Being a host, I can say that when things are going good, all is great, but if something goes wrong, as a host, you will not get the support from Airbnb that is promised. They do not stand behind their hosts, I find they like to a facade that all is great in the land of Airbnb. I have cancelled my listing and will not deal with them anymore in the future.

There is nothing IN THEORY that prevents negative reviews being posted on Airbnb. Guest and host both have 14 days after a ‘completed stay’ to post a review about each other – neither of which are published until the 14 days have elapsed. The host and guest apparently don’t get to see each other’s review before they are published. This is supposedly to prevent ‘retaliation reviews’ where guest/host sees a negative public review about them and posts an equally negative and possibly untrue review in retaliation.

However, I have to agree with others that there is a suspiciously lopsided balance of reviews on the site – go and search for yourself in any location, eg Barcelona, Moscow, Sydney, London etc, with no filters applied, and try really hard to find a property with an overall ‘star rating’ (an amalgamated Airbnb score based on all reviews for that property) of 1, 2, 3 or even 4 stars out of 5. The VAST majority of overall star ratings are 5 stars out of five, a few are 4.5 stars out of 5. This just doesn’t ring true. As someone said on a TripAdvisor forum, “common sense and experience dictates that you can’t please all of the people all of the time – Airbnb ratings seem to suggest the opposite.” I agree, they do.

I don’t necessarily believe the positive reviews are fake or anything, just that it seems highly unlikely in such a huge online marketplace that there could be SO few negative reviews if the system was GENUINELY open and transparent. So I do concur with the theory that Airbnb somehow manages to block a large number of negative reviews. I don’t know whether that’s by Airbnb asserting its stated right to remove certain reviews, or because really bad properties - the kind where you turn up and immediately know you can’t stay there because they’re so awful – never get reviewed because if a guest leaves before 24 hours has elapsed it’s counted as a ‘cancellation’ and they are not allowed to post a review under Airbnb Terms and Conditions.

Anyways, it all points to the fact that you need to do your research thoroughly and be appropriately wary when considering booking with Airbnb. Read all the Airbnb terms and conditions, check the host’s cancellation policy carefully, communicate with the host personally via the ‘Contact Host’ button on the listing BEFORE you fork out any money, etc…. Generally just be a savvy consumer and don’t get too swept up in the trendy Airbnb PR message of the ‘sharing economy’. Treat Airbnb like any other rental advertisement site and apply the usual caveats and precautions. And take reviews with a healthy pinch of salt, just like you would with reviews on TripAdvisor, Amazon or any other popular ecommerce site.

I am a host. Ignore the stars at the top. Under the collage of pictures on the page (for an individual place) there are 6 categories with stars. I always check them.
Accuracy
Communication
Cleanliness
Location
Check In
Value

This is often where the real story is. I have to be above 80% of 5 stars to maintain those full stars. It is very hard to go up and very easy to go down if someone gives me a 4. I am currently at 84% because someone got lost in the car park and said:
"I didn't think I needed to read the instructions because I knew where I was going."

Ah ha

I have been hosting through AirBnB for 4 years. At the beginning I had no problems. Website worked, guests were lovely. Then this last few months the problems began mainly with their awful website. It doesn't work well, guests were having problems booking and finally stayed in hotels (we lost almost $1,000 income this last month alone because three guests were so frustrated with the website); the calendar didn't work; the payments wouldn't go through; the guest payments went through twice and couldn't be returned for a week; there was no telephone number on the website, I finally found 415-800-5959; customer service tried to solve the problem but it was still an issue the day after when I lost another guest; details between AirBnB and PayPal must match in every way otherwise payments will not go through; I am still waiting 7 days later for verification. I check reviews of potential guests and try to do a background check if they are staying a long time. As far as township rules and tax reporting requirements are concerned, it's up to you whether you do it secretly, or within the law. Just add enough on the price to cover it.
In summary, all the problems have been with the website not working
And subsequent poor follow up by their customer service department.
As a long-time marketing person I can definitely say that if the website doesn't work efficiently, then the product is poor and their reputation will be damaged.
Renee Jones

We have been renting on Airbnb for several years and have experienced only one potential problem that we were able to head off before it escalated. We are very careful about who we choose to rent to, and will not host anyone who is not verified fully. We have met some wonderful people, and some who were fine, just not interested in interacting with us.

Cheryl's vitriolic answer to your question is very misleading. She obviously has an ax to grind, since she's posted the same screed more than once. Over the millions of hostings worldwide, only a tiny percentage of troublemakers have trashed any houses. You hear about the problems, but not the success stories, which is the usual outcome. But the problems truly are few and far between, and you need to take responsibility for not hosting just anyone who comes along. You do NOT sell yourself to the devil.

