Too Many reviews?

[Tim-And-Lita0]

Is there a way that I can get reviews to fall off?  I'm afraid that people may think my space is over used...and may not be booking.  

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/24771321?check_in=2019-12-20&check_out=2019-12-21&source_impression_id=...

[Lawrene0]

Overused? I don't think that is a thing for guests, @Tim-And-Lita0 . 

They just need to look at the calendar to see open dates. I've never heard of anyone saying, "The place has been used 170 times. Must be worn out by now."

I have 271 reviews for a space that is 6 ft by 9 ft. People keep booking it. I keep scrubbing it clean. No one seems to worry that others have used it. 

Other hosts have many hundred reviews. It just means it is popular. 

But to answer your question, no, reviews cannot be made to fall off. We would all love certain of our reviews to do that, but nope. 🙂

[Juan63]

That seems like the opposite you should be wanting. I never heard of a person not booking because of too many reviews.

[Anonymous]

@Tim-And-Lita0  When I book as a guest, I feel more comfortable with listings that have lots of reviews. That tells me that the host is experienced and committed to their job, so I feel confident that the listing is genuine and the host isn't likely to cancel or make a rookie mistake.

I've never felt that there was such a thing as "too many reviews." At least not positive ones like the ones you have for your lovely home. Too many negative reviews...well, that's another matter...

[Tim-And-Lita0]

I agree, I just haven't been getting booked..yet this was my best month last year

[Robin4]

@Tim-And-Lita0 

You know this is the lovely thing about life....everyone has a different perspective on it. While the bulk of us wear our reviews as a sort of badge of honour, Lita wants to hide hers!  Lita, you can't hide reviews, and provided their content isn't offensive, you can't get them removed. They stay with you as long as you are an Airbnb host!

Lita, I wouldn't say that 170 reviews puts you or your property in an 'over-used/exposed' situation......if there could ever be such a thing!  In fact, until I hit 200 I felt like I was a beginner, I felt like I was still swimming in the hosting 'kiddy pool'!  In fact I received a comment or two here on the CC to the effect that when  I had 1,000 reviews like xxxxxx I would be better informed to make a comment! 

In the next month I will hit 300, and I am proud of them, last thing I would want to do is hide them.

When potential guests do a property search, after looking at your photos they will next want to see the quality of your reviews to assess what past guests have thought of you. And the more of those you have, the more confident a guest will feel about what you do, and offer! But, very rarely will a guest wade through all your reviews, they might look at the first 3-4 pages and form an opinion from there. but number of reviews does give them confidence in you!

Why exactly do you think more reviews will lead potential guests to think you are over-used Lita. Do you think guests might think everything in your listing will be worn out? Do you think they might have trouble getting into such a popular listing? Or to be a bit cynical, are you looking for a hosting pat on the back here?

You don't need that Lita, you are doing a great job, you have got nice reviews, your guests think you are pretty much OK, just be happy to have this bank of reviews build up, each one will make you just that bit better as a host!

Cheers......Rob.

[Tim-And-Lita0]

Thanks Rob..I was just afraid that people might think of who her that bed it's probably been really worn out or something like that that's what I think about at hotels..

[Anonymous]

@Tim-And-Lita0 I think everyone except for the very dumbest people are aware that they aren't going to get a brand-new bed at a short term accommodation, and it doesn't take much more brainpower to work out the fact that a listing with no reviews can still have a very old, worn-out bed. I doubt that you have any competitors offering a virgin bed experience. 

A reasonably thoughtful guest can also deduce that the most recent reviews are going to be more relevant than ones from years ago, since features tend to change over time.

Try not to be too discouraged by having a slow month. It's possible that the supply of listings has grown faster than the demand in your area over time, and it's also possible that your market doesn't have a consistent year-to-year pattern of tourism. It never hurts to do a little market research and check what's currently available in your city from the guest perspective, and how you compare on pricing and amenities. 

[Robin4]

@Tim-And-Lita0 

The thing about the review system, it has a habit of being critical. If your recent guests thought your bed was worn out, you can bet they would mention it Lita. Many of my guests come to me because of my bed, they come because previous guests have said how good it is. They are fully expecting to sleep in a well used bed. But they are also expecting it to be very clean, creases ironed in the linens and the pillow cases, they are expecting that well used bed to live up to their expectations.....can you understand that.

All I can say to you is, good reviews are money in the bank, and I can't explain why your bookings have fallen away this year compared to previous years, but if you have been following posts here on the CC many US hosts seem to be having the same experience. 

It is possible that there are a couple of reasons for this, there seems to be a lack of confidence. Discretionary income could mean less money is available for the average American to travel.

There are far more Airbnb hosts than there were two years ago and competition for a booking is considerably harder than it was this time last year.

Lita, don't beat yourself up over this. all I can suggest to you is to check out your listing. Go into your listing editing page and make sure your listing settings are correct and that you are in fact still listed.

If all that checks out ok try checking with a few other Utah hosts and see what their experience has been recently with reservation numbers.

From reading your listing and reviews I can find anything you are doing wrong, I think you are like many others and are just the victim of a bad season. Don't think about giving away or hiding your hard earned gains!

Cheers......Rob

[Carlos3662]

Good post, i always wondered what people think if you have too many reviews like over 1000. I did notice when traveling not all my hosts posted a review when i did? maybe some don't care as much, not sure but i think it can be explained in comments that you have been hosting for a long time and units are kept up to date. as i grow in units i do notice it is difficult to keep up with them all and some do get away. I wonder if this upsets the infamous algorithm monster ...