically about the room itself. Apart from cleanliness, they are lower in every category, yet the guests are getting the same level of communication, the same check in, are staying in the same location (but without the noise from the road). All the facilities they are offered in the rest of the house are exactly the same.

The only thing I can think of is that guests booking bedroom 1 come with higher expectations, perhaps expecting every inch of the house and the location to be as fancy as the room.

Otherwise, I’m at a total loss so have no idea what I can do to improve the ratings. Help!

[Linda108]

Oh my gosh, @Huma0, your listings are gorgeous!  So elegant.  I had to look at all three listings.   This is a very simplistic response to your question, but blue bedroom has 44 reviews and gold bedroom has 13 reviews.  Just thinking statistically, any rating below 5 will have greater impact with 13 reviews than with 44 reviews.  Just saying.  It took me over 30 5 star reviews in all categories to finally erase the effect of a single 4 star review for location.  

[Huma0]

@Linda108 thank you for your lovely comments.

I think you may have a point. The reason the larger room has less reviews is because I had two long term guests in there, one for three months and another for four months. They both left me five stars in every category, but those don't count for any more than guests who only stayed two nights.

I've had 4 x four star reviews for that room, so I guess I have to get at least 16 x five star ones to make up for it!

[Jann3]

I am with you @Huma0.. I would assume the bigger room would get the better reviews. Do you know if guests are discussing rates paid, etc? For instance if you charge more for the big one than the other, the ppl getting the big one may feel slighted.

On the other hand people that get the "double" room may have far less expectations - and so would review better cos they were impressed, while the people booking the big room may have far more expectations...this could be affecting their reviews.

I am aghast that anyone would drop a review for your lovely property to anything less than 5 star - and I'm saying that after I've looked at hundreds of London properties. (my sister lives in Southend-on-Sea and not in London so I cannot stay w/her when I plan a trip next year. I just wanted to wet my feet to see what London had to offer in ABB.)

[Huma0]

@Jann3 thank you also for your nice comments!

The price of the rooms is around the same, so the guests in the bigger room shouldn't feel slighted - quite the opposite!

My gut feeling is that the expectations are higher. I try to treat my guests as well as I can regardless of which room they're in, but maybe I need to regularly add extra touches like fresh flowers and a bowl of fruit in the room. I do this from time to time, but I'm not sure it's made any difference. The things they like most is the personalised note on the black board and the very comfy mattress topper, but both rooms have these.

The lowest ratings I get are on location. There is nothing I can do to change that. Some people love it because it's so convenient, whilst others are disappointed it doesn't look like the picture postcard version of London they've imagined. Maybe I could try to add more detail in my descriptions so as to lower expectations about the area.

I do strive to get five stars from every stay, but sometimes it's never going to happen. Of the 4 x four star reviews I've received for the larger room, two said everything was perfect about their stay and seemed super happy, so I was really expecting five stars from them! I think for them four stars is excellent, so I guess that's just bad luck for me.

The other two were extremely picky. One didn't like that some of my original wooden floorboards creaked (in the hallway on the floor below by the way, not the bedroom). My housemate left some Brie in the fridge and he took offence to the smell. The other one came down with a cold when he got home and blamed me. I had put the heating on earlier in the morning and given him extra bedding, but he wanted the heating on all night. He also said the floors weren't clean, when they had been thoroughly vacuumed and mopped before his arrival. In fact, they had only just dried! I can't make Victorian floors look like brand new ones no matter how much I clean them.

My conclusion is that there is no pleasing some people. BUT, perhaps I am attracting those kinds of people because the room looks so fancy.

[Huma0]

Also, I don't want to make this post all about me, me me! So, if anyone else is having similar problems, it would be interesting to hear them.

[Jann3]

This actually IS all about you, @Huma0 - but as with most of your posts, it helps other hosts too... 🙂

[Huma0]

LOL @Jann3, okay, let's talk about me!

[Kerri17]

I am really disheartened lately by my bad ratings for cleanliness. It seems that I just cant win. I provide 2 double bedrooms and a lounge and a deck for $60 per night. Great value!!!! But get marked down for cleanliness because there was a cobweb on the deck. Last rating i got marked down because there was some soap residue on the soap holder in the shower and some dust in a drawer. 

