Reviews

[Irma370]

Hello, do you   owners have  same problems as we do,like  guests  are  very nice and they  come to spend  their  time  with us, when they are  in our place everything  is top 10, no complains ,no  regrets, many words of  gratefulness ,but  tomorrow there  is like  akward, very bad reviews and  low scores, which are  not  exact  or objective any way? It has become very periplexing , and  annoying .Thank you  in advance 🫶

[Elisa]

Hi @Irma370 😊

I'm sorry to hear about your concern, but I'm glad you brought this topic up here.

I'll mention some experienced Hosts who can give you the best advice on this:

@Guy991, @Robin4, @Frances3408 and @Dr-Jayanthi1.

Thank you in advance everyone. I look forward to hearing your ideas! 

Warm regards 🌻,

[Frances3408]

@Irma370. Hi Irma, no I dont have this problem and I dont have your lovely views so I try to make up for it in other ways by always putting myself in the guest's shoes.

However I would say that its so important to manage guest expectations before they arrive (how much personalised communication are you doing) and to always try to exceed their expectations once they get there. You do this by writing a lot more in the property description area of your listing of what is and what isnt available (use Things to note in more detail).

Clearly even the grumblers love your location and views so work on the things that you can change. How do they get their first morning coffee and/or breakfast without getting in the car? Is there some way to provide a welcome basket with a few treats to tide them over? (if you provide this then mention it) . Can they access an area of the restaurant to make a coffee or tea? Could a small fridge host complimentary milk and water (again either in rooms or restaurant area).

And try not to react to any criticisms, take it as one person's opinion and thank them for their feedback and a simple "all mattresses are near new". Maybe for them it was a quality issue. Your responses are for future guests, not the unhappy departed ones (who wont tell you) and by the time the review is posted its all in the past. You have some great reviews so remember that.

[Irma370]

O, Thank  you so  much  for your  answer,  @Frances3408 , you  are  so kind,and  yes my  communication with them is so annoying, because  I let  them  know  in a front  all that  they needed  to know.. directions, whether is paying  by cash  or card, how many beds are there, if there  is an option to eat  outof our restaurant, when I see  it  it is not  by  that . And  yes  about  those answers , one  guy  left  us  review about  old mattresses and  they are  bought  2 years  ago such as  everything  in those  ap, and I left  him response  just  like  you  would.I have one penalty  from  Airbnb, because  they  are not allow  excange  details such as: e -mail, phone number  or  location in  their extranet  inbox, and  it is so silly, so  I am  bothering  these guests  in Whatsapp , or Viber  if I find their  phone numbers.❤️

[Elisa]

Thank you very much everyone! @Robin4, @Guy991 and @Frances3408 

Your comments are so helpful and impressive. 😍

Hi, @Irma370 😊

After these replies, do you understand the situation better now?

Warm regards🌻,

[Irma370]

Thank you  @Elisa , this is the best  page I found  .

[Elisa]

Hi @Irma370 😊, 

I'm happy to hear that!

Feel free to explore and connect with Hosts in the Community Center, that's what we're here for. 😍

Warm regards,

[Robin4 · Accepted solution]

@Irma370 

Irma, the Airbnb review system is problematic for hosts, it is not like a normal review system where you have a floating average rating, with both plus and minus increments either side......'Average 3.9 * from 247 reviews'!

Airbnb's review system is more of a punishment system than a reward system, there is only 1 default rating which every host is told they should strive to achieve and that is 5 star. Anything less than 5 star means the host has some work to do to be that Airbnb default host.

Obviously Irma, this is nonsensical! Every guest has a differing idea of perfection.....to some there is no such thing as 5 star! It is that perfection that doesn't exist. Most guests just don't understand the way it works and they give reviews like this......

The host can learn absolutely nothing from a review like that, but still gets penalised for it!

And because of the way the review system is structured it is almost useless as a guide to guest or host relevance because, we all pat each other on the back and say what great people we are regardless of the actual experience to avoid getting a poor review.

We see many complaints from hosts about a guest who had 8 five star previous reviews, but turned out to be a disaster of a guest and knew how to manipulate the review system.

In your situation Irma, even your rating doesn't add up, even using Airbnb's maths!!! Your 2 Bed listing has 8 reviews of which 6 have been 5 star, one a 4 and one a 3.

Out of a possible 40 stars you have 37. Thirty seven as a percentage of forty is......... 92. Your overall rating on that listing should be 4.9!   But it is 4.6!

You have a listing which most of your guests love and have given you great reviews so, you are not doing anything wrong, and you won't influence Airbnb to change the review system so, you have to work with it.

This is my method of educating guests as to how it operates. This page is prominent in my House Rules folder, and most guests are shocked when they read it and realise that, by trying to be constructive and help the host, they were actually hurting them......

Don't get too disheartened Irma, we all have to deal with it, just concentrate on being the best host you can be, and let those great written reviews you have do the talking and don't worry about the star ratings.

Cheers........Rob.

[Guy991]

Hello @Irma370 ,

Yes, absolutely, there are guests like this, and for me, they are the most challenging guests. I can handle thieves, but not guests who deliberately don't give us a chance to provide excellent service by not sharing their issues during their stay.

Firstly, thank you, Rob @Robin4 , for sharing your experience with new and intermediate hosts. I will also take some ideas from what you've shared.

