My way of rating guests

Hi @cindiksherman,

I know what you mean. So, I expect, does everyone else here. :slight_smile:

Do you have a template that other people can use? What did you write this in?

I designed it in Adobe InDesign (my daytime job is art director/graphic designer)… but you should be able to download the PDF and copy/paste the wording into whichever program you prefer. Unless you have another idea as I don’t see a way to attach PDFs to this forum.

Really? That’s very kind of you @cindiksherman - thank you very much. I appreciate the work you put into this!

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Hi @cindiksherman,

A sensible way of handling this would be to use a markup language like LaTeX. But I think it is unlikely that most people here use LaTeX. A more lightweight option would be Markdown But I don’t know how many people would use that either.

Also, you could just cut and paste the text wording into this thread. But it won’t preserve the formatting.

You can upload images. But I think only JPEG and possibly PNG. I don’t think it lets you upload PDFs. And none of JPEGs/PNGs/PDFs are particularly useful, anyway. We need something we can edit.

Here’s the raw copy… that can be edited as you see fit… happy hosting! :slight_smile:

Your opinion & ideas are important to us!
We work hard to make your stay as peaceful, problem-free and enjoyable as possible. Your feedback is vital to helping us make future guests’ stays great as well. If there’s anything we can do to help make your time here more enjoyable, please be sure to let us know!
Our future is (literally) in the stars!
The all important 5-star host rating system explained…
Oddly enough, how hosts are ranked in the search engines on Airbnb.com can come down to the difference between a 4-star and 5-star rating. Since Airbnb uses a 5-star system (instead of the typical 10) each star is worth a rather significant 20% and can make a huge difference to us as hosts.
Airbnb Hosts are rated on the following:
• Overall Experience: This is far and away the most important rating to any host! Please know that we strive for a 5-Star Overall Experience for all of our guests!
• Cleanliness: Is the property clean and presentable? We use a cleaning service, so we hope that everything is spectacular — we’d sure like to know specifics if it’s not.
• Accuracy: Is the property as described in the listing or were there surprises? It’s important to review the entire listing carefully before booking, then there should be no surprises.
• Value: Is the property and experience worth the nightly fee? This is another important category for any host. We try to keep up with local pricing trends regularly.
• Communication: Were the hosts readily available and responsive before, during and after your stay to answer questions or for help? Was the house manual helpful?
• Arrival: We feel this category doesn’t much apply. Guests at Suite Retreat aren’t held to an arrival schedule and have keyless access to the property 24/7.
• Location: This is another category that’s kind of odd. There is a map available on the listing to show it’s location within approx. one-quarter mile. It’s important as a guest to check our location carefully before making an actual booking.
Host Ratings Defined:
5 STARS = Excellent. There may have been a few minor details, but overall a great experience.
4 STARS = Good. There were several issues that need improved, but overall, a good experience.
3 STARS = Okay. There were a lot of things wrong with the property, just an okay experience.
2 STARS = Bad. There were significant problems with the property, this was a bad experience.
1 STAR = terrible. The property is awful, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, this was a terrible experience.
If you have specific comments, concerns, or feedback, we would appreciate it if you would please share those with us personally in a note, email, text or through airbnb’s private comments area during the review process, unless they’re so egregious that they need to be included in the public review.
Guest Ratings/Reviews Defined:
Airbnb is a sharing economy dependent on ratings and reviews from both hosts and guests. Just as you keep an eye on the reviews and ratings of hosts, other hosts are watching yours to see if you’ll make a suitable guest in their home.
Rating system for our guests…
At Suite Retreat you pretty much start out with a 5-Star Rating and have to really try to get something lower. Below is our rating system including a few examples:
5 STARS = Excellent. Guests read and followed the house rules, completed all of the steps on the check-out list, communicated well with hosts and treated property and hosts with respect. These guests are an absolute pleasure to host and we’d love to have you back again!
4 STARS = good. Guests may have left one or two items on the check-out list undone (examples: coffee maker not cleaned, trash/recycle not taken out, dishes in the sink, food left in refrigerator, etc.). Guests were otherwise respectful of the house rules, the property and the hosts. Even so, we’d love to have you back again, too. A definite thumbs up.
3 STARS = okay. Guests missed completing quite a few items on the check-out list. Guests may have been excessively loud and/or disrespectful of the house rules, property and/or hosts. You may or may not get a thumbs up when being rated.
2 STARS = bad. Guests missed completing most of the items on the check-out list and left the property damaged and a mess. This costs extra time and money turning over the property so our next guests can have the experience they expect. Guests didn’t adhere to the house rules , or were disrespectful. These guests won’t get a thumbs up and won’t be accepted back.
1 STAR = terrible. Guests completely disregarded house rules and the check-out list. The property was left damaged and a mess. The hosts and their home were treated disrespectfully. A claim will likely be filed through Airbnb’s claim process for all or part of the damage deposit and/or excess cleaning fees. These guests get a definitive thumbs down and future hosts will be warned through the review process and posted as a warning on airhostsforum.
If your rating is a 4-Stars to 5-Stars, you will get a good review and anything constructive we have to say will be left in the private comments area.
If your rating is 3-Stars or below, for the sake of future airbnb hosts, we will more than likely mention the problems in the public review and you will not end up with an overall favorable rating.
I hope this helps you understand Airbnb’s rating and review process and how important it is to all of us. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have questions, concerns, suggestions or feedback!
We value you and your opinion — thank you for being our guests!

