Post by High Priestess on May 30, 2016 22:06:19 GMT
Carrie shared on BEDder hosting
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-102811
A Poll, of Sorts: Which Category(s) is Most Important to You?
In addition to the overall star rating, guests rate us on six different categories. I wanted to initiate a conversation on what categories were most important to other hosts. I'll start, and will order (more or less) in descending order of (my subjective) importance along with notes.
Accuracy - this one because it speaks to my honesty - and to potential guests trusting that what is described is what they will actually see - no unpleasant surprises.
Value - Accuracy & value are probably equally important to me. I don't ever want my guests to feel that they're not getting very good value for their money.
Communication - Important, of course. When I started w/ Airbnb, I didn't have a smartphone & had no Internet access at work, so, while I responded to every inquiry & guest question as soon as I saw it, there were often gaps of quite a few hours. Now that I have a smartphone, it only takes me more than an hour or two to respond if I am sleeping. Airbnb was a driving force in my decision to (finally) cave & get a smart-phone (I can't believe that was noted as *email hidden*)
Check In - When I first started hosting, I always checked my guests in in person. When I decided to start using the lock box so guests could check themselves in - and I could go about my daily activities outside the house - I was worried that my rating in this category would decline. Thankfully, it hasn't, and I think that is, in large part, due to communication.
Cleanliness - Well, actual dirty-ness would be a huge discouragement/problem for me. But being spic & span isn't so important to me. I work in dirt for a living, and I have two cats, so... That said, my house is kept MUCH cleaner & neater now that I'm hosting.
Location - I host in my own home, so location is what it is. This is the one category that would ABSOLUTELY be important to me if I were a traveling guest. As a host, the location is what it is; I'm not moving.
All this said, if I were a guest, they'd all be pretty darned important. If a host had a low rating for cleanliness, or check in (imagine standing out in the cold trying to get into a house with no instructions & no one answering the phone/doorbell...) any one of them would be a real deal breaker.
6 comments•2 likes
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David
Katri & Ville
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Eda year ago
Carrie, I never really gave it much thought. On the whole I would agree with you, but I think I would put cleanliness higher on the list. I once stayed at an Airbnb in the north east where there were several guests sharing a bathroom (well, just us and one other lady). I think the host also shared the bathroom. It was not clean, and that was quite off-putting to us. I agree with you about location. I am always afraid someone will give me less than 5 stars on location, because we are not downtown or in the more trendy "midtown" area of Memphis. So to prevent that, I try to be very accurate with my description of how long it takes to get downtown, and I try to sing the praises of the neighborhood ("safe, peaceful,...") so that people (hopefully) know what to expect.
Reply Like 1 like
Nic and Rach
Nic and Racha year ago
Good point !
To me would be as follows ;
Cleanliness - I would say most guests would rate it # 1 as their priority for a place they would stay and check-in.
Communication- It should be seamless and agreed on house rules ,all terms and conditions.
Check-in - Who would'nt want a place where it's not ready, So I'd like to make it easy/convenient for them.
Value- for the accommodations that I provide it's a WOW factor for the guests.
Accuracy- That would be based on the stars how the guests provide me their reviews... and I always exceeded on their expectations.
Location- When a guest book a place they are aware of where they are staying and expecting safety, security and accessibilities of locations they reserved.
But you know, they are all important. I guess, as long as we are doing our job hosting and exceeding to guests expectations then we should get all 5 stars across the board.
Reply Like 1 like
Evelyn
Evelyna year ago
I'm about to write a pst about the review process as a guest. My question is with value. Value is a perception, not like cleanliness. Something is clean or dirty. You communicated well or not, But value is an idea or am I wrong?
My order is:
Cleanliness, Communication, Accuracy, Location, Value
Reply Like 2 replies•2 likes
Carrie
Carriea year ago
Evelyn - I actually think they're all pretty subjective. One person's clean is another person's dirty. Back when I didn't have a smartphone, I'd respond to inquiries as soon as I got home from work & on my laptop - some people would consider that excellent communication, others would consider an eight hour response very, very slow. Some people might think that checking in with a lock box rather than a human being is very poor customer service, others will think that it is a great way to allow them flexibility as guests...
Evelyn
Evelyna year ago
I use a lockbox but because I'm communicating with the guest constantly I never get a bad check in process comment. The opposite and as a guest I felt there was some poor communication from host. The best thing that has happened to me as a host is to be a guest.
Carrie
Carriea year ago
One thing I forgot to add in my note on *cleanliness.* I am very, very happy with my 4.5 stars in that category.
