Airbnb reviews often paint a misleadingly rosy picture because guests face this real fear. Why Airbnb’s system pressures travelers into silence or subtly hinting at problems rather than speaking the full truth.
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62 thoughts on “Why Airbnb Reviews Are Mostly Fake: A Hawaii Traveler’s Perspective”
i find your experience at a French Polynesia airbnb to be irrelevent to Hawaii. i am both guest and host. i think guests can trust the reviews if there are enough of them. as a guest, i have had to leave only 2 negative reviews in 15 years. one was removed, which made me angry at airbnb. i wanted to warn people. as a host, i have received nearly all 5 star reviews without ever asking. People appreciate they can all stay together as an extended family in a pretty swanky place and make wonderful memories.
Katf: You Nailed It.
Airbnb Reviews are absolutely not fair or honest. I am a host. I have had a 5 star review from my guest. The guest was not a 5 star guest. I Reviewed that guest honestly. As a 4 star. That guest was able to pull their review. And I lost a 5 star review because of that. So now all my guests get a 5 star review.
I also got a 1 star review after not agreeing to be blackmailed on ridiculous accusements from.a guest of how my property was sub par after a 3 day stay. Not the first day…. after a 3 day stay. Airbnb did not have my back super disappointed.
Airbnb although it does provide an income. Is not fair or legit on their review system. Unfortunately they seem to have no interest in caring in an honest review system. They just care about a outdated set of rules that don’t apply to real life circumstances.
Many comments, but if you’re still reading…. In the past I was afraid of retaliation from a host. I appreciate learning that retaliation is not possible!! That helps me in the future. For hosts, I don’t expect perfection, but I do expect very clean, well maintained and totally reasonably updated. Additionally I do not like living “on top” of the host’s private belongings. One bathroom in a unit we stayed in had one empty drawer in the vanity. The other drawers and cupboard were full of their personal belongings. The other rooms were similar. The dressers in another unit were stinky. We lived out of our suitcases that week. I agree that guests’ reviews should give details. If I choose a unit like problems, I’d like to do it knowingly. Where Positives outweigh negatives.
Ratings are meaningless, unless detailed comments are provided. One person’s 3 star is another persons 5 star. It all depends on your expectations before you arrive. If you use a standard bell curve, 80% of all stays would be 2, 3, and 4 stars, with the largest share of those being 3 star.
Quite the nonsensical article. Owners and guests using airbnb are asked to provide honest reviews, and are prohibited from viewing the other parties reviews until both reviews are in the hands of airbnb. Parties are prohibited from changing a review once it is posted. Great hosts are dependent upon great reviews. Guests are advised to look for the most recent reviews. Spoken by a huge airbnb fan, both as an owner and as a guest…
BOH Editor Rob is very smart – go for the savings. That’s what we do when we travel. We are also AirBNB Hosts (mainland) and we’ve never had any of the issues you laid out here, but I can plainly see how they could come about. We work hard to keep our guests happy and it starts the moment they book. We introduce ourselves (online, of course) and offer to make ourselves easily available for whatever they might need, be it recommendations or help with something at the rental. The level of contact is up to them. We’ve Never had a bad review, and if I don’t appreciate if they mistreat the place (rare), I just don’t review them. Having said all that, when We rent an AirBNB for our holiday we make sure we have the same kind of back-and-forth communication available with the Host before we book. We ask questions, sometimes lots of them. The engaged host will respond thoughtfully. That’s your edge. Rob probably knows this.
Ooh! How about restaurant reviews?
My first filter: are there more reviews than members of an extended family?
Is it a review or a paid spot (sorry some YouTubers (who just happened to know the owners of the shave ice, boba, mochi, jerky… shops)) and smiley TV people)?
Have you led me astray (cat cafe) in the past?
This article seems to be very one sided. As a host for the last 3 years, many local Airbnb’s on Maui do have instant bookings (including us). Unless you have never been an Airbnb guest before. I believe our reviews are fair…and only one time have I received pressure to give a partial refund for the review. Which we denied. They told us the day before they loved our place and would like to come back. When they asked for a partial refund, and were denied…they came up with lots of reasons and pics, essentially threatening to leave a lower review.
This behavior is not an isolated event and it happens to many hosts.
It would be nice to share both sides of the story in your article.
I don’t think Airbnb or a host can force a guest to leave a review. IMO there is a percent of people that follow the phrase ” If you can’t say something nice then you shouldn’t say anything at all.” Does Airbnb have the option to screen and remove nasty terrible reviews? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so what one individual sees as a big deal might not be so much for another. If a business or establishment has been in business for 10 years and only has 5 great reviews. 10 years and only 5 reviews. What does that really say also? I know lots of people who never leave reviews.
Humans. Not surprised there are people who have no integrity or morals. If you are extorted into a positive review, those who attempt to do so should be exposed as unworthy of a spot on any STE site. I love Hawaii, but if I am being subject to extortion to feel like I need to hopefully go back to a place, I won’t. Humans generally help one another and these ratings and comments help make informed decisions. If a host/owner gets in the way of that, they need to be banned from advertising their rentals. Period.
