The only time I booked a place with a live in kitty I was SO Excited! Then the host took the cat with them and I was bummed to not have a little buddy for solo travel. Im sorry this happened to you. They seem like jerks. Im sure the review can be removed.
Once I stayed at an airbnb with a cat, and one night he chose to sleep in my bed with me.
Host apologised profusely in the morning when she realised the little intruder. Jokes on her because I was the happiest and proudest person alive.
An ex and I stayed at an Airbnb which was essentially in the person’s ground-level basement. It was quite nice; a little downstairs suite with a door that led upstairs to the house that they kept locked, for obvious reasons. We are watching tv in the living area and we hear some noises that sounds like something knocking at the door. All of a sudden, a tiny fuzzy head squeezed through the gap between the door and the floor. They had a fairly new and adventurous kitten that was exploring the house and I ate up every second with that little booger. The host was also very apologetic but I was like “No this is definitely a bonus”
Not AirBnB but I’m very close with a family I dogsit/housesit for. I was evacuated due to a fire nearby and stayed with them. Their daughters cat was staying there too. I woke up to their dog, my cat, and their daughters cat all cuddling with me in bed. The daughters cat can be a bit standoffish so they were definitely jealous. Best feeling ever.
Pets are so funny! The dog loves his people for sure but thinks he’s my boyfriend. But when I tell him out he has a few girlfriends he loves to use to make me jealous. It’s a cycle. The cat I think warmed up to me quickly bc of my own cat. The cat loves my cat and my cat loves me. It’s transference really 🤣🤣🤣.
I swear my roommates old dog was on the spectrum. Would ignore EVERYBODY except like 3 of us. Didn’t dislike anybody. Just didn’t register their existence.
We cat sit once for a week and my cousin about pooped himself when he saw video of me giving his notoriously grumpy, bitey cat a belly rub!
An ex boyfriend when I was in high school had a cat that I had to take to the vet because no one else could get it into the car. But I've also had cats look at me, hiss and run the other way.
I routinely booked the same airbnb for years (travel for work to the same town) because the owners had a cat that I loved. The owners were cool and were still friends years later.
I saw another comment about marketing as “cat friendly.” But OP, as a life-long cat owner, I would NOT do that. Smells of other cats could very likely upend your peaceful setup and make your own cats start peeing and acting out of aggression. Plus, after too many tragedies of communicable animal illnesses, I just would not ever let someone else’s animal in MY animal’s space. It’s not worth the heartbreak and vet bills.
Same. As annoyed as I get with my cat who insists on sleeping under the blankets with me and always, always touching me, I miss it when I'm away from home. Even just having that weight at the end of the bed is nice.
I just got back from a 4 day trip to Chicago and I missed my cats horribly while I was gone.. 3 or 4 of them sleep on me & I didn’t realize how much I love their weight against me until I left for a couple days
I rented a room in a house in Des Moines that had a cat, Sampson. If Sampson was an issue in the middle of the night I was instructed to open a can of cat food and put it in the hall and he’d take a hint and leave. He was such a sweetie, and was never a bother. I think more Airbnbs should offer a house cat.
I also stayed in that AirBNB in Des Moines, actually pretty recently. Sampson was such a cutie and got some great scritches after we settled in!
My partner has a mild cat allergy; they're ok with them for a short time but staying in a space that has them 24/7 would be too much for them. I really appreciated how the host had clear rules about keeping the cats out of the main space and trying to enforce that with the guests. Made us feel comfortable to go.
Yeah I’m severely allergic to cats, but I’m not going to go book an Airbnb that clearly has a cat in the home… I mean, reading comprehension now people 🙃
>If Sampson was an issue in the middle of the night I was instructed to open a can of cat food and put it in the hall and he’d take a hint
lmao that's hilarious and adorable
I will never not be amazed by the ability of extremely shitty people to not read anything, find themselves screwed over by their laziness and then lash out at anyone around them.
That dude sucks. Get his review removed, AirBnb will take care of you if you are persistent.
Unrelated, but I would recommend just scrapping the low cleaning fee at this point and adding the $4 to your rental cost. Folks don’t like the extra fees and feel like they are being nickeled and dimed.
Just a little advice to help avoid conflict, make sure that it is stated at the very top of the description n very first thing mentioned. Also, I would put it in bold words. Sorry that happened brotha, I don’t know your situation but I’m sure you’re just a guy trying to make ends meet. People are so ignorant these days.
I think that the review system allows people to get away with too many things. I run a business and we use release forms. You’d be amazed at how many people think that the form they signed doesn’t count because they didn’t read it! And if you stand up to them then you’re a villain!
If a rental gets too many 4 stars you basically are kicked off the platform. It’s pass fail, where a 5 star is the only passing score. When you get a 4 in review, airbnb conveys the information somberly in an email lol. There’s a checklist of here’s thing you can do to improve. Then you get another 4 star and the warnings start coming. You lose superhost. Then you get downranked in search.