I already stated that super-cleanliness is not my strong point. I would not want to stay in a place that was only rated 2 or 3 stars in that category, but 4.5 seems respectable given my, uhm, perhaps lackluster standard in that area.
For several months, earlier on in my hosting, my star rating (inexplicably?) in that category went up to five stars. While there was a part of me that was a little pleased & proud of myself, the bigger part of me was worried that guests would be disappointed that they were not seeing the shiny sparkling clean house they were expecting.
I know that many people will not stay in a place that does not have five stars for cleanliness - those are people that won't be happy in my house, so better that they know to choose someplace else.
Reply Liked 1 like
Carrie
Carriea year ago
One other note that I think is interesting.
The star ratings show up after three guests have left reviews. I now have well over one hundred reviews. From the very start - with the one exception of *cleanliness* that went up to five stars for a brief period, the stars have remained exactly the same.
Have other hosts' star ratings changed over time, or have they stayed the same?
Reply Like 4 replies•1 like
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Eda year ago
Carrie, my rating of 5 stars in each category has remained unchanged since the start. However, I know (from looking into the superhost stats) that my 5 star category is in fact 93%. so obviously someone at some point gave only 4 stars for some category, but I have no way of knowing which category that was. Wish I did!
Carrie
Carriea year ago
Juliet - I'm pretty sure that the percentages (your 93% for example) is based ONLY on the overall rating, so, everyone could have left you five stars in each of the "smaller" categories, and then left you 4 for overall - that's the rating that would affect your percentage.
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Eda year ago
Oh thanks Carrie, wasn't really sure about that.
Alison
Alisona year ago
Since I got my first star rating I had all 5's except....location (4.5). What is the one thing that almost all of my guests mention in the review?? The excellent location!! Go figure. 4.5 stars for location since the day I started.
Deborah
Deboraha year ago
I would rate communication highest. I believe that so many problems in life can be avoided by good communication, and then too, so many problems could be solved by good communication skills. So for me, communication is key in so many things in life.
How guests communicate with me when they first contact me helps me decide what I need to ask them, and whether or not to accept them. I want to be perceived as a good communicator, which for me doesn't simply mean FAST communication (though guests not having to wait a long time for replies is important) but also professional communication, skillful, non-blaming and compassionate communication.
To me, accuracy is part of communication. If I have communicated well as a host, I have accurately described my place and also my house rules, and my expectations of guests, my own style (so that guests know what to expect -- eg I'm not going to spend hours with guests and have dinner with them every night and tour the town with them).
I would also correlate check in to communication. If I have communicated well with guests, they will know just how the check in works, and if they have communicated well with me, neither of us will waste time waiting around for the other without getting a communication about changes in plans/delays.
So for me, COMMUNICATION is worth about 3 categories all in itself. (Accuracy and check in being subcategories of communication)
I think "value" and "location" can be very subjectively interpreted, but if people are using reasonable interpretations, I think both these categories are important, and overlap somewhat. Like Evelyn, I don't know just what "value" means, but I do hope that guests feel that they got their money's worth. To me, "location" doesn't necessarily mean that the place is convenient to public transit or to all the major tourist attractions -- it might mean that it is a gorgeous ranch in Wyoming, or a quiet house in a quiet part of a quaint city. To me it must means that the location is one that is likeable, for various reasons. A not likeable location to me would be a place in a cookie cutter housing development in some huge suburbs. However, some folks might feel safe and at home there, so for them that location might be great.
Cleanliness is important to me only to the extent that the place be decently and basically clean. As a visitor/guest in others' homes, I am not a person who appreciates efforts to make a place meticulously clean, as I feel that this is wasted effort. For me, a basic, decent level of cleanliness -- uncluttered home, open and spacious, basically clean sink, tub, toilet, basically clean floors, basically dusted surfaces (but need not be perfect) and no huge dust bunnies everywhere --- is fine. I actually place more value on the "uncluttered" aspect of cleanliness than on the "dust-free/cobweb free" aspect. I have a strong favorable energetic response to uncluttered spaces, as a visitor to them. I have a very averse response to badly laid out furniture, where one has to take many twists and turns just to go through a room, for instance to dodge the outsize furniture items which are too large/too numerous for the size of the space. Also, as someone for whom style/aesthetics/basic feng shui of the place are more important than cleanliness, I wouldn't rate cleanliness very high, but again, a really DIRTY place would be unacceptable. So cleanliness is not so important, until the level of untidiness hits a certain point.
