Hi Jennifer,
Came here to make myself feel better. And feel better that I’m not feeling this way alone. It's fascinating how our brains are wired to focus on the negative even when we have numerous positive reviews. Personally, a single bad or mediocre review can ruin my entire day, leaving me feeling distracted and unable to focus on anything else. It's especially challenging since I’m hosting rooms out of my personal home that I live in. So bad reviews really sting as I take them way to personally, which ends up consuming me so badly that it will be the only thing I’ll be thinking on that day, worst-case scenarios even the following day.
I've taken great care in creating detailed listings with important information, and I even ask potential guests to carefully consider if my listing suits their needs. Many guests appreciate this approach, but unfortunately, some negative reviews stem from guests who didn't bother reading the listing description thoroughly. I understand that not everyone pays attention to details, but it's frustrating that I get penalized for it by Airbnb.
The burnout is real, and at one point, I did not write reviews for guests to avoid instant notifications about their reviews. To add to the stress, lately, when a guest rates 3 stars or lower overall or on any of the individual topics, I receive an email from Airbnb that feels somewhat threatening, urging me to improve and review their guidelines, hold the AirBnb standard high etc. I wish that the automated email would be more supportive and encouraging for hardworking hosts like me. Airbnb's guidelines emphasize the need for accurate listing descriptions, which I have diligently followed and I don’t feel I’m being rewarded by the AirBnb for that. However, I believe Airbnb should also stress the importance of guests reading and understanding the listing details before booking, as it's not a hotel experience.
Despite telling myself that I can't make everyone happy and that guest expectations may sometimes exceed the listing description, it's challenging not to feel at the mercy of my guests. But also it works the other way around.
As anxious as I’m and a AirBnb guest myself, I've also felt stressed about potential blame for previous guests' bad behaviors from a host or just not leaving the place clean enough for their standards.
The toll that the AirBnb reviewing system has taken on my mental health is unacceptable but I also need to make the rent. I’m working on different solutions and trying to steer away from the live-in Airbnb situation as the unexpected negative reviews are just too much. I personally feel that guest are expecting way more of their stay when the host is present, like a personal butler.
Here is another rather odd that I noticed with AirBnb reviews. So extremely clean is 5 stars and clean is 4 stars. That rating is both ways to guest and host. As a host, I rate most of my guests 5 stars, as it seems ridiculous to leave them 3 stars. Vice versa, if the place I stay is overall clean, or I can tell it’s cleaned as old places don’t appear clean due to wear and tear, I leave 5 stars. It’s also unreasonable to expect from a guest to leave the place clean after they have used it. I quite frankly not even sure what the extremely clean means. It’s either clean or not. But in reality, how can a guest leave a place clean once they have used towels and the bedding, walked on floors with their shoes, touched things, used the bathroom etc. I mean if it’s extremely clean then I guess I should be good enough for the next guest as is. I hope you are getting my sarcasm in here. In my eyes according to Airbnb reviews only guests who deserve 5-star rating for cleanliness would be the guests who never show up.