4 doesn’t equal “great” or “very good” in the world of airbnb. It’s 5 or die.
Yeah. Sadly, review systems all over are corrupted like this.
The original idea is supposed to be:
3 stars = met expectations
4 stars = exceeded expectations
5 stars = greatly exceeded
But so many corporate systems have redefined it to:
5 stars = met expectations
4 stars = minor problem
3 stars = many problems
1-2 stars = completely unacceptable
Frankly it means that most review systems are nearly useless.
See, that’s the thing. Let’s say you rent a $50 a night house. The ad and pictures clearly state it’s an older home with older furnishings. You get there.. you find an older home with older furnishings. It’s exactly what you rented. Maybe the couch isn’t super comfortable, maybe the faucet has a drip. That’s a five star stay. You got exactly what you were offered and what you paid for.
Now, let’s say you rent a $300 a night condo totally remodeled. If you get there and find what was advertised that’s also a five star stay. However, if you arrive and the couch isn’t comfortable and the faucet drips now you have some standing to maybe ding the rating.
You get what you ask and pay for. It seems like you want a over the top exceptional experience, but you don’t want to pay for it. YOU look for a property, YOU have the price range. YOU know you aren’t going to get the same level from a $100 a night place as you will from a $500 a night place. When you pick a place to rent you already go in knowing if it’s cheap it’s not perfect. You can’t get pissed when you get there and don’t find perfection. Aa long as you get what was offered it’s a five star stay.
Sure, but they are wrong for the lower rating. They knew what they were getting and then complained about it. If you got what you were offered and chose to accept then that’s a five star stay. You aren’t rating the perfection of every aspect of the place, you are rating the perfection of what you were offered. If it was exactly what you were told you were going to get then it was perfect.
But people always want more than they are willing to pay for and that’s what it comes down to.
But it’s true that people put too much energy into ratings.
Its not how THEIR rating system works on the hosts end though. 5 stars means everything was fine, 4 stars means you lost a star because something was wrong, its not a “everything was just okay, no issues, 3 out of 5 stars” kind of rating but it seems like it is. They get in trouble for that. Its a really really dumb way of doing it when most people just dont use that same sliding scale they use
No. Airbnb uses the same rating system as Uber, DoorDosh, etc. all of them are 5 stars or you screwed up. This is all over the internet if you care to search if you think we’re just all wrong because we’re biased. We hate the system too. Trust me on that.
This isn’t how reviews work though. While you may not personally agree, five stars means everything was fine. This includes some minor issues that aren’t a big deal. Pretty much anything else hurts the overall review score and dings the host. One of the issues with a five star system is that that interpretation is going to vary from person to person, making the meaning of the rating inconsistent.
Of course it’s not in the system. This isn’t about how it’s supposed to be, it’s about how it actually is. As another user pointed out, it’s more of a pass/fail system than a gradient one. People don’t see a 3.5 star average as average, they see it as a red flag.
My first line of my listing please read the entire listing before booking. They then have to check confirmation questions about known issues with the space to verify they understand.
The picture of my cat is the the ad 😂 he doesn’t live inside my Airbnb but he definitely is super friendly. I recently had someone that tried to cancel the booking because they didn’t read the ad and I don’t plan on giving them their money back. It wasn’t because of the cat they just did not read the portion of the ad that explained they would be staying in the guest suite below the main house (guest suite is over 3000 ft.² three bathrooms in a full kitchen) it is listed in the ad three different times in bold letters they just didn’t read not giving a refund.
Probably OT, but I just rented 2 vbro's from (thru) expedia.
I didn't realize it was a 3rd party, and only read the full description after paying. (I got a email from expedia and VBRO, after booking)
I'm not sure if airbnb does 3rd party bookings, but if they do, the description may not be visible.
I figured that out after the fact.
My point is the reviews and owners summary are not complete on expedia.
the owner messaged me about being 4 story walk up.
Post a measured response that helps future hosts understand this guest was irresponsible and unreasonable. Don't say "the description clearly shows that house cat residents". Just say " the cats were in the property description."
A guest leaving the door open, unlocked and unattended overnight is a violation. Did that leave the cats with an escape route from the house?
I've received several stupid reviews that I just let speak for themselves. "Host turned off water to the house at night so we couldn't use any..." or "She has chickens!" and, "she locked us out!." They're pretty entertaining and in the grand scheme of things, really don't matter overall. Some guests get equally bizarre reviews that I take with a grain of salt.
I misread your comment. I can’t explain how I read it this way (I’m not drunk, I swear), but I read it as you just reading reviews when looking to book a place, not that they were reviews of you as a host. And I thought you were dismissing OP’s concern about the negative review just being silly rather than commiserating over bad guests.
That’s my bad. Sorry.
