No name booking request but guest has one 5-star one sentence review from a property managment company

I received a strange booking request. The guest’s name is “P”.
We have insta-book so I’m not sure why there is even a request, they could just book.
There is no message from the guest in the request, no questions.
The guest has a 5-star review from a property management company that basically just says “thanks for staying (first name)”. Friends of mine clean for a property management company and the company doesn’t care what a mess people leave, the cleaners get the cleaning fee regardless of how bad it is.
Wondering what other hosts think - should I accept or deny them?

Maybe they can’t book for other reasons, such as they got a “would not host again” or don’t otherwise meet your booking requirements.

5 Likes

If you are on instant book, and you get a request for book usually it means there is some problem with the guest. Property management company may have given them no in the would you host them again question. Or they may not have their identity verified.

I usually accept but my place is not a magnet for people who want to throw a raging party.

If you are a type of property where guests can do a lot of damage then you may not want to host such people.

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They might not know that they can instant book.

You might want to highlight any rules you have. So you might say something like:

Thank you for your interest in my property. I'd just like to confirm that you're OK with our House rules, which include: No animals, maximum occupancy is six, even if not overnight; not suitable for children under age 12 (home not childproofed). You might want to take a look at the guidebook I've prepared for the area. Please confirm your acknowledgment of the House rules and I'll accept your reservation to book. If you have any questions or requests, please let me know.

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This is really interesting - can you give people 5 stars AND say you would “never host them again”?

In my house rules and in my instant book message , I require the following information sent to me within 24 hours of booking. It really helps to make sure that the guests are people you might want.

I sometimes have to follow up if I don’t get a reply but it really sorts out third-party guests, etc. If I see an odd review, I ask them to explain.

When I get a booking (not just a request) I send this info:

Thank you for booking the XXX.

*** The info below is due within 24 hours after you book.***

  1. For you and if there is a second guest we will also need
    a) Full Legal Name,
    b) Complete Current Address
    c) AGE

  2. Photographs used for identification:
    a) The photo on your Airbnb account is ok. (Picture of guest, no hat or sunglasses)
    B) Send a picture of the face of your guest (if there is a second person). Please let us know if you need instructions.

  3. Will you (and your guest) be vaccinated prior to arriving?

  4. What time do you expect to check between 4 - 11 pm.

Arrival day guest must check in by 11 pm unless pre-approved 24 hours before arrival. Also be sure to read the instruction on finding the house. GPS sometimes auto-correct to back of house.

  1. Will you be bringing a car?

  2. Confirm that you and your guest have read and AGREE to the house rules.(House rules can be found in the listing, OVERVIEW HEADER & select policies.

  3. Reason for your stay.

  4. Is there anything you would like to learn about that is not addressed in the listing?

***MISSING INFORMATION WILL DELAY YOUR CHECK-IN because the lock box code is sent after all info is received right before check in date.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you.

*** The info above is due within 24 hours after you book.***

1 Like

If I got one like this I would ask what their name was and also could they tell me what brings them to ???

They might have had to make a request since their name wasn’t listed and they didn’t give you a purpose for the visit.
Is their identity verified?

Sounds like a suspect character to me.

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You can but I don’t know in what scenario I would have do that.

Why don’t you ask your usual vetting questions to see if the guest is a good fit for your listing @SnowyPeaks

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You definitely can. It seems counterintuitive, but I can understand how a host, especially a shared-space hose, would not want a guest back that was needy or overbearing but not really a bad guest. I’d be willing to bet tons of hosts have done it just because guests overshared their moral/religious/political views.

I’ve always used IB but there are lots of reasons why guests might send an inquiry or request.

The simplest is that they’ve only used Airbnb a couple of times before and in those instances, the hosts didn’t use IB. So because they are accustomed to sending a request first, they continue to do so.

I’ve had requests, which I’ve accepted (I use IB, after all) and they’ve all been fine.

Also I’ve had the single initial thing a few times. I had always through that when the guests registered with Airbnb they’d simply used J Smith rather than Jane Smith.

But it’d never been anything sinister.

Just another point of view. :slight_smile:

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I am a private room homeshare host and have hosted a lot of female solo travelers. Many have told me they would never instant book, they want to get a sense of the host by exchanging a message or two before committing. This might not hold true for a whole place rental, but definitely for shared homes.

Some guests want to vet hosts just as we vet guests.

2 Likes

There is a recent Facebook group post that Airbnb is telling a host the IB guest’s name is verified. Her listed last name is Airbnb so something like “Amy Airbnb”.

Host wants to ask for a verified government ID. Airbnb is saying this person has a verified ID. Which is ridiculous.

My advice is cancel. Then put text in the description, house rules, first message to guest inquiry & first IB message that a government ID with a name matching the reservation must be shown prior to getting access to the rental. They can either send you a pic of the ID or show it to a ring camera . You must disclose that this information will be required before booking

Btw using a fake name is fraudulent & against Airbnb TOS