AirBNB should I write a review?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an AirBNB host and here is the reality. We aren't professionals in the hospitality business. We aren't a big business with 3 maids on staff. Of a maid doesn't show or misses something the guest will discover it before we do!

With that in mind - all of these are forgivable. Agreed that you should have gotten your cleaning fee or part of it back.

The host needs to get an ozone machine for smoke smells when that happens.

If the place wasn't grossly misrepresented it doesn't warrant a super negative review.

You are charging people money to stay in your property. That makes you part of the professional hospitality business. If your attitude is that you don't care if guests discover dirty dishes, then you need to get out of the business.

[Anonymous]

Different Airbnb host here --

OP, you should write the review. Factually, and including how the host responded to your concerns. The host will likely write a public response to your review that indicates what they have done to prevent these problems from happening in the future.

And this is why I clean my properties myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is exactly why the reviews cannot really be trusted. Because the guest has a self interest in not giving any negative ones. Unlike a hotel situation where if it is great you say so and if it sucked you say that.

Exactly.

We recently went to a place that had great reviews. But we got there and it was very different. So, I left an honest review but was kind about it. I think future travelers need to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in the same boat OP. I’m not going to put anything negative in the review. I tell you what though, I will read the reviews carefully and ask questions and look closely at the pictures next time I rent.

Also I will check VRBO (owned by Expedia) and other local rental sites. Airbnb isn’t the only rentals platform.

Anyone trying to evaulate an AirBnb based on reviews should also make sure the prior reviewers appear real:

To decide for yourself if prior reviews aren't fake, click on the prior review face/ icon and look for possible fake profile/ fake review tell tale signs:

1)Most of the prior guests have been a member since 2012 or something, but in those 9 years they have only stayed at 1 PLACE: your host's AirBnB

2) Reverse image search of the " guest profile" shows its a stock image from Linkedin assigned to a person with a different name in another part of the world

3) multiple reviews from same city and MOST of the reviewers are HOSTS themselves ( 40 reviews of them as a HOST and only 1 REVIEW of them as a guest AND THIS one review is at THE property you are looking at

4) Reverse Image search of the photos of the AirBnB lead back to stock photos from a online furniture catalogue

IME, VRBO is worse than AirBnB. One issue that they rely on credit card companies to refund deposits when outright fraud is committed. They may take the listing down, but as far as I can tell, neither site monitors whether the same properties are being delisted and relisted under a new name when they get caught using shady practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an AirBNB host and here is the reality. We aren't professionals in the hospitality business. We aren't a big business with 3 maids on staff. Of a maid doesn't show or misses something the guest will discover it before we do!

With that in mind - all of these are forgivable. Agreed that you should have gotten your cleaning fee or part of it back.

The host needs to get an ozone machine for smoke smells when that happens.

If the place wasn't grossly misrepresented it doesn't warrant a super negative review.

I disagree. I've been staying in airBnB's for at least 8 years and stayed in many all around the US. Good hosts either clean themselves or they check the property after the cleaning crew visits, before new guests arrive, or they speak directly to the cleaning crew. A host who hires a cleaning crew, doesn't speak to them and doesn't check the property after the crew to make sure the place is ready, is not a good host. You are responsible for the condition of the property and making sure that the place is ready for check-in. If you are delegating the responsibility, you are still responsible. If the place is not cleaned, then you either need to get the crew back over to the place, or go yourself to do basic cleaning. If you don't do any of these things, then you deserve a factually based bad review.

A review from OP that said that the place was nice, but had not been cleaned with dirty dishes put back into the cupboards and the smell of smoke in what was supposed to be a smoke-free rental, is an appropriate review. It tells potential renters that the owner did not take the basic responsibility to ensure that the place was ready to be rented. It deserves to be a public response that other renters can see. And you, as the owner, can respond to say that you have cancelled the cleaning contract to hire a different team, or you have worked with the hired cleaning crew to ensure that this doesn't happen again, or whatever the appropriate response is. Future renters have a right to see that there was an issue and what amends you have made and decide whether that is sufficient for them to trust the host to have fixed the issue.

