No new bookings since receiving 4 stars

[Cathy1311]

Hello, my cottage bookings have been going great all year with my 5 star booking. I get 1 review of 4 stars which lowered me to 4.97 (don’t understand the math) for a crazy reason of my location is not prefect because we’re in the middle of the forest and we have shade from trees. So the guest marked us 4 for location and 4 for value. Normally I would think 4 stars is still great and guest clearly doesn’t know cottage life. But I feel I’m being punished by Airbnb with lack of visibility on site. And no bookings…. Has anyone noticed this? 

[Shelley159]

Are you the host of the Cottage @Cathy1311 ?

I don't see a listing on your profile. Have you accidentally set it to "Unlisted", or isn't it supposed to show you as host?

If it's not on your profile, please send a link so we can help you check what's wrong.

[Cathy1311]

sorry I’m just the owner. I have a property manager that host my property. Here it is. 

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/1307221506465665971?adults=2&children=0&infants=0&pets=0&wishlist_item_i...

[Helen3]

Hi @Cathy1311 

even when using a property manager the listing should always be set up in your name with the manager added as the cohost so you have full access to financial information and guest bookings and communications 

you also need to think about what happens if you decide to not work with your property manager - you would then need to start from scratch and would lose all your ratings .

one four star bookings won't affect your bookings. Have a chat with your property manager about their suggestions for increasing bookings as they are best placed to advise you. 

[Cathy1311]

Thank you!!! Great advice. I didn’t know I could be host and have a cohost. Is it too late to do that without starting over. Can I be the cohost? And than maybe take over later…. Just too busy to be taking it on right now. 

[Helen3]

You should be the host and your property manager should be the cohost.

you would have to start again I'm afraid 

some unscrupulous cohosts and property managers do take advantage of of new owners by setting the listings under their own names rather than the owners . The only one benefiting from this is the property manager . 

they can of course add you as a cohost but this wouldn't resolve the issues mentioned in my earlier post.

[Shelley159]

Hi @Cathy1311 

I don't see any major issues. Is it perhaps mostly the season that's slowing down bookings?

Three things that may help:

1) The photos don't seem to be properly arranged in the two "bedroom" photo folders. When you do that, the listing will automatically show a photo of the actual bed in each bedroom right on your main page ("Where you'll sleep" section).

2) You could try a more flexible cancellation policy to see whether it moves you up in ranking. I tested some dates in January in your town, and you didn't rank very well for 4 guests.

3) Your price is not entirely out of line, but the listings that came up on page 1 for me almost all had lower prices. There was one that was substantially more expensive, one in line with your price, and all the rest were lower. Price is the main thing that moves you up in ranking.

I agree with @Helen3 that there may be problems down the line if you're not listed as the host and the account is controlled by someone else, especially when you decide to part ways.

[Cathy1311]

Thank you Shelley, as you can see I’m new to this. We have only been STR for a year. I appreciate your all your advice. 

I was just told I now have to pay MAT tax. It’s a 2% accommodation tax from the municipal. 😞

with fees going up. Not sure 

[Shelley159]

@Cathy1311 you can open a private mode tab in your browser and search for your listing on Airbnb. Put in the town name (or the term most of your guests will use), 4 guests and dates that you're sure you have available (remember you have a 2-night minimum) and would like to get booked soon.

Once you find your listing (for me the January dates showed about mid-way through the search results available), change some things to see how it moves you up in the raw search results. As I mentioned, lowering the price is the best way to impress the search bot. 

Just remember that these results are not what logged-in guests actually see. The results are customised for each person looking, so you'll come up higher in some searches anyway. Guests may also apply filters, zoom in on the map, etc.

[Joan2709]

@Cathy1311 

It looks like your listing location requires licensing your property as a STR, regulations regarding operating and a 2% MAT. Did you or your property manager register with Dysart, meet all the requirements for STRs (regulations) and setup payment of the MAT?

Your property manager should have notified you of all these requirements.

Municipality of Dysart - Short Term Rental Requirements

https://www.dysartetal.ca/en/municipal-government/short-term-rentals.aspx

For the MAT, sometimes Airbnb allows you to setup a custom tax (turn on Professional Hosting Tools) and they will collect the tax from the guest on every reservation and pay you as the Host (or in this case - the property manager). Then you are responsible for paying the tax to Dysart in accordance with their schedule (quarterly). 

If the tax was not collected from each guest, you (as actual Owner) will still owe the tax and any penalties/interest for late payments that Dysart imposes.

Add a Custom Tax

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2523

[Ezekiel15]

Hi @Cathy1311 ,

I hear you that situation sounds really frustrating. One review like that can feel unfair, especially when it’s clear the guest may not have understood the nature of a forest cottage experience. A 4-star review should still feel like a win, not a penalty.

Some hosts we've supported have seen a drop in visibility or bookings after similar reviews, and part of the solution often involves keeping guest response times sharp and optimizing the listing activity to signal strong engagement to Airbnb's system.

*

Best regards,
Relaytask

*[Advertising content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Helen3]

Can you please stop spamming our community by using posts from others on unrelated topics  to try and promote your 'cohosting business' @Ezekiel15 

[Joan2709 · Accepted solution]

@Cathy1311 

You have a fantastic place!

