Hey, I'm Russell Leeds and welcome to the Property Investors podcast. I'm here with my good friend, James Youel. How you doing, James? I'm very good, Russell. How are you? I'm absolutely fantastic. Thank you very much. Awesome. Thank you for asking. Now this week, we're going to be talking about how to get good reviews on your Airbnb properties.

This is actually probably more important than you'd think having good reviews. Definitely, yeah. Why, why, why do you think having good reviews is so important? Because, if you, you'll know yourself, if, if you're searching on airbnb or booking. com or any of these platforms and something comes up with no reviews, no matter how cheap it is and how good it looks, you're always going to be like, hmm.

Or even worse, if it comes up with bad reviews. Oh, definitely, yeah. Then you're just going to stay clear of it, yeah. Yeah, or actually, if I'm booking, I'm booking. com. I'll filter it. Yeah. So I don't even look at stuff with bad reviews. Yeah. It's like when you go on eBay. And there can be a seller who's got a thousand feedback.

And one negative. You don't even look at any of the positives, you just click straight on negative. Uh, no, not buying off him. It's very similar to service accommodation. So hold on, you wouldn't buy off someone, who had a thousand good reviews, on one bad review, and you'd be like, no I'm not buying. It depends what that bad review is.

Uh, and how recent it is as well, obviously, that's, that's a biggie. Um, like with service accommodation. I look at the averages. So if it's like, you know, I think on booking. com, if, if, uh, if it's like an 8. 5 or above. It's classed as very good, I think, is it 8. 6 is very good. Something like that, yeah, yeah, yeah.

When you're at that kind of level, you know, four and a half star and above, you know, for a normal business or whatever, you know, I'm like, yeah, that's cool. Cause you, everyone gets bad reviews. Yeah. The key is to get way more good reviews than you get bad reviews. Yeah, and it's, it's, it's impossible to, as good as impossible to get an 100 percent rating on these platforms because no matter what you do for some people, they're going to complain.

They're going to want a refund. Um, so you can't expect a perfect record with any of them. No. And just covering me back from when someone, you Yeah. 8. 9. 8. 9. Yeah. I actually had a bad review the other day. Um, because they said the mattress was too hard. Yeah. It's like, it's hard to, because some people like a soft mattress.

Yeah, yeah. We had that recently. One guest moaned it were too hard. A week later, the guest Monique would talk to us after, they'd be like, where do I go with this? What do you do? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's hard, isn't it? Yeah, you cannot please. Mine was. My mattress, that is. I don't get off on bad reviews.

This is taking a sharp turn for the worse. So yeah, you're always gonna get some bad reviews. The key is you get loads of good, more, way more good reviews than bad reviews. Which hopefully both of us do, but I did have a bad review the other day. It gave me a two star for that and I was like, but then I get loads of good reviews.

So it balances it out. Still got my super host status. As of filming, as of filming, so we'll see. Anyway. Very easy to get. So we're going to go through some of the top tips. Thanks, James. That was my, my big moment there of, uh, you know, my, my, I was very proud of that and you just dashed it away. So we're going to go through some top tips on what you can do to make sure that your service accommodation properties keep getting good reviews.

And literally, if you have a property with good reviews, not only will you have a much higher occupancy rate. You can actually charge a lot more as well. People will pay. If they think your place has got, you know, higher star rating, or if they think guests have a better experience there, they'll pay, maybe even double in some cases, more, to get that experience.

Yeah, a lot of guests are not just looking for the cheapest place, are they? No, no. Myself, when I'm looking for somewhere, I'm not looking for the cheapest. I'm looking for one that fits need. If it looks nice, I don't mind paying a bit extra for it. Yeah, bang on. Alright, so let's go through some of the top tips for you right now.

So the first one that we've come up with is to set the guest's expectations before they book. Now, I would say this actually applies to everything in life, not just booking. Seriously, right? Everything is expectations. Yeah. So like if, if um, you go to a property and let's say it's not got a garden, If I think there is a garden, and then I turn up and there's not, now I'm going to be disappointed.