I have found that superhosts have not had such issues. All of the superhosts I have rented from have either personally checked the property after the cleaning crew visited, or they had the cleaning crew call them when they were finished and discussed the property before our check-in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different Airbnb host here --

OP, you should write the review. Factually, and including how the host responded to your concerns. The host will likely write a public response to your review that indicates what they have done to prevent these problems from happening in the future.

And this is why I clean my properties myself.

Not a host but I agree. If the stay was otherwise fine, say so. Highlight the good and bad.

As an Airbnb USER I wouldn’t ever completely discount a place because of one cautionary review especially if the host replied. It’s pretty easy to identify the suspect listings, and the occasional ‘I had to rewash the dishes’ note wouldn’t necessarily put me off. Consistent, negative reviews (e.g things like ‘paper thin walls’ would.

You also can leave private feedback for just Airbnb and the host. I’ve done that in the past with otherwise fine places — an example is when I stayed at a place where the guest above me (who was a long term guest) let his loud alarm go off from 6-8am, snoozing it every 9 minutes. I told her privately that this happened. Didn’t seem worth mentioning in the public review because it isn’t necessarily relevant to people who will stay after that guest leaves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an AirBNB host and here is the reality. We aren't professionals in the hospitality business. We aren't a big business with 3 maids on staff. Of a maid doesn't show or misses something the guest will discover it before we do!

With that in mind - all of these are forgivable. Agreed that you should have gotten your cleaning fee or part of it back.

The host needs to get an ozone machine for smoke smells when that happens.

If the place wasn't grossly misrepresented it doesn't warrant a super negative review.

I disagree. I've been staying in airBnB's for at least 8 years and stayed in many all around the US. Good hosts either clean themselves or they check the property after the cleaning crew visits, before new guests arrive, or they speak directly to the cleaning crew. A host who hires a cleaning crew, doesn't speak to them and doesn't check the property after the crew to make sure the place is ready, is not a good host. You are responsible for the condition of the property and making sure that the place is ready for check-in. If you are delegating the responsibility, you are still responsible. If the place is not cleaned, then you either need to get the crew back over to the place, or go yourself to do basic cleaning. If you don't do any of these things, then you deserve a factually based bad review.

A review from OP that said that the place was nice, but had not been cleaned with dirty dishes put back into the cupboards and the smell of smoke in what was supposed to be a smoke-free rental, is an appropriate review. It tells potential renters that the owner did not take the basic responsibility to ensure that the place was ready to be rented. It deserves to be a public response that other renters can see. And you, as the owner, can respond to say that you have cancelled the cleaning contract to hire a different team, or you have worked with the hired cleaning crew to ensure that this doesn't happen again, or whatever the appropriate response is. Future renters have a right to see that there was an issue and what amends you have made and decide whether that is sufficient for them to trust the host to have fixed the issue.

I have found that superhosts have not had such issues. All of the superhosts I have rented from have either personally checked the property after the cleaning crew visited, or they had the cleaning crew call them when they were finished and discussed the property before our check-in.

Its not that hard to become a " super host"- just accept every booking request, cancel less than 3 reservations a year and respond timely- that's it

As for if Super Hosts are a safer bet, well here's one quote " super host" profile:

- multiple reviews on the property are by people who have - supposedly been AirBnb guests for 8 years, BUT in those 8 years have only stayed at ! place- you guessed it: the Super host's place, which they gave 5 stars

- other reviews for this " super host" are from other hosts who live in same neighborhood as the " super host" AND have maybe 58 reviews as Hosts, but only 1 as a guest at guess where ?? you got it : the " super host's place"

Those look like fake reviews to me

Then the kicker, an actual guest shows up and writes a scathing review: " peeling paint, windows sealed shut, leaking roof, no A/C on a 97 degree day AND a leaking roof

Hmmmm....

