Airbnb rating...4 star is bad?

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Just come back from holiday in France where we stayed in 3 different Airbnb's and 2 of them have messaged asking for a review and they are happy to give us a 5 star rating and can we please do the same back for them, and a 4 star is considered low or bad.
Although both places were fine there were a few niggles and a 4 would be in my mind a fair rating for them. 4/5 is surely pretty good right? Not bad or low?!
Niggles were things like not enough crockery and cutlery for 4 or even wine glasses (in France!) in one of them and in the other there was no storage for clothes etc in the second bedroom so everything had to go on the floor, and it was just mattresses on a raised area, not quite beds as the pics indicated - but it wasn't a major issue as we slept fine, so didn't complain.
Would you give 5 stars for either of them? Surely 5 star is when everything is perfect? Or am I being too harsh. This seems to be a recent thing, 4 star seemingly being bad as we've used Airbnb quite a bit over the years in Europe and never had this before.

It sounds like a veiled threat asking for a 5 star review in return for one, but yes anything less than 5 star on Airbnb is viewed with suspicion.
I would let the one with lack of crockery go, but not having a bed frame could be a deal breaker for people with poor mobility and if it’s different from the advertising pictures then that is really not good. Lack of storage space is not really a reason to score down as you’re not staying in a hotel.

It's such a game isn't it. Presumably you need a clean sweep of 5s yourself 🙄.

Could you give 5 stars but make the issues clear in the text of your review?

One thing I would say is it’s not 5-star like hotel ratings - Airbnb is made up of all sorts of accommodation, from high-end luxury (what we might think of as 5-star in the hotel system) to extremely basic and the listings should make it clear what guests are getting and priced accordingly. If the accommodation is clean and as described in the listing (which it doesn’t sound like no.2 actually was), then is it fair to give the basic accommodation a lower star rating than the luxury, when presumably you are paying an accordingly basic price for it? Not sure if that makes sense, but if the accommodation is clean and as described/what you expected, I’d give it a 5.

And if not, then rate it accordingly. Also, maybe message the owner privately to point out the issues, which they may not have realised…

Sorry for multi-posts, but Airbnb has sanctions for listings that get less-than-5 ratings 🙄

You basically can delete your AirBnB listing once you got a couple of 4 star reviews. One guest gave me 4 stars because there wasn’t an adapter for their European plugs. Never said there was. Took my listing offline. I’d only give 4 stars if they really pissed you off, not if it just isn’t a 5 star hotel. Check the listing again and if there is nothing inaccurate or misleading then I’d either give 5 stars or no review at all. You also can message the host privately with suggestions, one of my guests gave 5* but messaged with a helpful suggestion of what could be improved, which I very much appreciated.

Yes for Airbnb 4 is bad - if they consistently get an average below 4.5 the platform will kick them off and not allow them to host anymore. Illogical I know, why have 5 stars available at all if anything less than 5 is basically the same (better to do a thumbs up or thumbs down if that's the case) but that's what it is.

I'd either do 5 star but mention the issues in question in the private feedback section, or decline to leave a review/feedback at all...

Didn’t mean some of this being bold and can’t edit it it seems

It’s a stupid system - and if you give less than 5* then hosts won’t rate you in return… happened to me twice now.

Interesting. Thanks for your replies.

I suppose I will give them 5 stars as they were both clean and as described mostly (the bed situation in the 2nd was a bit odd but I think the pics taken weren't the best in describing the set up).

Yes, anything lower than a five indicates a problem that is more than trivial on these sites, ensuring ratings are pretty meaningless. 5 stars covers everything from ‘nothing to complain about’ to somewhere well beyond expectations for the price range.

The only way to reward the really good places is to gush in the review and the only way to identify those places is to trawl through reviews.

Perhaps you would avoid such nonsense if you stopped helping to deny people a home and used hotels or campsites instead.

They shouldn’t be soliciting 5* reviews, to me that says they know there’s a problem.

when reviewing you can mark parts down as 4* and then it gives an overall average. They also won’t see your review until they have done theirs.

you could always leave no review at all if you don’t want the hassle.

It's true that the airbnb scale seems to have evolved so that 5 is kind of the norm unless there is something actually wrong with the accommodation ie it clearly doesn't meet the representation in the listing. It's slightly annoying, but it is the way it is. It's not the only website where this has happened. I once rated a very good guide 8/10 and he pointed out to me (quite politely) that this had pulled down his average rating and given that my review had been enthusiastic he couldn't understand why I hadn't given a 10. I felt a bit bad about that.

However, I think you can still distinguish between a perfectly fine airbnb and a truly outstanding airbnb by writing and reading detailed reviews. So maybe give a 5 if you think that fits with the way airbnbs are scored, but write an accurate review.

But if you don't feel it deserves a 5 even on the real airbnb scale then don't give one. As I understand it, hosts and guests can't see the scores othey have given each other until they have either already give a score or the deadline is past, so retaliation is not actually possible. It certainly works that way from the point of view of a guest.

This doesn’t only affect Airbnb. Last year I stayed at a b&b that displayed signs saying you’d get a discount on a return visit if you left a 10 on booking.com! I really liked the place, but that put me off leaving a review.

Earlier this year I stayed at a small hotel and was pestered by different members of staff to rate them 5 on Tripadvisor. I felt like leaving a review to say - quite accurately - that this had been really annoying but settled for not reviewing at all.

Reviews, ratings and the guilt-tripping of paying customers into feeling responsible for keeping a business running is part and parcel of travel now.

I think they should do away with star ratings and just let the review text speak for itself. The system is meaningless now.