I did that when we first started with serviced accommodation. We got literally just a gravel drive at the back of the There is love and this season, Forest house that we were Hadn't started until sated in. And I put in the listing that he got the Got a gun doesn't technically it's got a garden straight away.

going to go. ESID your expectations were say that there was a goal. Remember Samuel was Tongue way Story potion playing. And when he got on the plane, he said he wasn't expecting there to be Wi Fi, it was only a European flight, he wasn't expecting any internet. And they announced, oh, by the way, good news, on this flight, we've actually got internet for this journey.

Suddenly, his expectations were, ah, fantastic. Then, the internet didn't work, right? And people were moaning and kicking off, it's like, hold on a second. Yeah. You didn't even know that you had internet, right? Now that your expectations are there, all of a sudden. So, one of the, one of the mistakes I think a lot of people make, especially when they're new to the game, like you mentioned with the garden, you're trying to make it look as attractive as possible.

Oh, what can we say is a Over promising. Yeah. Over promising, and then unfortunately under delivering. So, you need to make sure that you're selling it well, but you're setting the expectations too high. Exactly how it is. Yeah, if it's a, if it's a shit hole, just tell them. Because, you know, contractors and people, some, some people are happy just to pay 25, 30 quid a night and they're not expecting anything.

And, you know, if there's, if there's a tea and coffee machine there, they're buzzing. So if it's, if it's, if it's not a nice place, just be honest with it. Yeah. And then, because you're going to drag the right guests in anyway. But likewise, if you say there's going to be tea and coffee and there isn't. Yeah.

You know, if you're relying on the cleaner, so just be, just be really clear and set expectations really clearly from the start because nothing annoys people more. The fastest way to annoy someone is to set your expectations here and then under deliver. Yeah. No one likes, no one likes being over, over promised.

Yeah. Yeah. So really important point. Uh, number two, uh, communicate with guests quickly and clearly. I think this has become more important. In modern times. Yeah, and more difficult. Go on. Because I think people are just getting stupider. Or lazier, one or two, or both. Even people are getting stupider? Yeah, and I'm guilty of this as well because, um.

What, getting stupider? Yeah, well, possibly. Sounds like it. Because we, um, we get a lot of guests, or we send them the information on key safes, where to park. Because we have like keypad entries on the doors, how to access them, where everything is. We couldn't make it any clearer if we wanted to. They, they're struggling to get in, they can't read the key, say if they're on the phone and I'm just like, Your guests sound great by the way.

Well, some of them, I mean, we, we're in town centre, so we can't get away from it. Um, but I will complain and be like, are these people so stupid that they can't read an email? And then we stopped in Cheshire about three or four weeks ago We booked this really nice apartment. It got like a copper bath in the bedroom and really smart, but it was very central.

No parking. We're in half a mile, which we were fine with because they'd set the expectation and told us. Um, and then when we got there, we, I mean, we weren't drinking at that point and we could not get in the key. that we could not get the key safe open. Right. And then we ended up ringing them up and they didn't answer.

And then we're ringing the other number and ringing and ringing. And now we're like, we are them guests that we complain about all the time. So I think just in general, people are getting more stupid. And this is why it's so important to be crystal clear with things. Yeah, I liked how you said that get people getting more stupid.

And then your example. Yeah. Um, but we even like, we'll ping a video to him to show him how to do it and we still get people coming back. I don't think it matters how clear you are unless you physically went to the house, met him there, let him in, showed him around and then come away. I think you're always going to get people on the phone ringing you.

And some people are just stress heads, aren't they? Like most of the guests that I have. I am. Most of the guests that I have don't even get in touch with me. So literally, like, they will book, all the email communication and everything is all automatic. They'll receive it, they'll turn up, I don't hear a word, right?