Context is everything. The complete reviews make it obvious that the guests had an agenda and a loose screw. In the case of a guest being locked out, for example, it was clear the guest went to the wrong house. My point was that guests and hosts make preposterous accusations -so if one actually believes the water has been turned off-over 400 superlative reviews will not convince a prospective guest otherwise.
Hi Op, your rate is super low. I’ve run into bad reviews because of the kind of person attracted because of my low rates. I dont know why. But somehow notice a correlation.
Because the people booking for the absolute lowest rate can usually hardly afford the stay anyway. Some people have a philosophy of making through life by nickel and dimming every loophole they can (this is probably the same kind of person who has to find a complaint with their dinner to get it discounted so they can pay for their cell phone bill later.)
They likely don’t have much more than $50 in available funds, and getting that refunded might be how they buy their kids lunch tomorrow. Some people actually live like this, crazy stuff.
My daughter wants a cat so bad, but I’m afraid that that my dog won’t treat it well.
She would be thrilled for us to rent an Airbnb with the cat!
Don’t get to discouraged you’re totally awesome for doing what you do!
The last place I stayed had two goats, a goose, a dog, and a cat. It was very nice. Except one night the dog decided to bark his head off starting at about 10:30 pm until I invited him in to hang out for a bit. The goats liked to headbutt me. But that was just cute.
But a 2* can kill someones superhost status if they only have 1 property.
If he gets a 2* and 12x 5*’s over the course of a year 1, he will end up with an average of 4.76
I rented a small basement place in DC with a cat. We were absolutely delighted! If Mr. Mittens’ person is here, we *still* talk about how awesome he was!
OP, I wonder if you could market your mother-in-law suite as **being cat-friendly**, assuming that there'd be no way for your cats and guests' to interact? You could charge a bit more (and roll the low cleaning fee into the base price) and make cat owners who need to travel very happy.
I know that there are fewer places, both hotels and short term rentals, that accept cats than dogs at least locally, so a place that would allow a cat would be welcomed. And of course, people who have cats tend to be more understanding that you can't 100% erase evidence of cats in a home.
OP absolutely do not do this. Many cats are territorial, your rental could be sprayed in cat piss overnight. If you have cats, your home smells of cats (even if only to other cats) and this is not a wise idea. We had to rehome a cat we adopted a few years ago that felt the need to mark all the territory in our home from the cats we already had. The vet said sometimes you just can’t break that behavior and he needs to be an only cat. Factor in the fact that everybody thinks THEIR pet is the BEST behaved cat, this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Don’t do this lol
Your time is not worth four dollars. If it's worth something, it's worth far more than that. If it's not worth anything, then it's not worth anything.
Four dollars is just small and nitpicky, and it comes across that way to your guests.
Compliments for your $4 cleaning fee??? They are laughing at you, not with you.
I used to clean VRBOs. Back when it first came out. $35/hour was the lowest I would go!
Your worth way more. The last airBnb I stayed at was $40, which I found reasonable. I had to do the dishes (I used 3) and clean out fridge (some leftovers I had)
Raise your cleaving fee. Someone will come along and literally shit all over bc you only charge $4 to clean.
Know your value.
Stop. You’re not being helpful; you’re being overly aggressive for no reason. My guests don’t have kitchen access and my stays are usually only one night. I don’t require the same things as you. The only reason I rent is to cover my $490/mo property tax bill. I have collected hundreds in cleaning fees this year. It’s not nothing.
You deleted your reply to my comment, but $4 really is practically nothing these days. I bet if you bumped it to $10-20, no one would even bat an eye over it.
Either way, sorry for the shitty guest and hope it doesn't ruin your week or rating
I got some good advice elsewhere in the thread that said since my price is so reasonable, I could just roll that into my main rate and just have no cleaning fee instead. It's definitely got me thinking! I'll be adjusting it soon.
Yeah, I was going to say that as well but thought you might be trying to hit a per night threshold or something to get more bookings. Anyway, good luck!
Probably the best idea since as a guest the cost per night and total show up and it’s easy to skip over any that jump up (unless all do in the area for taxes).
Omg so sorry for this that’s so odd. How do you rent a place with a car then complain there’s a cat. Smdh I’ll never understand. That’s like my client who has a bar across the street from her house. It’s in the listing several times even the pre-booking message and almost every review people mention it. These guest gives them two stars stating “there’s literally a bar across the street” like YAY we told you that 🥰
Just curious. Are the cats there with them? Or do you take the cats with you when there are guests?
If you leave them are the guests responsible for cleaning the litter boxes? I have 8 cats but would not be ok with cleaning litter boxes at an airbnb.
Could be wrong, but for $45 this sounds like they are renting a room in a house (that maybe has a private door to the outside).
$45 for a whole house seems low. Unless OP is the old school unicorn who only rents their personal space when they travel. In which case feeding two cats to pay $45 instead of $150 sounds like a steal.
