"LOCATION" Let's Remove It In 2019.

Rubén16
Level 10
Vermont, United States

"LOCATION" Let's Remove It In 2019.

Merriam Webster Definition of "LOCATION"
: a position or site occupied or available for occupancy or marked by some distinguishing feature
 
I know that "LOCATION" has been discussed countless times among hosts and in this community forum, however I have decided to start the conversation again because it needs to be discussed until the option is removed. There are six categories that guests can check off when reviewing a host after their visit, and they are Value= was the booking worth the price, communication= did the host communicate with you, cleanliness= was the listing clean, check in = did the check in go flawlessly, Accuracy= was the listing description accurate and then finally "LOCATION"=???.
I am a Superhost, with overall 5 star rating, over 400 views per week, and glowing reviews, I achieved all of this by working hard and implementing what the guests are going to be grading me on and that is Value, communication, cleanliness, check in, accuracy, and finally "LOCATION"??(which I can not control).
I know that some hosts listings are easy on easy off the expressway or other roads, and the hosts without effort continuously benefit with a 5 star rating on "LOCATION":. However Airbnb promotes itself as unique travel destinations around the world, so the vast majority of the listings are going to be hidden gems which are going to be off the beaten path, where travelers need to be alert to be able to arrive flawlessly to their unique booking destination. I live in Vermont U.S.A., just about all listings in my state are tucked away, where many times guests need to follow written instructions that hosts have sent and not be totally dependent on G.P.S. , And this is where the "LOCATION" problem begins, the vast majority of my guests arrive on time without any problem locating the property, however then there are the ones who do not follow my instructions and wind up lost on a dirt road. And it is these guests who give me a 1 to 3 star for "LOCATION" because they got lost, even though they were specifically told by a couple of messages to follow my directions.
You might be thinking well, "you are a Superhost with 5 star overall rating, you should not worry about your location rating" I should worry and so should you because I am sure "LOCATION" star ratings are part of Airbnb algorithm and therefore it is going to affect your standing on search results.
I am hoping that if we as hard working hosts on Airbnb can give plentiful feedback and replies on this post and issue, then hopefully in the year 2019 Airbnb will divorce itself from this long talked about "LOCATION" problem.
Finally Merriam Webster's definition of "LOCATION"  : A position or site occupied or available for occupancy or marked by some distinguishing feature.
Therefore all Airbnb listings fit this description and should be receiving an automatic 5 stars. So it is obvious that "LOCATION" star rating does not make sense from the definition of the word itself and does not belong on the star rating and should be removed in 2019.
(Thumbs up if you agree but most importantly to keep the conversation going)
Ruben
Rubén
40 Replies 40
Barry-and-Lera0
Level 10
Sarasota, FL

@Rubén16: Yes please. The LOCATION rating is the only thing that really messes with our overall rating and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it no matter how stellar the experience is for a guest AT OUR PROPERTY. We lose stars because it might not be walking distance to a particular hotel or restaurant. We lost a star because there were only four (4) restaurants within walking distance. We are located in the city so we have lost stars because "We are not on the beach." Yes...that is true. We are not on the beach. Thats fairly obvious when booking but again. We lose a star because of it.

Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

Hi @Rubén16

As much as the  “location” category is a bug bear nuisance, Lizzie one of the administrators has mentioned in other threads, that this is not used as part of the review’s - overall star rating.

 

I’ve been pinged like many other hosts on “location”. Maybe it’s the distance from the city? Maybe the guests mood? A loud car passing by or a neighbours dog... who knows! 

BUT whilst it isn’t in the overall star rating... (even though it shows as a star rating) I can be annoyed, and live with it! There are bigger battles like simplifying the whole overall review system and the technical five star rating required to keep up our superhost status! Anything less is a nightmare...

