At least for folks in the US, a five star rating system usually is:
1: absolute nightmare 2: N/A 3: N/A 4: It was pretty bad 5: Acceptable or better
Re:Airbnb could plan to IPO by late 2020
by skinnymuch on Friday June 29, 2018 @04:31PM
(#17427625)
Is that specifically for Airbnb? It isn’t the case for Amazon, app stores, TripAdvisor, or Yelp. among other places. Why would Airbnb be different?
Late response, but I think it has to due with social pressure. You may meet the host in person, and feel bad about giving someone you know "personally" a bad rating. Additionally, they are also rating you as a guest, so it may be awkward if you gave a bad rating when they give you a good one, so people skew the ratings up.
I recently stayed with a friend at an Airbnb in Amsterdam. The bedroom had noise and smoke from a neighboring bar until around 5am, making it very difficult to sleep, even with the windows closed.
I didn't book the Airbnb, but I checked the reviews afterwards. Several people mentioned these problems, but still gave the place 4 or even 5 stars.
I'm not sure what would warrant a 1 star review for these folks short of an absolute nightmare.