What is true is that Airbnb's customer service is just awful, and they are constantly tweaking their website and fixing what isn't broken, making it harder and harder to navigate as a host. If you need to call them, you're connected with someone who can do nothing, and they can't transfer you to anyone who can. They have to message other departments, and it's a crap shoot whether they will get back to you. Having said that, we put up with it because we love hosting people from all over the world, and the extra money's a nice bonus.

HOSTS BEWARE! AIRBNB'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS!

LEGAL PROBLEMS: AIrbnb has been banned in many cities. Hosts have been sued by the city, and fined thousands of dollars for hosting airbnb guests. Neighbors and communities are protesting airbnb hosting.

GUEST PROBLEMS: Airbnb hosts have had their homes totally trashed by guests, property damaged, stolen, requiring police intervention and legal action.

INSURANCE PROBLEMS: Airbnb's "$1,000,000 host guarantee is a scam!" Airbnb runs hosts through hurdles, only to deny, greatly reduce, or ignore the claims in the end.

HOSTS USED, ABUSED & KICKED TO THE CURB: If a host exercises their right & files claims against guests security deposits due to damage, theft or violations of rules, they are kicked to the curb with no warning. Their listing(s) are deactivated and all bookings cancelled.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE TO GUESTS: When a host is kicked to the curb, so are their guests. Airbnb lies to the guests, telling them it was the host who cancelled their bookings, when in fact, both host and guests are victimized by airbnb.

AIRBNB'S GREED: Airbnb collects a fee from both ends, the host and the guest.
If a booking is cancelled, the only one guaranteed 100% payment is airbnb.

SELLING YOUR SOUL TO THE DEVIL: For a little bit of money, hosts sacrifice their home, their privacy, their time, their freedom, their lives, and their pocketbook, only to be kicked to the curb by airbnb after they have used and abused you, and replace you with new unsuspecting hosts that airbnb pulls into their web of deceit.

Yes, we have hosted a house for 5 years in a rural area in the hudson valley nys. However this is an exclusive area with a lot of second homes owned by professional people in NYC, which we are. There's no international airport nearby so there's not a lot of traffic here of the kind that people who that are looking for the kind of entertainment or excitement that they would find in a metropolitan area
That being said, prices here are much higher, there is a big interest in the arts, and healthy lifestyles. I guess what I'm saying is people looking to come here are older and more settled, many with kids.
We have never had much of a problem with anyone or with Airbnb. Everyone has been really nice and respectful.
My opinion as to why there has been problems in some places is that there are many people in populated areas that are just trying to rent anything for a buck. It's not hard to put up a listing. You don't need much more than a bank account and no criminal record or someone to front for you if you do.
My advise to renters is don't rent unless there are a lot of good reviews and study the listing carefully. I was just reading a reviewer complaining that he didn't get a full refund when he cancelled, even though the cancellation policy was clearly stated. So he puts up one star. What did he expect? The host to lose money for an unrented place because of him?
My opinion of Airbnb is that I like it. It can't be easy to manage a million different places and people in an international platform. My belief is that a lot of problems are caused by the people that use it.

If you are doing home-sharing -- renting a room (or several rooms) -- in your home, there is an alternative: Homestay.com

Homestay doesn't have many offerings or cities at the moment, but it never will unless we start making the switch.

Initially, I was very pleased with Airbnb- great additional income, having a bit more control of my property (guests vs. Tenants). HOWEVER, know that when (not if) you have ANY problems with guests, CustomerCare will put you through the wringer. I think the claim department Host Guarantee is a scripted robot: same questions, quotes with no ability to think or respond outside the prefilled box. Just a Marketing Ploy.

Even though the Site shows clearly that guests use of space is for accommodations only BEWARE- I had people running a business out of my home - consider Utility Bills were almost triple/ wear and tear on the space as well as on appliances. Airbnb did nothing about it. Their resolution was to remove Negative Review.

If there are any issues with guests, Airbnb leaves HOSTS in a lurch endangering both your person and your property.

Just a money making Platform with no ethics, social responsibility or code of conduct.

I can only imagine that most 4 and 5 star reviews are given by people who are used to hostels. I have stayed at two places with high reviews that were horrible and I'm not that hard to please. I advise against taking any chances with your own property as there are plenty of horror stories regarding trashed properties.

They did not post by bad review, I would avoid them!

Airbnb does post negative reviews. Some deserving and some not. I tend to agree that most people are nice so nice people usually post nice things, they usually could see a positive in sometimes a not so positive situation. Some people will find something wrong not matter what and those are the people who will post on this site. Like any growing company, there are growing pains and sometimes airbnb will not be able to get back with the host or the client right away, but all in all I think they are a good company and their website is good.

I wouldn't bother, it would seem it's not worth on it on any level.

You have to ask? Just read these reviews