In this area there’s plenty of business to go around. I simply like to read reviews to see what other hosts are doing right and what they’re doing wrong. We each have our own place in the market, so I feel like we’re not in direct competition. I cheer on the good hosts and shake my head at the bad ones. It’s just not that hard to supply a clean, comfortable, well-supplied property to guests. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be as promised.
The interesting thing to me is that locally, many of these properties are managed by a local vacation rental company. However, on AirBnB, they are not listed as such. The “host” is simply a person’s name, so there’s no indication that there’s a company behind the property rental. I'm not sure what the AirBnB rules are about that.
This “person” lost her Superhost status last year because the ratings for many of the properties went too low. “She” actually should have lost it before that, but because some of the properties were barely hanging on to Superhost, her other properties with low ratings got the badge as well, which really bothered me. I guess eventually that’s self-correcting, although AirBnB should do a better job of policing that for hosts with multiple properties. A property with low ratings is obviously not being “super” hosted and shouldn’t carry the badge.
You see the same complaints over and over for these properties with no improvement. Low water pressure, smelly well water, rickety furniture, poor arrival directions, access codes not working, not enough toilet paper, no trash bags, minimally supplied kitchens, hot tub not warm or clean, even though these amenities are promised. The list goes on. Really? You’re going to end up with unhappy guests and poor reviews because you couldn’t leave a few extra rolls of toilet paper? Great way to piss people off, by not spending a few dollars on supplies.
It’s pretty obvious that they kind of don’t care, as long as the money keeps flowing in. It’s also pretty obvious that many guests don’t read reviews, or they likely wouldn’t book in the first place. These places also tend to be priced at the top end of the market. Go figure. This company has its own booking site, and of course that site doesn’t have reviews available, so they likely get direct bookings, and are able to keep the dirty little secrets on the downlow. BTW, they get the same ratings and reviews on VRBO.
There’s a new host who either purchased or took over management of several properties in the town of Ohiopyle early this year, which is a major focal point of the tourist draw to this area. As soon as I saw the listings I just went “uggghh.” Low quality, really ugly furnishings and décor. Bad carpet, no upgrades, but perfectly centrally located. Her ratings are pretty dismal. Always a 5* on location though. You think that if she’d just spend some money making the places nicer, she’d be doing so much better. There is lots of room in her calendars for the fall season, which is super popular up here, and she should be solidly booked. You have to spend money to make money, IMHO.
Another local family has entered the hosting arena with multiple properties. They can’t even get decent ratings for a hotel room! How hard is it to manage a decent hotel room? I suspect they’re about to lose their superhost status as well. They’ve gotten complaints at multiple properties, including guests finding dirty dishes, and the entire place not having been cleaned prior to guest arrival. Who manages a property and doesn’t check to make sure that the cleaners have shown up??
There are also many local properties that get rave reviews, and I'm always happy to see that as well. These seem to be managed directly by owners, which I believe makes the difference.
Well, just some observations as to the local market. I’m curious if other hosts keep an eye on their local markets, and see the same patterns.
Lengthy post, I know. Happy hosting, I hope. Kia
