Guests who never leave a five star review?

[Jane563]

A while back I was talking to a client, who has booked airbnb for the first time. She mentioned to me that she would never leave a five star review because “nothing can be that perfect.” After explaining how important reviews are to hosts, I refused to let her book my room when she visits Brighton later this year.

She went ahead with her planned trip, and sure enough gave the Host four stars. The host gave her the same rating, and in his private feedback explained that ...”No guest can be that perfect.”

She remembers saying she doesn’t give five star ratings to the host, but is very angry not to get one herself! So angry that she asked how to contact airbnb and get the rating removed! According to her, she was an “exemplary guest!”

[Sean433]

@Lydia40 

Hi Lydia, having read the reviews guest left for you, I have some suggestions. The top ones are the priority that you should focus on although all of them are important

1) You are being criticized a lot on cleanliness. If you do not clean the space yourself, it may be best to switch cleaners and train them properly. If you do clean yourself, do make sure to keep hotel standards in your head when you clean. Yes I know you are not a hotel but the cleanliness part should match the hotel standards. Often times, that criteria alone can be the difference between a 5 star and a 4 or even 3 star

Also, it seems some complained of smell. Perhaps use plug in scents and air out the house for a day when it is breezy

It also may be worth renting a carpet cleaner from home depot for $30 and clean the carpets once every 6 months or so. This will give it a new look and help the room smell great. Carpets are horrible for keeping bad smells and dust so make sure to clean it with a carpet cleaner. It takes just 1 hour every 6 months, not a big deal.

2) Have a welcome binder in the room that describes the area and suggestions on things to do locally. And ensure to have your wifi info on this book, it will alleviate them having to ask you. Wifi is one of those things, if you have it, they won't praise you for but if you don't, you will be criticized heavily on.

3) Lastly, it seems noise is an issue but with kids and a dog, you can't do much about that but the first two tips should help a lot.

[Kat84]

This what we call karma 🙂

I think the most guests, who think they are 5 star and host is never, think "I PAID for it!" And it's not enough for my hardly earned money 🙂

Anyway, how did the second host found out that this guest deserves this kind of reply? Is this a coincidence? Are you a spy :))

[Sean433]

It is very frustrating when you provide a beautiful home and the guest seems to really enjoy it but give you a 4 star. I struggle to keep my mouth closed in those moments because we naturally take it personal. We are not faceless hotels, we are homeowners who put a lot of time and effort into it and offer many things that hotels don't such as a kitchen and in some cases a backyard or balcony if you are an apartment.

I think some guests just don't understand this and see us as a hotel. Even if you provide an accommodation to what you believe a 5 star hotel offers, you will still get the random 4's. I never allow a guest who gave me less then a 5 star to re-book with me.

[Sean433]

Having thought of it, I decided to add a blurb in my house book/manual at the end to speak about reviews and to inform guests of what a 4 and 5 star rating really means. Hopefully, it does not sound to forceful.

 REVIEW SYSTEM *****

If you made it this far in our house book, I salute you! You might as well finish reading the rest of it. If you feel you have run out of things to read, we have that covered. There are novels and reading material on our shelves although they may not be as interesting or well written.

A lot of effort has gone into our guest house. We selected the furnishings and designed the bathroom and kitchen to mirror what we would like in an accommodation as travelers ourselves. We hope our selections are well received and highlighted in your reviews.  

The reviews our guests leave for us are critical to our listing. They are essential for us to remain visible in the booking platform. While we hope we provided every possible comfort to our guests, there is always a possibility that we may have missed something. If this is the case during your stay, please send me a private message so that I can address it.

On platforms such as airbnb and homeaway, any rating below a 5 is considered below standard. While a 4 star rating for a hotel is considered decent, it is considered very poor on these platforms which judges such ratings harshly.

At the end of your stay, we would highly appreciate an overall 5 star rating. If you feel we do not deserve a 5, please do not leave a review and send me a note as to how we can do better , if possible.

Thank you