I suspect that this is the real problem. You have posted your space as private, but it doesn’t meet the AirBNB definition of private. The four stars are probably not actually the problem.
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Not according to Air!
Well they were quite unequivocal on the phone today that it was have 2 3-star ratings. If the share thing they should say so. VERY clear in my write up and every communication with guests and they can see all that.
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For what it’s worth. I decided before my first summer to install a decent reverse cycle Aircon. It cost $1,600 AUD. I normally charge between $90-$105 AUD per night. Over the summer my listing heading was 'Air-conditioned comfort." For 3 months solid I was booked every single night and was able to up the price. Investing in something that will give you an edge will get you lots of bookings and was definitely worth it. I had guests book and turn up at 1 or 2 days notice, having left other Airbnbs where there was no aircon.
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Same here. I’m in the Los Angeles area where I see quite a few 4 star places, some are very interesting bordering on the strange.
If I rented what I believed to be an entire home or apt, but turned out to be “private” space, ( Private rooms for sleeping) and I had to go through your home in order to get to my upstairs bedrooms, and I also had share the the kitchen and living room, well…I would truthfully be quite upset. I would give a moderate review and report it in to airbnb privately. I would feel tricked and mislead.
I feel that you are sharing space in your home; you are providing 3 private upstairs bedrooms and a bath, away from the family area and your son. It is still shared space. Does it have a separate entrance? Does it have its own kitchenette and den?
I believe this misrepresentation is what got you suspended and they will permanently remove you if you don’t follow their stated parameters.
Good luck and I hope you correct your listing to be accurate.
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So if that was the issue, as georgygirl just explained, why is the title to this thread "Air Suspended us for being 4 stars!?
Did you see the definitions from airbnb I posted above? There are dozens of people here, including me, who have a room in their home and list it as a private room. It is not a self contained apt. Mine has it’s own entrance but no kitchenette or den. I called it a private room when it didn’t have a separate entrance. “Private room” is just for sleeping according to airbnb. Yours is the third post where people think Martha is being misleading. @anon67190644, @Barthelemy what am I missing?
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Ok, so if I run the math, assuming that your rating is exactly 4 stars and not 4.125 stars or some other fraction, the breakdown looks like this:
3 stars = 2
4 stars = 4
5 stars = 2
That means you only got 5 stars 25% of the time, which is one of the ways they track you (this language appears almost verbatim in your stats page)
So it’s not that your average star rating is 4, it’s that you’ve also had 3 stars and not enough 5 stars to balance this out.
What are the ratings like in other categories? I’m assuming you are reporting just the overall. You can see the ratings for each category in the Stats tab by clicking on the word like “accuracy” or “communication”.
Not kidding, Fred – one way or another, I plan to be your guest in 2018!
One thing I am doing, actually did it today is reserve blocks of time each month, to be able to accommodate cool people that I would love to have stay. Having 2017 so totally booked back to back is a bit much.
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I’m cool! Of course, my sixteen year-old daughter is way cooler! And she is bugging me to go to the tropics again. Let me know if you ever want to stay in Boulder, Colorado ( https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4310198 )
Wow, what a lovely place you have. I lived in Boulder late 70’s.
I don’t mean to defend anyone I don’t know personally,but Hawaii has a lot of bugs. Especially in summer. Most all of our homes are shared with at least two kinds of geckos. I do warn my guests that they may see bugs. Not because my place is dirty but because bugs fly in and hello this is the tropics…there can be bugs. Hotels spray and that is why you don’t see bugs in hotel rooms and grounds.
Thank you! I flip houses for a living (am a graduate of Parsons School of Design New York/Paris) and, as it turns out, very handy. I gutted this townhouse and did a lot of the remodeling myself, including all of the tiling. Obviously, since I have been posting a lot today, I am in-between flipper houses, having sold the last one two weeks ago. Airbnb is my cash cow but it averages about only ten hours a week so I currently have a lot of down time. Our trip to Italy for most of the month of June was magical and now I need to start planning my next vacation and, obviously, our trip to Belize in 2018! BTW, I lived in Boulder from 1978 to 1984 before I moved to NYC. You and I probably lived here at the same time 
I have not been to Hawaii but I have been to the Caribbean, albeit in hotels, and have experienced some bugs and my daughter was thrilled with sharing our rooms with house geckos. But her pics were horrid – masses of bugs on every surface. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like a Biblical plague. Plus, the shower was outside (which was fine with them) but the husband host made a point of doing yard work whenever my friend was using the shower – very creepy. I am sad that she had such a bad Airbnb experience. I’m afraid that her Facebook postings have thwarted her many other friends who have not, yet, tried Airbnb. Again, Airbnb needs to weed out the bad hosts as they are ruining it for the rest of us who work so very hard to give our guests a great non-hotel experience.
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Yeah I checked out dates already. Wow.