They just sort it themselves. And then other people, I had someone who, probably a couple of years ago now, she booked on a year in advance. Messaged me a few times. Who knows what they're doing in 12 months. I know. I messaged her back a few times, we had a bit of communication. Anyway, bye. A week before, I was actually on holiday, and she messaged in on, on AirBnb, and I wasn't, I, I, I probably should have been more on it, and I wasn't, I didn't check it.

Well, you're on holiday. I'm on holiday. So a couple of days goes by, um, and then I get a text from the, the, I can't remember who it was now, it Verbo or someone, but I got a text from them, saying, oh, can you reach out to your client, she's trying to get in touch. I was like, oh. So, I looked, went on the messaging service, saw it, messaged her back.

She was like, no, I was too stressed that I wasn't me a place. I booked somewhere else. Now I want my money back for refunds. And how long was she a silly year in advance at this point? No, this was like three days. Right. Okay. Right. So, um, I didn't hear from you. I was thinking you would have got the automatic message.

You spoke to me before. I'm not going to cancel your booking and not say anything. Right. Um, so I thought, well, you know what? Like I'd rather just give her money back. Yeah. Uh, and this is probably another point, actually, I don't know. Did she give you a good review? Uh, she didn't give me a good review, but she also didn't give me a bad review.

Do you know what? I don't. I said, I'll ping you money back once you give me a good reveal. Oh, really? Yeah. Ransom. Because otherwise, you send them the money back, they're going to moan anyway, aren't they? I don't know, I've never had them moan anyway. Have you not? So I had someone, um, who, the boiler broke while they were there.

So it was in the winter, boiler broke, no hot water. They were only there for two days. I sent someone in straight away. And But like, it's not really very good, is it? So I said to them, look, and I always think it's worth it, rather than just offering the money back. And I did this with the guy that left me a bad review about the bed as well.

Although he still left me a bad review. But I always say to them, First of all, you always, you know, sympathise. If they're moaning to you direct, they want to be heard, normally, right? So if they come to you and moan about it, Oh, I'm not happy about this and I always, I always apologise. I'm really sorry to hear that.

And you always agree with them. It's the same as in sales, right? You always agree. You never want to get into an argument with them. No, it wasn't our fault. Because there's nothing more annoying. as a customer, when you, when you say to go and complain about something and then they're defensive, it just riles you up because it's like, and then there's no coming back.

Is that? No. So they ever, um, you know, give me negative feedback. First of all, I always agree or at least understand. Really sorry to hear that. You're right. It should have been better. So even though it's admitting fault, which goes against a lot of the corporate teachings now, it's like never admit wrong.

I think it's good to admit wrong. Yeah. I think it softens it. Yeah. Um, so I always, always agree, admit you were wrong if you were, or at least understand, totally understand where you're coming from. And then I always say, what can I, what can I do to make it right? And then they'll go, well, nothing, because we're on our way home, but I just wanted to vent.

Correct. Yeah. Or, in this case, with the boiler broke, they would say, well look, one of the days we didn't even have hot water, if you could refund us, One of the days they would be happy and then they left me a good review. I read through them the day, left me a good review, Russell was really understanding, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So even though, in a disaster that happened, the way you deal with it and the quick communication. Yeah, and like you said, the reviews are more important sometimes, well a lot of the times than the, than the, than the hundred, hundred and fifty quid you're going to lose. Oh yeah, and at the end of the day, You've got to be reasonable.

I know, I know you're losing the money, but if you've not provided. If, if your service has not been up to scratch. Yeah. Give them their money back. We went to a little log cabin recently, and when we, we pulled up outside, he were, I could see he were fixing the boiler. I knew straight away, because obviously I used to be a gas engineer.

And he got the top open on this oil boiler outside, and as soon as we were pulling up, I went, I said to Becky, I goes, There's going to be a lot of water here when we get in. And he was stressed, this landlord. Because it was like on site, he's got a big mansion on one side, and then this log cabin down at the end of this field.

