4 ms·
The problem with AirBnB is the rating system. I have booked many dozens of apartments on AirBnB and my approach these days is: 1: Never book an apartment with
by Timja 4y ago
The problem with AirBnB is the rating system.
I have booked many dozens of apartments on AirBnB and my approach these days is:
1: Never book an apartment with less than 50 ratings
2: Never book an apartment with an average rating of less than 4.8 stars
The problem is that AirBnB has set up their system so that even complete garbage apartments have average ratings of over 4.5 stars.
Because of that, people still book those for normal prices.
If AirBnB would normalize the ratings (median rating = 2.5 stars), there would be an upward pressure on the hosts to improve the quality of their services.
But the way it is, there are only few good apartments on AirBnB.
Over the last years, I have only been to two apartments via AirBnB which I would consider "good". And both had over 50 ratings and the average rating was 5 stars.
- AlwaysRock 4y agoAirbnb also makes it difficult to rate someone poorly without being rated poorly yourself. You get almost no recourse if you do get a bad review.
- alistairSH 4y agoI thought the ratings were done blindly? If not, that's terrible and obviously leads to problems.
- dazc 4y ago> 1: Never book an apartment with less than 50 ratings The only good experience I've had was with a place that had zero reviews. I got to the point where i figured the review system was so unreliable and unfit for purpose that I would just take a chance and it worked. I found a lot of those place with multiple good reviews were mainly from people who had stayed two nights and as part of a group where a cheap place to sleep was their number one criteria. Mostly everyone else is just doing the ebay thing where I give you a good review and you give me one back since there is zero incentive to give an honest assessment that your next host will read and consider you a trouble maker.
- alistairSH 4y agoLooking back at places I've stayed... all have ratings over 4.8 (average above 4.9), all have 100+ ratings, 75% are "SuperHost". None were high priced (relative to other Airbnb in that area), mostly middle or high-middle price. All were as-depicted in the listing, with the worst being "adequate lodging, fantastic location" (steps from Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy - apartments was spacious and clean, but dated). Others were above expectations (newly remodeled crofters cottage near Stornoway, UK). Based on my experience, either I'm staying in very different locations (typically not big cities, Florence being the exception) or shopping at very different price-points than many of the horror stories.