Dear Community:
I am a homestay Super-Host with 3+ years in AirBnB, always on my toes out of concern I will lose my Super-Host status through no fault of my own.
As AirBnB becomes more and more of a common name, I'm having an increasing % of Guests who use the system without knowing much about its distinctive characteristics. Whereas my initial Guests were knowledgeable about the phylosophy of AirBnB, and VERY appreciative that I opened my home to them (I live in an area with extremely high hotel/motel nightly rates); now I'm getting mostly Guests who expect the level of quality and service of a professional B&B, but at a fraction of the cost, of course!
When it comes to ratings, I am almost afraid now to ask for Reviews, because even those who seem satisfied and say "all is fine" and that they "have everything they need", may well leave a 3 or 4 star review that will ruin my average.
Case in point: I request a review from this Guest who was obviously pleased with his stay, even though I noticed in his profile that he had not left any review for anybody before. After 1 week, I receive his rating, as follows:
a) All categories 5 stars, except for one with 4 (noise -- I have no traffic, and my Rules include quiet times, BUT my cat vocalized at some point, so it was not absolute silence -- it is a listing where I say I live with kids and cats), and one with 3 (location: while convenient to him and central to Watertown + public transportation, it is not not the center of Boston.)
b) Overall rating given? 3 stars (three)!!! That's less than the average of his subcategories!
I asked the Guest for feedback, and he kindly entered into a conversation with me.
It turns out he found my listing as expected in all categories, the descriptions accurate, and the photographs clear and not at all missleading. He further said the house was very clean. Why the 3 star rating? Because I have a modest home and the room is kind ofsmall (even though I described the dimensions, etc., and I have 2 other rooms in the house bigger than that, that he did not reserve). For him a 5-star rating is what a luxury room would receive!
He apologized he was not aware of how the ratingsi n AirBnB work.
Alas, too late.
I have given up on AirBnB doing anything to clarify the Star Rating system (specially among Guests) or to increase fairness to the Hosts in this regard. AirBnB is placing most of its investment in pushing Hosts to increase the level of service offered...
What do other Hosts do to "educate" their Guests about how the Rating system works -- before it's too late and the Guest has left a Review!
Thanks!
Gina
