Should you leave a negative Airbnb review?
It’s something we’ve debated a lot lately. It didn’t use to be the case, we travelled full-time for 6 years (2014-2020) and at that time we averaged 300 Airbnb nightly stays/year. We always left reviews, including negative ones. Back then we thought being honest would be: 1) helpful for other travellers, 2) useful feedback for Airbnb hosts.
But Airbnb has changed. Does anyone really care anymore your honest/negative review? Worse, is it just going to be held against you to leave anything but a 5-star review?
That’s what I write about in this post.
The Airbnb review “game”
We just stayed a week in an Airbnb in San Miguel de Allende Mexico. It was a good stay, maybe not perfect but good. We had 2 negatives: it was August in Mexico and we needed a fan. It was listed as an amenity in the apartment description but we asked in advance anyway. We were told that the apartment had fans…but we found out when we arrived that they were actually heaters. After more back and forth we got a fan from the host on the 2nd day. 2nd complaint: the mattress of the bed was comfortable but the sheets/blankets/pillowcases were not: we were given 1 polyester sheet with matching poly pillow covers. The blanket was the smelly, hard cover (the type of over-cover that you see in hotel rooms) which obviously hadn’t been washed in a long time. It was a hard NO from Lissette; we stuffed it in the closet. We are of the belief that if there is one thing that a host has to get right that it has to be the bed. You have to be able to sleep well.
Then there was an uncomfortable couch, chairs with suspect stains, a dirty carpet that smelled up the bedroom.
Overall though, the apartment was good: perfect location, clean enough, well-equipped for a longer stay.
An honest review would not be a 5-star review. We would probably have left a 4 (a 4 out of 5 is still good: 80%. I would have been damn happy with that in high school)*.
* 4/5 is not a good rating on Airbnb as I’ll talk about below. It’s actually shitty.
After checkout, I received a message from the Airbnb host:
Hello Frank & Lissette!
Thank you so much for choosing to stay at our place. We hope you had a great time here and enjoyed your stay.
We would love it if you could take 2 minutes to leave us a quick review. Of course we will leave you one in return.
A 5 star rating is very important to us and goes a long way to helping our family business. So if you had any issues during your stay please let us know before leaving your review as we value your feedback.
What to do? On the one hand I didn’t like that I was being made to feel that I had to leave a review, much less a 5 star review. And why ask us if we had issues after the fact?
Lissette and I talked about it and decided that we don’t want to hurt anyone, but we also don’t want to be fake. “Let’s not leave a review unless it’s a place that really deserves a good review” was what we decided.
But the above made me do a bit of research into reviews and how it impacts hosts.
The importance of the 5-star review on Airbnb
I read that if a host has an average rating of below 4.35, that they can get removed from Airbnb. If they are a Superhost and their rating falls below 4.8, they lose their Superhost status (which is a big thing). Finally, who comes up when searching for an apartment is determined by a hosts rating. Those with higher ratings come up high on searches, those with low ratings fall lower on searches. The Airbnb algorithm is like any social media platform.
So, while 4/5 may sound good in any other setting, it is far below acceptable on Airbnb.
Also in my search, I came up with this post from an Airbnb host that gives you the perspective from a host’s point of view. It’s an interesting post but mostly what it confirms is that it’s all a game with the goal of getting that 5-star review…and it all starts with the follow up email that you as a guest receive after checking out (ie. A good host will send a message similar to the one I received, all with the goal of soliciting that 5-star review).
An excerpt from the post I am referencing;
——————-
“I hope you enjoyed your visit and wish you a safe trip home today. It was a pleasure hosting you, and I will make sure to leave you a great review!”
This short message is usually paired with a few other lines based on their stay and any feedback they give me. By adding these two sentences, I reassure the guest that I intend to leave them a good review. Even if they are a cruddy guest, I add this sentence.
Some reply and say something along the lines of “Likewise, we will leave you a great review too” or “It was 5 stars all the way.” These comments let me know as a host that they are leaving happy!
——————–
As I say, it’s a game. And an Airbnb host is a business owner, so knowing how to solicit a 5-Star review is good business practice.
But it also explains why reviews no longer mean anything and why Airbnb apartment hosted by “Superhosts” can also be crappy.
