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Guest not educated on review and ratings on Airbnb

  • May 31, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 27 views

radhika
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I currently have a guest who has used Airbnb twice in 2024 and then booked by home this year. The concern is they left reviews for their host giving them 4 stars and saying everything was great. I believe they are not aware how Airbnb ratings work. How a 4 can be really damaging to hosts. I am thinking of writing something like this on the day of check-out. Open to your views. I typically write my review for good guests and they review back. So far it has worked well. Of course I have also had problem guests (unfortunately cannot avoid them) PS: I am a new host and go up and beyond to get 5 stars. So far I have 16 reviews and 5 star overall, also a guest favorite. I’d love to hear from hosts what you think of the below to send to this guest. Is it too much? When should I send it? 

 

“Thank you again for staying with me. I truly appreciate it.

One thing I've learned as a host is that many guests don't realize Airbnb's rating system is a bit different from hotel ratings. In general, a 5-star review simply reflects that the home matched the listing and that the stay went as expected. Anything lower than overall 5-stars means the host did not deliver and your trip was affected.

For hosts, reviews really do make a difference, and I'm always open to hearing directly if anything can be improved. Thank you again for choosing my home 😊”

2 replies

Chill5300
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  • New Participant
  • June 1, 2026

This really is super frustrating, I have a couple 4 star reviews where they say simply “great stay”. No feedback at all and it really affects the overall rating. 

I have seen some STRs put out signs like the below in an attempt to sway their rating as well as putting some of that information into an automated message. 

 


radhika
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  • Author
  • New Participant
  • June 1, 2026

Thank you for sharing. I do like this idea and what the language is. Like you said 4 stars really affect us negatively. We have to try very hard to make the experience special for guests. 
 

I wish Airbnb alerted the guest when they choose the rating about how it works but they don’t. Appreciate everyone’s help and guidance here. Thank you