Why am I not a Guest Favorite?

[Ryan3422]

I read on Reddit that the Guest Favorite badge only applies to properties that got 5 stars overall and 5 stars in cleanliness on their last 5 reviews.  This is nowhere in the "articles" / robotic responses support will send you, or from support over the phone.  This means if you are a Superhost that got a 4 star in cleanliness over the last five reviews (which can take a year for some people to accumulate), then you won't be a Guest Favorite.  They also removed the Superhost filter for guests to search for, and replaced it with a NICE BIG WELCOMING GUEST FAVORITE filter instead.  So, for all you hard-working 5 star overall with dazzling reviews Superhosts that got a 4 star in cleanliness on one of your last five reviews, then you are lumped in with the one star hosts and are essentially un-filterable when a guest searches.  Welcome to the graveyard.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/605669673879860817?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=c7895f3f-9196...

I guess my reviews aren't good enough to be a Guest Favorite.  Thank you Airbnb, for crushing my views and wrecking my chances for any possible stays right before the slow season starts.

[Helen3]

As you know Reddit is full of misinformation and this is no exception @Ryan3422 

glad you've been given the correct information on this helpful community.

[Ryan3422]

@Helen3this info has been confirmed, and the Airbnb host subreddit is a better place to connect with hosts and get real info than this censored board is.  Misinformation is literally on any platform you could possibly check these days so feel free to cite your sources.  I did, and Airbnb took it down.

[Helen3]

Sorry you are not correct you stated  Reddit said you need all five star reviews to be featured as a guest favourite this is not correct as you can see for the clarification given above @Ryan3422 

I'm not sure why you feel the need to be so rude to your fellow hosts . 

[Ryan3422]

@Helen3 You should go back and read what I wrote.  I said you need 5 stars overall and 5 stars on cleanliness on your last 5 reviews - not all 5 star reviews.  Not sure what clarification you are talking about, but below is verbatim from the article written by Airbnb, which does not mention that anywhere.

• At least five reviews from guests
• Excellent reviews and ratings above 4.9 stars on average
• High marks from guest reviews for check-in, cleanliness, accuracy, Host communication, location and value
• Superb record of reliability, with Host cancellations and quality-related customer service issues of 1% on average

What me and many other hosts are experiencing is that we meet (or exceed) the criteria listed by Airbnb to achieve the Guest Favorite badge, but it is not being applied.  I have been told in writing by multiple support ambassadors that I do qualify, and they are not sure why the badge is not being applied.  For now, they are saying it's a phased release and the badge will eventually be applied. 

I host on a lake with only 8 other listings on the entire lake.  6 other properties have gotten the badge, leaving me two other listings without the badge.  All 6 listings that have gotten the badge have lower ratings and scores than my listing does.  With the superhost filter now being removed, and the guest favorite filter taking its place, all a guest has to do is click the enticing guest favorite button when applying search filters (I would if I were searching for a place to stay), and my listing becomes invisible.  This is also happening as we enter slow season, when every view I don't get is money being taken out of my (and Airbnb's) pocket.  

I'm not trying to be rude, but you are the one picking the side of this battle that is not supporting your fellow hosts.  My beef is with Airbnb, not you.

[John5097]

@Ryan3422 

Your listing says you are a Super Host and have a 5.0 overall rating, so it seems you are on the right track that it may be a 4 star in the sub category. 

I agree the timing would be very difficult entering the slow season. You also don't have any upcoming reservations so no chance to pull that back up. 

You also have amazing reviews where your guest are saying its the best one they have ever stayed. 

While I understand the most recent reviews should be more relevant, a single four star in the overall or sub category shouldn't have too much weight. 

For example I had a single 4 star review in 330 reviews. Clearly this was an outlier. I hadn't had a single 4 star in any sub category in  over a year, but I went from the being featured at the top of page one to the bottom of page 10. Thankfully I'm usually always booked so the next 10 reviews were all 5 stars, but it is so competitive in my area, and it also happened to be at the start of the slow season. I also don't get bookings on short notice like I used to. 

Anyway I think you have valid concerns.

Airbnb should consider that 1% of guest are going to leave an inaccurate review because they didn't get to check in early, didn't read the listing, or just don't understand how it works, and think the sub categories are feed back to Airbnb. In 345 reviews 3 have given me a 4 in cleanliness, without any reason. Almost every guest comments on how clean it is. Location is my lowest yet every guest that leaves a 4 star raves about the location. 