I wrote this post a few years ago (Angry with Airbnb) where I described a bunch of really bad Airbnb experiences on a 2-month trip through Mexico. All of those apartments were run by Superhosts, which mean they had a minimum rating of 4.8. That blows the mind because, to be honest, we had a lot of shit accommodations on that trip.
What we’ve concluded: It’s a game and you can’t really trust Airbnb reviews anymore.
So what if you decide to be totally honest?
How your negative review will be held against you
So you want to be an idealist and rate Airbnb hosts honestly?
I found this thread interesting:
Basically, being honest may affect your ability to book an apartment (hosts will look at your review history and deem you a difficult guest) and may also affect your guest rating if the host decides to do a pre-emptive retaliatory review.
Really, a negative review hurts both the host and the guest. The only person a negative/honest review helps is the searcher looking for the god-honest truth about a place.
Back to our new policy on Reviewing Airbnb Apartments
As I say, we used to be very honest about Airbnb reviews. Most of that was because Airbnb was an experience, especially in the early days: we’d meet the hosts, they’d show us around the apartment and point out anything, answer any questions etc. Any issues we had would be straightened out right then and there. And we often had Airbnb friends: our Airbnb owner in Split (Croatia) became a hiking buddy, one in Seville (Spain) invited us out for tapas with her boyfriend, I played tennis with our Airbnb host in Lviv (Ukraine). Airbnb was more than just a business, it was personal. So our reviews reflected that. They also reflected “bum hosts” such as the one we had in Yerevan (Armenia). Still, 95% of our reviews were positive.
The Airbnb experience is not what it used to be. It’s no longer personal (I can’t remember the last time I actually met an Airbnb host, it’s all lockboxes now) and the quality of what you get has slipped considerably. I’m a big believer that if you make personal connections people try harder – without it people care less.
Because Airbnb has changed, we’ve changed how we review.
Our new policy on Reviewing Airbnb hosts
We now only review the good experiences where a 5-star review is warranted (or at least almost warranted). A host would rather have no review than anything under 5, so we’re doing them a favor.
One of the consequences of this is that is we’re not reviewing every host as we used to…but as I say, we don’t want to hurt anybody, but we’re also not going to be fake with our reviews.
Is it rude not to leave a review? I found this post that argued it is:
We don’t agree with it, our opinion on that is that Airbnb is a business. It used to be more personal, but more than ever it has become strictly a business. So I don’t feel bad, and if it is between leaving a bad review or no review I’d rather not leave a review.
On a side note: my mom was an Airbnb host (even a Superhost) for a while and she got so tired of Airbnb squeezing her all the time (Do more hosting! Have more listings!) that she got fed up and left the platform. Airbnb became a place no longer for the occasional room renter but for the professional renters with multiple apartments. If you want to know some of the inner workings of Airbnb have a look at this article.
So how to find a good Airbnb apartment in search?
If reviews don’t mean anything anymore and Superhost badges are given out like its candy, how to find a truly good Airbnb host?
The answer is still the reviews…not the ratings but the words. Our experience is that when a guest really likes a place they will be effusive in their review. It won’t be a 2-liner with fake platitudes. Look at this apartment in Rovinj. Marina was one of the most incredible hosts we’ve ever had and everyone loves her as you can see in the lengthy reviews. That’s when you know a guest in extraordinary.
It’s a lot more work going in-depth reading reviews but I believe it is now the only way to really know how a host/apartment are. But it is still hit or miss…
Summing Up; should you leave a negative Airbnb review?
I’ve mentioned previously our feelings about not leaving reviews. People get angry, they argue it is doing a disservice to the Airbnb community. They say you should be honest, especially when a place deserves a negative review.
I agree with the above.
But on the other hand, Airbnb has changed. I no longer have faith in the review system which I’ve described above. I’m also disillusioned – I don’t know the last time we had a truly great Airbnb experience.
The bottom line is that Airbnb has changed and the sense of being part of the Airbnb community has all but disappeared for us. So no, we won’t be leaving negative Airbnb reviews going forward. It’s just not worth it, it’s a lose/lose for both host and guest.
Your thoughts?
Related: Bad Airbnb Experiences
Related: Airbnb or Hotel?
Leave a Reply