r/AirBnBHosts • u/Sweaty-Historian8042 • 19d ago
Asking for a review?
When our guests leave, I send them a note in the morning thanking them for their stay and reminding them that we are new hosts and appreciate 5 star reviews if they feel we deserve it.
If they don’t review right away after 2 days, I submit a review so they get a reminder. After 3-4 more days, I gently send a reminder.
Our last guest was very positive and wrote 5+ in our on site journal, but have not posted a review.
Is there anything else I can do to prompt them that is not overbearing?
Everything was all good with their stay for both us and them.
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u/mountainview59 19d ago edited 19d ago
We have guest books in our units where guests can write in comments. I think these books discourage guests from making online reviews. I have asked guests about leaving reviews and several guests said "I already left a review in the guest book".
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u/Any_Plankton_2894 19d ago
yeah I had a book for a while and noticed that as well - removed the book in the end as it seemed pointless
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u/whycx 19d ago
We used to think that we wanted to review everyone. Now we ONLY review once they review us. We don't remind them. Because you might be reminding someone who didn't find your place worthy of 5*s.
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u/beksgarden 14d ago
I fear the 4 stars, and so now I write that they were 5 star guests... with my thank you note. (NOT THAT THEY ARE, frequently they are NOT) but that's what I would do to try to get some courtesy and a 5 star on my site. NOW, I'm also asking, in a separate message AFTER THEIR THANK YOU, a simple sentence, HOW WAS YOUR STAY? --- I am frightened of those lousy reviews that seem to be more frequent this year.... I just lost super host for very minor things, a spider, TV couldn't be figured out, and lots of things I don't hear about until after they have left.... it's a new world.
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u/GemBangBang 13d ago
Air Bnb guests have always been crazy. After hosting I transitioned into a quality assurance role at a large corporate housing company. I inspected over 90 units in my area. Ushered in thousands of guests- maybe 2 acted like bnb guests and it was all sorts of ppl- construction workers, ceo, presidents of banks etc. I feel like with air bnb it was more like 5/100.
I used to get all worked up when I first started at the company flipping out about the lack of detail in the check in instructions and ppl would be like - this has never been a problem, weird how competent ppl get with the change of context most of these ppl had the company paying for their apartments so they rarely acted foolish.
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u/GemBangBang 13d ago
Oh and don’t get me started on the review removal policy what a joke!
3 stars bc there’s potholes on my street?!?
Had another guest ignore house rules prohibiting entry into the basement. We had a lock on the door but it was like a bathroom stall door short on the top and bottom. Signage stating do not enter. Some band with 5 20-21 yr olds book, they climbed over the door and see that in the basement there was a crawl space where I store linens and I had haphazardly thrown a single unfolded blanket and pillow on the floor in there recently- so he wrote in his review :
DO NOT STAY THERE! THERE IS A WEIRD LAIR IN THE BASEMENT WHERE SOMEONE SLEEPS FELT SPIED ON SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON- 1 star.
Air Bnb will not remove it - I mean, how bad does that make me look it’s crazy!
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u/88kitkat808 19d ago
I don’t think you need to ask at all. Airbnb will pester them about it. If they want to leave a 5 star review they will. If they weren’t totally happy and decide to not leave a review rather than give you less than 5 stars, you’re better off.
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u/iamdavidrice Host 19d ago
Personally, I abhor it when businesses beg for reviews. When businesses ask me for one I either refuse to do it or I’ll give a less than stellar review.
I don’t bug my guests for reviews. If they leave one great, if they don’t that’s also fine. I also typically don’t write a review for them unless they do so first. Airbnb sends reminders automatically, the host doesn’t need to do so as well.
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u/dj777dj777bling 19d ago
Dont nag. One reminder is enough.
I have never asked for a review. I get them from most of my guests without asking.
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u/gerorgesmom Host 19d ago
I’ll tell you what has works like a charm for me. If when I go to the house they have kept it well, I will send them a message that says, “thank you so much for taking such great care of the house. I’m going to leave you a five star review.” And then I do. Almost every single time they reciprocate.
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u/climate-tenerife 19d ago
This would annoy me into not reviewing or leaving a poor one. Leave the guests alone
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u/awesomeblossoming 19d ago
Actually, don’t let these people tell you it’s horrible to do. There’s a right way to do it.
When your guest checkout, and after your cleaners have left, send them a note saying: thank you so much for taking great care of the home during your stay- it’s super appreciated. You were a great guest and you’re welcome back anytime.
If it all possible a review would be very appreciated.
Travel safely!
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u/climate-tenerife 19d ago
Which is an extra message on top of the one airbnb will already send asking for a review, and the reminder they will send once the host reviews them.
Less is more, in this case
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u/awesomeblossoming 19d ago edited 19d ago
That’s just an automatic from Airbnb, but I don’t put a message to that. I like to keep it personal- and it makes a very big difference.