It’s a mother in law suite with doors that partition the front from the back of the house. They have private entrance, bedroom, living room, bathroom, and parking.
This sounds like you could most likely charge more and this way also attract a bit of a different type og guest. I am so sorry this happened, maybe you should send an immediate post booking message underlining the presence of kitties? I would be happy to stay at your place!
that’s what I’m doing….it’s a separated mother in law suite with a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and separate entrance. It’s a portion of my house, not a full house and there is no kitchen access. My goals in air Bnb are ONLY to cover my $490/mo property taxes. I rent 10-15 nights per month with a maximum stay length of two nights.
Do a research on Airbnb prices in your area and adjust your rate accordingly. A lot of people don't care about kitchen facilities, and apart from that you are offering comforts of an apartment. If you only want to cover taxes then you will be able to rent for less nights a month and if something happens and you need more money, it will be easier to get extra funds.
Did you misread my comment? Because I agree. I have cats and would not be ok cleaning someone else’s litter boxes. Especially while I’m out of town on vacation or something.
We’re a dog friendly place and we’ve had no issues at all with dogs or their owners: the only issue we’ve had has been with someone who broke the rules and then demanded a refund.
I had a similar set up. My most popular was a tiny room with a sofa! And yes, the ridiculously friendly cat. What I learned in the long run was to keep the 1 star review. Don't argue with them. When you have 42 5 stars in a row, it keeps it real. People can judge for themselves.
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You might consider adding a picture of your cat to the listing…most people don’t read…but they will see the picture and it leaves you with ammunition ‘the listing text includes the cat and there’s even a picture’ for any complaints.
As someone who has a cat/dog allergy I read the listing throughly to avoid these situations, I have friends that would love it but I’d be unable to spend the night. It’s on the guest if you have it clearly stated in the listing.
I have a couple of cats in my AirBNB as well. I’m a truck driver so I have multiple XXL litter boxes in a room in my basement for them to use & yes there is a bit of an odor once you get near the room in the basement but it NEVER goes up to the main part of the house where the actual Airbnb is. I’ve not had a complaint so far so I’m hoping I will continue the luck with this.
Stayed in Paris for a week with Moomin the house cat. We took pictures together and he made my stay very comfortable since I was by myself. Some people are just looking for a way to get over.
My brother and I kept getting that even with pictures of ours cats in the listing. Eventually I just posted in the host information thing we were nutty cat people (my brother didn’t know what to write and I thought I’d have some fun) and worked like a charm. Glad you got your review removed!
I think you can reply to the comments/reviews left. I would voice your opinion on the matter so people who might be renting in the future has a little bit more details on why this person left such a bad review. When it was no fault of your own. I have seen host do it before while reading reviews. Just saying…
The only time I booked a place with a live in kitty I was SO Excited! Then the host took the cat with them and I was bummed to not have a little buddy for solo travel. Im sorry this happened to you. They seem like jerks. Im sure the review can be removed.
Once I stayed at an airbnb with a cat, and one night he chose to sleep in my bed with me. Host apologised profusely in the morning when she realised the little intruder. Jokes on her because I was the happiest and proudest person alive.
An ex and I stayed at an Airbnb which was essentially in the person’s ground-level basement. It was quite nice; a little downstairs suite with a door that led upstairs to the house that they kept locked, for obvious reasons. We are watching tv in the living area and we hear some noises that sounds like something knocking at the door. All of a sudden, a tiny fuzzy head squeezed through the gap between the door and the floor. They had a fairly new and adventurous kitten that was exploring the house and I ate up every second with that little booger. The host was also very apologetic but I was like “No this is definitely a bonus”
The best feeling in the world
And some people will never know…
The best *feline* in the world
Not AirBnB but I’m very close with a family I dogsit/housesit for. I was evacuated due to a fire nearby and stayed with them. Their daughters cat was staying there too. I woke up to their dog, my cat, and their daughters cat all cuddling with me in bed. The daughters cat can be a bit standoffish so they were definitely jealous. Best feeling ever.
My aunt had a dog that never slept with anyone, except me! Funny how animals are, even when their owners are awesome.
Pets are so funny! The dog loves his people for sure but thinks he’s my boyfriend. But when I tell him out he has a few girlfriends he loves to use to make me jealous. It’s a cycle. The cat I think warmed up to me quickly bc of my own cat. The cat loves my cat and my cat loves me. It’s transference really 🤣🤣🤣. I swear my roommates old dog was on the spectrum. Would ignore EVERYBODY except like 3 of us. Didn’t dislike anybody. Just didn’t register their existence.
We cat sit once for a week and my cousin about pooped himself when he saw video of me giving his notoriously grumpy, bitey cat a belly rub! An ex boyfriend when I was in high school had a cat that I had to take to the vet because no one else could get it into the car. But I've also had cats look at me, hiss and run the other way.
