How to Write Airbnb Guest Reviews [Examples Included]

Growing your number of positive reviews is essential for becoming a Superhost as well as for scaling your income. Find out how to get more reviews for your listing and learn how to write better guest reviews yourself by taking advantage of our free Airbnb guest review templates.

Key Takeaways

• Guest reviews help keep the Airbnb community safe by flagging potential problem guests. 
• Airbnb hosts who regularly write personalized reviews for their guests make them feel appreciated and encourage future guests to take the time to review their stay.
• Using templates that are customized to include the guest’s name and specific details about the stay saves time without sacrificing authenticity.

Just like hosts, guests also use good reviews to decide which vacation rental property they should book. The more good host reviews you have, the more appealing your Airbnb listing will become to potential guests. 

While writing reviews is entirely optional, you can encourage guests to leave reviews by setting an example and making a point of reviewing each and every guest. These Airbnb review templates, along with the rules for writing guests reviews we’ve shared, will give the direction you need.

Why Are Airbnb Guest Reviews Important?

Airbnb is a perfect example of how powerful social proof is. Hosts confess that they always look through reviews before they confirm a reservation. The same holds true for Airbnb guests who are certainly curious to know what experience they can expect if they decide to book your property.

Not only do guests often rely on reviews to make their decisions, but it can also help you achieve Superhost status. This badge is another major trust signal, helping you to improve your booking rates further. 

Airbnb’s algorithm also uses reviews and ratings to determine your listing position on the platform. The more reviews you’ve received, the higher your listing ranks, increasing its visibility. 

What’s more, Airbnb hosts who consistently receive positive reviews can often charge more per night. Guests perceive consistently well-reviewed listings as lower risk and so they’re willing to pay a premium for the confidence that their stay will match expectations.

Rules of Writing Guest Reviews

You can use the following rules to simplify this “extra task” and ensure your reviews are informative, fair, and concise:

Visit your property first

Before writing reviews, you should always check that everything is in good order after the guest left. This tactic is even more useful if something went wrong. 

If guests didn’t follow all the house rules, wait for a few days before you write a review. Then, once you’ve cooled off, you can begin to put your feedback into words.

Be positive and polite

Part of good Airbnb etiquette is to remain polite and positive in all of your communication, even after your guest checks out. As host reviews are shared publicly, it’s especially important to check your tone and messaging. 

For example, by thanking your guests (again) for staying at your rental, potential guests will see you’re a caring host while the guests you’re reviewing will appreciate your gratitude and professionalism.

That said, negative reviews can still be polite. If you need to leave a negative guest review, ensure that it’s specific by briefly mentioning the issue you faced, for example, excessive noise or property damage, to help other hosts.

Focus on the facts

Make sure your reviews are based on the facts. They have to be accurate and honest. 

If you have minor suggestions (like “you could have taken the rubbish out”), you can mention them in private feedback instead of sharing it in a public review.

Make them helpful to future hosts

When you leave a review, answer the questions that can tell other hosts about your experience hosting your guests. For example, future hosts might be curious to know whether guests:

• Respected all the rules
• Left your property in a good condition
• Invited additional guests without your prior consent

It can also be a good idea to include a phrase like “highly recommended”, “really nice guest”, “quiet guests”, or “great time hosting” when you conclude your review. Other hosts will find this helpful as it will give them an idea of if you would host the guests again.

Build review templates to save time

UsingAirbnb guest review templates can help you to save time and ensure consistency in your feedback.They’re especially useful if you’re managing multiple properties and regularly receive a high volume of bookings.

Reply to all Airbnb reviews

Don’t leave your guests hanging once they’ve submitted a review for you. If a guest has taken the time to review you, always review them as soon as possible too. You might just secure yourself a word-of-mouth referral or a repeat guest.

Sometimes you may receive a negative review, but, regardless of what it says, you need to maintain a professional stance. Ignoring a review is definitely not the best strategy for dealing with bad Airbnb reviews. 

In fact, you can turn negative reviews to your advantage by applying special techniques. You can, for example, acknowledge a legitimate issue (like limited parking space) and tell future guests what you’ve changed (added an additional parking bay). This way, you show accountability.

