I got an inquiry from someone who is a superhost and the message is very positive but also says “I’m an experienced superhost and know what it means to be a good host”. Does this sounds like someone with high expectations? They look like they are a professional host with multiple listings and cohosts. As a guest, all but one of her reviews are fabulous and her reviews of the other hosts were all positive. There was one negative review out of almost 20 positives that describes some unrealistic expectations such as expecting hotel amenities and service, which concerns me as I have a full-time job and can’t be a personal servant. The score breakdown is 4.5 average, and 4.5 for communication and following the rules. Maybe that one bad stay was enough to bring down the scores, but if guest scores are anything like scores for hosts, 4.5 is a failing score. This would be my first guest after a long pandemic break so I’m being extra cautious, and the one bad review and message about “knowing what it means to be a good host” is enough to make me concerned. Am I overreacting or would you decline a guest for these reasons?
I wouldn’t worry at all. We’ve hosted numerous superhosts. Never an issue.
I wouldn’t worry. It sounds more like she was bragging about being a superhost in her introductory message. However, if it’s making you feel uneasy maybe you should block the calendar so she can’t book.
When was the so so review?
If early in her guest history… maybe she has learnt what being a good guest is?
Good point! It was 2 years ago kind of and she’s had numerous good ones since.
Hosting will probably be ok. I wonder if she meant to say,”…superhost…I know what it means to be a good GUEST…”
If you are concerned about her having unrealistic expectations, lay it out before the stay starts. Meaning say something like, “Thank you for considering a stay at my home. My guests enjoy the privacy because I am not on premises between 7-6 because I work full time”
I don’t know if you home share, guest house or whole home but you get the idea.
If I got a message like that, I’d message back “Maybe I’m misinterpreting, but that sounds like you’re warning me that you’re going to be judging me harshly.”
I’m not so sure I’d be too thrilled to host a host who felt the need to tell me in a message that they were an experienced Superhost.
I’ve hosted several other hosts, and the only way I knew they were hosts was that I saw their listing on their profile. They never mentioned it in pre-arrival messages nor brought it up during the stay, although I asked a couple of them about their hosting experiences.
I am a homeshare host and said something to that effect to try to mitigate any expectations. Thanks for the suggestion!
I’m curious, do forum members think that this is a good idea?
The only Superhost Ive hosted that mentioned it did a third party booking and both she and the actual guest lied about it (the guest said that the Superhost would be arriving later, when she was nowhere near). Then she was pissed when I gave her 1s across the board, and mentioned that she made a third party booking and was not truthful when I raised the issue. I waited to post the review until about 30 seconds before the review deadline.
I might not say judging me harshly but something like “have expectations that I might not meet”.
I might say that I’ve found that superhosts also know what it means to be great guests, lol.
@muddy I agree with Muddy’s comment; the superhost/guest is sort of being passive agressive and it’s telling the host in advnce that she has set a high bar on her expectations on her experience as a guest, sort of “buyer beware”. I would ask the prospective guest why she deemed important to have mentioned it.
Like @Annet3176 my first thought was that she had meant to write ‘guest’.
Either way, it wouldn’t trouble me. I’ve hosted a lot of hosts and they’ve all been lovely.
It’s always difficult, if not impossible, to get to know someone’s character from messages.
So the same guest blocked my calendar for 12 hours and the profile says “Awaiting guest ID” so it won’t let me accept, decline, or open my calendar dates until they take care of the ID or the time limit expires. Apparently the guest changed the inquiry to a booking request and I was never notified of this but only discovered when I noticed my calendar was blocked. Why does Airbnb think it’s ok to block my calendar for a guest who hasn’t completed their basic verifications, and they don’t give me an option to accept or decline (I’m not on instant book)? The guest ran out of time to add their ID so the request is now cancelled and my calendar is unblocked, but it’s so frustrating how Airbnb refuses to support hosts. And I have the same sentiment as @muddy and others that it seems this guest is trying to set a high bar and will be disappointed if I don’t host exactly as she wants.
Does anyone else thinks this is odd? When I became a host in 2014, I had to verify my ID in order to be allowed to list my rental.
Did hosts early joining hosts verify IDs before listing also? Could this be a long time host who never verified? But wait, she has reviews as a guest? How can this be?
The more bizarre thing is that the profile says “Identity verified”. It makes me think that means nothing, and I remember prior to COVID it used to specifically mention when a guest had provided their government ID.
Joined as a guest and verified my ID.
Became a host and built the listings to 4 entire homes. Over 200 reviews.
Travelling in Japan 4 years later after joining and my flight home was cancelled and I had to find 1 night’s accommodation.
Now I had to prove my ID!
Took hours of repeated attempts.
Now not surprised at anything they do
FYI I wasn’t suggesting it as a good idea for other hosts to follow. I just said that’s the response that message would likely illicit from me.
Our first Airbnb guest was a ‘superhost’. He gave us 5* reviews despite the fact that as completely new to Airbnb we certainly were not up to standard. He gave us great advice before he and his family left as well as a private note with more helpful advice. Subsequent superhosts bar one ( who had long since stopped hosting and was no way a 5* guest) all gave 5* reviews. I reckon superhosts know how tough this is and make excellent guests as a result.
p.s. I’ve been trying to respond to a post regarding UK hosts on the forum. Scottish Borders here !