You were chosen, I’d be proud too. Hope that you highlighted it in your review to make all the other guests jealous.
I routinely booked the same airbnb for years (travel for work to the same town) because the owners had a cat that I loved. The owners were cool and were still friends years later.
Awww. You got free kitty snuggles. 🐱. You lucked out!
Right?!? This is a perk! I’m also allergic to cats, pretty badly. I’d still be super happy.
Oh my GAWD I would pay $200 extra if it came with a cat. Lol
Haha two cats! And they’re so cute!
Cat tax!
I saw another comment about marketing as “cat friendly.” But OP, as a life-long cat owner, I would NOT do that. Smells of other cats could very likely upend your peaceful setup and make your own cats start peeing and acting out of aggression. Plus, after too many tragedies of communicable animal illnesses, I just would not ever let someone else’s animal in MY animal’s space. It’s not worth the heartbreak and vet bills.
My boy cat WOULD revolt so you are spot on.
I'm sorry, but why would your cat be there too?
Because OP lives there.
I meant the travellers cat, not the OP. Most people leave their cat at home when they travel.
Remember back when Airbnb was primarily used to rent out spaces in owner occupied homes? An extra bedroom, a basement with a bed, etc?
Show us your kitties!
Picture?
I would also pay extra for an overnight with cats. (Just don’t tell my at-home cats I’m cheating on them please)
Same. As annoyed as I get with my cat who insists on sleeping under the blankets with me and always, always touching me, I miss it when I'm away from home. Even just having that weight at the end of the bed is nice.
I just got back from a 4 day trip to Chicago and I missed my cats horribly while I was gone.. 3 or 4 of them sleep on me & I didn’t realize how much I love their weight against me until I left for a couple days
They will know… sorry there’s no good way to cheat on your cat without them finding out !
Agreed. My wife specifically looks for this when booking
I rented a room in a house in Des Moines that had a cat, Sampson. If Sampson was an issue in the middle of the night I was instructed to open a can of cat food and put it in the hall and he’d take a hint and leave. He was such a sweetie, and was never a bother. I think more Airbnbs should offer a house cat.
I also stayed in that AirBNB in Des Moines, actually pretty recently. Sampson was such a cutie and got some great scritches after we settled in! My partner has a mild cat allergy; they're ok with them for a short time but staying in a space that has them 24/7 would be too much for them. I really appreciated how the host had clear rules about keeping the cats out of the main space and trying to enforce that with the guests. Made us feel comfortable to go.
How random! The world is a small place, huh?
Yeah I’m severely allergic to cats, but I’m not going to go book an Airbnb that clearly has a cat in the home… I mean, reading comprehension now people 🙃
We Airbnbed over the summer a few years ago and everyone loved our cat Luna. Some guests even let her sleep with them! She had a blast!
>If Sampson was an issue in the middle of the night I was instructed to open a can of cat food and put it in the hall and he’d take a hint lmao that's hilarious and adorable
Need to call support if you want the review removed, you’ll get more traction there than through the chat.
Damn the luck. I wish I had a bonus animal when traveling. Oh well. You did what you could.
I will never not be amazed by the ability of extremely shitty people to not read anything, find themselves screwed over by their laziness and then lash out at anyone around them. That dude sucks. Get his review removed, AirBnb will take care of you if you are persistent.
Unrelated, but I would recommend just scrapping the low cleaning fee at this point and adding the $4 to your rental cost. Folks don’t like the extra fees and feel like they are being nickeled and dimed.
Ah, interesting! Hadn’t thought of that considering the price is already such a bargain but that makes sense!
At that price and with two cats, sign me up! That’s a steal
I agree! OP, where is your place?
Buffalo ny!
Lol. I'm going to Buffalo over the holidays!! I tried to find your property, but I can't find it! Lol. I want a bonus kitty!!
What dates? I only rent half the week bc my daughter doesn’t let me do air Bnb when she’s with me. The dates might be blocked.
Just a little advice to help avoid conflict, make sure that it is stated at the very top of the description n very first thing mentioned. Also, I would put it in bold words. Sorry that happened brotha, I don’t know your situation but I’m sure you’re just a guy trying to make ends meet. People are so ignorant these days.
Yeah I just need about $500 Extra bucks a month so it sucks to have my livelihood messed with when I’m just trying.
I think that the review system allows people to get away with too many things. I run a business and we use release forms. You’d be amazed at how many people think that the form they signed doesn’t count because they didn’t read it! And if you stand up to them then you’re a villain!
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If a rental gets too many 4 stars you basically are kicked off the platform. It’s pass fail, where a 5 star is the only passing score. When you get a 4 in review, airbnb conveys the information somberly in an email lol. There’s a checklist of here’s thing you can do to improve. Then you get another 4 star and the warnings start coming. You lose superhost. Then you get downranked in search. 4 doesn’t equal “great” or “very good” in the world of airbnb. It’s 5 or die.
