AIBU to want to be dishonest in my Airbnb review?

[queenceleste]

I just stayed in a good well priced airbnb which is within someone’s home.

The experience was fine but the owner sent different signals to the advertised offer.

I felt that the listing said one thing about shared spaces but they didn’t confirm that on arrival. My friend who stayed with me said I was making my discomfort up!

I just feel I want to give them a great review as they were really good - I just felt much more uncomfortable than usual - but we usually stay where we don’t see the owner!

I’m always loathe to give anything negative in a review. I’m interested if other people feel that same reluctance.

Be very careful with reviews.

My friend once had an Airbnb guest who left a poor review for 'check in' because their phone ran out of power on the journey there and they couldn't find the address of their Airbnb. So although the host welcomed them on arrival they decided their check in experience wasn't good but it was their own fault.

You might mark your hosts down for 'communication' if they didn't provide you with relevant information, or you could consider whether you should have asked a simple question for clarification.

Your initial post is a bit unclear, OP, but having read your follow up post I completely understand.

Unfortunately this is why I don’t ever stay in the shared places.

You had access to the shared spaces…but felt far from “welcome”.

I totally get it, and I wouldn’t fee comfortable either.

People do rely on views, so I would be factual.

“Location was, room was beautiful and very clean. Unfortunately it wasn’t very clear what the shared spaces were and we weren’t shown them, so felt we were in the hosts way a little bit. But appreciate it may just be that we are not suited to sharing spaces”

Leave them a good rating so they can’t really complain, but it gives them a heads up to possibly change their approach as well as letting prospective users know the set up.

l would be veey releluctant to stay in an Airbnb. They dont seem well relegated and open to abuse.Dodgy overseas investors Un authoised sub lets Tax free money on the side fiddles erc

And l cerrainly wouldn't use one with shared spaces.Did the person who was living in the house actually own the place?

Airbnb was started for people who offered a room in their homes to people travelling. It was cheap and mainly friendly and orientated at young travellers and hosts. It has evolved from its humble beginnings into a multi billón holiday rental business with people renting entire empty properties for profit and even buying them up for that purpose.

Sounds like your hosts belong to the original category. People have come to expect entire properties to themselves from Airbnb and often forget how it started.

Well, you should have learned from your last uncomfortable visit and why on earth do it again? My empathy is with the host trying to raise funds by opening their home to complete strangers who are sniffy if they are not "enthusiatic". I would certainly hate to have paying guests in my home. On the other hand, I do enthusiastically welcome friends and family :) Further, only once did AIRBNB and it was a debacle. Never again.

I didn't ask whether she got to keep the fee if people arrived and then left. I got the impression that she knew very well how misleading it was and that the number of people who paid and stayed ( despite being a bit discombobulated) offset the leavers and the people ( like me ) who would never,ever have considered booking it if they'd known how it really was. She had one couple stay for a week ON THEIR HONEYMOON. Massively awkward all round Id have thought.

Where cant you just be honest and say that you didnt realise youbwould be sharing quite so closely with the owner blah blah

That's a YOU thing so not reasonable for a review. It was stated as shared...you don't like shared..just never pick similar in the future..problem solved

air bnb give you the option to leave a private review as well as a public one, it may be worth writing privately what you feel they could do to be more clear

I think maybe you just don’t feel comfortable sharing space and that’s ok. You know for next time. I wouldn’t let it impact my review if the accommodation was good.

Yes I think you did right by not leaving a negative review unless it was really problematic.

I've seen reviews that had coded comments, which you only really understand in retrospect.

Eg: "Incredibly attentive and accessible host" = the host never let you out of their sight for a moment - we had this in France. Literally felt like being stalked.

"Quirky decor which was brilliant for us as we like a relaxed atmosphere" = dated or mismatched clutter.

I'm trying to think how your experience could be coded as a conditional positive. Something like "Host wasn't overly attentive, which we liked. Should we have needed help, we knew exactly where to find her, ever available in the shared spaces, but found ourselves mainly staying in the room".

It tells the context without criticising.

This! Negative reviews can have a hugely damaging effect on small businesses which is often why vindictive people leave them. Obviously, if the place is a hovel or grossly misrepresented call it out. But if you want a thriving economy, job creation and the luxury of choice don’t leave gratuitously negative reviews. It’s an interconnected world and small businesses need support, not people feeling a bit iffy if the host hasn’t welcomed them with a ticker-tape parade. Lots of small businesses are facing huge bureaucracy and increasing costs. It’s this sort of unfair representation that can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. If you can’t say something nice, say nothing.

Leave a honest review with no judgement. For some it might not even be worth of notice, whilst for others it would.

List the positive, mention the shared spaces and their use in detail without saying it was annoying for you.

Anyway a bad review can seriously destroy a reputation and it would be a shame for those who might have been at ease there.

I don't think it would be fair to leave a negative review because you had to share space when you picked a shared space air b and b ! You felt uncomfortable , as would i but then I wouldn't have picked a shared space! I would chalk it upto experience for next time you book... unless of course they were strutting around with their bits out but you have said they were nice so I guess they didnt do that !

…..I’m with your friend on this one …

Is that all you have to worry about? If youre that worked up then dont write a review at all. Its not mandatory is it?

That doesn't help other travellers and is a bit selfish if you are expecting your hosts to all review you and boost your profile yet you never give a review in return.

Any stay anywhere can be a debacle, should all types of accomodation be boycotted? I have had countless successful Airbnb stays around the world.

For me I don't think it's about leaving a negative review, it's more about giving clarity to other travellers because there's a big difference between shared spaces being where you might bump into a fellow traveler or where you are moving into the hosts home and sharing it with them.

I am puzzled by the word dishonest in your title. Do you kean you should write a glowing review and not mention it did not fit the bill for you?

In this situation you found the place exactly as listed ... the information was correct so you have no legitimate complaint ... so simply do not write a review.

That’s what I do. I think it’s the number of stars which is the issue for the owner, so as long as it’s fit for purpose and meets the description, I would give the 5 stars but I always add in what I think may be useful to future prospective renters. I always read reviews in detail myself.

Just to say after some advice I did leave them and they left us a great review.

Sometimes mumsnet helps me work stuff out!

I think I booked this so long ago that I had slightly forgotten the listing details and was busy and travelling and should have rechecked. Any way the review really impacts the host and my experience this time was absolutely on me - on reflection any issue you have needs to be checked with the owner before you even consider leaving it as a review.

I am just interested in how other people review and seeing the feedback here helped.

that’s all

So glad you found it helpful. I think you are absolutely right by the way - it's worth checking with small businesses because a misunderstanding can impact them so greatly.

Because you were in their space and that is what you paid for! 🤣👍🏼🤦🏼‍♀️