Overview

Most Airbnb hosts hear the phrase “Airbnb Reviews” and groan. While a crucial part of the business—most guests base their booking decisions on other Airbnb guest reviews—reviews and reputation management are quite time-consuming.

‍

In this blog, we are going to break down some Airbnb host review templates that you can use for different situations as well as some automation tools that can make your overall experience much more efficient. 

‍

Why Are Airbnb Reviews and Airbnb Host Reviews Important? 

Reviews are a huge feature of the Airbnb community. From a guest perspective, it provides a rating system for the infinite amount of choices on the platform. Guests can inform future guests about their guest experience, removing the ambiguity and risk of booking a stay at an Airbnb listing. 

‍

‍

Writing a review for a guest on Airbnb is crucial for hosts too. It aids in distinguishing between excellent and less preferable guests within the host community. Airbnb also values hosts who are active, engaged, and responsive. By regularly reviewing guests, hosts demonstrate their commitment to the Airbnb community. Plus, one of the criteria for achieving Superhost status is a high level of activity on the platform, so completing Airbnb host reviews is a prerequisite for that elusive Airbnb Superhost status.

‍

The most important thing to remember is that the last touchpoint between the Airbnb host and Airbnb guests is the Airbnb reviews. So for both sides—it is important to leave a lasting impression, whether that’s a 3 star review or a 5 star review.

‍

How to Write Host Reviews

Providing honest reviews, whether positive or negative, enhances the trustworthiness of the platform. Highlighting a perfect guest through an Airbnb guest review helps in acknowledging those who contribute positively to the hosting experience. 

‍

When you go to write your Host Review, consider the following about your guest:

‍

1. Evaluate the condition of the property. Leaving towels scattered or the bed unmade should not lead to a negative review. However, if something was broken and not reported to you, it's appropriate to include this in your review.
2. Maintain objectivity. For instance, if guests had small children, it's reasonable to expect a bit more disorder.
3. Assess whether they made an effort to tidy up before leaving.
4. Check for any stains on sofas or carpets.
5. Reflect on your cleaning fee. A higher fee might lead guests to believe they don’t need to clean up much themselves.
6. Consider if they caused disturbances, such as playing loud music that bothered your neighbors.
7. Determine if they smoked inside the property, which could be a significant factor for a negative review, based on personal policy.

‍

Also, be sure to take into account guest reviews here. Let’s say someone wasn’t the perfect guest but left positive reviews, maybe reward that rating boost for your Airbnb listing before going straight to writing negative reviews about him/her. Remember, the Airbnb community is a community—it doesn’t have to be as cutthroat as reviews on Yelp. 

‍

What if the perfect guest leaves bad reviews?

If you’ve been in the business for a while, you’ve received your fair share of negative reviews. It’s the cost of doing business. That said, it’s important to consider the fact that Airbnb guests booking Airbnb listings expect to have a 5-star experience. So if there is a glitch with your check-in process or general cleanliness (see how to maintain cleanliness at scale here), they’re going to let you know. 

‍

So if a guest leaves a bad review, you have two options on how to proceed. 

‍

The first is to dispute it. “When you dispute a review, we’ll ask you to provide evidence, such as photos or an Airbnb message thread with guests. Your evidence will need to demonstrate that a serious policy violation happened. It must be clear that reporting the policy violation to Airbnb and/or the guest likely led to the retaliatory review “ (Airbnb Resource Page)

‍

The other option is to make sure the cause of the poor Airbnb guest review doesn’t happen again. The way to do this is to analyze the review, pull the most actionable information, and fix it with your team. More on this later. 

‍

Private Feedback for Bad Reviews

Like I said earlier, this is a community and this is the hospitality industry. If you want to turn good guests into great guests and not ruin their chances of booking an Airbnb listing from future hosts, use private feedback to nudge them in the right direction. Because the rating system is powerful for both an Airbnb host and Airbnb guest, private feedback gives you the ability to provide honest reviews that only the guest will see. 

‍

Airbnb Host Review Templates

Using templates for guest reviews can significantly streamline your process. Think of review templates in a similar vein as scheduled Airbnb Automated Messages. By utilizing a prepared template for each positive review (and negative ones too), you eliminate the need to craft a new message from scratch after every visit, freeing up time for other responsibilities. Be sure to use gender-neutral language in your templates—which reduces the risk of accidentally offending a guest.

‍

Including an invitation for the guest to stay at your property again in your review can be a beneficial tactic. After investing effort into securing the booking and ensuring a memorable stay, extending an invitation for a future visit can encourage repeat bookings.

‍

However, be mindful not to use identical reviews repeatedly. The Airbnb algorithm may detect this pattern, potentially impacting your Superhost status negatively. Utilize automation tools and the appropriate software to vary your templates (more on that later.)

