My only advice for you is what has helped me, and that is to detach yourself emotionally. Easier said than done, I know, but you will get many different guests with many different needs and temperaments, sensitivities, etc. and if you don’t detach yourself, your caring, accommodating flame will burn out.
You can continue to provide the best experience possible for your guests, attend to their needs when reasonable, and evaluate their tips and suggestions and improve your property as needed. You can do this all without taking it all too personally. Believe me, I’ve run the entire gamut of emotions on this.😏
I and many others agree with your comments about the rating system. The wording Airbnb uses during the guest’s review is also responsible for the fine-tooth-combed result. I believe it says something like “Tell your host what you love about the place, and also how they can do better”. This wording highly encourages guests to “look for areas to pick apart”. The wording has changed over the years - the instruction didn’t used to be framed this way.
Another wording problem is when both the guest and the host receive automated emails that say “Your host is waiting for your review”, and “Your guest is waiting for your review”, when in neither case is it actually true. I mean, most of the time I welcome any review that is left, but it is misleading to say someone is waiting when they are not actually doing so.
Anyway, the platform is what it is, people are who they are, and we all have to apply our hospitality skills in order to remain competitive in this business. I always try to put myself in the place of a hotel clerk when responding to complaints. Hotel clerks have hundreds of people a month complaining about one thing or another, but the model hotel clerk always responds graciously and tries to pacify the guest, no matter how ludicrous the complaint is. It’s just the nature of the beast otherwise known as hospitality.
