Travellers rely on ratings systems to figure out where to eat, where to stay and what to see. Restaurants, hotels and attractions rely on them, too. It’s supposed to keep everyone honest. But recently I’ve wondered if Airbnb’s system has been corrupted by a relentless pursuit of five-star reviews. (Airbnb lets guests review properties, and offers hosts the option of reviewing guests.)
My husband and I spent three months exploring the country on a cross-Canada road trip and stayed in all manner of accommodations between our home, in Nova Scotia, and Vancouver Island, B.C. Hotels were a nice treat, but we enjoyed the extra space, kitchen and laundry amenities an Airbnb often provides.
Reader callout: How much do you rely on online reviews?
I always read reviews before committing to a booking. Not only to make sure a place is clean and safe, but because it’s notoriously difficult to get a full refund from most booking sites if you have to cancel.
On the last leg, after staying in an Airbnb in Montreal, the hosts surprised us.
The apartment within a three-unit townhouse gave us a generally satisfactory stay, so we left a positive four-star review. It was clean but I’d noticed the rental wasn’t quite like the photos. It was a cramped space despite being described as “spacious” and we had to squeeze ourselves in and around the bed and bathroom. Also, it was missing pillows, rugs and blankets shown in the listing. We had read similar comments on the listing reviews before booking but nothing about how much noise came from the upstairs tenants (in our case until 2:30 a.m.). So I mentioned this in my review of the property.
A few days later, I was contacted by the Montreal Airbnb hosts. They were very sorry we had a less than satisfactory stay and noted they would address our concerns for future guests. This was followed up with a plea that our less-than-five-star review would impact the overall rating of their listing. Would I consider deleting it? Then the hosts offered to throw in a discounted future stay as an incentive.
The cut-and-paste feel of the message, along with detailed instructions on how I could remove the review, indicated this was likely not their first time asking this of a guest.
In 11 years booking through the Airbnb platform, with over 45 stays, I’ve never been asked to delete a review to improve the rating of an accommodation. I wondered how many four-star reviews or fewer had previously been deleted? Am I naive to believe the system was working as it should?
I put out a call on my Instagram account asking if anyone else experienced this type of request before. Is a positive four-star review really detrimental to your rental or choice to book a place?
The results surprised me.
I quickly heard from more than 30 individuals who had similar situations and were hounded by their hosts to change their review for weeks. “We were asked to edit the review to give five stars and then contacted again with a link and asked if we could provide another review on their ‘new listing’ because something had happened to the old one,” wrote Jessica Browne of St. John’s, NL, who uses Airbnb a few times a year.
Jody Levere is an 11-year Airbnb “Superhost” (a rating conferred upon well-ranked hosts) with a tiny-home rental and in-house suite rental outside Victoria. As a host, she rates guests for how they leave her properties but notes the rating system differs between guests and hosts.
“If a host gives a guest a four, it’s very clean. A five is extremely clean, for example,” she says, adding that Airbnb Superhost status is easy to lose.
“A four knocks a host down pretty quickly. We have to maintain a 4.8. It’s like we’re working with different rating systems for hosts and guests. They [Airbnb] have guests rating one way but hosts being rated another,” Levere says.
When asked for comment, Airbnb’s communications representative Dave Rosenbaum offered this statement: “Relevant, authentic and trustworthy reviews are core to our community. No single review determines a standing’s listing – our host quality system weighs many signals to give hosts actionable feedback or remove listings that persistently fall short of our standards and it’s led to fewer reports of quality issues from guests.”
So are there fewer issues to report, or are hosts taking the ratings system into their own hands? Levere said that she didn’t notice a drop in bookings when reviews revoked her Superhost status for a few months but it is definitely something people look for when booking on Airbnb.
Still, I wonder. Has the accommodation rental review business become a cutthroat back alley where customers can’t be honest with their experiences? Can travellers share honest experiences without being harassed or guilted into leaving a five-star review on a less than five-star accommodation by a host who’s terrified of losing their rating? Are travellers deceiving future guests and further eroding trust?
I, for one, know that I won’t be reading reviews the same way again.