As an Airbnb host, I understand I can’t please every guest. We do our best to furnish the property in a way that is functional and feels like home, communicate as much as needed, and just aim for an overall great experience for guests. But sometimes it doesn’t translate. And that’s okay! When you have a negative experience, you’re more than allowed to leave negative feedback. Here’s how to write a polite and helpful bad review as an Airbnb guest, from a host’s perspective!
A Quick Note On Airbnb’s Rating System
This is in no way going to be a post making you feel bad about leaving a bad review. If a host is messing up, let them know! That being said, Airbnb’s rating system is pretty rough for hosts. If a listing’s rating goes below a 4.3, it will be removed from the search. Much different than a traditional hotel where you’re used to seeing 3.5 star ratings!
Here’s a graphic we like to share with our guests that is a great representation:
Now, on to the good stuff!
Leaving An Honest Review
If you’ve tried to communicate with the host and they aren’t working with you on making things right, it’s time to leave an honest review. Had a ton of issues from the start? Put them in there. Host wouldn’t communicate or make an effort to make things right? Let other guests know.
Even if you feel bad about leaving a less than 5-star review, there’s still room to put the issues you had in the description. Being a host, it personally takes a lot for me to knock a star off, but I’ll add issues into the written part of the review. Don’t be afraid to knock a star off if things were really that bad.
Example time. Let’s say the host didn’t send you check-in instructions until after you messaged them and you had to wait 15 minutes to get in. But then the entire rest of your stay went really well. Things were as described, the place met your needs, and you thoroughly enjoyed your stay.
You may leave a 5-star review, but say something along the lines of:
“I really enjoyed my stay here. We had a bit of an issue with check-in and had to wait, but once that was taken care of we had a great time.”
Super simple, but gets the point across that you did have an issue. Future guests reading the reviews (I hope we all do read them!) may think that’s not right for them. And if you had a less than great experience after having check-in issues, then you probably want to dock a star.
Most hosts really do want you to enjoy your stay. And sometimes issues occur. If a host is willing to work with you to make things right, I think that says a lot.
What Isn’t Helpful
Sometimes things can get out of hand. The issues seem to pile up. When you go to review you decide to leave a 3 star and leave it at that. Without any feedback to go off of, future guests may be confused about what happened. Leaving a blank review isn’t too helpful. If you do have an awful time, help everyone out and say why. That makes it much easier to help fellow guests determine whether they want to deal with these issues as well as show hosts how they can improve. Leaving a descriptive review helps all around!
Leaving Private Feedback
If you have issues to deal with, that belongs either in messaging or (if the host doesn’t help) in the review. But you’re also given a chance to leave private feedback. This will only be shared between you and the host. I think this is a great place for suggestions and opinionated feedback. This can help hosts improve their property while not being penalized with what could seem like negative feedback in a public review.
Check out this review/private feedback we received from a guest that had great feedback we could use to improve our place:
The guest felt like we could’ve added some more decorations to the walls. After thinking about it we agreed and went out and bought some more. Afterward it did have a much better feel to the place. We also put some shelves up above the desk and got a few fake plants to put throughout. The review was extremely helpful for improving our place!
Please Enjoy Your Stays!
I hope this helped provide a different perspective to what goes into leaving an Airbnb review. Hopefully now you’ll see just how important they are and that they can really help improve properties (especially in the private responses). And I hope your next stay is incredible! If you have issues don’t hesitate to reach out to your hosts. And check out my other posts if you want to learn more about being a host 🙂