I’d like to share an example of a worthless review.

You see, Irma, for some people, home is 4 stars, and 5 stars represent an unattainable perfection that doesn’t exist.

Recently, during the reservation process I've started looking at what guests write to other hosts to better understand their nature. It’s a manual process, but searching for those reviews can reveal a lot. 

One of the ways to identify these difficult guests is through communication. Some of them will avoid communicating because they don't want to lie and say everything is good, yet they feel uncomfortable sharing their issues. So, they stop responding altogether. When this happens, you already know where the review is going, and the best thing you can do is to review the guest and give a low communication score, which clearly highlights their unwillingness to let us succeed.
For example, I once had a guest who stayed for five nights and only mentioned during check-out that there was no cutting board in the kitchen. What a shame! firstly, we had one, but they didn’t find it, and if they had just asked, we could have helped them. This is just one example of the frustrating lack of communication.

For me, and I recognize that this is personal, I don't like the idea of writing a bad review for a guest who left me a good one. This will likely change as I gain more experience, and I will stop caring about this issue. If needed, I can always remove a bad review I wrote to acknowledge the guest's good one.

[Irma370]

Dear  @Guy991  , yes it is just  like  that  ,just like you wrote, for every single issues, even if it was  kitchen  board 😆,if they found a little  spot  on the wooden floor, Omg here we go with a  review:"everything was  ok, but......that spot  and  I am givng  a low score!"

I am  laughing now,  like  there  is  2  people and  kind of guests : 1  :  they are  communal  inspection, and  came  to find any  tiny  mistake, just  to run and  write bad review, and 2: there is that  one  like psychologist  that  communicate  with  our  stuff and  taking care  about hosts  mood, like  they have that one constant  mood for  always. But, normal people that  came  to  enyoj  , and  rest ,they are  so rare. Especially, this  year.Omg 😕😕😕

I  am making  mistake , to  gave them all 5  stars,  and  I am doing that  in a front, and then  they score us like  2 or 3 , and  there  is no way, you could erase them , or your review, or edit it  ... Why  are  this pages allowing them to ruin our  business and hard  work and  investments, are not we the one who is paying  commisions !

[Guy991]

Hello @Irma370 , @Elisa 

This is a great thread, and it's reassuring to know that other hosts face similar challenges. I haven't cracked the code yet, but I'm experimenting with different strategies. Let me share what I'm currently thinking.

So far, my approach has been to keep my calendar full by lowering the nightly rate to fill gaps between reservations. However, this has attracted a different type of guest. I’ve developed a theory about pricing: there seem to be two types of guests.

The first group can afford a hotel but prefers Airbnb for the experience of staying in someone’s home. They appreciate the charm, vibe, personal touches, the smell, and the authentic feel—over the impersonal, artificial atmosphere of a hotel. Plus, they want a kitchen. While they can afford a hotel room, they’re not looking for a hotel suite. These guests seek a home, and they understand that a home isn’t perfect. It may have some dust and imperfections, but they see it as genuine and beautiful.

The second group can’t afford a hotel, so they look for an Airbnb. They spend their last cent to book the best Airbnb they can find, and in return, they expect it to be like Disneyland. But it’s not—it’s our home. And that’s where the issues start. One of these guests recently told me: "We wanted to stay in Lisbon, but it was too expensive, so we had to book places outside the city. I booked your place because it’s cheaper. But you're not in Lisbon, so that’s why I gave it 4 stars."

What I’m realizing is that my initial strategy of lowering prices to maximize bookings might not be the best approach. I plan to raise my nightly rate and focus on attracting the first type of guest, as reviews are more important to me right now.

[Irma370]

I totally  agree  with  your  response  and  classification of guests, but  this is  what happened  on some other page , Idk  if I am  allowed  to named them here , because of the rules. The owner, that I am  representing ,here, raised  prices, just  like  you do, for  the purposes to  bait the "right"  guests  to come, and  yet , we  somehow managed  to reach that guests. Their staying  was great. They approved everything, cleanless, prices, location, comfort while they  are  staying there, but in a month we got the worst review  from them, it was totally shock.They  had been changing their names on reservation like every2 hours, even if their staying was  30 days ago.They spit on us,in every possible way,not a single good word, complaining even how they could get food poisoning  at our restaurant, which is ridiculous ,tenth of  thousands of people  already had been  eaten there regularly,and  gave us such low score. They took  2  apartments, for seasonal prices ,for  3  days or more.I  wish  I  have some magical ablities to predict  this  kind  of people. 😕😊✨

[Farah148]

Hi @Guy991 . If you haven't already, consider adding the AirReview extension to your computer. It allows you to see both reviews left by hosts and those left by guests simultaneously. I've been using it for a couple of months, and it's been helpful in identifying which guests might be more challenging to host. Hope this helps!

[Guy991]

Hello @Farah148 ,

Thank you for sharing this app! I’ve installed it, and I’m glad it’s just an extension.
For now, I’ll stick with their free version. Do you recommend the paid version? Have you tried it?
Have a great weekend, 
Guy

[Farah148]

@Guy991 Awesome!  I’ve stuck with the free version too…which limits you to I think 5 views, per month, of earning details for other people’s listings.  Very interesting to see how comps around me are performing.

Have a great weekend too!

-Farah