And, um, he was, he was like, he couldn't get the boiler running. And, um, he wasn't gas registered, he says, I can't get the man out until tomorrow afternoon, so I'm really sorry, here's some electric heaters. Um, you're going to have to have a cold shower, I'll refund you your money. Um, We could have kicked off and had a refund, but being the nice man I was, I went outside and it just needed a bleed in, the, um, oil, it, it run out and topped up, so it just needed a bleed in, two minutes later I had it running for him.

Uh, perfect guest. You order, so you actually turn up and you fix stuff? Do you know what, the amount of places I stop, hotels, Airbnbs, and you'll probably not notice this, as most people don't, but you know when you flush a toilet, a button, and you press it? Some toilets, all toilets, you should just press and it flushes.

Right. And a lot of toilets, especially in places I go, you have to hold the button in. Yeah. That's not normal. It's quite normal. It's not. It is. It's because the button's not being set up. It might be that it's not, it might be that it's not how it's supposed to be, but it's definitely quite normal. It's not normal.

It's been normalised and it shouldn't be because Well, it's been what? It's been normalised. It's been normalised. Yes. Making it You're thinking it's normal. No. It is normal. It's not normal. I went to your brother's house. I used his downstairs toilet. Right. Do you know the definition of the word normal?

Yeah. Go on, what's normal mean? Well, I don't know the dictionary definition. Okay, what's your dictionary definition? Normal is, I'm guessing, what people just socially accept something as. It's a common occurrence? Yes. And does this, is this thing a common occurrence? More common than it should be. So it is normal?

It's not. It is normal. It might be a fault. It's a fault. It might be a fault. A fault is not normal. Of course it is. Well, a fault shouldn't be there. It might not be correct, but it is normal. Yeah, but you can't, you can't just, well that's like saying, if there's water pouring through the ceiling, it's a fault, it's normal.

Yeah, but that isn't normal though, because you don't go around loads of houses and see water dripping through the ceiling. I think what we do see that is normal, let's say leaves on the driveway, that's normal. That's normal. It might slip and break your knife. It should be cleaned up. Yes, it should. Right, but it's still normal.

Yeah, but what happens when somebody uses a toilet and they just press it and walk away, because like me they expect it to work properly. And then there's some left in the toilet for you. Right, what's the point of this? The point is, when I go round these hotels and airbnbs and booking. coms, I'm always taking, when I go on holiday, I'm always taking the lid off.

Takes two minutes just to set the button properly, drop, usually drop the plunger so it flushes. The landlord never even knows I've done it, but I just like to think that's my way of just helping society out a little bit. Did you do that to Samuel's toilet, yeah. I went round, as soon as I went in, I pressed it, and I'm like.

So I took lid off, adjusted it, no jab. There you go. So now you know how to be a brilliant guest, five star guest. We don't want Fix the toilet. We want five star reviews, not five star guests. But yeah, if my guests will fix the toilet, I'd be very happy with that. Yeah. So quick, clear communication. Do you stay on top?

I find the channel manager helps quite a lot, because you can communicate in one place. Do you find like, booking. com and Airbnb, well particularly booking. com is a pain in the ass to log in. Yeah. To respond, even like, it's so annoying, even like things like, they'll message you, I want to check in at 3 o'clock.

And then you get the email through and you're like, okay, yes you can. Oh, now I've got to go through two factor authentication just to literally go, confirm for free. All right. So communicate with guests quickly and clearly. Make sure you're on top of it and also make sure that you have like a welcome pack of all the information.

I spent, I spent time, I always think it's worth staying in your own service accommodation units. Yeah. We've done that. Yeah. And then while you're there. Yeah. Put the manual together. And what that will also do is it will make you think, Ah, we haven't got a tin opener. Ah, we haven't got a corkscrew. Ah! I don't think we've got a tin opener in our house actually, yeah.

Well, there you go. I don't think we've got one in any. I've just saved you. Yeah, you have. You saved my toilet, I saved your tin opener. Right, so yeah, you need to be thinking this. And then put your manual together. Sorry, your welcome pack together. Yeah. And I think that's always evolving as well. You know, things in the area change, so you need to keep on top of that.

