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How To Leave An Airbnb Review [And Earn A High Rating]
Airbnb Reviews
User reviews help to make Airbnb a more trustworthy marketplace for both guests and hosts.
Unlike hosts on most major booking sites, a majority of Airbnb hosts are individuals (not businesses). For this reason, it’s essential that hosts and guests on the site are able to trust one another. As a guest, reviewing your stay will help other guests decide which hosts to book with, and also help hosts improve their service.
In this guide, we’ll cover how to leave a review (as a guest) on Airbnb.
After explaining how reviews work on Airbnb (including the process, criteria, rules and guidelines), I’ll show you how to leave a review, provide tips and suggestions on writing one, explain how to earn and maintain a high guest rating, and answer 16 frequently asked questions regarding Airbnb reviews.
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Table of Contents
Airbnb’s Review Policy Explained
Airbnb users must verify their identity before they can book a place, and only guests who’ve checked out of a place can leave a review for it. This process helps to minimize fraudulent and biased reviews. For help with verifying your own Airbnb account, click here.
Hosts and guests have 14 days (from checkout) to leave a review before the opportunity expires. Reviews are not visible until both parties submit theirs, or until after the 14-day review window has closed - whichever comes first. Ideally, this system allows users to be more honest and prevents issues like defamation and retaliation (even extortion) if one of the parties isn’t pleased with the review they’ve received.
How Review Disputes Work
Hosts and guests can dispute a review if its content is untrue, unfair or irrelevant. In all review disputes, Airbnb will evaluate and determine whether the review’s content violated the Content Policy. To learn how Airbnb moderates review content disputes, click here. For Airbnb’s full review policy, click here.
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How To Leave An Airbnb Review
To leave a review, click the link in one of the review reminder emails that Airbnb sends during the 14-day review window (you’ll receive multiple emails during this period) or click the booking within your account. Airbnb’s review process is simply a series of questions presented as slides (like a survey or questionnaire).
The topics you’ll see include: rating your overall stay (out of 5 stars), category ratings - such as cleanliness, accuracy, check-in, communication, location and value (out of 5 stars), an option to send private feedback to your host, and a text box to write your public review (which other users will be able to see).
Then, you’ll be prompted to answer a few multiple choice questions, including how you felt about the neighborhood, how well-equipped the space was, which amenities and essentials were provided to you, whether the listing was accurate, and whether the stay was comfortable. After you’ve answered the questions, click “Finish” on the final page.
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Review Writing Tips (Examples)
As an Airbnb guest, the two main reasons you should leave a review are: to inform future guests about the place/host (to help to inform their booking decision) and to help hosts improve their place and service. Your review can be as short or as long as you’d like (up to 500 characters). Here are a few suggestions/tips to help you formulate the content of your review:
Information To Help Future Guests:
Describe how to get to the property and/or navigate from it (like proximity to parking, bus stops or metro stations).
Describe the neighborhood surrounding the property (like if there are nearby cafes, restaurants, attractions or grocery stores).
Describe the amenities you enjoyed or wish were included or improved upon (like the overall room cleanliness or WIFI speed).
Information To Help Your Host:
Describe services you appreciated from the host (like smooth check-in process or guest guidebook provided in your room).
Describe how your host went beyond what was required (like helping you carry bags, answering questions, general friendliness).
*You can leave a private message and/or feedback for your host during the review process. You can thank them for things they did or ways they made your trip memorable. You can also leave a gift in the property.
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How To Earn And Maintain A High Rating
As an Airbnb user/guest, you should aim to earn and maintain a high rating. The best ways to do this are: don’t damage property, don’t violate your host’s house rules and don’t leave a mess. Basically, take care of the place like it’s yours and don’t make a host’s clean-up process more difficult than it needs to be.
As you earn positive reviews, it’s easier to book listings you really want (great Airbnb listings are often in high demand). However, as you receive negative reviews, hosts are more likely to deny your booking requests, as they may not trust you to stay in their property.
Airbnb calculates your guest rating by averaging all the past reviews hosts have left for you. Your guest rating is displayed to hosts when you request to book their listings. If you’re unsure what’s expected from you as a guest, read our Airbnb Etiquette Guide.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do Hosts And Guest Have To Leave A Review?
Airbnb does not require hosts or guests to review any stay, and there’s no penalty for not leaving a review. If neither party reviews a particular stay, then nothing will change on either of their accounts. If just one of the parties reviews, that review appears on the other’s profile/listing, after the 14-day review window closes.
As a new user on Airbnb, it’s important to accumulate reviews. Booking requests are less likely to be accepted if you haven’t built up a solid review history, especially when hosts have options to choose from. Likewise, a host who has few reviews may struggle to get booked, as potential guests are less likely to trust that listing.
What Are Common Reasons For A Negative Review?
There are many possible reasons why a guest could receive a negative review - such as being disrespectful to their host or disturbing the neighbors (especially if they’re loud enough to receive a noise complaint). More obvious reasons include: guests stealing/losing an item or overstaying (past checkout time).
Some misunderstandings or accidents, such as a guest accidentally taking a key with them (I’ve had to ship a key back from another country), can be resolved via honest efforts from both sides.