Rubén16
Level 10
Vermont, United States

I Completely dissagree, then why is also listed on HOME HIGHLIGHTS when someone clicks on the listing? "LOCATION" does affect the listings overall standings and therefore it's rating

 

HOME HIGHLIGHTS

Rubén is a Superhost · Superhosts are experienced, highly rated hosts who are committed to providing great stays for guests.
Helpful
 
Great check-in experience · 100% of recent guests gave the check-in process a 5-star rating.
Helpful
 Great location · 90% of recent guests gave the location a 5-star rating.
Helpful
 · 
Rubén

@Rubén, the location rating will not affect your Superhost status or your overall rating (unless guests choose to rate you less then 5 stars overall with only location in mind.)

"90% of recent guests gave the location a 5-star rating." is not a bad statistic and I highly doubt it is causing a ton of guests to pass on your listing. It would not deter me.

J-Renato0
Level 10
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It has already been said by the Airbnb staff (F.A.Q sessions) that locations does not affect superhost status anymore. It has also been said many times in this community.

 

I agree that location has not to do with "superhost status", since the host can not better the surrouding area or move the same listing to another place.

 

Anyway, location item is important to the potential guest. Most of the guests think that "location" is one of the most important things to consider when they are in the process of searching accommodation.

 

Being "good location" something that is somewhat relative to the guest liking, it is important that the host describes the location accurately to attract the right guest for the right location.

I personally as a guest think that location (good and adequate) is a major factor.

e.g - "Located in the city centre and in a lively area with everything around" or "House located in the suburbs where you can enjoy silence and quietness as if you were in a monastery."

 

Just my opinion.

Except what is important as far as a location to one person may not be the same to another person.

All guests are going to want a clean space.  If your space is immaculate, you should receive 5 stars.
All guests are going to want a host that communicated well. If you communicated well, 5 stars
All guests are going to want to feel the money spent was worthwhile. If your space was as advertised and clean, odds are you're going to get 5 stars.
All guests are going to want the space to be as advertised. Was your space as described?  5 stars
All guests are going to want to check in easily. Were guests able to check in easily?  5 stars

As hosts, we can control these factors if we're not getting 5 stars; clean better, communicate better, offer more amenities, little touches or or reduce prices, make sure our photos and description accurately represent our space and make sure check in goes seamlessly. We cannot control our location and there's no guarantee our guests will pay attention.  I've had two bookings that made this clear. 

One booking was "disappointed" that I wasn't closer to his daughter who he came to visit. He didn't realize I was almost an hour from her. Well, when you're looking for a booking in Fredericksburg, and your daughter lives in Gainesville and there's no direct highway route between the two... He marked me down for location. How is it MY fault that he was looking for a booking 2 counties away from where he wanted to visit?

The best one was the booking that was made thinking I was 1500 miles away. Yeah, someone booked Fredericksburg, VA when they wanted Fredericksburg, TX. 

But for some people, a good location means walking distance to shops and restaurants. For others it means close to the Interstate.  And for others it means a quiet neighborhood away from the urban madness. And as a host, we cannot control this. No matter what you do, if you're in the country, you're not going to get 5 stars for location from an urbanite.  And you're not going to get 5 stars from the guest looking for an easy stop over if you're 10 miles from the interstate. 

So it really is a meaningless category except for creating strife for hosts.  

Kara7
Level 2
Nanaimo, Canada

Hi Rubén,

Well said. I have exactly the same issues. I experience this also and it is so frustrating. AIRBNB NEEDS TO REMOVE LOCATION. I get 5 stars for everything and 4 stars for location over and over again. Brand new subdivision with specific directions for my guests and they still put it in their gps and get lost. Then they give me 4 stars.  

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Rubén16  Did you happen to read my response to this post in the Updates section?      https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Airbnb-Answers-Protecting-you-from-one-off-bad-re...

6th reply down, has received 627 thumbs up (I'm not someone who derives an ego boost from getting thumbs up- I just see it as an indication of how many other hosts agree). 

Obviously seems to have been ignored by the powers that be.

Tif1
Level 6
Borlänge, Sweden

I agree that it needs to be removed. I was recently told that a couple  didn't book because my 4 and a half stars for location as they assumed that meant that I wasn't as near to the ski resort as I had said, and that I am indeed 15 minutes away!!! (12 actually, but who is counting 😉 I only heard this because guests met them at the resort and they were discussing where they were staying and it turned out they had looked at my place, loved it but assumed because of the location stars that it wasn't accurate!   So, even if it doesn't currently affect superhost status,   it does matter. The 4 stars i got for location were in the summer period and one guest even said  that they bocked it down because it would be 'perfect' if it was in a forest location!!!   So what can I do about that?  Nada.

