Tips on how to Give a Review

REVIEWS

The vacation rental world is absolutely driven by reviews. It is very important that you review your stay honestly and keeping in mind these few tips:

1. Keep the listing description on hand when reviewing your stay. You cannot give a low rating for a place that does not have a dishwasher when they did not offer a dishwasher to begin with. Or maybe you were unhappy with the 12noon check out time? But, remember, you did agree to the check out time when you made the booking so you must be fair to the host who was honest in their advertising of the check out time.
2. Issues do occur but did your host attempt to address it timely? Sometimes things get broken or go wrong but the main issue here is did your host address your concerns or just ignore your issue? Even if they were not able to fix the issue, if they at least did everything in their power to fix it – that counts.
3. Give them a chance – Sometimes your host may not be aware of the issue at all. Maybe a dish was broken by a previous guest that didn’t report it. Or maybe the cleaning team didn’t report a torn shower curtain liner that goes inside the shower curtain. Give your host a chance to make it right instead of dinging them at the end of your stay when they are unaware of the problem.
4. It is also important to remember that you are staying in a home, not a big resort hotel with a large staff. The items are bought by the homeowner, not a large corporate purchaser with a huge budget. Be reasonable and keep in mind that it may just be the homeowner doing everything to make your stay comfortable.
5. Choose your words wisely. Many people will be reading what you have to say about the listing you are reviewing. The star ratings are skewed. Anything less than a “5” is not good.
6. “Value” should be removed as it is too subjective to offer anything to future guests. Some hosts may have a different budget than others too. Remember, these are every day people providing homes for your stay - not hotel rooms. Be kind.
7. A guest has already determined that the price was within their means or else they would not have booked, right? So, is the guest determining a 'value' based on additional fees charged by Airbnb/Vrbo or other rental platform? And, if so, think about how saying "it was expensive" is helpful or constructive in any way to the host? As hosts, we are campaigning against Airbnb to have this ridiculous category removed as it adds no 'value' to the feedback.
8. If you feel the need to rate something a “4” or less – then you must ask yourself
9. did you express the concern to the host and give them the opportunity to address the issue or was the issue not addressed to your satisfaction? is it fair? Remember to double check the listing and make sure you weren’t expecting something that wasn’t offered (like a dishwasher that wasn’t a listed amenity). Was it controllable? There is no such thing as a No-Fun Money Back Guarantee if it rained or something.
10. Also remember that you can convey your concerns through private memo on reviews as well. Especially if it is something that can be fixed before future guests arrive (e.g. a torn shower liner or maybe a dripping faucet)
11. .As with children and spouses, keep your praise public and your criticism in private. Unless it is really something people need to know – then be honest and fair. A good review helps future guests know about the area, like if it is near a great attraction, or things such as a driveway being hard to locate. Being helpful and kind is much better than hateful and mean.

Happy reviewing!

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