I think your only option may be to make some adjustments on your end if you aren't getting bookings or page views. 

ETA: If potential guest read your reviews they will book regardless of Super Host or Guest Favorite.  SH or GF would help enhance a listing; the most important upgrade is that guest can now see how each guest star rating, like Amazon. I dont think they will even notice SH or GF badge. Guest will be very perceptive and dismiss any marketing hype. Just because a celerity or an Airbnb executive deciides to open their home or guest house for a single night to handpicked guest for marketing hype issn't the same as host who have hundreds of guest per year.  

[Cody265]

Clean better. Problem solved.

[Ryan368]

Don't get me wrong, buddy. But you've got 38 reviews total. You're going to find out really soon that there are people out there who you just can't please. 

[Cody265]

So what, it all averages out. For one thing, it doesn't work the way the OP said it does. But even if it did, you may lose the status temporarily when you get a bad review but if you are consistently doing a good job you'd soon get it back.

[Debra300]

@Cody265,

Guest Favorites listings are given higher priority in search results.  This means if a listing loses GF status it may be more difficult to acquire the number of reservations and reviews to regain the designation because the listing may get buried in the results pages.  This can be quite detrimental for some hosts and their businesses because some listings get only a couple of bookings a year, especially if they cater to long-term stays.

You are very fortunate to not yet host a guest that has imagined or unreasonable expectations.  I once had a guest mark our place down because she said there were too many hills on the island.  

[Cody265]

I have had unreasonable guests, but again the system does not work as the OP described. If the issue is just not getting very many reviews in a year, they may need to address that with other strategies, but whether it's SH or GF the same "problem" will exist where just a couple of bad reviews can tank the average. Though, I don't really see that as a problem so much as just the nature of the game for any business dealing in lower volume where every transaction is higher stakes.

[Ryan3422]

@Cody265 The "problem" is that although I deal in lower volume, I don't have any bad reviews that have tanked my average.  I'm still over a 4.9 in all categories and a 5 overall.  The nature of the game is AirBnb is just ignoring this issue and leaving a handful of qualified hosts out to dry with no explanation.  

You really went through every comment on here and provided no useful information, just best guesses and arguments.  

#DoBetterCody

[Cody265]

Why do you think you should be ranked equally with those who who work hard to meet ths high "guest favorite" standard. I work very hard to maintain these standards, and I'm very glad Airbnb has begun to recognize that. Most guests leave 5 stars by default, but only the best hosts can earn that rating from the more discerning guests. Do better if you want to be a guest favorite.

[Ryan368]

Because this filter is entirely at the mercy of subjective standards which you personally will soon find out. If you think that you won't come across that guest who cannot be pleased, you simply have not been doing this long enough. You will have your run ins with people who will leave you a 4 star review because a lightbulb burned out during their stay or because the batteries in the remote went out, etc. Or, even because the weather wasn't good on their vacation. 

Superhost filtering was far superior because it looked at the bigger picture over a larger set of data. 

If they wanted to raise the bar for superhost, that would have been fine. This new guest favorite system is trash. It basically punished the host for having one guest who may have just been an unreasonable person. If you host for any considerable length of time, you will absolutely run into these people. 

[Cody265]

Except that's not how the system works at all.

[Helen3]

It's incredibly patronising and rude  to tell other hosts 'do better ' to qualify for guest favourites when many are SH who have to pass higher standards @Cody265 

Guest favourites very much favour newer hosts like yourself .

For example last year I had a host staying who gave me four stars - my only four star in the last three years because of a) my location - her daughter lived two roads away and she'd visited the area many times and knew my road well  - she didn't like that bins were out as it was bin collection day b) check in - because I couldn't accommodate her request for an 11 am check in. She was able to go to her daughter on arrival so it made no difference . I offered to let her cancel penalty free if she wasn't happy but she insisted in staying and marked me down

had that happened recently I wouldn't have got guest favourite even though I have hundreds more five star reviews then you have .

in your expert view - what would you have expected me to 'do better)

you will find many guests irrational when it comes to ratings often marking hosts down because they haven't bothered to read a listing