The location rating,  in relation to airbnb is like buying a snorkel for a fish.

The location is covered in accuracy. If that is wrong you can be sure guests will write about that !

And while we are at it , why not change the star system completely and call it something else . Air bubbles or something . It is far too similar to a hotel rating but doesn't equal hotel ratings. I believe that many guests automatically assume it is the same, which is what is causing so much grief for people

@Tif1  Yes, that's exactly the reason that using star ratings for location is so flawed. Same with Overall stars. No one can actually know why that rating was given. Someone might give me 5* s for location because they loved the fact that it was in a quiet area outside of the town center and loved the 20 minute walk to town and back, someone else might rate 4*s or even less because they aren't accustommed to or fond of walking and wished they'd booked a place closer to the center of things. It's totally subjective and the star rating not only damages hosts, it's really useless to guests.

What would be much more useful is just to have a box guests could fill in- "Please write a bit about the location". Guests DO want and need to know about the location, and I don't fault them for wanting to know how other guests felt about it. So if it was just written, a guest could read that it was "a bit of a walk" and think "Oh, that's not for me", or " Yeah, so? Walking is nice and part of my daily exercise regieme anyway". Or someone's the type who does a 5-10K run every day- they''d think someone complaining about a 20 minute flat walk was a total wus.

Overall *s- The place was okay in all star categories but the bed was horrendously uncomfortable. There's no star category for that, so the guest gives 3*s overall. How are other guests supposed to know what the problem was? They just see 3* overall and "pass". In the meantime, the host may have upgraded the bed, but that 3*s remains. Much more appropriate and helpful, for both guests and hosts, to address that in their written review.

Airbnb seems to be of the opinion that hosts want these star ratings removed for totally self-serving reasons. When , in fact, they are misleading for guests as well.

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sarah977

 

Excellent idea. The guests' perceptions of the location would be much better expressed by a description rather than a star rating and this section should be optional to fill in as we all know that the guest review process is long enough already.

Steven65
Level 10
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

I disagree. From a guests point of view, location is extremely important and in my experience, listings can be misleading, particularly from a neighbourhood, entry and external persective. For example photos of nearby (or not so nearby) attractions are provided. I do agree, however, that the question asked of the guest should be something like, "does the listing location meet your expectations = 5 stars".

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Steven65

 

Your point is that the description of the location could be inaccurate. So why can't the guest simply downrate the Accuracy category?

 

Any part of the listing could be inaccurate, but we don't have separate categories asking if there were as many bedrooms or bathrooms as described or if the kitchen access was as described. It all fits under Accuracy.

 

In any case, it hardly matters what the host writes about the location because, in my experience, the vast majority of guests never read this section.

 

Yes, location is very important to a guest experience and that is why they should take a few minutes (and that's usually all it takes) to do some basic research on the location before they book. People used to do that I believe before this age of 'entitlement' where no one can be bothered to read for more than 20-30 seconds.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Steven65

 

And to prove my point, as I was typing this, I received an enquiry from a guest that said:

 

"Hello Huma,
please, can you tell me which is the nearest tube station to your place? Is it within walking distance to your place?"

 

My location description reads:

 

"Stockwell underground station is a five-minute walk from the house..." followed by more detail on tubes and buses, including journey times to popular destinations and the airports.

 

Ok, so if a guest doesn't get as far as that, the first line of my listing description reads: 

 

"A luxurious double bedroom in a charming Victorian house, only a 5 minute walk to the underground station..."

 

Oh, alright, the guest shouldn't have to actually READ a description. So, the title of the listing is:

 

"Large and lovely room in Victorian house near tube"

 

Now, do you think this guest has read anything at all, because surely it would be quicker for him to read this than to message me and wait for a response, and how is said guest then qualified to rate me on how accurately the location was described?

 

This is not a one-off. I get many messages like this.