I suggest we lose the star system. It is too Short term rental. Would you rate your friends home if were allowed to borrow it? Not me, I might say hey you forgot to mention this or that. or when you described your house you didnāt say xyz.
At most we should be saying home matches description or not (and why) and communication was adequate or not and why. As for cleanliness I would never rate a friendās home I borrowed. It is rude. Maybe this belongs in the hosts court. I am a 10 on cleanliness or we are a 7 so donāt come if you are allergic to dust. Yes, you want to know what to expect but we can all read text reviews.
I like the star system. I know HomeExchange is always talking about making friends, and that does happen. However, this only happens after you have decided to contact someone. The star system is, in my opinion, a good way to quickly scan wether I want to approach a member or not. I also read reviews, but certainly not all, and reading takes a lot of work.
It is also rude to host your friends in a dirty house. When you borrow a house from a friend, you know if he is dirty or not and come prepared to properly clean the house.
Unfortunately, we are not friends and i dont know you (hopefully we become friends after the first exchange ) , and there are indeed rude people everywhere, on homeexchange too. Making the star system a vital feature for homeexchange to work.
While I understand your point I used to lend people a beach home, friends and people I didnāt know from my husbands work before HE. No one considered it rude if there was some dust in the house or crumbs in my draws and I hadnāt done a deep clean. If I said donāt look in my sons room they didnāt. They didnāt expect pristine. I didnāt deep clean friends houses I went to. Yes, unwashed last nights dinner dishes would be rude but that is not what people seem to complain about. I have friends that are lovely and relatively clean, beautiful houses that I would never recommend HE to because the expectations of some people here are over the top. For me it would be more useful if you as a guest said I am a 10 on clean on a 10 point scale and I would say no thanks, I prefer not to exchange. Even though today my home is much cleaner with fewer people I donāt want someone that meticulous in my house, they will likely find fault.
I think if you have a lot of choices you can screen out anything not a 5 and not have to read. I do find the direct correspondence to the Short term rental rating system sends a mixed message.
Personally, I would remove the star ratings and keep the comments. Star ratings bring us too close to the rental-platform model and, moreover, since everyone rates with five stars, they donāt provide any realistic information. They only serve as a marketing tool so that HE can say that all home exchanges are fantastic. Comments, on the other hand, are valuable because they provide interesting informationāboth about what people like most about the home and the activities to do in the surrounding area from a travelerās perspective, and about the relationship hosts establish with their guests.
) , and there are indeed rude people everywhere, on homeexchange too. Making the star system a vital feature for homeexchange to work.