So my ordering would be:
Communication (including accuracy, check in), value/location, and then cleanliness.
www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-102811
A Poll, of Sorts: Which Category(s) is Most Important to You?
In addition to the overall star rating, guests rate us on six different categories. I wanted to initiate a conversation on what categories were most important to other hosts. I'll start, and will order (more or less) in descending order of (my subjective) importance along with notes.
Accuracy - this one because it speaks to my honesty - and to potential guests trusting that what is described is what they will actually see - no unpleasant surprises.
Value - Accuracy & value are probably equally important to me. I don't ever want my guests to feel that they're not getting very good value for their money.
Communication - Important, of course. When I started w/ Airbnb, I didn't have a smartphone & had no Internet access at work, so, while I responded to every inquiry & guest question as soon as I saw it, there were often gaps of quite a few hours. Now that I have a smartphone, it only takes me more than an hour or two to respond if I am sleeping. Airbnb was a driving force in my decision to (finally) cave & get a smart-phone (I can't believe that was noted as *email hidden*)
Check In - When I first started hosting, I always checked my guests in in person. When I decided to start using the lock box so guests could check themselves in - and I could go about my daily activities outside the house - I was worried that my rating in this category would decline. Thankfully, it hasn't, and I think that is, in large part, due to communication.
Cleanliness - Well, actual dirty-ness would be a huge discouragement/problem for me. But being spic & span isn't so important to me. I work in dirt for a living, and I have two cats, so... That said, my house is kept MUCH cleaner & neater now that I'm hosting.
Location - I host in my own home, so location is what it is. This is the one category that would ABSOLUTELY be important to me if I were a traveling guest. As a host, the location is what it is; I'm not moving.
All this said, if I were a guest, they'd all be pretty darned important. If a host had a low rating for cleanliness, or check in (imagine standing out in the cold trying to get into a house with no instructions & no one answering the phone/doorbell...) any one of them would be a real deal breaker.
6 comments•2 likes
Following
Like
David
Katri & Ville
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Eda year ago
Carrie, I never really gave it much thought. On the whole I would agree with you, but I think I would put cleanliness higher on the list. I once stayed at an Airbnb in the north east where there were several guests sharing a bathroom (well, just us and one other lady). I think the host also shared the bathroom. It was not clean, and that was quite off-putting to us. I agree with you about location. I am always afraid someone will give me less than 5 stars on location, because we are not downtown or in the more trendy "midtown" area of Memphis. So to prevent that, I try to be very accurate with my description of how long it takes to get downtown, and I try to sing the praises of the neighborhood ("safe, peaceful,...") so that people (hopefully) know what to expect.
Reply Like 1 like
Nic and Rach
Nic and Racha year ago
Good point !
To me would be as follows ;
Cleanliness - I would say most guests would rate it # 1 as their priority for a place they would stay and check-in.
Communication- It should be seamless and agreed on house rules ,all terms and conditions.
Check-in - Who would'nt want a place where it's not ready, So I'd like to make it easy/convenient for them.
Value- for the accommodations that I provide it's a WOW factor for the guests.
Accuracy- That would be based on the stars how the guests provide me their reviews... and I always exceeded on their expectations.
Location- When a guest book a place they are aware of where they are staying and expecting safety, security and accessibilities of locations they reserved.
But you know, they are all important. I guess, as long as we are doing our job hosting and exceeding to guests expectations then we should get all 5 stars across the board.
Reply Like 1 like
Evelyn
Evelyna year ago
I'm about to write a pst about the review process as a guest. My question is with value. Value is a perception, not like cleanliness. Something is clean or dirty. You communicated well or not, But value is an idea or am I wrong?
My order is:
Cleanliness, Communication, Accuracy, Location, Value
Reply Like 2 replies•2 likes
Carrie
Carriea year ago
Evelyn - I actually think they're all pretty subjective. One person's clean is another person's dirty. Back when I didn't have a smartphone, I'd respond to inquiries as soon as I got home from work & on my laptop - some people would consider that excellent communication, others would consider an eight hour response very, very slow. Some people might think that checking in with a lock box rather than a human being is very poor customer service, others will think that it is a great way to allow them flexibility as guests...
Evelyn
Evelyna year ago
I use a lockbox but because I'm communicating with the guest constantly I never get a bad check in process comment. The opposite and as a guest I felt there was some poor communication from host. The best thing that has happened to me as a host is to be a guest.
Carrie
Carriea year ago
One thing I forgot to add in my note on *cleanliness.* I am very, very happy with my 4.5 stars in that category.