I'm afraid the listing was not setup correctly with you as owner - agree with the other posts.  With the property manager listed as owner, they can change the banking information on the listing and have total control over it. Additionally, Airbnb only knows them as the owner - not you. If you need to terminate your agreement with the property manager, you will have to create a new listing and start over. All the reviews also stay with the property manager. Additionally, Airbnb has been suspending the new listing as a "duplicate" under their Circumvention Policy and you may have difficult getting them to understand that you are the actual owner - not the property manager on the old listing. This process is AI driven and legit new listings are being suspended, even though their were no listing issues or negative reviews on the previous listing setup by the property manager:

1. You should have been setup as "Owner" on the listing

2. You then invite someone as a full access Co Host (your property manager)

3. Once they accept, you can make them "Primary Host" and they will then handle everything with the listing

4. Guests will see them as "Host" but you retain ownership of the listing and are shown as "Co Host" to guests 

Primary Host vs Owner vs Co Host

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1536

Airbnb Circumvention Policies

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3566

I would have the property manager add your name as Co Host now so you can at least monitor the listing. You can turn off notifications in your account settings if you don't want to get all the Airbnb alerts for guests messages, but at least you can monitor the listing.

Missing/Incomplete Listing

Your reviews are very good and the property manager is mentioned many times as doing an excellent job by the guests. That said, the listing could be better and  is missing information. The photos although good quality need tweaked. The listing could definitely benefit from being optimized.

Where You'll Sleep Section

As @Shelley159 mentions, there should be photos in this section - not icons. The reason the icons are there is the property manager has not added the beds to the sleeping arrangements on one of the photos for each bedroom.

Photos & Captions

Photos are probably the top factor for listing success - many guests make a booking decision on photos alone. Please....have your property manager at least put captions on the photos so guests know what they are looking at. Not just say "Kitchen" on the kitchen photos for example. Captions should tell guests what they can do, experience or enjoy on each photo. For the kitchen something like "fully stocked and equipped kitchen makes meal prep a breeze". You get the idea.

Photos - Highlight Amenities/Guest Experience

You're missing opportunities to highlight amenities in the photos. They need staging. Looks like you have a wood stove? Where is the cozy photo of the fire going in the stove? The table should be set like your guests are ready to sit down and enjoy a meal - dishes, glasses, placemats, cutlery. Where is the coffee station photos? Where is the fire pit photo (with fire going)? I would take a photo of someone's arm with coffee cup as if they are having morning coffee on the top balcony/deck. You get the idea.

Cover & Next 4 Photos

Your Cover Photo and next 4 should be your best photos and highlight the most unique amenities of the listing. I don't think the current cover photo is the best to use. Additionally, the sauna photo has no caption and looks like a shed, or some guests might think this is the house? Guests need to know this is a sauna - not a shed. I would take an interior shot of the sauna and use that instead of just a "dead" exterior shot. A caption would also be helpful "Sauna. Mountain views. Pure bliss." or something similar. If there is a view in the sauna, I would take a photo of that and use that as the one of the first 4 photos. The picture of the sign "Camp Halliburton" is not an amenity - it's a sign. Highlight one of the other great amenities here like that awesome deck! It also shows the fall colors which is perfect for this time of year. You can keep the photo of the sign, but put it lower in the photo grid. I suggest reshotting the deck photo. I would add some string lights, have the firepit going and maybe 2 glasses of wine on a small table by the firepit. Turn on ALL the lights inside/outside, open any window curtains/blinds and reshoot at twilight when you see a soft glow from the lights and firepit, but still able to see the house clearly. Deck photo of BBQ and view should have covers removed and outdoor table set like guests can just sit down and enjoy that fabulous deck. You get the idea.

Title

I would change your Title. You have 50 characters to highlight the best/unique features of the property and get guests to stop scrolling in a search. Putting "Camp Halliburton" does nothing to get a guest to stop scrolling - your waterfront, A-frame & Sauna are good features to include. Save "Camp Halliburton" for somewhere in the description text and not in your title. Keep in mind that only 32 or so characters appear in guest searches, so put your most important info first.

Mountaintop A-Frame w Sauna/Views!   - (or something similar)

Guest Safety Section Missing Info

Must climb stairs should be added (stairs mentioned several times by guests) 

Nearby water 

Potenially dangerous animal (you mentioned trash should not be left outside)

Amenities Info Missing

There is a lot of info missing in the Amenities section. It's crucial to add all the little edits Airbnb suggests as indicated by the pencil icon in this section. This is then shown to guests on the Listing Page in the amenities callout area:

Other suggestions for optimization too numerous to list here. Although the property manager seems to have alot of listings, your listing was not setup correctly, is not optimized as it should be and has missing and incomplete information. Listing completeness is one of the factors the Airbnb search algorithm takes into consideration when ranking your listing in search results. 

[Helen3]

What a fantastic comprehensive post @Joan2709 

[Joan2709]

@Helen3 

Thanks Helen! ....I know I do get a little carried away sometimes with the information 😂 

Can't help myself though when I see an excellent property that guests will love and that could be showcased much better and increase profitability for the owner.