Plus they get a bit tatty with guest use. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually have got, like, a digital copy as well, so if they've asked me a question Do you know sometimes that these organised people ask you questions ahead of time, like, um Oh, I just like copy and paste it from my manual, so it makes it quicker.

But yeah, good communication really, really helps. Um, so make sure you do that. Next, uh, keep your space clean, comfortable, and clutter free. So this is about, I suppose, first of all, when you set it up, making sure you've got good quality beds. The, the last thing you want is a brilliant essay. Uncomfortable bed.

Yeah, that's what you remember, don't you? The bad night's sleep you had. Yeah. Yeah. Get a decent bed. Make sure the sofas are comfortable. Make sure that there's TV. I always set them up with Netflix and everything. I just use my, my, uh, SA account, which I've got a few. Have you had to do that? You've had a couple, haven't you?

I think they're trying to crack down on that aren't they? No, actually, thinking about it, I've got one per unit. Oh yeah, and a TV license on every one as well. I actually do have a TV unit. So you've got multiple TVs and, yeah. I actually do have a TV license on every one. Because that's quite cheap, isn't it?

And I don't want the BBC TV license guy knocking on the door, there's a guest there, Oh, no TV license, for 13 quid. Yeah, it's different where I am up north. They're not letting them in. Oh really? Yeah, no, they wouldn't mind. They'd be like, I'm sorry, sir. Come on in. Let's find him. Uh, yeah, so keep it clean. I think a lot of this boils down to just making sure you've got a good cleaner.

And I'll tell you a good tip for this. And this also helps review. I'm listening because I am on my fifth cleaner. Alright, ask your cleaner after every clean to send you over. A picture. Some pictures. He never does it. She will never do it. We're on our fifth cleaner and even this fifth cleaner will not do it.

And I always say, just send me a picture because if the trash hit or anything happens, I'm like, oh god. You just walk around with a video. Yeah. Hmm, this is it. And do you know what? It's really useful. I had someone check in once and they immediately moaned, this place isn't clean, blah, blah, blah. I said, oh, I'm really sorry.

Very sorry to hear that. Of course, always agree. Very sorry to hear that. That sounds terrible. Let me speak to the cleaning team. And then the cleaner was like, here's the pictures. It looked amazing. The whole place looked immaculate. So I messaged them back and said, could you send me over some pictures of what you're unhappy with?

Because this is what the cleaners just sent me how they left it. And they were just like, don't forget it. Don't worry about it. What revealed like when they'd done. Yeah, fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We had it recently. We are only a couple of weeks ago, actually. And the same came in. It's not being cleaned. I found an air on the bed.

And there's no towels. They're like, no towels? There's loads of towels. Um, so we rung them up. They're like, yeah, it's not been cleaned. There's no towels. Uh, definitely. I've looked round. Anyway, we sent cleaner that. She went happy. We've only just got this new cleaner as well. She was like, I've definitely put towels there.

We're like, well, he's saying that they're not, so I don't know what's happened. And she went out, and because she'd rolled them up, on end of, she'd rolled them up and put them on his pillar. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is going back to our people are getting stupid. He didn't see them. And, and, she came in and she were like, they're on your pillar there.

And he was like, oh yeah, I'm sorry. And she was like, where's the um, where's the hair? Do you know what I would have said to the cleaner? What? I would have said, if you'd sent me a video. Yeah, I could have said let me yeah, yeah, they're there on the pillow and that was saved Yeah Yeah, she didn't send you a video right So yeah, really important to keep it clean.

I actually think this is probably the most important one I think if you get a good clean that keeps it clean Yeah, you can get away with a lot of things, can't you? Yeah, if it's nice and clean. Yeah, I've been to bad hotels, and if it's clean, you're like, well, alright. At least it's clean. I haven't paid a lot, and it's clean, it doesn't matter, does it?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Uh, so next, number four, um, add local touches where you can from artwork, bath products, etc. Just to make the place feel a bit like, like, for example, we've got Artwork? I'm, I'm coming from Barnsley, I'm here or something. Yeah, but like Like a lump of coal. Have you seen our place in Cambridge?

