4 Ways to Avoid Bad Reviews as an Airbnb Guest

At Airbnb hosts for the last three and a half years, we have hosted a plethora of 5-star guests. We want guests to have a great experience and we genuinely enjoy having people in our home, but it is also our job to rate and review guests so that other hosts know what they are getting into before someone. We rely on other hosts’ reviews to know if a guest is going to be difficult or actually follow the rules in our home.

There have been some guests we have shared a bottle of wine with, others we have played board games with, some have brought food and candy from their hometowns to share, and many that we have chatted with briefly as they are hanging around the house or in between sight-seeing activities.

It’s easier to write mediocre or bad reviews about people you do not meet or interact with. When I stay in Airbnbs I really try to meet my hosts, even briefly, to thank them for opening up their home and ask for any must-see recommendations. This makes the guest feel more real, and not just a person separates them from

Friendliness goes a long way

No one wants to open up their home to people that seem ungrateful or entitled. The golden rule of Airbnb travel: Be the guest that you would want to host in your own home.

One of our favorite hosting experiences was when a couple from Sweden visited and brought us wine and gifts from Sweden. It was completely unexpected and really kind. We have had other guests bring us gifts or souvenirs from their home towns. We have had guests join us for drinks, dinner, bonfires, and board games.

Pay attention to the rules

If you would like a seamless trip and a good review at the end, be sure to pay attention to the house rules. As hosts, we have had people break all sorts of rules (i.e. quiet hours, number of people allowed, third-party booking), but the worst is when people clearly did not read about the space. *biggest headache*

Be sure to read the listing and rules thoroughly before booking. As a guest staying in a new place, you do not want to find any surprises. If you are breaking rules, that is the easiest way to get booted from the reservation or to get a bad review.

For example we have a basement room that says several times in the description that it’s in the basement, you must be able to climb stairs, and that it’s a twin-sized bed, etc. but time-to-time we still have people shocked about one of these elements. There was a time when we were hosting an elderly woman (her son had booked the place for her, “a third party booking”, which is explicitly against our rules), and she had clearly not read the description. She was not happy about the room being in the basement and told us that she did not want to stay and expected a full refund. Spoiler: She did not get a refund, because our listing is very explicit about the things she was complaining about. She was one of the worst guests we have ever had, and she did not get a good review.

Check out some of our tough guest experiences there: 6 Things We Learned After Hosting a Tough Guest

One of the rules that I hear about being broken most often is the number of guests being hosted. When a space says that it can occupy x amount of people, that’s it. Many hosts have security cameras and will be sensitive about this and actually involve Airbnb if you break this rule. To be safe, mark the correct number of people and just book homes that are open to that. Some places with charge more after a certain amount of guests, but following the rules is easier and better than trying to save a few dollars and then ended up with a bad review or being kicked out of the space.

Respecting the Space

It’s nice to have guests that come and leave the place as they found it. (luckily this is the norm in my experience). Many Airbnbs will have a check-in and check-out guide either through online or at the place. If they don’t, it’s always a good idea to message the host to see what needs to be done.

Communicate, communicate, communicate

Over-communicating is *always* better than under-communicating. When we travel as guests, a few days before our trip if we haven’t heard from a host we will typically just message them and confirm the reservation, let them know what time we are coming, ask if there’s anything we should keep in mind for check in, etc.

We did not do this while traveling in Switzerland (big mistake!), and when we arrived we did not have check-in instructions or cell phone service. We arrived at the apartment and had no idea how to get in and we couldn’t contact the host. We ended up having to go to a coffee shop to connect to the internet in order to contact the host and figure out how to find the key.

As hosts, we typically message a guest a few days before their trip to update them on details, ask for their arrival time, and what they would like their code to be for our keypad, etc. Many guests are quick to respond, read the message thoroughly, and answer any questions we ask. It’s important to all be on the same page right away, and it’s helpful for us to plan our evening or weekend when we know what time they’ll arrive. Sometimes we won’t have a guest respond and then they’ll try to get into the place before or after check-in time, or they won’t update us on their ETA, so we are left waiting. These scenarios do not make for a good first impression, and you do not want to be perceived as disrespectful of the host’s time.

The easiest way to keep up on the Airbnb communication is by downloading the Airbnb app and turning notifications on in the settings. This is what I use and have as a host and traveler. That is helpful because the you will see the messages right away (provided you have wifi or internet access on your phone). If you do not have a smartphone or access to the internet, you can turn on Airbnb text notifications. Then whenever a message comes through, it is just texted to your phone and you can respond by replying to the text.

Unless a host is not responding to messages or it is an emergency, do not call or text their personal phone number. Everyone’s phone numbers are listed on the reservation in case of emergencies, but it’s best to keep all communication in the Airbnb messages. This may seem like a headache, but hear me out: This is because if the host tries to claim something against you, change plans, or does something to make you uncomfortable, Airbnb will have access to see any messages sent and received within their app. If the communication is outside of the app, that communication essentially doesn’t exist to Airbnb (or is at least harder to prove). Basic rule: keep all communication through Airbnb and if the other party tries to text or call, just respond within the Airbnb messaging system to keep safe and documented.

If a bad review happens…

First off, take a deep breath. It’s not the end of the world.

If you get a bad review and the host is trying to claim something that is not true or if they made threats to you (I am going to leave you a bad review if…) then just contact Airbnb and they are able take the review off your profile. This is another reason to keep communication on the app. Obviously if hosts are making threats like this to you on the app, then Airbnb can see that proof.

If the review is true and Airbnb will not remove it, then use this as a learning experience. There are plenty of hosts out there that are instant-book and it will allow you to book even with a negative review. If a host asks you about it, be honest, explain what happened, and let them know what you’ve learned/how you are ensuring that will not happen again. Stuff happens.