Should there be a Star Ratings for Guests?

[Dustin58]

Hello Fellow AirBnb hosts,

I'd like to see a star ratings system for guests. If guests can review us as hosts, why can't we review them as guests? It would be great if we could work together as a community to give feedback on who we actually want staying in our homes and properties. The existing "you can't see what a guest said until you leave your own review" system is very broken for many reasons. The star ratings for hosts are painfully important to hosts; why can't they be just as important to guests? Hosts can be suspended if your rating drops below 4 stars.

So guests have a weapon they can wield to bilk hosts out free extras, unwarranted refunds, etc. all in the fear of a bad review. But if hosts had that same weapon, it would level the playing field. We'd no longer get threats of 1 star reviews because a guest wants hundreds of dollars for minor inconveniences, because hosts could point that out in their review that guest and give them a 1 star rating in return. And no host would accept a reservation from a poorly rated guest. So guests would have to return to being reasonable again as would want to be highly rated as well. And we'd want the ability to rate guests at any time; not just in a small window after the guest checks out. We've all had guests with whom we thought everything went well, and then the guest leaves a negative review with a low start rating for things out of our control or things that are unwarranted. I'd sure want to know if that happened to a fellow host, and then I could avoid renting to that guest.  But we'd have to be able to rate that guest for any amount of time after their departure. This would make guests more reasonable and would give invaluable information to us as to who we want to allow into our homes. There are, of course, times when a guest isn't treated right, and they certainly have all the tools at their disposal to make that known. But I think we are tired of working our butts off for guests and doing everything right, and then being threatened or slammed by a low star rating review. Like the time you engaged with a guest, made their stay great, and then get a low star review because they didn't like the cleaning fee; which they knew about when they booked and agreed to. And they only made a stink about it after there was nothing that could be done; after check out. I'm sure we all have a hundred stories about guests that we did everything for, and then they stuck us with a low star review. And there is nothing we can do about as it's after the fact.

Please let us all review our guests on a 1-5 star basis at any time. And let us adjust our booking requirements to only accept guests with a certain rating. Just like guests do to us. If I was able to let everyone know about the bad guest who complains about fees after checkout, wouldn't everyone want to avoid renting to that guest? But our hands are tied thanks to Airbnb's poor executed tit for tat system where you only get a small window of time to review a guest, and can only see what someone wrote after the fact. And there is no star system for guests, so there is no way to easily sort bad guests out. I don't want your bad guest that asked for a $1000 refund because the AC wasn't set at 72 degrees on arrival, and you don't want my bad guest that left a bad review because they didn't pull up the detailed map that was sent to them and got lost using MapQuest (who uses MapQuest anymore?) Thoughts?

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  I host a private room in my home for 1 guest only. The door to the guest room does lock from the inside and out, but that is only because it opens onto an outside balcony, rather than onto a hallway or other place within the house. If it did, there is no way I'd put a lock on the outside of the bedroom door- a host would always have keys to every lock in the house anyway, so it would only give the illusion of privacy. If a guest isn't going to trust the host they are sharing a home with, just as the host has to trust the guests, then they should be booking entire places.

I do agree that a guest should have a way to lock their door from the inside, as it makes a person more relaxed that no one can open their door when they are in there, and if there are multiple rooms being rented to unrelated guests, I can see where an outside lock on the door may be warranted.

[Juan63]

You’re missing the point. First off a lock does give the guest a feeling that you care about their privacy whether it’s a false sense of security or not. Second, they have no control on who goes in and out of the house. A lock would help in that situation.

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  No, I didn't miss any point. I just have a different opinion than you do. I don't need to provide guests with a false sense of security. And FYI I have been hosting in my home for 3 years and when i've mentioned to guests that I'd never enter their space unless there was an emergency situation, which is true, they've said they weren't concerned about that-that it's my home and I should be able to access any room if I need to. I don't get paranoid guests who worry about their host or their host's friends who might come to visit stealing from them.

[Juan63]

I mean, what do you expect them to say? No, I don’t trust you? Although I believe all hosts, big and small have an equally important voice, I have had significantly more guests than you so maybe our experience is just different.

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  I would expect them to say "That's good, I feel more secure knowing that", if they were worried about anyone entering their space, rather than "Oh, for goodness sakes, it's your home, you should feel free to enter any room in your home you need to", which has been the attitude of the majority of my guests.

[Helen350]

re @Sarah977 's reply - YES! YES! YES! - Exactly! Nice guests, reasonable guests, non-entitled guests who understand they are a GUEST in someone else's private home! And considerate hosts who RESPECT privacy by their actions! - Give & take all round! - Not entitlement! 😜

@Sarah977 ( @Juan63  ) @Sandra856 

[Juan63]

If you think a guest wanting a lock on their door is entitled, wow, that’s just not kind of the hosts we are.

[Sandra856]

@Juan63 Many of my guests leave their luggage including laptops, tablets and you name it in the kitchen after check-out and pick it up later when it suits them better. I believe most of them are fully aware that I as a host put a lot of trust into them as guests when I give them the keys to my private home. I risk much more than they do. 

[Juan63]

Trust is good, that doesn't change the fact that locks on doors are expected.

[Helen350]

@Juan63 Americans seem to have over-emphasized expectations of privacy by British & European standards, (judging by attitudes here, on this post & others. One of my moaners about no bedroom lock was Canadian.)

It's enshrined in UK law that rooms do not need locks in the LANDLORD'S OWN HOME, and that the landlord has the RIGHT of access to his own bedrooms without permission from the person renting. - Obviously good landlords will be respectful & sensitive about the times they enter, & not barge in unannounced when the guests are in, but the tenant does not have the right to deny access to the landlord. In houses where the landlord is off site, the landlord does not have right of entry without prior notice. 

When I've had stays of more than one night in a UK B&B, I've always assumed the landlord may need access whilst I'm out... it's his/her house, who am I to deny access to one of his/her own rooms? UK houses are small, some b&b owners will need to keep personal belongings in the room, & may need access during the stay.... UK houses are small, so if you like to keep away from the host/other guests... do your homework re size of spaces, no. of guests... or book an entire place! - or hotel!

As @Alon1 said, if bedroom locks are important to you, then just ASK before you book! (I now have it in my house rules/other things to note, that my bedroom doors do not have locks. )

[Juan63]

Law is not an issue here so not sure why it’s even brought up. I would also find it odd that you think a host would need access to the room your staying in regardless of limited closet space. That doesn’t seem like a good reason not to have a lock.

[Helen350]

TROLLING ^!

[Alon1]

@Juan63 

Juan,

Why did you stay in a place that was bound to make you 'very uncomfortable'?

No one forced you to book such a place. Worse, you as an experienced Host know very well whether the listing advertizes lock on door or not! -- In other words, you brought this discomfort on yourself and have no one else to blame, least of all the Host!

Indeed, Guests who know they prefer locked-doors in private homes are obviously extremely foolish to book a listing which does not list this amenity. 

As I stated previously, Guests who want locked doors always enquire, and never book with me. This is a good and sensible solution for both parties. 

[Biba23]

No locks in a private home is NORMAL

In a private home you stay in a family on the same terms as the family. They respect your privacy as you respect theirs. If you wish to stay cheap and hotel-like its better look for a doormatory hostel. Not everybody is suitable for Air Bnb. Hosts are running their a** off for guests who disapoint them with bad ratings because they mistake air bnb with a hotel service

[Biba23]

I agree