So like in Cambridge we've got like Yeah, the big, the big one. Yeah. Yeah. So we've put like, you know, Cambridge pictures up and Yeah. Yeah. It makes it feel a bit more like, oh, this is quite quirky. Yeah. This is quite cool. We're doing a Litchfield, we, the cathedral, we've got like the pictures of the cathedral around the house.

Yeah. Stuff like that. I think it adds a little bit of a, yeah, definitely. Little, little, just that little bit of extra that makes it, you know, feel like a, a better, better quality unit. We've got some pictures up in one of our service accommodation units, um, but they're quiet. Erotic. Erotic pictures? Erotic pictures.

See, I'm not sure that I'd give that a good review. Especially if I went with kids. But we've set the expectation with that and they know exactly what they're coming to. Go on, what are they coming to? Um, we've got one which is an adult playroom. So when you say they're coming to, that's quite the operative word.

You've got, you've got sorry. Sorry. It's an adult playroom. An adult playroom? Yes. What do you mean by playroom? So, it's a room where adults only will book. Right. And spend the night together. And we allow up to three people to book it. Sorry. Sorry. Is it one bed? Uh, it's one large, is it queen size, one up from a king?

Yeah. Is that queen or super king or something? Yeah, queen. Yeah, next one up anyway. One large so it'll fit three people in comfortably, if needed. So you'll have three people to book? Yeah. A large queen size bed? Yeah. Where? The ceilings are mirrored. Okay. The wall, one of the walls is fully mirrored. Right.

Um, it's painted like an aubergine purple colour. Yeah. Um, and it's got a few little, like, whips and things. Nothing too unhygienic. So you put Sorry, where is this? It's up in South Yorkshire. So you've got an essay. Yep. Is this just like, an apartment? Yep. So it's just one apartment on its own? Yep.

Soundproofed. Yep. Never did a complaint from neighbours, ever. Mate, this is crazy. Yeah. Do you charge more? Oh mate, we charge like nearly three times what the average nightly rate is. I don't think I'd want to do it. Don't think it's worth it. What do you mean? I'd rather have a normal place. Define normal.

I'd rather have a, a, a, well that is not normal. I'd rather have a standard essay. Yes, if you want a vanilla essay, that's fine. We've got plenty of vanilla essays, but this one, um, I mean, it's literally just decorated in a certain way. We have few different bits of furniture in it and we charge like triple the rate.

Wow. People buy it. And do they give you good reviews? That one is actually his highest rating review of any of them. I think we're on about 9. 2, 9. 3 or something. Well, I suppose it's a different experience, isn't it? It's like, it's a bit crazy. It's very crazy, yeah. Yeah, we get people, we get people booking it.

How did you, how did you come up with this idea? So there were a programme on Netflix, Called, How to Build a Sex Room. Right, and being a bloke, as soon as you see the word sex on the telly, you're like, Hmm, what's that? So anyway, me and, me and Becky, we, we started watching it. I'm thinking, Ooh, we might get a sex room in our house.

And then she was like, I've got a great idea. I was like, Oh, here we go. She says, Why don't we convert one of the service accommodations into this? And I was like, What, what do you mean? And then anyway, she brought an idea by me. I was like, This could work. And And it does work very well. So yeah, we got some erotic art in there as well.

So not local art? Not local art. Well, it might be local, I don't know, but Wow. Fair enough. That is crazy. But, uh, yeah. So if you want to get three times bookings, this is how you do it. Um, uh, and then finally, finally give guests the experience you'd like to have if you were staying in their place.

