Discrimination

[Christine2521]

I had a recent guest who rated me 5/5 on everything individually, but gave me a 4/5 as a whole because they wanted TYbee Island to be Hilton Head. This is actually written in the private review. If it were public a future guest would know it’s not my unit they were rating. They chose Tybee because it’s affordable and drove 3 hours round trip daily because the activities they wanted were in SC not GA. They wanted fancy shops and restaurants and chose an island that doesn’t offer either unless you drive into Savannah, GA. 
The guest didn’t like the island they chose but wrote I was a great host and the property had everything they wanted. They wrote specifically they gave me 4/5 because they wished Tybee was more like Hilton Head. 
By this logic I should rate any guest from a home city, state or country I don’t like poorly.  this is a form of DISCRIMINATION.

This isn’t right. The guest chose Tybee and didn’t like Tybee. A guest should have a way to review a city without it affecting a host, as a host cannot change a city. This isn’t constructive feedback any host could work with or change. 

[Anonymous]

@Christine2521   There have been very lengthy discussions here on the Location Rating, and the consensus among most hosts - myself included - is that an arbitrary star rating for "location" is neither helpful to guests nor useful as feedback to hosts.  Put "location rating" in the search bar, you'll see some threads with hundreds of replies along these lines.

But starting a thread by proclaiming yourself a victim of "discrimination" (over a positive review, no less) is probably not the most effective way to promote an allegedly constructive suggestion.

[Christine2521]

Many thanks for your tips and advice. As I said I have never used the forum before. I have called to have this thread removed to eliminate further confusion in wording. 

I may have used the wrong word in the label of this, if so I apologize. 

However, I cannot judge someone on where they are from as I feel it is wrong.  It doesn’t matter if the other location has the same race or religion, it still feels discriminatory to judge someone for which side of the tracks they live on. This is my belief and opinion and no one else has to agree. I live by a strong moral compass and don’t judge others for where they are from, who they love or what they look like. The world would be a nicer place if more thought this way. 

[Anonymous]

@Christine2521   I know how it feels to take a less-than-perfect review or rating personally, I think we all do. But there is no reason to take the fact that someone didn't happen to like your neighborhood as a judgment of you as a person. In the public review, this guest had only nice things to say about you and your home, but evidently she was disappointed by her vacation experience in general. This is part of the problem with the rating system - the guest is asked to think subjectively about their overall experience, and maybe they picked the wrong destination for their wishes, or they got bad weather, or they got pickpocketed on the subway or came down with gastroenteritis...none of these things are the Airbnb host's fault but they can still influence the way they rate their experience.

If you got feedback about something within your control, it's worth taking that on board. But I hope you can try not to lose heart over one imperfect rating out of hundreds. For what it's worth, the ultra-luxurious SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, rated in one study as the best hotel in the world, currently has an average of 4.5 stars on Google reviews. The Four Seasons in Manhattan has a 4.6 .  

[Christine2521]

Thank you for your kind reassuring words. 

[Lisa723]

@Christine2521 I once got a four-star review because the guest was frustrated with city traffic and construction in the general metropolitan area, while our place is well outside the urban area, at the end of a dead-end rural lane. You just have to laugh and move on, IMHO.

[Christine2521]

I am laughing out loud. Thank you for sharing your experiences.