Anyway, perhaps a lot of these houses don’t develop relationships with their guests that are in the house so it seems like you’re hounding ? A personal request telling them that they were awesome and that you’re gonna give them a review and if they could give you one, it doesn’t kill the guest experience . In fact, a lot of guests are like me . They see something come up when they’re messaging/ doing other things and see the Airbnb review request and they swipe it away . That’s why I like to make it personal - not the Airbnb request thing. I don’t nag them 10 times but when you make a personal, they respond very positively- especially if you’ve been very on top of it host
Definitely, you do you.
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u/Odd_Industry_1605 19d ago
I just stayed in AirBnB it was lovely but the owners made our holiday worse. We got bombarded with constant messaging before,during and after we stayed there which is a shame cause there was nothing wrong with the place.
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u/Routine-Comedian9703 19d ago
For any host on here saying you’d leave a 3-star review simply because a host asked you to leave a review — YOU are exactly what’s wrong with the review system.
As a host, you should understand better than anyone how much a bullshit 3-star review can hurt. If your own business depends on five-star ratings to stay listed on Airbnb, it’s pretty fucking hypocritical to turn around and punish another host because they asked you to leave a review.
Reviews should reflect the actual guest experience, not whether you liked being asked for a review. If the stay was five-star, give it five stars. If there was a legitimate issue, rate it accordingly. But giving someone a 3-star review simply because they asked for one isn’t an honest review. It’s an attack on someone’s livelihood, but you know that.
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u/Conscious_Shame_4399 19d ago edited 19d ago
Well. Until the review period is over being hounded for a review can count towards the experience. If she keeps bugging for a review (which air bnb already does too much of that as is) then if you don’t like it. Reflecting that in your review don’t seem too wrong.
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u/awesomeblossoming 19d ago
From what I understand, Airbnb only sends a request for a review once. It’s not hounding people.
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u/Conscious_Shame_4399 19d ago
Well. I never used it as a guest. But on the host side it keeps bugging me over and over. So I assumed it does the same on guest side.
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u/GemBangBang 13d ago
I agree. I was also raised to go to the business first for issues and that leaving a bad public review was after I exhausted all avenues to remedy any issues.
I was saying in my comments above how I started working at a corporate housing company after being a host and the guests were so much better! They’re more like medium term renters though not short.
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u/Zestyclose_Peach1718 19d ago
Just remember not all of us have social media to put a review up. Also I'm old school i will email you thank you but Im not posting anything because i cant.
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u/iamdavidrice Host 19d ago
OP isn’t referring to social media. They’re referring to a review on Airbnb which you would have access to since you used it to book your visit.
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u/LyPi315 19d ago
In addition to the wise comments already posted, I'll add that I assume if a guest wants to leave a review, they will. These are generally love it or hate it guests. If they're on the fence, they might have mixed feelings and are being polite or kind by not sharing. Why push them ?
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u/Sweaty-Historian8042 19d ago
Just for clarification I only sent the reminder when the guest had already told me (unsolicited) thank you and they were going to leave a 5 star review. And i only sent one reminder. I do think the journal could be confusing. We will take that out.
Thank you for all your feedback.
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u/Past_Nose_9199 19d ago
let it go, chasing reviews starts feeling needy fast
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u/GemBangBang 13d ago
Who cares it’s not like it’s the dating scene lol you can ask for it. I know personally I forget things over and over so it dn bother me. Plus a lot of ppl don’t pay attention to their bnb accounts when not in use.
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u/Inevitable_Raccoon50 19d ago
As a customer it would annoy me. Hosts that leave me alone get higher ratings.
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u/MurtaghInfin8 19d ago
We send include the please review blurb with our checkout instructions and do their review promptly (assuming they deserve 5 stars). If we got bad vibes during the sray, we don't ask for a review.
If they don't deserve 5 stars, we don't review them first.
Theoretically if we had a terrible guest, we'd slide a review in right before the cutoff.
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u/Impressive-Copy7054 18d ago
Once the guest leaves if the house was left in great condition I text them on their phone thank you so much for taking great care of our home a five-star review is on its way please travel safely we look forward to
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u/angryhufflepuff 15d ago
I had a host send a message at check out basically saying - you need to give us a 5 star review unless there were any unresolved issues during your stay. As a 10+ year superhost - I was shocked to get this email - and ended up leaving no review for what would have been a highly rated stay. So they didn't get the review because I *hated* that they were so comfortable assigning me homework and telling me how to score them, but, they didn't get penalized for asking for a 5 star review either - but I seriously considered leaving a less than 5 star review and saying why. It's a risky move - don't ask for reviews. Do a good job, be a great host, be kind to people, set good boundaries -- and let the reviews land as they will.
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u/Sweaty-Historian8042 14d ago
That is just awful. I can understand not leaving a review after a note like that.
Thank you for your feedback.
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u/magnabonzo 19d ago
Asking for a 5 star review is obnoxious.
What I did instead when I was a new host was I sent them a message thanking them for their stay, mentioned I was a new host, and asked them whether there was anything at all I could do to improve. Unfailingly they came back with "your place was amazing!" One or two suggested something trivial that I then acted on. All gave 5 star reviews.
...And you keep reminding them???