Protect personal information

One of the most important aspects of the Airbnb guest review process is protecting your guests’ personal information. Of course, when writing an Airbnb guest review, you need to include some details, like the guest’s name, but, beyond that, you shouldn’t include anything else.

Automate the process

With the help of vacation rental software, you can automate much of this process helping you to save time. iGMS, for instance, allows managing and publishing of reviews automatically right from the software, eliminating the need to log in to your Airbnb account. 

It will also let you build templates for guest reviews using predefined elements and automatically add specific details, the name of your property or guest, to ensure it still feels personal. This feature is especially useful as personalized reviews help guests feel appreciated. 

On top of its review automation, it also offers several other features to automate many of your routine tasks such as:

• A channel manager for managing multiple accounts and listings on the top OTAs from a single interface
• A unified inbox for organizing messages into a single feed
• A vacation rental website builder to showcase guest reviews and accept direct bookings

Mini Checklist of What to Include in Your Reviews 

You don’t need to create personalized reviews for every guest. It’s a good idea to include similar details in each of your review templates such as the following basic details:

• Guest name (first name only)
• Positive descriptive words like “lovely couple”, “ideal guest”, “perfect guests”, “super friendly”, “quiet”, etc. 
• A recommendation or some sort of endorsement like “I will gladly host them again”, or “they were a pleasure to host”.

Airbnb Review Templates Hosts Can Use

As mentioned earlier, one of the top tips for growing your number of reviews is to create guest review templates. 

The first type of template you’ll want to create is for a 4 or 5-star review. In most cases, your Airbnb guests will be great people and you’ll want to leave them a good review as quickly as possible. 

Then, you’ll also want to create a template for an average guest and another for a 1-star hosting experience.

Here are some examples you can use:

Template 1: [GUEST NAME] was very neat and I would gladly host him again. I highly recommend him to other hosts!

Template 2: [GUEST NAME] was a great guest. She took great care of my space and left it clean and tidy. I’d be glad to host [GUEST NAME] again.

Template 3: I loved having [GUESTS’ NAMES]! They treated the property with respect. They were awesome and I hope I get to host them again.

Template 4: I enjoyed hosting [GUEST NAME]. Our experience was smooth from the beginning to the end. I hope to have the opportunity to host them again!

Template 5: [GUEST NAME] was a pleasure to host. They followed my house rules and were perfect guests. I would happily host them again!

Template 6: Hosting [GUEST NAME] was very easy and stress-free. She was an ideal guest and followed my house rules. I would host this excellent guest again.

Template 7: It was a pleasure hosting [GUEST NAME]. They were great guests as shown by the other very positive reviews on their profiles. Overall, they were excellent guests.

Template 8: It’s easy to leave this positive review as [GUEST NAME] was a very nice guest. I enjoyed hosting her and appreciate the lovely message she left in my welcome book.

Write Reviews Right: Polite and to the Point

When you take the effort to write a review, you’re doing it for your business and your fellow hosts. It’s one of the few free ways to improve your ratings. It won’t cost you any money, just time.

Not only does your business depend on them, but also the Airbnb community. Your guest review will help other hosts decide whether or not to accept bookings from even the most fantastic guests. 

Before you post any review, read it again. As each review will also give guests insight into your professionalism, it’s best to keep reviews short and polite to build trust. No review, even if it’s negative, should be a personal attack on the guest.

FAQs

How much time do Airbnb hosts have to write a review?

Airbnb hosts have 14 days after a guest has checked out to write and submit a review.  

Can you edit Airbnb reviews?

If you submit your review first before the other party, edits are allowed within the 14-day review period. Once both the host and guest have submitted their reviews, no more edits are allowed and the reviews are automatically published.

Can I leave an honest negative review without worrying about a bad review in return?

Yes. Your review will only be shared with the guest and published on your listing after you’ve written a review. That said, it's worth keeping negative reviews factual, specific, and professional. Focus on behavior (e.g., noise complaints, property damage, rule violations) rather than personal judgments. This protects you if a guest disputes the review and makes your feedback genuinely useful to other hosts.