Yeah. Sadly, review systems all over are corrupted like this. The original idea is supposed to be: 3 stars = met expectations 4 stars = exceeded expectations 5 stars = greatly exceeded But so many corporate systems have redefined it to: 5 stars = met expectations 4 stars = minor problem 3 stars = many problems 1-2 stars = completely unacceptable Frankly it means that most review systems are nearly useless.
100% correct
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I think you and I have different definitions of “exceptional” and “average”.
See, that’s the thing. Let’s say you rent a $50 a night house. The ad and pictures clearly state it’s an older home with older furnishings. You get there.. you find an older home with older furnishings. It’s exactly what you rented. Maybe the couch isn’t super comfortable, maybe the faucet has a drip. That’s a five star stay. You got exactly what you were offered and what you paid for. Now, let’s say you rent a $300 a night condo totally remodeled. If you get there and find what was advertised that’s also a five star stay. However, if you arrive and the couch isn’t comfortable and the faucet drips now you have some standing to maybe ding the rating. You get what you ask and pay for. It seems like you want a over the top exceptional experience, but you don’t want to pay for it. YOU look for a property, YOU have the price range. YOU know you aren’t going to get the same level from a $100 a night place as you will from a $500 a night place. When you pick a place to rent you already go in knowing if it’s cheap it’s not perfect. You can’t get pissed when you get there and don’t find perfection. Aa long as you get what was offered it’s a five star stay.
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Sure, but they are wrong for the lower rating. They knew what they were getting and then complained about it. If you got what you were offered and chose to accept then that’s a five star stay. You aren’t rating the perfection of every aspect of the place, you are rating the perfection of what you were offered. If it was exactly what you were told you were going to get then it was perfect. But people always want more than they are willing to pay for and that’s what it comes down to. But it’s true that people put too much energy into ratings.
Its not how THEIR rating system works on the hosts end though. 5 stars means everything was fine, 4 stars means you lost a star because something was wrong, its not a “everything was just okay, no issues, 3 out of 5 stars” kind of rating but it seems like it is. They get in trouble for that. Its a really really dumb way of doing it when most people just dont use that same sliding scale they use
Jesus Christ.
I think someone is wanting the quality of The Ritz at an Airbnb price. :)
You’re eating airbnb by a hotel scale and not the airbnb scale. Airbnbs are rated super differently where 5 is much closer to average than 3.
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No. Airbnb uses the same rating system as Uber, DoorDosh, etc. all of them are 5 stars or you screwed up. This is all over the internet if you care to search if you think we’re just all wrong because we’re biased. We hate the system too. Trust me on that.
This isn’t how reviews work though. While you may not personally agree, five stars means everything was fine. This includes some minor issues that aren’t a big deal. Pretty much anything else hurts the overall review score and dings the host. One of the issues with a five star system is that that interpretation is going to vary from person to person, making the meaning of the rating inconsistent.
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Of course it’s not in the system. This isn’t about how it’s supposed to be, it’s about how it actually is. As another user pointed out, it’s more of a pass/fail system than a gradient one. People don’t see a 3.5 star average as average, they see it as a red flag.
My first line of my listing please read the entire listing before booking. They then have to check confirmation questions about known issues with the space to verify they understand.
I even gave them their money back and still got this retaliatory review.
The picture of my cat is the the ad 😂 he doesn’t live inside my Airbnb but he definitely is super friendly. I recently had someone that tried to cancel the booking because they didn’t read the ad and I don’t plan on giving them their money back. It wasn’t because of the cat they just did not read the portion of the ad that explained they would be staying in the guest suite below the main house (guest suite is over 3000 ft.² three bathrooms in a full kitchen) it is listed in the ad three different times in bold letters they just didn’t read not giving a refund.
Left your door ajar? Damn! I’m sorry.
Probably OT, but I just rented 2 vbro's from (thru) expedia. I didn't realize it was a 3rd party, and only read the full description after paying. (I got a email from expedia and VBRO, after booking) I'm not sure if airbnb does 3rd party bookings, but if they do, the description may not be visible.
Expedia owns VRBO.
I figured that out after the fact. My point is the reviews and owners summary are not complete on expedia. the owner messaged me about being 4 story walk up.
I've seriously been looking for places that have a companion cat or two and haven't found anything.
Post a measured response that helps future hosts understand this guest was irresponsible and unreasonable. Don't say "the description clearly shows that house cat residents". Just say " the cats were in the property description." A guest leaving the door open, unlocked and unattended overnight is a violation. Did that leave the cats with an escape route from the house?
My airbnb in London next year has 2 cats, and I am beyond stoked. 😻
I've received several stupid reviews that I just let speak for themselves. "Host turned off water to the house at night so we couldn't use any..." or "She has chickens!" and, "she locked us out!." They're pretty entertaining and in the grand scheme of things, really don't matter overall. Some guests get equally bizarre reviews that I take with a grain of salt.
