The official Superhost criteria in 2026
Airbnb publishes the Superhost programme criteria in its Help Centre. To earn or keep the status, you must meet all four of the following conditions:
- An overall rating of 4.8 or higher.
- At least 10 reservations hosted, or 3 reservations totalling at least 100 nights.
- A cancellation rate below 1%, with exceptions for Major Disruptive Events or other valid reasons.
- Responding to 90% of new messages, and accepting or declining new reservation requests, within 24 hours.
The alternative '3 reservations totalling 100 nights' route mainly concerns long stays. In Nice it may suit owners who let by the month in winter, for example to retirees from Northern Europe or professionals on assignment. For most short-term flats, the 10-reservation threshold is the one that applies in practice.
A key point: the cancellation rate is based on cancellations made by the host. With less than 1% allowed, a single cancellation on your side can be enough to lose the status if you have few bookings over the period.
Double bookings are the leading cause of unintended host cancellations. If you list your property on several platforms, calendar synchronisation directly affects your Superhost status.
How the quarterly assessment works
Airbnb automatically assesses every host every three months, on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October. At each assessment, the platform looks at your performance over the past 12 months. There is no application to submit: if you meet the criteria on the assessment date, you get the badge; if not, you lose it or do not get it yet.
This calendar has practical consequences in Nice. The 1 October assessment comes straight after the high season: the volume of summer bookings works in your favour, but any disappointing August reviews (heat, noise, a broken air conditioner) also weigh on the average. The 1 April assessment takes in the February Carnival and the winter, a quieter period when every review counts for more.
Because the window rolls over 12 months, a bad quarter does not hold you back for long. Conversely, once earned, the status is never guaranteed: it is put back on the line four times a year.
Put the four assessment dates in your diary and review your figures three weeks before each one: overall rating, response rate, cancellations. You will still have time to correct any slippage on messaging.
What Superhost status really brings
According to Airbnb, Superhosts benefit from more visibility, greater earning potential and access to exclusive rewards. Their listing and profile display a distinctive badge that signals the quality of their hosting to guests.
To be honest: Airbnb publishes no official figure for the increase in bookings or income linked to the badge, and we will not promise you one. The effects observed are mainly qualitative. The badge reassures guests booking in Nice for the first time, particularly long-haul visitors who do not know the city. It helps you stand out when several similar flats sit on the same street in the Carré d'Or or the Port district. And it generally reflects solid operations, which matter more than the badge itself.
Superhost status should therefore not be an end in itself. It is the visible result of rigorous management: a clean home, smooth arrivals, quick replies and well-handled reviews.
The 'Guest Favourite' badge: the other label that counts
Since late 2023, Airbnb has highlighted a selection of homes called 'Guest Favourites'. Unlike Superhost status, which rewards the host, this badge is awarded to a specific listing. It is highly visible on the listing and in search results.
According to Airbnb's Help Centre, the selection is based on a range of criteria:
- Overall star ratings, feedback in guest reviews and communication between guests and hosts on the platform.
- Category ratings: check-in, cleanliness, accuracy, host communication, location and value.
- Reliability: host cancellation rate, review removal rate and quality-related incidents reported to customer service.
- A minimum of 5 reviews in the past 4 years, with at least 1 in the past 2 years.
Eligible homes are re-evaluated every day and compared with other homes globally and/or within their country. Airbnb does not publish a precise rating threshold, so the badge can be gained or lost from one day to the next depending on your latest reviews. A single poor stay quickly weighs on a listing that only has a handful of reviews.
The two labels complement each other. A Superhost may have a listing that is not a Guest Favourite, and vice versa. But both rest on the same foundations: consistent quality and reliability.
Cleanliness and check-in: the two ratings that matter most in Nice
Of the category ratings, cleanliness and check-in are the ones you have the most control over, and the ones that drag an average down fastest.
Cleanliness in Nice has its own quirks: sand brought back from the beach, bathrooms under heavy use in summer, linen that must be spotless despite quick turnovers, terraces and balconies exposed to dust. A precise checklist, photo checks after every clean and spare hotel-grade linen make the difference. Our page on Airbnb cleaning in Nice explains how we work.
Arrival is the most stressful moment for a guest. Many arrive late, after a flight into Nice Côte d'Azur airport or a delayed train, and have to find an address in the lanes of Old Nice where cars cannot go. Clear instructions with photos, a reliable key box or smart lock, a walking route from the tram and a contact who can be reached in the evening: that is what turns a fiddly arrival into a five-star rating. You will find our solutions on the check-in and check-out in Nice page.
Guests often forgive a small flaw in a flat. They rarely forgive a failed arrival at midnight in front of a locked door. Securing the arrival protects the rating for the whole stay.
Multilingual communication and response rate
The 90% within 24 hours criterion looks easy, until the day you go on holiday or a wave of enquiries arrives during the Monaco Grand Prix. Every new message and every booking request counts, including those you decline.
Guests in Nice are largely international: English speakers, Italians, Germans, Scandinavians, Americans in summer. Replying in the guest's language, or at least in clear English, reduces the misunderstandings that end in lukewarm reviews. Airbnb's scheduled messages (confirmation, arrival instructions, checkout reminder) let you send the right information at the right time without forgetting anyone.
Communication starts before the booking: an accurate listing prevents disappointment. Describing honestly the lack of a lift, the noise of a lively street near the Cours Saleya or the real distance to the beach protects your 'accuracy' rating. To check this, you can request a free audit of your Airbnb listing. And to avoid problem stays upfront, our approach to guest screening completes the picture.
Managing reviews and Nice's seasonality
Guests and hosts have 14 days after checkout to leave a review. The review is published once both parties have written theirs, or when that period ends. You can post a public response to a published review: a short, factual and courteous reply reassures future guests far more than an irritated justification.
Category ratings are visible only to you and to Airbnb: read them after every stay. A 4 for cleanliness amid 5s everywhere else is a weak signal to deal with straight away, before it becomes a trend.
Seasonality also affects your figures. In summer, booking volume helps you reach the 10-stay threshold, but tired teams and the heat increase the risk of average reviews: air conditioning, mosquitoes, night-time noise. In winter, each stay carries more weight in the average. Major events such as the Nice Carnival concentrate arrivals and demand flawless organisation of cleaning and key handovers.
- Never ask for a review in exchange for a benefit: it breaks Airbnb's rules
- Anticipate known issues (air conditioning, wifi, noise) before they turn up in a review
- Reply to negative reviews with facts, without arguing
- Make sure your photos show the property exactly as it is (see our guide to Airbnb photos in Nice)
Delegating so you can aim for the status without losing your evenings
Replying within 24 hours all year round, coordinating cleaning on busy changeover days, handling a late arrival on an August Saturday: meeting the Superhost criteria requires an almost constant presence. That is exactly what a concierge service takes on.
When La Joyeuse Conciergerie acts as co-host, we handle messaging, arrivals, cleaning and review follow-up, applying the methods described in this guide. Our Airbnb concierge service in Nice costs 20% excl. VAT (24% incl. VAT) of revenue, all-inclusive and with no lock-in, with a detailed report every Friday so you can track your ratings and bookings. We do not promise a badge, which depends on guests and on Airbnb, but operations designed to deserve it.
