I am pretty new to being an Airbnb host and I don’t feel comfortable to turn on IB especially I will be spending most of my time alone with the guests. (in the same house without guest private entrance) Without IB, I can take some time to review their profiles, reviews, and if they don’t have any, I will send a message to them asking for a brief introduction. I didn’t do it at first and accepted someone who doesn’t have any reviews and now i am regretting it cause he is the less responsive guest I have so far and I feel weird that this guy is coming to my house in a few days (we will see how that goes). Even IB let you request guest to have recommendations from other hosts, i have received a same-day request from a local guest who has a few other host recommendations but they all look fake to me. (I declined him)
So conclusion, if you feel uncertain or uncomfortable, don’t do IB just yet.
Just be aware that if you decline too many times you may be suspended. Airbnb dont like missing out on their cut.
I am actually more comfortable w IB guests because of the prior reviews, and because they know how Airbnb works.
I find there is more risk attached to a newbie - and more work in terms of vetting and orientation.
However there is always some degree of risk, and I get a bit antsy before any guest shows! Must learn to keep a positive attitude!
We have a whole house rental, and have had IB turned on for almost the whole time we’ve been operating, with no restrictions. We’ve had almost 0 problems. I actually love newbies, they are always so pleasantly surprised and seem to leave great reviews. I’ve learned that it’s really difficult to tell what kind of guest someone will be. The only thing that seems to hold true for me is the more they pay the better they are, but that might not even be totally true. We live very close to our listing which only holds 3 guests max, so it might not be a partyer magnet or anything like that.