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I tried to remove all of the personalization, but you’ll want to make sure I didn’t miss anything… I added this to my house manual right after the checkout guidelines/tips… it’s there, whether they read it or not is another issue. I plan on leaving a smaller 5.5 x 8.5 copy of it with the check-out guidelines/tips that I leave as a check list on the counter next to the house manual. The copy for that is as follows:
Helpful Check-Out Tips:
We think of airbnbing kind of like camping… try to leave no trace. Well, almost no trace… while we don’t expect you to deep clean the place… we would greatly appreciate it if you could leave our home pretty much as you found it.
This would include the following:

  • Be sure to take a quick look around to see that you have all of your belongings. If you inadvertently leave something, we’ll be happy to ship it to you.
  • Leave all used towels, wash cloths, hand towels, etc. from the bathroom and kitchen in the big basket in the living room.
  • Please strip the beds that have been used and leave bedding in the big basket in the living room.
  • Empty the leftover water/coffee/grounds from the coffeemaker and rinse.
  • Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher and run. We are happy to put them away.
  • Be sure to remember to take away or dispose of whatever food you brought in with you when you leave.
  • If you have moved, turned off, or unplugged something, please try to return it to its original position/condition.
  • Take out trash and recycle. (Big blue labeled bins are on the north side of the garage in front of where you park.
  • Turn off all lights, close and lock the exterior doors and windows as you leave.
    We thank you for being our guests and we hope you’ll return to stay again soon!
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Hi @cindiksherman,

That all looks great, thanks.

@Sarah_Warren created a dedicated thread on approximately this topic. See http://www.airhostsforum.com/t/suggestion-cards/6348

You could repost your stuff there if you wanted. That might actually be a better place for it.

See other threads posted here about this! I wouldn’t say that.

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Kona: If there’s something in the content I posted that you don’t agree with, you’re free to change it to whatever suits your situation.

cindi, I think you’re misconstruing Kona’s statement and intent. Her statement, “I wouldn’t say that”, related to your volunteering to ship a guest’s forgotten belongings to them.

It’s up to you of course, but in a recent thread the majority of hosts were disgruntled that guests expected and accepted the returned items without offering remuneration for the time and expense involved to mail the items.

Most agreed it was aggravating and they were changing their policies to having guests pay for postage in advance or something similar. You were merely being offered a ‘word-to-the wise’ on the subject…that it is probably not a good idea to tell guests they are covered for a free return.

At least, that’s how I read it.

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Hi @SandyToes,

Nice response. But why not edit your post to include a link to the “recent thread”? :slight_smile:

(I don’t know how…remember, I’m challenged in the way of techno-stuff.)

Just click on the little pencil icon. Then just copy and paste the url of that thread. I forget what Windows does (assuming you are using Windows) but here double left click works for copy, and middle mouse click for paste.

Faheem can you do it? :smiley:

No, I would if I could. But a mod probably can.

Sandy Toes: I appreciate the advice/clarification… To be clear, I was intentionally ambiguous and didn’t state I would do it for free… although, if it’s something little and simple and I’ve made a bunch of $$$ off of these folks, I’m happy to ship something back for free as a simple kindness… if it’s going to get expensive, I’ll let them know how much it might cost and they can decide just how important this item is to them. That’s the beauty of running your own business… you can handle each situation as you see fit.

I agree with this view. The earlier thread had a lot of justifications for keeping the guests things and it was really disappointing to read. Thanks for posting all this.

I don’t think anyone was trying to justify keeping guest items. I just think hosts are bloody sick and tired of the time and expense and hassle of shipping back things to people who haven’t checked carefully for their belongings.

But for those hosts who want to ship things back without charging for the time and expense…and out of the goodness of their hearts… more power to them!

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I don’t think that the stars You/We give guests matter much. What matters is what they say. I have had a 5 star rating for 15 months now but i do believe that many guests don’t understand the star rating. They very often think that if they give you 5 stars it means that you are like a 5 star or a 5 diamond hotel or B&B. If that’s who they compare you to non of us will ever get 5 stars because to get that in a hotel there are so many things you will have to have in order to get 5 star ratings. People read reviews and look at pictures. I am sure some of them look at the stars but very few compared to those who read reviews, information you put out and they look at pictures. For us as hosts stars are much more important.

I actually never realized this and feel a bit dim now! Why did I never notice that my guests or me (when I travel) didn’t have any stars!!! Pointless