What does Air BnB do ?? Send out an inspector ? No. Take the advert down ? No. Instead, the place pops up on page 1 of the search for the town with a discount AND Ms " Super Host " still has her badge icon affixed to her sun-glassed covered face, with her head tipped down so you can't even see what she looks like

That's Airn BnB for ya'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basic question: AirBNB keeps hounding me to write a review of my latest stay. Does it hurt my rating as a customer if I don't do a review? Will it impact my ability to rent in the future?

The long story is that the place was fine but there were a number of housekeeping issues that made it not great. Almost every single dish in the cupboards was dirty because housekeepers appear to have unloaded a full load of dirty dishes, a third of lights were blown out and we had to replace, a non smoking rental smelled like smoke, etc., etc. The host was off site but responded quickly through the AirBNB platform to tell me where to find light bulbs and apologized for the smell and messes. He said he was trying a new cleaning company, which obviously didn't work well and likely smoked on his property. I wasn't psyched to spend vacation time washing dishes, but didn't request a discount (mistake?).

I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt that he'll address these issues, so a review didn't seem necessary/helpful to him or future renters. Does it impact me any way?

Stick to the facts:

This is a nice AirBNB. We liked xx, xx, xx. However, the kitchen was full of dirty dishes, several light bulbs were burnt out and the rental had a strong smell (don't speculate what). Owner was very responsive in saying he had tried a new cleaning crew and appreciated the feedback. He also let me know where to find the extra lightbulbs. It was disappointing to have to clean kitchen/dishes and replace light bulbs while I was on vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never right bad reviews or rate people low.

That really does a disservice to the people who come after you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an experience like that. I gave an okay rating and noted that the house smelled like weed and the dishes were dirty but that the photos matched the listing and the location was great.

This OP. Why wouldn’t you write a review? It helps others, if it’s a one time thing, the following / previous reviews would not have the same issues. It helps others and if you rely on Airbnb, you’d also want to know if this was someone’s experience. You could also include that the owner was very responsive etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok so once I stayed in an airbnb cabin where the toilet was on the back porch outside (with no door or anything, in full view of the main house) and there were goats inside the cabin when we arrived and they had pooped all over the floor. I was surprised to see that all of the recent renters had rated the place as SPARKLING CLEAN!! Ugh. I try not to give negative reviews but do answer the questionnaire at the end.

Ha - and the funny thing is that I would JUMP at the chance to stay at an AirBNB with goats! So if peope would just be honest you could really sort for who wants the weird thing you've got.

Yes, OP - write the review. AirBNB will probably bury it, though. And that's why I don't trust AirBNB reviews anymore. It's like Amazon - smehow the worst cr*p has a five star ranking...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is op. I totally should have asked for the cleaning fee to be waived. I guess it's probably too late now since the trip is over. In general, I like to leave reviews if it will be helpful to future travelers, but I don't think anything I'd want to say would be that helpful.

It's not too late. Reach out to AirBNB and tell them what happened, and that you want a refund of the cleaning fee. I did that once when a place was similarly misrepresented (they said they had parking, there was no parking; they said there was a W/D, it was broken, etc) and I got $150 back. It took some prodding but the process worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an AirBNB host and here is the reality. We aren't professionals in the hospitality business. We aren't a big business with 3 maids on staff. Of a maid doesn't show or misses something the guest will discover it before we do!

With that in mind - all of these are forgivable. Agreed that you should have gotten your cleaning fee or part of it back.

The host needs to get an ozone machine for smoke smells when that happens.

If the place wasn't grossly misrepresented it doesn't warrant a super negative review.

If you are renting your place out, and charging people money to stay at your place during their vacation, then I'm sorry but it is not forgivable to have dirty dishes in the cabinets. We aren't staying at your place for free and figuring, well, this is what Larla's house is like. We are giving you our money and our limited vacation time, and I'm sorry but the bare minimum is for the place not to be gross.

If you're charging $25 a night, no cleaning fee, and you advertise it as a "stay with a busy casual family more focused on fun than perfection!" then perhaps, buyer beware. But in my experience AirBNB hasn't been a bargain for years now. Especially with the cleaning fees it's as expensive as a hotel - and at that price, and with how fricking hard the world is right now, I really expect that you are not going to just throw up your hands if the place is filthy and be like, "life happens! Please leave me a five star rating so other people wanting a relaxing or fun trip can also be suckered into renting my place."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guests don’t get dinged when they don’t write a review.