I already stated that super-cleanliness is not my strong point. I would not want to stay in a place that was only rated 2 or 3 stars in that category, but 4.5 seems respectable given my, uhm, perhaps lackluster standard in that area.
For several months, earlier on in my hosting, my star rating (inexplicably?) in that category went up to five stars. While there was a part of me that was a little pleased & proud of myself, the bigger part of me was worried that guests would be disappointed that they were not seeing the shiny sparkling clean house they were expecting.
I know that many people will not stay in a place that does not have five stars for cleanliness - those are people that won't be happy in my house, so better that they know to choose someplace else.
Reply Liked 1 like
Carrie
Carriea year ago
One other note that I think is interesting.
The star ratings show up after three guests have left reviews. I now have well over one hundred reviews. From the very start - with the one exception of *cleanliness* that went up to five stars for a brief period, the stars have remained exactly the same.
Have other hosts' star ratings changed over time, or have they stayed the same?
Reply Like 4 replies•1 like
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Eda year ago
Carrie, my rating of 5 stars in each category has remained unchanged since the start. However, I know (from looking into the superhost stats) that my 5 star category is in fact 93%. so obviously someone at some point gave only 4 stars for some category, but I have no way of knowing which category that was. Wish I did!
Carrie
Carriea year ago
Juliet - I'm pretty sure that the percentages (your 93% for example) is based ONLY on the overall rating, so, everyone could have left you five stars in each of the "smaller" categories, and then left you 4 for overall - that's the rating that would affect your percentage.
Juliet and Ed
Juliet and Eda year ago
Oh thanks Carrie, wasn't really sure about that.
Alison
Alisona year ago
Since I got my first star rating I had all 5's except....location (4.5). What is the one thing that almost all of my guests mention in the review?? The excellent location!! Go figure. 4.5 stars for location since the day I started.
Deborah
Deboraha year ago
I would rate communication highest. I believe that so many problems in life can be avoided by good communication, and then too, so many problems could be solved by good communication skills. So for me, communication is key in so many things in life.
How guests communicate with me when they first contact me helps me decide what I need to ask them, and whether or not to accept them. I want to be perceived as a good communicator, which for me doesn't simply mean FAST communication (though guests not having to wait a long time for replies is important) but also professional communication, skillful, non-blaming and compassionate communication.
To me, accuracy is part of communication. If I have communicated well as a host, I have accurately described my place and also my house rules, and my expectations of guests, my own style (so that guests know what to expect -- eg I'm not going to spend hours with guests and have dinner with them every night and tour the town with them).
I would also correlate check in to communication. If I have communicated well with guests, they will know just how the check in works, and if they have communicated well with me, neither of us will waste time waiting around for the other without getting a communication about changes in plans/delays.
So for me, COMMUNICATION is worth about 3 categories all in itself. (Accuracy and check in being subcategories of communication)
I think "value" and "location" can be very subjectively interpreted, but if people are using reasonable interpretations, I think both these categories are important, and overlap somewhat. Like Evelyn, I don't know just what "value" means, but I do hope that guests feel that they got their money's worth. To me, "location" doesn't necessarily mean that the place is convenient to public transit or to all the major tourist attractions -- it might mean that it is a gorgeous ranch in Wyoming, or a quiet house in a quiet part of a quaint city. To me it must means that the location is one that is likeable, for various reasons. A not likeable location to me would be a place in a cookie cutter housing development in some huge suburbs. However, some folks might feel safe and at home there, so for them that location might be great.
Cleanliness is important to me only to the extent that the place be decently and basically clean. As a visitor/guest in others' homes, I am not a person who appreciates efforts to make a place meticulously clean, as I feel that this is wasted effort. For me, a basic, decent level of cleanliness -- uncluttered home, open and spacious, basically clean sink, tub, toilet, basically clean floors, basically dusted surfaces (but need not be perfect) and no huge dust bunnies everywhere --- is fine. I actually place more value on the "uncluttered" aspect of cleanliness than on the "dust-free/cobweb free" aspect. I have a strong favorable energetic response to uncluttered spaces, as a visitor to them. I have a very averse response to badly laid out furniture, where one has to take many twists and turns just to go through a room, for instance to dodge the outsize furniture items which are too large/too numerous for the size of the space. Also, as someone for whom style/aesthetics/basic feng shui of the place are more important than cleanliness, I wouldn't rate cleanliness very high, but again, a really DIRTY place would be unacceptable. So cleanliness is not so important, until the level of untidiness hits a certain point.
So my ordering would be:
Communication (including accuracy, check in), value/location, and then cleanliness.