Does Airbnb Verify Reviews?
Airbnb does not verify the details of a review before it’s displayed publicly (apart from ensuring it follows the Review Policy). If a guest or host believes that a review is unfair or inaccurate, they can dispute it.
How Long Do I Have To Leave A Review?
Guests and hosts have up to 14 days to leave a review on Airbnb (timeline starts from the checkout date). The review window closes after those 14 days are up (and it can not be re-opened).
Can I Review A Cancelled Booking?
You can not review a cancelled booking if you never checked in. When a host cancels a booking, Airbnb posts a review on that host’s profile stating, “the host cancelled this reservation…”. According to Airbnb, this automated review is “one of the penalties for host cancellations”. This allows future users to see that this host has cancelled a booking in the past, which may affect their decision to book with that host.
If a host cancels your booking after you’ve already checked into the property, you can still review that stay/host.
Can I Leave A Private Review? (Who Can See My Review?)
All Airbnb reviews are displayed publicly. Once your review goes live, it’s visible to anyone who views that host’s profile or listing. So if you prefer to keep some information private between you and your host, leave that in the “feedback” section of your review.
Can I Include A Photo In My Review?
As of July 2023, Airbnb does not allow guests or hosts to include images in their reviews.
What’s The Character Limit For An Airbnb Review?
From my research, the character limit for an Airbnb review appears to be 500 characters.
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Can I Edit Or Change My Existing Review?
You can’t edit a review after it’s already published live. However, Airbnb allows users to edit or change the content of their review within 48 hours from the time they’ve submitted it (as long as it’s also within the 14-day review window and the other party has not left their review yet).
To edit/change a review, go to your Account page, then click “Go to profile”. Scroll down and click “Reviews by you”, then select a review to edit (it must be a recent review).
Can I Delete/Remove My Existing Review?
Airbnb doesn’t allow hosts or guests to delete reviews that have been left for them, but you can dispute a review if its content is untrue or unfair. If Airbnb determines that a disputed review should be deleted, it will disappear from your profile. For Airbnb’s exact words on review dispute moderation (review removal policy), click here.
To delete a review you’ve left for somebody else, you must contact Airbnb and request this. Airbnb states that, “someone who wrote a review always has the right to request that it be removed”. For the full guide to contacting Airbnb, click here.
How Do I Respond To A Review?
Rather than going through the review dispute process, you can publicly respond to a review as a way to counter the claim(s) made and to provide your own perspective (which could sway a future host’s decision to accept your booking request).
To respond to a review left by a past host, go to your Account page, then click “Go to profile” and scroll to the bottom and select “Reviews by you”. On the next page, find the “Reviews about you” section and click “Leave Public Response” beside the review you wish to respond to.
How/Where Can I See Past Reviews Hosts Have Left For Me?
To view the past reviews hosts have left for you, go to your Account page, click “Go to profile” at the top, then scroll down to read the reviews past hosts have left for you.
How/Where Can I See Past Reviews I’ve Left For Hosts
To view past reviews you’ve left for hosts, follow the instructions in the question just above, but continue scrolling to the bottom of your profile page until you see “Reviews by you”.
Why Isn’t My Review Visible? (Where’s My Review?)
If your review isn’t visible, it may be because the 14-day review window hasn’t closed yet, or because the host hasn’t left their review for you yet. If your review isn’t being shown on your host’s listing after the 14-day window has closed, you can let Airbnb know.
Who Reviews Who First?
On Airbnb, it doesn’t matter who reviews who first. Hosts and guests are both given 14 days to review one another. Neither can see the review they’ve received until both parties have left one, or until the 14-day review window has closed - whichever occurs first.
What Can I Do If My Host Left Me A Bad Review?
If the review’s content is truthful/accurate, it does not matter if you perceive it to be “bad” - there’s nothing you can do. But if your host left an untruthful and/or inaccurate review, you can dispute it via Airbnb’s Review Dispute Resolution or leave a public response as a way to counter the claim(s) made.
*For the 5 things you should bring to an Airbnb stay, click here.
Conclusion
Hopefully you found this guide helpful.
We covered many aspects of Airbnb’s review process, such as the site’s policies, rules and guidelines, things to consider when formulating a review, how to earn and maintain a high guest rating, and answers to 16 frequently asked questions. To learn more about Airbnb, explore our other guides below.
Enjoy your travels!
Learn More About Airbnb
Introduction To Airbnb
Understand Your Options
Airbnb vs. Hotels Comparison [Atmosphere, Price, Safety, Amenities]
Airbnb vs. VRBO, HomeAway, FlipKey, TurnKey, OVO [Comparison]
Get Started With Airbnb
Know Before You Go
Specific Types Of Bookings
How To Find An Airbnb With A Specific Feature [Or Unique Stay]
How To Find An Airbnb That Allows Pets [Airbnb’s Pet Policy]
How To Find An Airbnb With A Pool, Hot Tub Or Jacuzzi [Step-By-Step]
Can You Throw A Party In An Airbnb Rental? [Party Policy Explained]
Cancellations, Refunds And Changes
Airbnb’s Other Listing Categories
Airbnb’s Other Features
Help With Your Account
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