[Huma0]

Hi @Kerri17, I'm not sure what prices are like where you are, but that does seem like a bargain! My prices are very low for London, but guests still have high expectations. I don't think it's fair for them to demand the kind of stuff you get in a fancy hotel, e.g. slippers and a set of fresh towels every day, but I do think it's fair for them to expect the place to be as clean as possible, even in a budget Airbnb. So, I wouldn't have responded saying they should stay in a 5 star hotel if that's what they expected.

I'm not trying to be judgemental, because maybe your place is spotless and the guest is wrong, but they also mentioned linens not being clean enough. I also know how difficult it is to keep on top of it all, but since I started doing the cleaning myself, I have only got 5 stars for cleanliness ('professional' cleaners always miss something). While trying to keep the whole place presentable, the areas where I concentrate most of my efforst are the guest bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen surfaces.

In the bedrooms, I make sure there is not a speck of dust, not even inside drawers and cupboards. Dust is, after all, mostly dead skin cells, and who wants to sleep in a room with other people's dead skin?! Keeping on top of this is easier than it sounds. I dust surfaces, vacuum and mop before each guest arrives, but the inside of drawers etc. just need a dust from time to time.

The bathrooms are the most time consuming part, but I think this is one area where guests will really notice anything that's not clean, so all soap scum, hair or dust must go! Obviously any mould or mildew will be off putting so must be banished. Buying good products has made all of this much easier for me. Most of the standard supermarket ones are pretty useless. I would recommend Bar Keeper's Friend, an Australian product called OzKleen, different e-cloths/microfibre cloths for glass, furniture etc. If I'm in a crazy hurry, I use the foams that you just spray on, leave for 10 minutes and rinse off.

For linens and towels, I throw a scoop of an Oxi powder in every wash, plus use a stain remover spray for any visible marks. I use eco cycles on the washer, but every now and then whites get a really hot wash.

Despite all of these efforts, there will always be guests who nit-pick about the smallest things. Is a cobweb on a deck a big deal? No, not unless the deck is covered in them. I have had guests criticise my freshly vacuumed and mopped floors for being dirty. They are not dirty, they are Victorian and therefore will never look like new floors no matter how you much you clean them. I've even had a guest complain about the odours from the carpets. I don't have carpets. In these cases, what can you do?

[Huma0]

Also, you could always come and stay with me when you visit London!

[Jann3]

(already made THAT decision when I saw the big bedroom @Huma0!)

[Farah1]

@Huma0 I am having a similar issue. I have 2 rooms in the same house. The room with the queen bed tends to "attract" people who does not leave 5 stars review. One of the weirdest things is the queen room tend to get 4 stars for location, but it has the same thorough location as the other room and located in the same house. However, it is probably the same issue as @Linda108 mentioned, the queen room has less review than the other (because I did not list them at the same time), so less than 5 stars review become more obvious/give more impact.

[Huma0]

@Farah1, that's interesting to hear. I also get lower ratings for location on one listing than the other. Perhaps it is just a numbers game, because when I had a brief look at your listings, the rooms looked of a similar standard, so should surely get a similar standard of reviews.

I have a number of guests booked back to back in the larger bedroom now for the next few months so hopefully I will build up those five stars! I suppose you have your reasons for not putting your Queen room on more often?

By the way, what an odd thing for your guest to mention re you sticking to your dates and rules when it comes to cancellations. Why shouldn't you? That's what they are there for! If they have special circumstances, they should use the Extenuating Circumstances procedure. That's what that is there for!

[Farah1]

@Huma0 thank you for taking the time to take a look at my listings!

The Queen room also available at all times, it was just not on the market at the same time as the full one (I think the full one was on the market for at least a few weeks earlier while I was setting up the queen room) 🙂 that is why the full already have a bit more reviews.

That is why I am so confused! They are pretty similar (full room is slightly bigger and have bigger closet), but they are still in the same house.

That guest that you are referring to just got butthurt because I did not want to give a refund, so they somehow need to find a way to put something "negative" in their review. Though, I did not see it as a negative thing because future guests that think/hope that I do not honor my rules will know that I do. I also think that it gives a clear expectations for future guests that I always honor my promise and the listing is very transparent and accurate.

This guest's car brokedown, so he could not come on the day of check-in. He asked me to keep the room (he had 2 nights reservation). He came the next day. On the day of check-out, he asked for a refund for the 1st night. I could not comprehend how that was my responsibility. I 100% agree with you, if he thinks he has a strong enough reason, he should use the extenuating circumstances procedure, but he did not.