Airbnb reviews are vital to your success as a vacation home owner. However, they can also be quite the mystery. Understanding how Airbnb reviews work—plus knowing how to increase, respond to, and learn from these reviews—is key to consistently filling your calendar and beating your competition.
Essentially, online reviews are a battleground for guests. The vacation rental that wins their trust, wins their booking. And since travelers trust other travelers, your reviews will prove if your vacation rental is worth the money.
You can’t command guests to leave a glowing review. But there are things you can control. Here’s what to know about Airbnb reviews and how to get the most out of them.
What’s included in an Airbnb review?
Reviews on Airbnb consist of a star rating and a written review (up to 1,000 words)—both are optional for guests and hosts to leave. After checking out, guests are asked to rate their stay (up to 5 stars) for:
- Overall experience
- Cleanliness
- Accuracy of description
- Value
- Communication
- Arrival
- Location
Hosts need star ratings from at least 3 guests before their overall, aggregated score appears publicly.
How will my Airbnb reviews affect my property’s search rankings?
Airbnb uses a proprietary algorithm to rank properties in search results, but only the platform truly knows how it works. The Airbnb rating system factors in about 100 different criteria for
rankings, including reviews, star ratings, and the number of stays the homeowner has hosted.
While positive reviews help a vacation rental perform well in a search, a small number of negative ratings (or guests skipping reviews) won’t have a major impact on rankings, according to Airbnb.
Good Airbnb reviews and rankings can also help you:
- Achieve Superhost status, which requires a host to be in good standing and maintain a 4.8 overall rating.
Become eligible for Airbnb Plus, a new designation for the highest-quality homes on the platform.