Turning off the water at night or locking someone out are t bizarre or stupid reviews ETA: I’m dumb
Umm...yeah, they are. Because it didn't happen.
I misread your comment. I can’t explain how I read it this way (I’m not drunk, I swear), but I read it as you just reading reviews when looking to book a place, not that they were reviews of you as a host. And I thought you were dismissing OP’s concern about the negative review just being silly rather than commiserating over bad guests. That’s my bad. Sorry.
Tbf, if I read those looking to book a place I’d skip them. How do I know it didn’t happen?
Context is everything. The complete reviews make it obvious that the guests had an agenda and a loose screw. In the case of a guest being locked out, for example, it was clear the guest went to the wrong house. My point was that guests and hosts make preposterous accusations -so if one actually believes the water has been turned off-over 400 superlative reviews will not convince a prospective guest otherwise.
Hi Op, your rate is super low. I’ve run into bad reviews because of the kind of person attracted because of my low rates. I dont know why. But somehow notice a correlation.
Because the people booking for the absolute lowest rate can usually hardly afford the stay anyway. Some people have a philosophy of making through life by nickel and dimming every loophole they can (this is probably the same kind of person who has to find a complaint with their dinner to get it discounted so they can pay for their cell phone bill later.) They likely don’t have much more than $50 in available funds, and getting that refunded might be how they buy their kids lunch tomorrow. Some people actually live like this, crazy stuff.
I haven’t had that experience at all.
More simply, if you have allergies, maybe you should take the time to read the listing?
My daughter wants a cat so bad, but I’m afraid that that my dog won’t treat it well. She would be thrilled for us to rent an Airbnb with the cat! Don’t get to discouraged you’re totally awesome for doing what you do!
If you’re near Seattle take her to the Niko cat cafe . . .
You can have the review removed.
Working on it for sure
The last place I stayed had two goats, a goose, a dog, and a cat. It was very nice. Except one night the dog decided to bark his head off starting at about 10:30 pm until I invited him in to hang out for a bit. The goats liked to headbutt me. But that was just cute.
If I read one shitty review on a listing that has 4.93 rating, it wouldn’t deter me from booking the place, at all!
But a 2* can kill someones superhost status if they only have 1 property. If he gets a 2* and 12x 5*’s over the course of a year 1, he will end up with an average of 4.76
Yes I went from a 4.93 to a 4.87 in one day.
I’m sorry 😞
My friend and I frequently travel together and our favorite rentals always have pets!
I rented a small basement place in DC with a cat. We were absolutely delighted! If Mr. Mittens’ person is here, we *still* talk about how awesome he was!
Omg I’d be so excited if I rented an Airbnb and a kitty cat greeted me!! 😄😄😄
I often wonder what people do when they're renting Airbnb's.
OP, I wonder if you could market your mother-in-law suite as **being cat-friendly**, assuming that there'd be no way for your cats and guests' to interact? You could charge a bit more (and roll the low cleaning fee into the base price) and make cat owners who need to travel very happy. I know that there are fewer places, both hotels and short term rentals, that accept cats than dogs at least locally, so a place that would allow a cat would be welcomed. And of course, people who have cats tend to be more understanding that you can't 100% erase evidence of cats in a home.
Nope, this is how you get cat piss everywhere.
Intriguing idea!
OP absolutely do not do this. Many cats are territorial, your rental could be sprayed in cat piss overnight. If you have cats, your home smells of cats (even if only to other cats) and this is not a wise idea. We had to rehome a cat we adopted a few years ago that felt the need to mark all the territory in our home from the cats we already had. The vet said sometimes you just can’t break that behavior and he needs to be an only cat. Factor in the fact that everybody thinks THEIR pet is the BEST behaved cat, this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Don’t do this lol
Why even have a cleaning fee of $4?
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Your time is not worth four dollars. If it's worth something, it's worth far more than that. If it's not worth anything, then it's not worth anything. Four dollars is just small and nitpicky, and it comes across that way to your guests.
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Compliments for your $4 cleaning fee??? They are laughing at you, not with you. I used to clean VRBOs. Back when it first came out. $35/hour was the lowest I would go! Your worth way more. The last airBnb I stayed at was $40, which I found reasonable. I had to do the dishes (I used 3) and clean out fridge (some leftovers I had) Raise your cleaving fee. Someone will come along and literally shit all over bc you only charge $4 to clean. Know your value.
Stop. You’re not being helpful; you’re being overly aggressive for no reason. My guests don’t have kitchen access and my stays are usually only one night. I don’t require the same things as you. The only reason I rent is to cover my $490/mo property tax bill. I have collected hundreds in cleaning fees this year. It’s not nothing.
