Post by High Priestess on Feb 12, 2016 2:53:59 GMT
Jonathan shared Feb 11 2016
Negative review of neighborhood
I recently had my third guest, who gave a glowing review of the space and myself as a host, but said that the neighborhood "didn't feel safe". The review gave 5 stars in each category.
We love our diverse, mixed-race, mixed-income neighborhood and find it disappointing when people make conments of this sort.
In addition, my view-to-request ratio fell once this review hit. Prior to the review, I had an average 1 request for 3 pageviews.
Now, I get lots of page views but no requests.
Any suggestions on how to respond to this review or how to avoid getting brown-sensitive people in the future?
Carmen and Jim
make sure that is the listing description of the neighborhood mention that you are in a diverse area. In my own area there are a lot of mixed families but it is a sought out area so very safe. On my own block we have three professional black families and no guest has ever mentioned that they don't feel safe. It is a shame that some people are so narrow minded.
helga
Jonathan, change the description you have of your area. It's well written for a guide book and you can print it and have it in an info folder on site. But key words like slaughterhouse are a turn off when people look for housing. It might be just too much with the review remark. - fi if you write slaughter house the association is death and blood. Ic you write something like food processing, the association is with the food. Try to go for positive associations only, like you described it in your post. Mixed income sounds nicer than the threat that they will run into working class poor.
helga
Otherwise, just apply the Apple strategy: It's not a bug, it's a feature! Like "enjoy affordable restaurants, shopping possibilities at lower prices etc (if they exist)"
Rick
After being "marked down" several times for "location" because of my mixed race gentrifying neighborhood, I had to add a paragraph entitled "this is no chic suburb" to my listings...Gays, students, African americans & artists are jumbled together in an urban environment---often in adjoining structures.....If you don't like the 'urban vibe'; please look elsewhere.... Frankly I'm quite annoyed by my "gated community" "suburban tract home" guests who seem shocked by the idea of a vibrant mixed environment...I don't want them here...
Queenie & Ted
Put the neighborhood description front and center in the listing description " diverse, mixed-race, mixed-income neighborhood". Guests uncomfortable with that kind of neighborhood will just move on. Ultimately, you only want guests who are going to enjoy their the whole experience.
Andrew
I really like your description of Bayview - it's cool that you go into the history of the place. I'm sure it's changed a lot since I left San Francisco 11 years ago. Several of my friends grew up there, and there have definitely been times when none would describe it as safe. Of course, in those times the crime rate was much higher all over the city.
Looking at your guest's review, I don't think it's going to be particularly harmful in the long term. Guests who feel "unsafe" around black people aren't a good fit for your neighborhood or for you as a host anyway, so it may be for the better if they're scared away. And while I see that your Location star rating is a half-tick below the 5 stars on all the other categories, that's OK too. It won't affect your eligibility for Superhost status, for one thing. Also, the Location rating is really subjective, and don't usually know what criteria the guests have in mind when they rate us. Sometimes they're thinking more about proximity to certain attractions, or the vibe they feel in the neighborhood, or their feelings about the city as a whole. I've gotten a review saying my neighborhood "wasn't the cleanest," but I can't imagine how that affected his vacation or what he thought I was supposed to do about it. You might find that guests who aren't too fussy about location are better guests in many ways - they're not worried about taking a bit of extra time to get to the better-known areas, and their expectations will be low enough to be pleasantly surprised by what Bayview has to offer.
Funny thing about safety, BTW - if you look at reviews for any large hotel in SF, you'll find the same comments, as the area around Union Square, Tenderloin, and Market Street can look a lot rougher than your part of town. Tourists are always shocked by the extreme amounts of visible homelessness and poverty in SF, and it's unavoidable that some will feel unsafe in any neighborhood there.
Negative review of neighborhood
I recently had my third guest, who gave a glowing review of the space and myself as a host, but said that the neighborhood "didn't feel safe". The review gave 5 stars in each category.
We love our diverse, mixed-race, mixed-income neighborhood and find it disappointing when people make conments of this sort.
In addition, my view-to-request ratio fell once this review hit. Prior to the review, I had an average 1 request for 3 pageviews.
Now, I get lots of page views but no requests.
Any suggestions on how to respond to this review or how to avoid getting brown-sensitive people in the future?
Carmen and Jim
make sure that is the listing description of the neighborhood mention that you are in a diverse area. In my own area there are a lot of mixed families but it is a sought out area so very safe. On my own block we have three professional black families and no guest has ever mentioned that they don't feel safe. It is a shame that some people are so narrow minded.
helga
Jonathan, change the description you have of your area. It's well written for a guide book and you can print it and have it in an info folder on site. But key words like slaughterhouse are a turn off when people look for housing. It might be just too much with the review remark. - fi if you write slaughter house the association is death and blood. Ic you write something like food processing, the association is with the food. Try to go for positive associations only, like you described it in your post. Mixed income sounds nicer than the threat that they will run into working class poor.
helga
Otherwise, just apply the Apple strategy: It's not a bug, it's a feature! Like "enjoy affordable restaurants, shopping possibilities at lower prices etc (if they exist)"
Rick
After being "marked down" several times for "location" because of my mixed race gentrifying neighborhood, I had to add a paragraph entitled "this is no chic suburb" to my listings...Gays, students, African americans & artists are jumbled together in an urban environment---often in adjoining structures.....If you don't like the 'urban vibe'; please look elsewhere.... Frankly I'm quite annoyed by my "gated community" "suburban tract home" guests who seem shocked by the idea of a vibrant mixed environment...I don't want them here...
Queenie & Ted
Put the neighborhood description front and center in the listing description " diverse, mixed-race, mixed-income neighborhood". Guests uncomfortable with that kind of neighborhood will just move on. Ultimately, you only want guests who are going to enjoy their the whole experience.
Andrew
I really like your description of Bayview - it's cool that you go into the history of the place. I'm sure it's changed a lot since I left San Francisco 11 years ago. Several of my friends grew up there, and there have definitely been times when none would describe it as safe. Of course, in those times the crime rate was much higher all over the city.
Looking at your guest's review, I don't think it's going to be particularly harmful in the long term. Guests who feel "unsafe" around black people aren't a good fit for your neighborhood or for you as a host anyway, so it may be for the better if they're scared away. And while I see that your Location star rating is a half-tick below the 5 stars on all the other categories, that's OK too. It won't affect your eligibility for Superhost status, for one thing. Also, the Location rating is really subjective, and don't usually know what criteria the guests have in mind when they rate us. Sometimes they're thinking more about proximity to certain attractions, or the vibe they feel in the neighborhood, or their feelings about the city as a whole. I've gotten a review saying my neighborhood "wasn't the cleanest," but I can't imagine how that affected his vacation or what he thought I was supposed to do about it. You might find that guests who aren't too fussy about location are better guests in many ways - they're not worried about taking a bit of extra time to get to the better-known areas, and their expectations will be low enough to be pleasantly surprised by what Bayview has to offer.
Funny thing about safety, BTW - if you look at reviews for any large hotel in SF, you'll find the same comments, as the area around Union Square, Tenderloin, and Market Street can look a lot rougher than your part of town. Tourists are always shocked by the extreme amounts of visible homelessness and poverty in SF, and it's unavoidable that some will feel unsafe in any neighborhood there.