I am both host and guest on Airbnb, love the experience!
I came to realize that the reviews, written as well as the star ratings, are unfortunately not a good reflection of the experience either host or guest had: way too many 5 star ratings, prompted by Airbnb's push to HAVE to achieve that!
So a lot of them are not reliable, as it just cannot be the reality of things that everything is super all the time! Hosts may complain in the host forum about certain
guests, but then post a stellar review on that guest... probably out of fear of repercussions. Honesty?
Airbnb could help that problem a LOT by educating guests and hosts on the ratings system , by encouraging all sides to be HONEST, and by NOT punishing hosts, like withdrawl of superhost status, as soon as there was some minor hick up. Some hosts are not so good, but also, some guests are not so good either - and they are staying in our homes, not a hotel, so we need some sympathy and protection, also in the ratings demands.
As guest, I have quickly learned not to rely on the host's place reviews, I just carefully examine the listing and judge for myself.
As host, the ratings of a potential guest , because they are mostly all wonderful, just don't help me to discern if a future guest is trouble or not. I don't even have their lst name until the booking is completed, so I can't google them or get any other info.
Please Airbnb, find a better solution to this ridiculous ratings game ! Thank you.