Yeah. Well, I suppose it depends on the place, don't it? Yeah. Um, But, but yeah, it's, I mean, like you say, you've got to try it out as well, haven't you? Yourself? Well, I think I'd leave your one. Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, you've, you've, you've got to, you've got to go through the experience, haven't you? From literally, how hard it is to get packed up, how hard it is to access, um, get into the room, use the facilities, you know.

You've got to look at it from a dummy's point of view as well, I think, to make sure you cover all guest eventualities. Yep. Um, and just make sure that, like you said, when you're in there, if you, if you see that there's naught in order, you get on it then, don't you? Can I give you another good tip for you?

I didn't, didn't write it down, but I've just thought of. Do you know on Airbnb, when the guest finishes, if you leave them a review, They're much more likely to leave you a review, because they want to see, because it messages them, and it says, Hey, so and so's left you a review. To see it, you need to leave them a review.

So I find if I, if I leave people reviews, I get many, many more reviews than if I don't. The hard part is, I don't really know, I haven't been there, I haven't cleaned it, I have no information, my cleaner never tells me, oh that person left it in a bit of a state, they just sort it. Yeah. So when I leave them a review it's quite vanilla.

Yeah. I don't really have anything to say. Copy and paste. Pretty much. Yeah. Unless it's like horrendous, in which case the cleaner will say to me, just so you know. Have you had any really bad ones? Um, I was told about one recently where they're in it for a week and the cleaner just said to me, just so you know, this is the worst I've ever had it.

I didn't leave them a good review. What did they do? I don't know. I was just like, ooh, sorry to hear that. You're so detached now from me talking. I'm just so detached, yeah. So detached. You're not charging me anymore though, are you? Yeah, then I'd be detached. But yeah, if you leave the room with me first, that gets the ball rolling and they're much more likely to leave.

Yeah, it's a good idea. I never thought of that actually with Airbnb. And we do struggle with Airbnb bookings. Reveals. Booking. com, we get reviews more or less every day. Do you know what made me think of it? Airbnb slows us down. First time I used Airbnb, it's about five years ago. Went to Germany. I've never used Airbnb be fair, I don't really use it now.

I use Booking. com. But I used Airbnb and we booked an apartment there. We were there for two weeks. Finished the stay, the guy was there, saw us out, really nice, really friendly, and on the way to the airport, bang! Fredericks left you a review. I was like, ah, to see it? I was like, ah. First time I'd ever slayed in one.

I really want to see it. Yeah. So I was like, ah, five star, five star, five star, let's do one. Right, and he slayed it for me. Really? I was like, you, I won't take this back! Well, he was annoyed because, do you know those, do you do this? Do you know how some Airbnb's like make you tidy up yourself? Yeah, if they don't put a cleaning for you.

Put the rubbish in the bins and all, right. I've never done that with mine, have you? No. It's just crazy, isn't it? You're on holiday, right? Yeah, exactly. Anyway, he had all these rules in, so we did it all, but we left the rubbish, the kitchen bin, We left the rubbish in that bin. We didn't take it and put it in the wheelie bin or whatever it was outside.

I don't even take the bin out of my own house. I know! And he left me a bad review for doing that. And I was like, what a prick, man. And I've just, he was so friendly when we left and everything. And he came, he saw us out and I was like, you And I just left him a five star review. He just gone, five star, five star, five star.

He probably saw you were English, mate. Still sour. Probably. I'll keep telling myself that that's probably it. So let's just quickly recap then some of the best things that you can do to make sure you get five star reviews. So number one, really important, you set the guests. Expectations before they book.

Number two, communicate with the guests quickly and efficiently and politely and always understand them. Uh, number three, clean. Keep it clean and comfortable. Uh, number four, add local touches where you can. Number five, give them the experience that you would like to have, which James has fully taken on board.

And number six, if you're using Airbnb, leave them a review first and that should encourage them to leave you a review. And if you do this and get good reviews in, I promise you this, not only will your occupancy rate go up, but also you'll be able to charge a lot more as well. Hope you guys have found that useful.

I've been Russell Leeds. And I've been James. And we'll see you next week.