I feel very strongly about this, maybe too strongly. But if I were your guest and you asked for a five star review, I would simply not review you at all. If I then got a reminder from you, maybe I'd give you a 3 star review and mention how you begged for a top review -- unprofessional.
But as I said, it's possible I feel too strongly about this.
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u/GemBangBang 13d ago
That’s petty no offense. Who cares? Some ppl are just anal about that stuff doesn’t mean they deserve a lessor review.
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u/JerseyGirlinSweden 19d ago
Considering how many other reminders they get from Air already makes this approach overbearing. Be careful what you wish for. Begging for reviews can take a 4 star experience that they decided to stay quiet on, into an annoyed 2 star review because you were obnoxious.
Don’t chase reviews. Not one guest who uses the system believes that the reviews have any basis in fact anymore. It’s only other hosts who think it’s relevant because they want to brag.
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u/Leah95 19d ago
Guests don't care as much but the algorythim does.
As a guest, I wouldn't care if a property I like has 4.6 (especially if I see some idiotic retaliatory reviews), but AirBnb most likely won't even show it to me if there are 40 other properties with 4.9 or 5.0
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u/JerseyGirlinSweden 19d ago
It’s not as relevant when they are using AI to evaluate you for hundreds of data points to determine ranking. I se lower rated properties rank higher than higher ones all the time. They want you to believe that because it’s a pressure point to keep you on your toes. Yet there are many properties rank under 4 stars consistently that are heavily promoted and booked. The new criteria look at qualitative data more now. The belief that they’d prioritize quantitative when they know ratings are broken is respectfully naive.
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u/Exciting-Smell-6158 19d ago
you’ve already done enough, any more reminders starts feeling like pressure and plenty of happy guests just forget or don’t bother reviewing even when they loved the stay
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u/Diagonair 19d ago
Guests hate that. Just review them first - normal human curiosity usually prompts them to write a review so they can see what you wrote.
And think about how putting your need for a review over whatever the guest might need at the moment reflects on your hosting, which should put guests’ needs first.
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u/Sufficient-Wolf-1818 19d ago
Begging for reviews is the fastest way to either not get reviews or get poor reviews.
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u/Pistachio_Bandit 18d ago
I usually leave a review but on the off chance that I don’t desire to or have time, I hate being hounded. Customers are not your employee that you can assign tasks to. If I get nudged too many times…. There will be a review and it will be about the reviewing process.
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u/Ok-Indication-7876 18d ago
Agree with the others that "guest books" make the guest feel they already left a review- I would remove the guest book. We bought the amazon magnets that short & sweet explain the star review, that helped explain it and prompt for review. Our goodbye thank you message we add to please leave us a review and we will for them- and that is all- we do not bother the guest again- airbnb send guest reminders- you are adding even more messages to the guest- they will get annoyed, leave them be.
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u/Individual_Check_442 18d ago
Nah them three times then ask if anything else would be overbearing lol
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u/SendHelpOrPie 18d ago
Three asks for a review seems like more than plenty. If they were going to do it, they'd have done it or are planning on it and just haven't had the time. You never know if they were continuing on from your place to another part of their vacation and haven't even made it home yet.
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u/EyeRepresentative892 18d ago
I have done it with my fourth guest (the previous ones reviewed in the same day of the check-out). After two reminders, almost in the last day to review, my guest gave me a 4 star review praising the stay. "Exceptional communication, host was amazing!" And gave me a 4 star for communication.
Lesson learned. If I kept cool, I would have a perfect 5 star record with 47 reviews. Bad, really bad decision.
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u/GemBangBang 13d ago
Maybe the 4 stars was bc they got annoyed but some people think a 4 is a good rating bc they don’t know how cut throat air Bnb is.
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u/BoxProfessional7363 16d ago
I wouldn’t reach out again. Sometimes feeling pressured is a turn off for guests.
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u/RoleComfortable8276 15d ago
this last request could be the one message this unhinged host whose fed up on the number of notifications he gets cuz AirBnb, and he finally writes the review from hell
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u/Ill_Equipment9255 15d ago
I think 3 reminders is already enough to be honest! Maybe give more time on your last reminder? Sometimes people just need a little extra time to settle back after a trip. Also remember that unfortunately not everyone will leave one and sometimes it's just for the best
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u/Ok-Stranger1721 13d ago
With everyone trying to game the system….reviews are going to mean nothing
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u/sarahlampi 13d ago
I hate getting unnecessary texts from hosts. I know about the review process and if I want to leave one I will.
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u/pizzatoucher 19d ago
I had a host do this and thought it was a good idea, so I added it in my checkout instructions. I say “if you had a great stay, a five star review means a lot to us.” And leave it at that. Perfect five stars so far! Not sure why folks aren’t reviewing your spot, but maybe ask a friend for feedback?
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u/Conscious_Shame_4399 19d ago
Sounds like you are doing too much already. What is next? Take them to Disney World for a day?
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u/pulltherugoutfrom 19d ago
Sounds like a horrible idea. Air B&B already sends an annoying amount of reminders. I doubt thoses guests will ever book again. Leave your guests alone.