We have an upcoming guest who is not responsive to messages on the app. I would have tried text or phone but for some reason, their number temporary or real, is not posted.
We really need the ETA as there were red flags on their reviews and want to be there when they check in. My 4th message just produced a days delayed reply of “Hi!” period! Unfortunately this guest booked at low rate of 50 p.n. which was my fault as I had reset the base price to that by mistake as it should have been 70 thru the Pricelab app. Last15 bookings we had were 85-93. In the past our only bad guests had been discounted whereas the past 35 bookings have all been 5star non of which were at discount rate. Seems the less they pay the more they expect so we would rather have an empty unit than cheapos. Airbnb’s policy of discouraging communication is a really bad idea, particularly if unexpected problems suddenly occur.
You could contact CS and ask them to get ahold of the guest and tell them they need to respond to your messages with the necessary info requested. I have had to do that a couple of times with non-responsive guests. (And while you’re at it, let them know that even a temporary phone number isn’t visible)
I did find a new booking guest’s phone number yesterday, but I can’t remember where I found it- it wasn’t where you would normally see it. If I can find it again, I’ll let you know where. (I wrote their number down as soon as I found it, lest it diappear.)
Okay, where the guest’s phone number appeared was when I clicked on the 3 dots at the top of the Reservation sidebar on the messages page when you are on the message page with that guest. That caused a “Manage Reservations” box to appear that had the guest’s phone number. It didn’t appear on the reservation itself.
Caveat: I am in Mexico, and Airbnb has not (yet) given us “temporary” phone numbers for guests, as they have in the US.
Thanks for the tip, Muddy!
Very useful
Great tip. Thanks. Decided not to use it at this time as messages sent from guest were very bizarre. Sounds mental or on drugs so not looking forward to
I wanted to update everyone on the guest I mentioned earlier — the one I was concerned about when discussing Airbnb’s policy of blocking phone numbers. Unfortunately, the situation has escalated far beyond what we anticipated.
After three separate requests over three days, we finally got an ETA the day before arrival. She said she’d be arriving “late at night, after 10,” which she must have known when she booked her flight. Because of that, we left detailed self‑check‑in instructions in an envelope on the patio. Her response to that message was simply: “I like painting houses and walking dogs.” Completely unrelated to anything we said.
The next night around 11 p.m., we were jolted awake by a huge bang. Ten minutes later, we heard loud talking right outside our bedroom door that continued until about 1 a.m., followed by another loud bang. I had surgery that day and was still groggy, so it was especially unsettling.
In the morning, she messaged saying she had locked herself out and left the door‑code sheet inside the suite. But when we checked, she was nowhere to be found. We did notice a plant pot moved from a windowsill and our living‑room blind hanging off — it looked like someone had climbed through a window.
At that point, we called Airbnb and explained that we were extremely uncomfortable hosting this guest. They said they would contact her.
I then knocked on her suite door. She answered and admitted she had climbed through our window. I told her we were very unhappy about the loud noises, the window incident, and the lack of communication — especially since she had our cell number and could have called when locked out. She immediately burst into tears, so I ended the conversation.
That was nearly three hours ago. She hasn’t come out of the room, but she did send a long apology through Airbnb, saying she’s “going through a hard time” and has been living in her car 2,500 miles away. She originally said she was here for a friend’s wedding and booked a 7‑day stay. She arrived by taxi even though our listing clearly states that a car is necessary due to poor public transport, and we had warned her that temperatures would be 105°. I wanted to update everyone on the guest I mentioned earlier — the one I was concerned about when discussing Airbnb’s policy of blocking phone numbers. Unfortunately, the situation has escalated far beyond what we anticipated.
After three separate requests over three days, we finally got an ETA the day before arrival. She said she’d be arriving “late at night, after 10,” which she must have known when she booked her flight. Because of that, we left detailed self‑check‑in instructions in an envelope on the patio. Her response to that message was simply: “I like painting houses and walking dogs.” Completely unrelated to anything we said.
The next night around 11 p.m., we were jolted awake by a huge bang. Ten minutes later, we heard loud talking right outside our bedroom door that continued until about 1 a.m., followed by another loud bang. I had surgery that day and was still groggy, so it was especially unsettling.
In the morning, she messaged saying she had locked herself out and left the door‑code sheet inside the suite. But when we checked, she was nowhere to be found. We did notice a plant pot moved from a windowsill and our living‑room blind hanging off — it looked like someone had climbed through a window.
At that point, we called Airbnb and explained that we were extremely uncomfortable hosting this guest. They said they would contact her.
I then knocked on her suite door. She answered and admitted she had climbed through our window. I told her we were very unhappy about the loud noises, the window incident, and the lack of communication — especially since she had our cell number and could have called when locked out. She immediately burst into tears, so I ended the conversation.
That was nearly three hours ago. She hasn’t come out of the room, but she did send a long apology through Airbnb, saying she’s “going through a hard time” and has been living in her car 2,500 miles away. She originally said she was here for a friend’s wedding and booked a 7‑day stay. She arrived by taxi even though our listing clearly states that a car is necessary due to poor public transport, and we had warned her that temperatures would be 105°.
At this point, we’re concerned we may be stuck with a guest who is unstable, not here for a wedding, and possibly using our listing as temporary housing.
Has anyone dealt with a situation like this? Were you able to get Airbnb to cancel for safety reasons?
Yep, she sounds homeless. Wedding sounds like a lie. And why didn’t she look on the messages you sent her that I assume had the door code?
I would phone Airbnb and try to get the booking cancelled with no penalties to you. Stay away from talking about her being unstable or homeles- while likely quite true, it’s a judgement call and could be considered discriminatory. Stick to the facts of her lack of, or inappropriate responses to your messages, that she banged on your door at 11pm instead of looking up the door code on her booking info, that she climbed in a window, and that you feel extremely uncomfortable and unsafe due to her behavior.
I have a friend who had just finished a brand new rental unit next to his home. The very first guests he had went out partying the first night, lost the keys, and smashed the window to get in, even though he had told them to knock on his door or call him if they had any issues.
Had called airbnb and was told they would message guest and if we have more problems to call them again. Gave me a case number. I told her any more problems and I will call abb and request they cancel without penalty. At least we have over 50 continuous reviews so weve been lucky but dont want a bad review to drop us to bottom 10% otherwise we wouldn’t care as potential guests would see all the other reviews.
Good luck! At least there’s only 6 days left on her booking. Hopefully she doesn’t start crying again when it’s check out day, saying she has nowhere else to go. 
I am in the UK and the phone number seems to appear on the confirmation of booking only. I always take it down. I think airbnb just dont want hosts to suggest guests come to them direct next time.
It was on the booking confirmation for me, too, until my most recent booking.
And Airbnb doesn’t want hosts and guests trying to make a side deal off-platform, but hiding phone numbers won’t prevent them from doing direct bookings in the future if the guest wants to book again, as they can just exchange phone numbers when the guest is in residence the first time.
I found it there by chance.
Muddy, that is my point exactly as its very important for communication when instant responses are needed . A phone call will wake me in the middle of the night whereas I don’t check my emails every 5 minutes. I actually prefer guests to book thru Airbnb as they take care of the payments and the calendar. If I have to take a credit card it costs me 3.5%.
Did this guest end up leaving?
Yes and apologised for their behavior.