Have just declined guest because of bad review. Will it affect our placement position

[Phil-and-Dion0]

We have Superhost status and have never declined a booking before, but this guest only had one review and that was downrated under cleanliness. If they had zero reviews we would have accepted but cleanliness rating is very important to us. We have had over 150 bookings so are hoping that Airbnb will overlook just one decline. Has this happened to other hosts?

[Emiel1]

@Phil-and-Dion0 

I decline approx. 2 out of 10 booking requests, so nothing to worry about 1 decline !

More:

Understanding-response-rate-and-acceptance-rate-86

[Sarah977]

@Phil-and-Dion0  If by placement you mean search ranking, there is a complex algorithm that determines search ranking, so no one knows exactly what will affect it.

[Anonymous]

@Phil-and-Dion0 My rate of acceptance has been as low as 60%, with no noticeable impact on bookings. Nobody here knows all the secrets of the search algorithm, but it does seem to give listings a boost when they've recently accepted a booking or received a positive review, so it's only fitting that the opposite correlative would hold true. 

That said, I've also found that the hosts who benefit the most from prominent positions in a generic search are the ones who have generic listings, very much unlike yours. Your target guests are the small niche of people who love staying in RVs or Homestays; these people are digging a little deeper with their searches, using filters, comparison shopping. Being a little harder to find and selective with your guests only makes your offering more valuable and special in their eyes, so I wouldn't waste any time worrying about Airbnb's algorithm.