In California to protect landlords etc. they have some law that states a hotel can sue a guest for deflamation of character in that the review affects future sales or bookings. Guests from California to Hawaii probably are aware of this tactic and only feel they have no choice but to leave a positive review. IMO don’t know the sources of all the Airbnb reviews also anybody can post a positive review and negative review so it’s really hard to know if a review is fake. It might help if the photo’s are required to be date stamped so the guest knows of the current property condition before booking.
I own 5 airbnb’s.
Reviews are not fake they are realistic and hard-earned by the host.
The house has to be perfectly setup, maintained ,cleaned and consistent.
Hard work communication and organization will assist you in gaining strong reviews.
You can’t fake it-
“Fake” reviews on airbnb are pretty impossible – the guest has to stay (and pay) in order to review. And a host can’t review someone who never stayed. In Hawaii, it is fairly common for hosts to require a week’s stay. So the reviewers have plenty of time to get to know a place, and leave a detailed opinion. We all want the same thing – clean, safe, comfy and in a good location. 🙂
The only problem I can ascertain from this article is the author themselves. They point out the possibilities that a guest may not give a negative review because they may want to come back., And then go onto describe two instances that they are doing that very same thing. First the spot in Europe and now this spot in Polynesia. The writer is doing a disservice to both the owners and other possible renters by not leaving a proper review. The very fact that you want to return to the other properties you deem less than appropriate is both confusing and contradictory.. I have been a host and a traveler on Airbnb for 25 years. Yes I have rented places that don’t seem to match up to their description and photos., And I have either left the accommodations or written a factual review.. How can you possibly complain about reviews that aren’t accurate when you aren’t willing to leave your own??
i have 2 places in Hawaii that are hosted by a large real estate co.. for me this article is much ado about nothing. funnily enuf most complaints are due to renters not contacting hosts, “i couldn’t get the tv in the bedroom to work” in a review. ya, we have kinda resolved these types of issues, the hosts do periodic check-ins on renters.
Here is my experience as a past property manager of 70 STRs in West Maui. Host reviews generate a request to the guest to leave a review. Neither party can view the review until they leave one. Over the years I had guests hold me hostage for reviews asking for a discount for them to leave me a good review. I had negative reviews that were unwarranted. Reviews are important for status and placement on these marketing platforms. Hosts jump through hoops for reviews and many times will receive undeserved ones. Reviews should require photos. Airbnb also typically sides with guests no matter the case. Ask for recent photos of rental.
I have experienced the same issue with AirBnB. I had issues some of which were resolved but it just got to be “why don’t things work”? The final straw was already being in the “jetted tub” only find it did not work and it was 1 hour until our dinner reservations. Before I posted my review, I sent the owner an email about my disappointments. He did not respond but posted a bad review of me. He kept saying everything needs to be 5 star. His bad review of me could not be edited nor removed. I have not tried to rent another AirBnB unit and I am not sure I will.
As an Airbnb host it is important to know as a traveler that guests and host reviews cannot be read until after both have been published. So I cannot see a bad review and leave one of my own. I have to review the guest and they cannot see it until they have also published theirs. There has been a few times I have left a good review for a guest and they skewer me for things they had not mentioned during their stay. So tit for tat really isn’t true.
Exactly. Many times a guest will not notify us about any issues until they are departing or in a review. This does not allow the host to make it right. Our success is dependent on guest satisfaction and reviews. There are many more undeserved negative reviews than fake positive reviews. I have never heard of a guest being penalized for leaving negative reviews.
I’ve been a frequent visitor to Honolulu since 1966. Most beautiful place on earth. Unfortunately, I’ve watched it change. It has gone from “Aloha” to “Welcome Chumps.”
Sadly, I’ve probably made my last trip
As both an airbnb host and an airbnb renter, this is an interesting perspective.
Guests sometimes ask us what we would like them to say but we just tell them, just share your actual experience so that future guests know what to expect. That keeps things on the up and up and sets reasonable expectations for future guests. Guests come from a long way away and they are owed an escape as that is what they expect.
As an airbnb guest, I am disappointed typically at something. On our last rental, if any food was left out, thousands of ants would show up. Host didn’t respond so we went out and bought a non toxic ant spray. The location was perfect so we’ll probably stay there again and we did give them a 5* review, possibly because we might go back. With airbnb a 4* review is in the eyes of airbnb is an abject failure on the part of a host. That is why hosts goose the system I believe. Their scoring system needs to be reworked in this regard.
Short term rentals have led to over crowding at the beaches and have overwhelmed our resources.
Come on Mike. Say something nice. STVR’s make it possible for you full time residents to have beaches, power, water and roads. With no tourists, you would be in deep do-do.
yeah, as if hotels do not contribute to beach overcrowding and consumption of resources.
Not true. I have 4 Airbnb listings and the guest comments are not fake. Guests can leave a comment that the hosts do not see until after the host leaves a comment for the guest (So the host cannot be influenced by the guest comment). Also the guest does not see the host comments until they post their own comment (So as to also not be influenced by theirs). Guests are very descriptive and accurate to very fine details
In some cases, hosts leave information in their properties explaining that anything less than a 5* rating means the host failed and that 4* is a failure. It’s more work to earn the 5*’s, but guests come from a long way away and this could be the trip of a lifetime, so they deserve to have an epic adventure.
You are absolutely right