Can't help feeling despondent at times as a host

[Isabelle3]

Feeling slightly low after a very ordinary guest review when I went well above expectations, offering my best 25 years australian wine, lending best books, cooking, laundering, showering kids with gifts.... Yey amongst all my 5 stars ratings these the guests gave me 4 stars.  

You think you've made friends but it's fleeting and this experience pulls me down.  There is no pleasing some people and I feel this rating particularly harsh in the circumstances.  Sorry, I know I probably invest too much emotionally and pride wise.  🙂 for me it's much more than business, I give it my all.  

Does anyone else feel the sting of unfairness at times?  Ratings are all very well but so subjectives

[Maria-Lurdes0]

Hi Isabelle, I'm sure that I'm not alone in telling you that we all feel the sting of mediocre or less review, especially when we've put so much effort into hosting guests.

I've changed my style drastically, as it was taking too much of an emotional toll on me to put out so much energy and not have it returned.  Also, I have a number of listings so it's just not possible to offer as much as I used to.  Now I treat my business like a boutique hotel.  I want to offer solid value, make it a memorable experience, and exceed expectations.  But that no longer means chatting for hours with guests, sharing special things like a favorite scotch, making them cookies, etc. Now it means making sure that I deliver what I promise, offer small gestures of kindness if it happens (fresh flowers for a birthday, a fresh loaf of bread if I'm making them and have an extra, etc) but no longer going over and above.   

Some guests do become good friends, others are your best friend while you're showering them with things, and forget you exist the minute the door closes.  I hope you have more of the first kind!

[Isabelle3]

Thanks Maria, I know you are right, I have only one listing and leave there by myself with Parkinson so this is vryy therapeuthic for me.  I can't help my Florence Nightgale side but will take your kind words into accounts.  Just want to keep my passion alive if I can.

[Pierre-and-Duncan0]

Same here,

There are some guests you just can't please anyway, but they get lost amongst the wave of the other comments, so nothing to worry about.

Maria is 100% right and I do exactly the same: keep it professionnal and offer a great service 😄

[Ana23]

Hi Maria,

I was wondering if you still hold the Hudson County Meeting for Airbnd hostsI would like to attend.

[Justine0]

Thank you Maria - I just joined Air B&B in December. So far I have hosted two sets of guests who have both been delightful.  I think your words of warning come at the right time for me as I am someone who invest a lot of herself into hosting.  I will always give it my very best to make the chalet i love in the village of Saas Fee, which I am very attached to, a memorable experience for those who chose my home but I need to realise now that some people might not appreciate my efforst like the first teo sets of guest did.

Thank you

Justine

[Shirley1]

Sending you a virtual hug! There are some guests that will give 4 stars even if you have done your absolute best for them enjoy their stay. Could be they would rarely give any rental a 5 star rating because what they expect in that rating is almost unattainable. (I feel that way when I rate movies anyway, for what it's worth). 

Have you clicked on the ratings headings for cleanliness, location, accuracy, etc.? Maybe it will give you a hint about what brought their rating down. 

Hoping your disappointment is brief and your future guests' ratings agree with your expectation. 

 I agree with @Maria-Lurdes0's comments 100%. My management style over the past 3 years went in a similar direction as hers has. 

[Deborah0]

THis is an example of why I think hosts should not look at the star ratings guests give them, and really, why I think we would all be better off without a star rating system.  Just continue to do your best and let your own goals for yourself be your guide, not a rating system that has its flaws.  

[Jessa0]

I don't see any negative review on your wall. Whoever left you 4 (was it the Belgian guest? In Belgium 18/20 is typically the highest possile score at educational institutions, granted to some 2% of pupils, summa **bleep** laude starts at 16/20) - or the Malay guest? All her/his reviews are super short, probs not someone good with writing words. I am sure the guest did so loving your place. To some people there is no such thing as perfection, nothing one cannot beat, 4 is the highest measurable standard to a great deal of individuals who out of principle would not review higher. I'm confident the guest is completely clueless as to your feelings right now (and as to how this affects hosts negatively) and is now and raving about your spot.

Don't burn yourself out as a host though! I see one coming reading the things you did for this guest...

[Jessa0]

@airbnb "summa bleep laude"... seriously? I see alarm bells and flags going of at HQ now, a host used the c word in the community center... proof airbnb needs an education too in terms of rating categories ^^

anyways, don't beat yourself up over someone who adored your listing and showed it in what they thought was an appreciative way and more importantly, take care of yourself, relax, you can continue being an amazing host without showering guests with gifts and attention (because those who try keeping that up usually don't stay hosts for too long, it takes such an emotional toll)

[Deborah0]

Ha Jessa that is funny, the  ***bleep*** machine that doesn't know which language it is reading -- it thought it was reading gutter dialogue  but in truth it was classical Latin there.  I guess machines can only do so much!! 

[Raffaele-and-Astrid0]

Belgian guest 😄 ahah Jessa it's true! no more than 4, I had 2 young girl from belgium, explained to me than they never give more than 4.
for they 3 is good, 4 is super and 5 is "incredible" (so nevermind).
I had to explained to them that is not a correct view of the rating, but anyway that's what it is. 😄

[Kara1]

I have been doing this for 9 years, over 5 of them with Airbnb, and I had more finicky people this past year than all the other years combined. And all of them were from here in the USA.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

Life is to short to get stuck in the past. We don't worry about the occasional 4 star review. It happens....we move on.

[Robin4]

Hi Isabelle,

Keep your chin up....sure there is always going to be that guest that will turn out to be a disappointment for one reason or other. But look at all the ones who have given you great reviews. And it's a fair bet in those 160 reviews there were some where something went off the rails and yet, you still ended up with a 5 star review.

I recently had a couple stay for one week. On the last morning I asked them how their stay had been. They said it was wonderful but..... this last night they were woken around 1.00am by a scratching noise! When they turned the lights on there was a bushy tail possum nibbling away at the fruit in the bowl on the kitchen bench!!!! God only knows how it got in there...although I did eventually find out! They said it ran into the wardrobe so they shut the wardrobe door and had to put up with scratching noises until the possum chewed its way out of the wardrobe. It ran into the bathroom and stayed there until I removed it the next morning....Isabelle, I felt like bloody Basil Fawlty running Fawlty Towers!!!

They were great about it and never mentioned it in their review and we have stayed in contact since but....if the wild life can defeat you..... it will!!!....

Isabelle, keep doing what you are doing, it isn't always going to be enough....but it will be enough to those that matter...OK!! Cheers....Rob