Can anyone confirm this is true? Anyone on the other side of the platform?

PP here and I can confirm this as an Airbnb Guest and Host. Unless something changed recently, only Hosts get rated on a numeric scale and are dinged by low numeric ratings, which can lead to lower standings during searches, inability to gain Superhost status, etc. Guests are not subjected to such a scale; Hosts are only able to evaluate potential Guests by the reviews previous Hosts have left. I've been a Guest and didn't leave a review and it had no impact on my status.

Not true. Guests do get a numeric scale. But no, not leaving a review won’t impact you.

As a host, I’d encourage you not to ding the host badly s as he did seem to be responsive. So if you leave a review I’d suggest giving a 4 (which is actually not very good but won’t be too negative) and be factual including his apologies and response and please include good feedback too if you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an AirBNB host and here is the reality. We aren't professionals in the hospitality business. We aren't a big business with 3 maids on staff. Of a maid doesn't show or misses something the guest will discover it before we do!

With that in mind - all of these are forgivable. Agreed that you should have gotten your cleaning fee or part of it back.

The host needs to get an ozone machine for smoke smells when that happens.

If the place wasn't grossly misrepresented it doesn't warrant a super negative review.

I disagree. I've been staying in airBnB's for at least 8 years and stayed in many all around the US. Good hosts either clean themselves or they check the property after the cleaning crew visits, before new guests arrive, or they speak directly to the cleaning crew. A host who hires a cleaning crew, doesn't speak to them and doesn't check the property after the crew to make sure the place is ready, is not a good host. You are responsible for the condition of the property and making sure that the place is ready for check-in. If you are delegating the responsibility, you are still responsible. If the place is not cleaned, then you either need to get the crew back over to the place, or go yourself to do basic cleaning. If you don't do any of these things, then you deserve a factually based bad review.

A review from OP that said that the place was nice, but had not been cleaned with dirty dishes put back into the cupboards and the smell of smoke in what was supposed to be a smoke-free rental, is an appropriate review. It tells potential renters that the owner did not take the basic responsibility to ensure that the place was ready to be rented. It deserves to be a public response that other renters can see. And you, as the owner, can respond to say that you have cancelled the cleaning contract to hire a different team, or you have worked with the hired cleaning crew to ensure that this doesn't happen again, or whatever the appropriate response is. Future renters have a right to see that there was an issue and what amends you have made and decide whether that is sufficient for them to trust the host to have fixed the issue.

I have found that superhosts have not had such issues. All of the superhosts I have rented from have either personally checked the property after the cleaning crew visited, or they had the cleaning crew call them when they were finished and discussed the property before our check-in.

Its not that hard to become a " super host"- just accept every booking request, cancel less than 3 reservations a year and respond timely- that's it

As for if Super Hosts are a safer bet, well here's one quote " super host" profile:

- multiple reviews on the property are by people who have - supposedly been AirBnb guests for 8 years, BUT in those 8 years have only stayed at ! place- you guessed it: the Super host's place, which they gave 5 stars

- other reviews for this " super host" are from other hosts who live in same neighborhood as the " super host" AND have maybe 58 reviews as Hosts, but only 1 as a guest at guess where ?? you got it : the " super host's place"

Those look like fake reviews to me

Then the kicker, an actual guest shows up and writes a scathing review: " peeling paint, windows sealed shut, leaking roof, no A/C on a 97 degree day AND a leaking roof

Hmmmm....

What does Air BnB do ?? Send out an inspector ? No. Take the advert down ? No. Instead, the place pops up on page 1 of the search for the town with a discount AND Ms " Super Host " still has her badge icon affixed to her sun-glassed covered face, with her head tipped down so you can't even see what she looks like

That's Airn BnB for ya'

While this may be true of some places, there are other.

Our Airbnb has over 750 reviews averaging 4.92 stars. I assure you, those are not all friends and neighbors.