I’m a house sitter who has a few 5 star reviews but I would like to hear from HO’s what a house sitter must do in order to give them a 5 star review? I would also like to know from other house sitters how they handle hard to please and over the top request from HO’s?
To me, it’s best to avoid such hosts in the first place. Like I closely read listings for content and tone, and read sitters’ reviews of the host. When we video chat, I don’t waste time asking Qs that should be addressed in welcome guides. I pay close attention to what (and how) hosts ask about. That’s to gauge whether they’re reasonable vs. entitled or overly demanding.
I’ve done 28 sits with five stars across the board and have never received any over the top requests from my hosts. My hosts have never been hard to please.
As pet parents we give a 5 stars review if we have regular updates, with pictures once in a while where we can see our cats are going on with their daily routine which shows they are well cared for. We also like to get our apartment back the way we left it for the sitters when we left. Anything above and beyond will of course be detailed in our review.
All HOs are different, and will have different criteria. Finding a sit (and HO) that is a good match is the first step. There are many threads on the forum about doing this.
As an HO, I have come to accept the 5-star as standard. I think I’ve only docked a star once (on a category, not on the overall rating).
What’s important to me:
- Communications from sitter tell me something about how they are getting along with my pet. Does not need to include photo/video every time, but I want a sense that they are getting along, having a good time etc - or if not, what is going on.
- I provide a very detailed WG - I am happy to answer questions but please look to the WG first because often the answer is there.
- If something goes wrong/breaks, let me know right away. This is different for different HOs, but I see so many posts from sitters here and elsewhere recommending to wait until the end of a sit, and it drives me nuts. Tell the HO right away unless it’s already been discussed that they don’t want to be disturbed with minor stuff (and what constitutes “minor”).
- Cleaning: Again, this will be different for everyone. Most important is to check in with HO about their expectations, preferably before committing. Personally, I don’t expect sitters to clean as deeply as I do pre-sit, but please take out trash, empty litter box, do your dishes/wipe surfaces in kitchen, scrub the toilet, and generally leave things tidy. Don’t leave bedding/towels on the floor like it’s a hotel (I remind sitters of this before the end - it’s pet-related)
- I live in a multi-family building, so hearing either nothing or only good things from neighbors about my sitter, which just means the absence of problems. My neighbors are not nosy or checking up on my sitters, but I don’t want to invite issues. [I have never had a problem with this, but if I did I’d want to figure out what happened].
All this might make me sound fussy, but I think I’m pretty laid back. I try to look at the total picture. Forgot to take out the recycling but everything else is clean? No problem. Getting a photo of a broken tile that I got as a present right before leaving with an apology? Unfortunate but whatever, mistakes happen. My stuff rearranged to suit the sitter? As long as it’s easy to move back I just think, that’s weird. Most importantly: is my cat happy and healthy? A lot can be overlooked if I am confident my cat got great care, and in general chalked up to different ways of living.
These days just getting a sitter to show up is almost worth a 5-star review 
I’m ok with a few mishaps here and there, but I want to make sure the apartment and the animals are being taken care of. My neighbors are busy-bodies and I get feedback from them, and I generally keep my cleaning woman coming in, particularly for right before I get home, and she gives me feedback, and I take those things into account.
For example, I had one sitter who I thought was great, super communicative and everything, but then I found out from the upstairs neighbor that she was leaving the dogs alone for far too long, and the barking was disturbing a lot of folks. So she got a slight downgrade.