Increasing Airbnb User Satisfaction

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Monica Contreras
Nil Larya
Joselyn Mejia
Jacqui Morel
Aldin Polovina
Framing the Problem

Problem Recognition

Over recent years, the hospitality industry has been immensely impacted by the rise of

the digital platform company Airbnb. This substitute to traditional hotels has changed the way

people vacation and has created an opportunity for hosts to make some extra money. Not only is

Airbnb a growing sensation in major US cities, it has also begun to gain popularity all over the

world with listings in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

According to Business Insider, as of August 2017 there were 4 million Airbnb listings

worldwide. The high number of listings gives travelers a plethora of options when deciding

where to stay on their trips. On the other hand, due to the large amount of listings, Airbnb hosts

struggle to get more guests to stay at their properties.

There are many factors that come into play when attempting to alleviate this problem.

Since Airbnb is a digital platform company, reviews left by previous visitors are an important

factor for potential visitors to consider before renting a listed property. In order for hosts to

attract more renters, they must increase customer satisfaction rates. This will help them generate

more positive reviews, which will increase the demand of renters who want to stay at their

listing.

Although few Airbnb guests are dissatisfied with their stay, Morgan Stanley reported that

in 2016, 60% of Airbnb guests in the US and Europe reported they were ‘very satisfied’ with

their stay. The following year, only 55% of Airbnb guests reported they were ‘very satisfied’

with their stay. Similarly, dissatisfied Airbnb experiences increased from 1% in 2016 to 2% in

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2017. This raises a very important question: what can Airbnb hosts do differently in order to

increase customer satisfaction rates?

Review of Previous Findings

Airbnb was founded in 2008 in San Francisco. Since its creation, the number of Airbnb

rentals in the United States has increased each year. According to Airdna, Chicago has 32,836

Airbnb rentals as of July 2018. In 2010, there were only 71 Airbnb rentals in Chicago. Although

this may seem like a lot, Chicago is behind other major US cities in the number of Airbnb rentals

including New York, LA, San Francisco, and Miami (CBRE Group). This influx of Airbnb

rentals is predicted to replace other forms of accommodation. A 2017 Morgan Stanley survey

found that 51% of respondents were more likely to use Airbnb than a traditional hotel, 37% over

staying at a bed & breakfast, and 35% over staying with friends or family.

Through secondary research, our team was able to identify some common complaints by

Airbnb guests that led to dissatisfied reviews. According to AirGMS, a company devoted to

making Airbnb more profitable, there are six complaints that are most frequently made by

Airbnb guests: the place is dirtier than anticipated, the host did not respond/was not welcoming,

the wifi did not work, there was not a washer/dryer when the listing said there would be, the heat

did not work, and the property did not look as good as the photos. These complaints can all be

prevented by hosts. AirGMS identified ways hosts could avert these bad reviews: hire a

professional cleaning service, leave tourist guides for guests to look through, give guests your

phone number, leave instructions for wifi, ensure your listing is honest, fix problems as soon as

possible, communicate with your guests that the problem is being addressed, and post many

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high-quality photos of the property. By taking these actions, an Airbnb host is on their way to a

good review.

In August of 2018, Netflix released the eight-episode series ​Stay Here​ that renovates

homes for short-term rentals like Airbnb. Interior designer Genevieve Gorder and real estate

broker Peter Lorimer work as a team to make their clients’ homes bound for positive reviews and

higher profits. Gorder and Lorimer emphasize similar points to the AirGMS article throughout

the show but also bring other tips to the table. One aspect that ​Stay Here​ emphasizes is the need

for positive curb appeal. Guests want to see the charm of a location before even stepping inside.

Gardening, repairing fences, and hiding gas and water tanks are all steps taken in the show to

ensure positive curb appeal. Although not changeable, a good location- close to a city’s

attractions, public transit, or near the water will also allow hosts to charge more for their rental

and will lead to better reviews overall.

But Gorder and Lorimer spend the majority of the show working on the inside of the

home to prepare it for short-term rentals. In ​Stay Here, t​ he importance of maximizing the number

of beds to boost profits is stressed in nearly every episode. Increasing occupancy will instantly

allow short-term rental hosts to charge more per night. In the show, hosts are encouraged to hide

their alcohol and hookahs to ensure their home is family friendly. Walking into a home with

excess alcohol or drug paraphernalia can put a bad taste in the guest’s mouth from their arrival.

Also, kitchens are a common point of critique for Gorder and Lorimer. Updated, cleanly,

appliance-stocked kitchens will score big points with guests. Glass cabinets are a plus because

guests can see what is inside the cabinets without having to dig around. Finally, Gorder and

Lorimer emphasize the need for high-quality, marketable photos of the property to grab the

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attention of potential guests. These photos should show the charm of the property but should also

be honest about the state of the rental.

