Let's talk about fake reviews!!

[Daniela241]

Hello, 

My name is Daniela and I've been on Airbnb for almost 3 years. I run 4 anouncments and after all this time I can say I have a lot of experience dealing with all type of situations and guests. Three of my airbnbs are located in the same city and recently I started running one in Mexico City, and oh god! it's has been a nightmare. 99% of our guests have been people from other countries, and it's imposible to please them. The apartment is located in one of the most privileged areas of the city, were rents of apartments with two bedrooms go up to 1500 USD per month (in Mexico that's excesive). Guest just complain about the most ridiculous stuff, like for example: the lights are very bright, the shower head is fixed ¿?, the stools are too high (they are adjustable btw) they even complain about having a doorman 24/7 to their service, because they'll rather have their own set of keys, two sets if possible. 

Reading through the community I've seen that there's a lot of anger regarding the reviews, because let's be honest they are UNFAIR. My last guest left me a two star review complaining about stuff that is in the pictures and specified in my announcment (for example not having furniture in the terrace, we don't have any due to the wind and horrible polution of the city). The worst part is that he didn't complain about anything during his TWO week stay, he only asked for a juice blender and it was given to him inmediately.  This comes just after my previous guest, practicaly stayed for one extra day because she felt bad, broke my sofa cama and of course left me a terrible review because I charged her $60 usd.  Now airbnb penalized me taking the anouncment down,  and they won't delete the last review . I'm just so frustrated right now, I have the lowest rating I've ever had in one of my announcments (4 stars) and I don't know what to do. The owner of the apartment (I'm just the host) want's to take it down and honestly I don't feel like dealing with these people anymore. They pay half or even more less than they will do in a hotel and they complain because you don't have every single thing they expect. I've stayed in airbnbs in a lot of places and they are all different and most of them are not fully equiped, but when using airbnb you stay at somebody elses house so you must adapt. 

I'm sorry for all my complainings I'm really frustrated. Do you have any advice on how can I boost my reviews? Of course I'll do some improvements like leave amenities and stuff like that but I feel like nobody will book an apartment with 4 stars. 

Thanks in advance,

A very frustrated host. 

[David13237]

I've found many of the insights shared here quite valuable. In my experience, one of the key factors that has worked well for me is setting a price that naturally filters out certain guests while attracting the right ones. Additionally, I make sure to include every detail about my listing upfront, no matter how specific or unconventional my rules might seem to others.  

Surprisingly, this approach has consistently drawn in a great demographic—cool, down-to-earth guests who genuinely appreciate the space. Many of them have ended up staying long-term, with some even booking for over a month.  

You might want to consider raising your price and ensuring that every detail is clearly listed in your ad. From what I’ve heard, if a guest mentions an issue in their review but it was explicitly stated in your listing, Airbnb is more likely to remove the review.  

I wish you the best of luck.