I think a better tell would be displaying the ratio of people who actually reviewed vs the ones who didn't. When people don't like a place they'll usually not review it at all.
I recently booked a place in an apartment complex, and when I arrived, there were big signs at all the entrances saying it wasn't a hotel, that it was for residents only, and anybody found to be renting daily/weekly would be arrested as trespassers. I was only staying there for a couple of nights and didn't have time for the hassle of arguing with Airbnb at the time, so I just took the risk.
After my stay, I reported it to Airbnb. I didn't want to leave a review because I didn't want to deal with the fallout if Airbnb banned the host and they knew I was responsible. Airbnb ignored the report, the listing is still active, and none of the reviews mention the problem. I wonder how many other guests reported the problem to Airbnb without leaving a review as well.
That's right. Airbnb is the Uber of hotels. One place I stayed, I reported to the hoa and my host basically threatened me until I had to block his number.
Until airbnb starts cleaning up their mess I think people will eventually realize that this is just another scam in the long run.
I had a similar experience (apparently these signs are common in Airbnb apartments in Thailand).
At the same time, the apartment front desk staff and doorman were completely aware of my staying there temporarily. I showed up, asked for the keys, the front desk had an envelope, and there were no questions. They must have someone doing that every few weeks, and the signs are someone else's business.
I live in condo in Bangkok where a couple of units are being rented out on Airbnb despite the warning signs.
Most of the inhabitants are people with 9-5 jobs who wish to enjoy a quiet evening after a long day at work. Having tourists next door doesn't help.
People coming home drunk late at night, kids playing soccer in the hallway, Scandinavian women walking around topless and in thong at the pool* - Airbnb guests treat the condo building like a resort, which it isn't.
The walls and doors are thinner, there's no carpet in the hallway and there are less elevators than in a hotel.
Here's a message to everyone considering renting an apartment on Airbnb: GET A GODDAMN HOTEL ROOM!
Thank you SV for "disrupting" my quiet evening [/endrant]
* I know some might actually enjoy this, but Thailand is a conservative Buddhist country. Respect that please.
That's a great point that I forgot to mention! I will only book a place with sparce reviews (under 5 or so) if the host is very new (listing is less than a month or two old).
I know that's what they say in their reminder emails, but it's very misleading. Basically, people can't write a review after they have seen the review of themselves. The mechanism is designed to prevent retaliatory reviews.
So you get a window of a few weeks in which you can write a review. If you leave a review, then you get to see the review about yourself straight away. But if you don't review, then you have to wait until your own window has closed. After that, you're able to see the review about yourself regardless of whether you left a review yourself – because you are no longer able to leave a retaliatory review.
Airbnb aren't very clear about this at all, and that certainly pushes people to leave reviews, but it's a side effect that Airbnb play up, not the actual designed purpose of the review system.
That's not true. You can see what the other party wrote without writing a review if you can wait for the review period to end, which is 14 days -- not that long. It must be so because reviews are public.
After my stay, I reported it to Airbnb. I didn't want to leave a review because I didn't want to deal with the fallout if Airbnb banned the host and they knew I was responsible. Airbnb ignored the report, the listing is still active, and none of the reviews mention the problem. I wonder how many other guests reported the problem to Airbnb without leaving a review as well.