Unrelated to ​Stay Here​, an extreme complaint of the Airbnb system was published in the

Chicago Tribune in September of 2018. This guest had booked a month-long stay in a Chicago

Airbnb as she settled into a new job. Reportedly, the place was ‘filthy’ so the guest spent six

hours cleaning upon her arrival. 48 hours later, and two hours before the beginning of her new

job, the guest was evicted. Airbnb does not have a timeframe for eviction notice. This means that

Airbnb guests can be kicked out of the property at any time and without explanation. Another

complaint by this guest dealt with defamation. Both guests and hosts can write reviews of one

another on the Airbnb site. In this instance, the host had written a review of the guest that

contained lies-- making it more challenging for the guest to find another place to stay.

Ultimately, Airbnb fully refunded the guest.

This extreme case posted in the Chicago Tribune raises the need for licensing Airbnb

rentals to ensure they are up to standard. In 2016 and 2017, the City of Chicago amended the

Municipal Code to “better regulate and tax vacation rentals and shared housing units. Not only

do the amendments require websites to solicit a Chicago vacation rental license for each listing,

they also require Airbnb to regularly report new listings to the city” (Clare). By having an annual

$500 license fee paid to the City of Chicago, the quality of Airbnb rentals in Chicago is hoped to

increase because only hosts who are serious about running an Airbnb are likely to get licensed.

These amendments also require inspection of the property by the City of Chicago Department of

Buildings. However, being an Airbnb host may be less profitable than before; taxes were

increased from 4.5% of the gross rental or leasing charge to 8.5%. Additionally, hosts are

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expected to have ongoing housekeeping costs including: keeping guest registration records,

providing soap, towels, and, linens to guests, and, cleaning the rental after each guest departs.

Solving the Problem

Modeling

Most Airbnbs have a limit on how many days a guest can stay. The rooms are rented for

a minimum of one night, and the stay can be canceled with a full refund before the time specified

on the listing. To add, Airbnb hosts are expected to reply to their guest’s requests or questions

within an hour. Following a stay, guests can leave a review and rate their experience. Airbnb has

a reputation of being easy to use, affordable, and able to make their visitors feel at home away

from home. High ratings and comments are very important to market and invite more people to

use Airbnb.

Ultimately, the model we created suggests the frequency that Airbnb guests in the

Chicagoland area are “very satisfied” or “unsatisfied” with their stay based on star ratings on a

scale of 1-5. In addition, the qualitative data, or comments, that guests leave when they review

their stay will provide insights on what is important to Airbnb guests in Chicago.

Another variable that we considered focusing on is the location of the Airbnb. For

instance, if the Airbnb is close to Lake Michigan or in the loop the price will likely increase. As

price increases, the guest’s expectations increase. One way that this is seen is through the

additional benefits of the Airbnb. For instance, some Airbnbs will include a parking space with

the room to justify the price.

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Data Collection

Airbnb offers public online access to datasets which include data on many different

variables such as listings, reviews, and even neighborhood maps. They categorize these datasets

by city and by the variable that is being measured. For diagnosing the problem, we needed to

find a dataset that would address the issue many hosts face: how to increase the satisfaction rates

of Airbnb guests in Chicago. In order to find the answer to this problem, we used the most recent

dataset available for Airbnb customer reviews in Chicago as our primary dataset.

The dataset included 300 customer reviews for different listings in Chicago from

September 13, 2018 to October 10, 2018. The original dataset included the listing ID, date of

review, customer name, and the customer’s comments. Although this information was useful in

addressing the issue at hand, we still needed a way to categorize the data and make it easier to

analyze through charts and graphs. In order to make the data easier to work with, we went

through each individual review and ranked it on a scale of 1-5. By doing this, we were able to

turn qualitative data into quantitative data which made the analysis process much simpler.

During the data collection process we also did some secondary research through watching

a Netflix series called ​Stay Here.​ The show outlined several things that short-term rental hosts

could do to make their listing more appealing to customers which were detailed in the ‘previous

findings’ portion of the report. We utilized the secondary research we collected from watching

Stay Here​ and combined it with the primary dataset from Airbnb in our data analysis.

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Data Analysis

After inspecting and cleaning the dataset, our group decided to find information that was

easy to display and interpret. First, we selected the most relevant information in the dataset

which included: date, name, and comments. The dataset was entirely qualitative at first, but we

quantified the comment section using a 5 point scale. By the end, our dataset was both qualitative

and quantitative and had four columns: date, name, stars, and comments. We used MS Excel to

clean and quantify the dataset and then transferred the dataset into R to run head, tail, and

summary functions to summarize the dataset we were working with.

Next, it was time to actually process the most useful and relevant information to form a

conclusion. We analyzed the qualitative data left by the reviewers by creating a word cloud.