‍

10 Positive Airbnb Host Review Templates

1. "<Guest Name> was an exceptional guest, demonstrating great communication, grace, and appreciation. We wholeheartedly recommend <Guest Name> to any host."
2. "<Guest Name> is an ideal guest: easy-going, exceptionally kind, and well-mannered. We eagerly anticipate their next stay with us."
3. "Hosting <Guest Name> was a delight due to their cheerfulness, communicative nature, and respectfulness. We strongly recommend them."
4. "<Guest Name> and their family were exemplary guests, showing great care for our home and treating it respectfully. We would not hesitate to recommend them to other hosts and would gladly welcome them back."
5. "A very cheerful couple; although we missed further interactions post-check-in, they are always welcome to return."
6. "The stay with <Guest Name>’s family was thoroughly enjoyable. They are friendly, and engaging, and left our place clean. Highly recommended to any Airbnb host."
7. "<Guest Name> and their family are genuinely nice and respectful individuals. Communication was seamless, and they treated our space with respect. I strongly recommend them to all Airbnb hosts."
8. "A perfect 5-star ***** Airbnb guest! Hosting you was a pleasure, and we look forward to your future stays 🙂 Thank you!"
9. "An excellent guest with easy communication. They took great care of the place, leaving it clean and tidy – even went the extra mile by loading and running the dishwasher. They are welcome back anytime."
10. "<Guest Name> was a fantastic guest, keeping the apartment extremely neat and in perfect condition. We eagerly await the opportunity to host <Guest Name> again and highly recommend them to any prospective hosts."

‍

10 Negative Airbnb Host Review Templates

1. "Regrettably, despite our clear no-smoking policy, we detected the odor of smoke in the apartment following the guests' departure, which inconvenienced the subsequent guests."
2. "The guests did not communicate their arrival time, leading to a situation where they were unable to proceed with the standard check-in process upon their arrival."
3. "The apartment was left in a disorderly state. It would have been appreciated if the guests had adhered to our house rules, including placing dishes in the dishwasher."
4. "While communication was satisfactory, the guests left the property vulnerable by leaving the front door open."
5. "<Guest Name> exceeded the number of guests initially indicated in the booking. Although we accommodated the extra guests, it would have been preferable to be informed in advance to adjust accordingly."
6. "The guests maintained good communication and arrived punctually but left the apartment untidy, suggesting a possible gathering had taken place."
7. "Unfortunately, this guest is not recommended due to leaving the apartment in disarray, causing disturbances reported by neighbors, leading to the necessity of involving Airbnb for resolution."
8. "We have established house rules with the expectation they will be followed. It was disappointing that <Guest Name> did not observe these rules, affecting our decision on hosting them or recommending them to future hosts."
9. "While minor cleaning is anticipated, the damages caused by <Guest Name> went beyond normal expectations, leading to a decision against recommending or hosting them again due to the disrespect shown towards our property.”
10. "<Guest Name>'s stay was marred by unreported additional guests and evidence of a party, which are against our policies. Regrettably, we cannot consider hosting <Guest Name> again."

‍

Automation Tools to Help With Guest Reviews and Host Reviews

‍

Review a Recent Guest With AI

With technology and a healthy dose of AI, you can also make your life as an Airbnb host 10 times easier. For example, in addition to automated guest message, HostAI is now able to write Airbnb host reviews for you. So, instead of Host Review Templates and trying to do everything to dodge the Airbnb algorithm, HostAI will pull the most relevant information from a guest's stay and write a review that is personalized to them. 

‍

Plus, you can choose when you want to and when you don’t want to write reviews for a guest. So, if your recent guest was a great guest or if they were a not-so-great guest who could use some private feedback, you can be sure that your HostAI-generated review is tailored to them.

Turn Airbnb Guest Reviews Into Actionable Tasks

A huge value of reviews comes from the feedback guests give you about your Airbnb listing. When you are managing many properties with many guests and countless reviews, pulling the most actionable information for your team can be challenging. 

‍

HostAI, in addition to some other automation tools (linked in this blog here), can take an Airbnb guest review and turn them into tasks that you can assign to your team to complete so that your listing is spick and span for the next guest. In addition to reviews, HostAI can also pull information from the Airbnb message thread and turn it into a task for your team to complete. 

‍

‍

Conclusion

This article should serve as an insightful resource for Airbnb hosts, detailing the use of review templates and automated systems to simplify the review-writing process. It highlights the importance of the review system in shaping the guest experience and the host's reputation, offering practical tips for crafting effective, honest reviews that foster a positive community and encourage guests to return. 

‍

Through this guidance, hosts can achieve a balance between efficient honest review writing and personalized service, aiming to enhance their hosting practices and attain Superhost recognition for their vacation rental business.