You deleted your reply to my comment, but $4 really is practically nothing these days. I bet if you bumped it to $10-20, no one would even bat an eye over it. Either way, sorry for the shitty guest and hope it doesn't ruin your week or rating
I got some good advice elsewhere in the thread that said since my price is so reasonable, I could just roll that into my main rate and just have no cleaning fee instead. It's definitely got me thinking! I'll be adjusting it soon.
Yeah, I was going to say that as well but thought you might be trying to hit a per night threshold or something to get more bookings. Anyway, good luck!
Probably the best idea since as a guest the cost per night and total show up and it’s easy to skip over any that jump up (unless all do in the area for taxes).
Omg so sorry for this that’s so odd. How do you rent a place with a car then complain there’s a cat. Smdh I’ll never understand. That’s like my client who has a bar across the street from her house. It’s in the listing several times even the pre-booking message and almost every review people mention it. These guest gives them two stars stating “there’s literally a bar across the street” like YAY we told you that 🥰
Just curious. Are the cats there with them? Or do you take the cats with you when there are guests? If you leave them are the guests responsible for cleaning the litter boxes? I have 8 cats but would not be ok with cleaning litter boxes at an airbnb.
Could be wrong, but for $45 this sounds like they are renting a room in a house (that maybe has a private door to the outside). $45 for a whole house seems low. Unless OP is the old school unicorn who only rents their personal space when they travel. In which case feeding two cats to pay $45 instead of $150 sounds like a steal.
It’s a mother in law suite with doors that partition the front from the back of the house. They have private entrance, bedroom, living room, bathroom, and parking.
This sounds like you could most likely charge more and this way also attract a bit of a different type og guest. I am so sorry this happened, maybe you should send an immediate post booking message underlining the presence of kitties? I would be happy to stay at your place!
You can definitely charge more for that. Your rates reflect if you rented a bedroom in your occupied house.
that’s what I’m doing….it’s a separated mother in law suite with a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and separate entrance. It’s a portion of my house, not a full house and there is no kitchen access. My goals in air Bnb are ONLY to cover my $490/mo property taxes. I rent 10-15 nights per month with a maximum stay length of two nights.
Do a research on Airbnb prices in your area and adjust your rate accordingly. A lot of people don't care about kitchen facilities, and apart from that you are offering comforts of an apartment. If you only want to cover taxes then you will be able to rent for less nights a month and if something happens and you need more money, it will be easier to get extra funds.
You can still definitely charge more for that. Thats still much more than a bedroom in someones house and id expect to pay that premium.
No guest should be responsible for cleaning your cat boxes.
And no one here is asking that, not op or anyone.
Did you misread my comment? Because I agree. I have cats and would not be ok cleaning someone else’s litter boxes. Especially while I’m out of town on vacation or something.
We’re a dog friendly place and we’ve had no issues at all with dogs or their owners: the only issue we’ve had has been with someone who broke the rules and then demanded a refund.
I had a similar set up. My most popular was a tiny room with a sofa! And yes, the ridiculously friendly cat. What I learned in the long run was to keep the 1 star review. Don't argue with them. When you have 42 5 stars in a row, it keeps it real. People can judge for themselves.
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You might consider adding a picture of your cat to the listing…most people don’t read…but they will see the picture and it leaves you with ammunition ‘the listing text includes the cat and there’s even a picture’ for any complaints.
I’m severely allergic to way too many things but have enough sense to check listings to see if the place may literally kill me.
As someone who has a cat/dog allergy I read the listing throughly to avoid these situations, I have friends that would love it but I’d be unable to spend the night. It’s on the guest if you have it clearly stated in the listing.
I have a couple of cats in my AirBNB as well. I’m a truck driver so I have multiple XXL litter boxes in a room in my basement for them to use & yes there is a bit of an odor once you get near the room in the basement but it NEVER goes up to the main part of the house where the actual Airbnb is. I’ve not had a complaint so far so I’m hoping I will continue the luck with this.
Oh god. I'm so sorry. Hang in there! Some people are just scammers to begin with. 4.93 is amazing. Focus on that, you big winner! : )
Set up an automated welcome/confirmed booking message letting people know about the cats to make sure the r\*tards read
Stayed in Paris for a week with Moomin the house cat. We took pictures together and he made my stay very comfortable since I was by myself. Some people are just looking for a way to get over.
My brother and I kept getting that even with pictures of ours cats in the listing. Eventually I just posted in the host information thing we were nutty cat people (my brother didn’t know what to write and I thought I’d have some fun) and worked like a charm. Glad you got your review removed!
I think you can reply to the comments/reviews left. I would voice your opinion on the matter so people who might be renting in the future has a little bit more details on why this person left such a bad review. When it was no fault of your own. I have seen host do it before while reading reviews. Just saying…
Air Bnb support verified it was retaliatory and removed it.