To not want to justify my existence just to stay in an Airbnb

[CanILeavenowplease]

I have had a difficult few weeks and wanted to take my children away for a few nights. I found a lovely property on Airbnb which I haven’t previously used. That seemed to put me into ‘risky’ category and the owner had to approve my booking. Fair enough. Except said owner wanted a low down on my life, the universe and everything before agreeing to rent to me. Is this how it works? We now have to justify who we are before staying somewhere? Or am I correct in wondering if the 1 adult, 3 children booking made him assume it was a single parent booking and he assumed I am in some way unsuitable as a result? I have cancelled the request to be allowed to book so if you’re reading this, middle-class professional here, able to afford your cottage without any problems whatsoever. Also clean, tidy and quiet. I have given my money to someone who was happy to accept the booking with no further questions.

Yes u are being very dramatic here or being sarcastic

It's standard for some places to ask these questions

It's not a personal dig

4 star reviews to Air BnB basically mean there has been a service failure.

If your average drops below 4.8 you go down in the listings and so don't get many bookings.

Below 4.3 and your listing can be removed as Air BnB see this as being detrimental to the brand. They write you a stroppy email saying you have to improve!

So the review system is either OK or Not Ok. Which would be fine if users were aware of this. But most people don't realise.

You are the one who sounds prejudiced OP.

4 star reviews to Air BnB basically mean there has been a service failure

Says who? I would see 4 stars as quite nice but not perfect or stunning. Nothing wrong with it, perfectly decent. Are we now saying that people need training in objective reviewing techniques before using the site?

I think Airbnb say the star rating is supposed to be whether the place is “as advertised” - so a place that is a hovel but was quite clear about that in the photos and description should get 5 stars, but a palace which advertised a swimming pool but didn’t actually have one would get a lower rating.

But misleading IMO, but I guess it is meant to weed out fraudsters and axe-murderers from the days when it was a couch-surfing site - it’s a trustworthiness review not a quality rating.

That's not true at all. We are scored on description, cleanliness, communications and value for money. We score guests on communications, respecting the house rules, would we recommend them to other hosts. There is something else, but can't think what it is.

Barbaraofseville, says Air BnB
That is what they say in their email to hosts threatening to remove them from the site for having too many 4 star reviews!

To them, 4 stars is bad, whatever you think.