The frustrating thing for me is that there is no frame of reference for the 5 stars. Most of the time I get 5 star reviews. However, I am always toeing the 80% line of 5 star reviews because I have had several guests who seem to be comparing my older, studio apartment on the beach with the Hilton down the street. The review write ups have nothing but positive things to say (always including how accurately the place was described in the ad) and then say something like "Only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is because of the view, although overlooking the pool is not bad at all" or "Could use new paint" or "A little outdated." Meanwhile, I am very clear in my ad that the place is outdated, I have clear pictures, and I explicitly state several times that there is no ocean view from the apartment. On top of all of that, the unit is priced appropriately (I have never had any complaints). If you are going to stay in a $80 studio apartment on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach, you should not expect extremely high end accommodations.
I have given feedback to AirBnB several times that the star system should be automated. For example, if a guest gives me 5 stars in all 6 categories of accuracy, cleanliness, communication, check in, location, and value, it should be IMPOSSIBLE for a guest to rate me 4 stars overall. Even if one of the categories earns only 4 stars, the overall experience should have an automated average of 4.8 and round up to 5. It is absolute madness to earn 5 stars in all categories except overall.