Word clouds essentially identify the mode, or the most frequent, of qualitative data. Since there

was a lot of qualitative data to sort through, a word cloud was the most efficient way to visualize

the frequencies. The largest words in the word cloud, representing the most frequently used,

were: location, place, and clean. However, we could not ignore some of the other words that

appeared in the cloud including: downtown, Uber, restaurants, and coffee. Ultimately, the word

cloud supports the conclusion that extra details and location improve customer satisfaction in

short-term rentals like Airbnb.

Several insights can be presented by reading the individual qualitative reviews. Jarrett,

one of the guests that was deemed to have given a 5-star review, described their positive

experience: “Great place. Sparkling clean and newly renovated. Plenty of space inside and

parking outside.” Xiaoyu, one of the guests that was deemed to have given a 1-star review,

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described their negative experience as following: “House is very old. The facilities are obsolete.

It is cold when sleeping and the comforter is very thin. Not a good experience.”

Finally, we examined how many of the 300 reviews were classified in each specific star

rating, 1-5. To accomplish this, we used Tableau to create a visualization of the percentage of

each star rating. Within Tableau, we made a crosstab using stars rating and total count of stars as

as variables. The rows represented the range of 1 to 5 stars and the columns represented the total

stars given by each customer. By doing this, it was shown that 75.42% of customers awarded

5-star ratings to their host. It was also shown that 1.68% gave 1-star ratings to their host.

Communicating and Acting on Results

Results Presentation and Action

As a result of our data analysis that used MS Excel, R, and Tableau, we were able to

provide Airbnb with meaningful insights of the best methods to increase customer satisfaction

and improve reviews by analyzing the mistakes and accomplishments of current Airbnb hosts in

Chicago.

If we were to put ourselves in the shoes of an Airbnb host, the primary challenge we

would face is ensuring our guests believe us to be reliable and responsible. However, this would

not be the only challenge. Other aspects to consider include: service, the state of the rental, and

what the rental offers. These are all weighed by potential guests and should be implemented to

increase satisfaction. Ratings of an Airbnb stay is a representation of not only the space itself, as

demonstrated in the Netflix series ​Stay Here,​ but also how the host accommodates their guests.

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 Our recommendation based on our results is for Airbnb hosts to consistently follow up

with their guests, and potential guests, as much as possible. The level of comfort the guest feels

will be depicted in the reviews left by guests after their stay. These reviews will dictate how

hosts do with new guests. Keeping these ratings high is essential for success in a growing Airbnb

market. Airbnb hosts should provide curbside pickup, hire a cleaning service, welcome their

guests, give out their contact information as soon as possible, and present the benefits of the

Airbnb honestly. Providing clear WiFi instructions and travel guides are extra incentives that can

only increase guest satisfaction. Show off what the Airbnb will bring to the guest, follow

through, and then service the guest in all ways possible.

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Appendix

A word map that displays the most used words in the Chicago Airbnb users’ reviews.

Head, Tail, and Summary Functions in R.

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References

Airdna. "Number of Airbnb Rentals in Chicago in The United States from 2010 to 2018."
Statista - The Statistics Portal​, Statista,
www.statista.com/statistics/915245/chicago-airbnb-rentals-united-states/, Accessed 25
Nov 2018

CBRE Group. "Cities in The United States with The Highest Number of Active Airbnb Units as
of September 2015*." ​Statista - The Statistics Portal,​ Statista,
www.statista.com/statistics/516388/cities-in-the-us-with-the-most-airbnb-units/,
Accessed 25 Nov 2018

Clare. “A Guide to Chicago Airbnb Laws.” ​Domu: Chicago Apartment Website,​ 20 Apr. 2018,
www.domu.com/blog/airbnb-chicago-laws​.

Cunningham, Cathy. “Column: Although Sometimes Mean, Online Reviews of Airbnb Guests
Often Are Not Defamatory.” ​Chicago Tribune​, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sept. 2018,
www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-ahp-column-help-squad-tl-0927-story.html​.

Forman, Tom, et al. ​Stay Here,​ Season 1, Netflix, 17 Aug. 2018.

Hartmans, Avery. “Airbnb Now Has More Listings Worldwide than the Top Five Hotel Brands
Combined.” ​Business Insider,​ Business Insider, 10 Aug. 2017,
www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-total-worldwide-listings-2017-8.

Morgan Stanley. "Level of Airbnb Customer Satisfaction in The United States and Europe 2015
to 2017." ​Statista - The Statistics Portal,​ Statista,
www.statista.com/statistics/799508/airbnb-customer-satisfaction-us-europe/, Accessed 25
Nov 2018

Morgan Stanley. "Types of Accommodation That Airbnb Is Likely to Replace in The United
States and Europe in 2017 ." ​Statista - The Statistics Portal​, Statista,
www.statista.com/statistics/796952/accommodation-types-airbnb-is-likely-to-replace/,
Accessed 25 Nov 2018

“Top 6 Airbnb Complaints From Guests and How to Resolve Them.” ​AirGMS,​ AirGMS
Vacation Rental Software, 8 Jan. 2018, www.airgms.com/airbnb-complaints/.

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