Have you ever been rejected because you are a host?‌‌

[Laura2592]

My husband has to travel for work this upcoming weekend. He is stressed about it in this time of Covid and its short notice. He IBed a place in the city where he is headed today after getting his health certificate for travel. The host messaged a few hours later that they have a pipe burst and asked him to cancel. He is a polite guy and said ok. The days are still open on this listing and if I wanted to book it right now I could. But whatever.

He chose another spot that did not have IB. Wrote a nice note to the host with a pic of his clean bill of health Covid results. The host wrote back that she was sorry but she does not host other hosts. My husband is just getting a hotel now. 

Besides being the world's nicest person he has 2 reviews from good friends that are glowing so I am sure his star score is fine for IB. He is in no way a difficult guest. Has anyone had this happen?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Laura2592 

That's strange, I always enjoy having other hosts here. I also tread carefully when I am a guest because my standards are extremely high and I notice absolutely everything. Maybe we should all pledge to be gentle to other hosts when we rent?

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592   I have never travelled as an Airbnb guest, but after reading so many posts on this and another hosting forum I follow regarding other hosts being their worst guests, I'd thought that if and when I did go to book an Airbnb, I would send a request and mention that I am aware that other hosts are sometimes said to be the worst guests, and assure them that they wouldn't have anything to worry about with me. That I'm not a nit-picky fusspot, that I respect a host's rules, that I'm the kind of person who would think it rude to leave wet towels on the floor of a hotel room, and that I fully understand the effect of less than 5* ratings for hosts.

I myself have had 3 other hosts as guests and they were all great guests.

I guess it's kind of like the scammers who claim their ill-trained pet is a service dog and make hosts wary of anyone who claims their dog is a service dog- the bad folks ruin things for the good ones.

[Alexandra316]

@Laura2592 I have IB on and I would never actually refuse or cancel another host unless they had some other red flag like poor reviews or a horrible profile, but I hate hosting hosts. Out of my 5 worst hosting experiences, 3 of them have been from other hosts. I always dread it when a host books with me. 

[Lee386]

@Laura2592 

I have travelled a lot as a host using airbnb as my preferred accommodation provider because 9 times out of 10 it is a great experience. Having been in the hospitality industry for 40 years I have learnt to balance my expectations and what is acceptable. 

I have always been kind when leaving feedback as understand full well what it means to someone who is working hard to succeed and any developmental feedback I have shared privately. 

I welcome any guests be them hosts or not and would never see the need to decline someone because they are a host. Almost feels like discrimination to me. If someone fears feedback and challenge why host in the first place? 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Lee386 

@Laura2592 

It does seem like discrimination, and feedback does make us better hosts. We should welcome that. Like you, Lee, I have had a long life in accommodations. In the 70's we managed a 5 star wilderness resort with 12 full sized hand built architectural masterpiece houses. We learned quickly about how to do this properly and made a practice of always putting the guest first, ahead of our convenience. It is vital to convey to the guest that their comfort, health and safety are paramount and that all their needs are anticipated. It is always our goal to provide value far beyond the price they pay to stay with us.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Laura2592 

For a pipe brackage, the host must contact Airbnb to cancel with no penalty.

They guest does not cancel.

I have never refused a host but when they book, I think « merde ».

As @Alexandra316 they left poor reviews and my worst experience was with a host.

They know the strange Airbnb stars system so when they give a 4 or 3 rate, they know exactly what they do.

I think hosts compare with their home and obviously, from their point of view, your home is not as good as their home.

As a traveller i always rate 5 because I generally have a really good time and Airbnb includes small glitches.

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592 @Nathalie-Et-Gilles0 I've never declined someone just for being a host, but when I notice that they are, I do tend to look at their listing for some perspective on what they're used to. I notice that the most fussy and critical host-guests tend to be the ones with these very modern and streamlined condos, whereas the happy ones have a style more like mine. If I cared about star ratings, I'd turn away the ones I expected to be more critical, but at the end of the day it's not stars that put food on the table.

Anyway, as a guest I've never had good Airbnb experiences booking on short notice. Getting one of the last Airbnb's available 2 days before the trip is like picking up one of the last people in the bar at closing time - neither of them is going to look good in the light of day.

Still, it's nonsense for a host to ask the guest to cancel when the guest did nothing wrong. I would not have agreed to that. 

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous I think you're onto something there- the 3 guests I've had who were also hosts, and fine guests who left 5* reviews and nice comments, all had the same kind of listing I do- a private room home-share. 

So they already have the same mentality about expectations- it's someone's home, it's going to be lived in, and not some perfect pristine hotel-like atmosphere.

[Till-and-Jutta0]

We are hosts since 2010, and Airbnb travelers since 2011. Hosted around 800 guests and visited others place 25-30 times.

Our personal experience:

Hosts as guests are not worse – but also not better than other guests. They know “how to play the game” when it’s about their benefit.

When we travel, we use to communicate clearly what we love and what could be improved. Not till it comes to the review, but earlier. And sometimes I think “OMG, why do we always have to go far and beyond, and others just do the minimum?”

And yes, once we got rejected, I guess due to inconvenient questions prior to booking.

However we had many great talks just “from host to host”, where we learned the different motivations for hosting, where we felt the spirit of Belonging, and where we experienced that Airbnb can be an awesome community!

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 This is yet another example of why Airbnb wants every host on their platform to enable instant book. Your husband spent a lot of time and thought on choosing a place that meets his needs only to be "declined" (hopefully in a timely fashion and not hours later) for some judgemental reasoning. Why wouldn't Airbnb put a sour taste in his mouth and he choose the simplicity of a hotel? I'm not sure if I would but I think there are many people out there who would report this host. 

As a side note, because the two reviews on his profile were technically booked by you, I am not sure if your star ratings will carry over to his profile. I don't think so. 

[Anonymous]

@Emilia42  But he did Instant Book the first place, and it didn't work out anyway. It's also happened to me several times as a guest, that I'd IB somewhere and then the host would cancel. Twice I've gotten a message saying that they made a "mistake" with their pricing and demanding a higher rate (reported, of course - those hosts are no longer on Airbnb).  So I don't trust an Instant Booking any more than a request. 

Despite the hassles, I still like staying in Airbnbs for leisure trips when I have plenty of flexibility. But if it's a business trip and I have no time for a SNAFU, I'd go for a hotel.

[Till-and-Jutta0]

Same experience here, @Anonymous . So I stopped instant-booking as a guest.

[Laura2592]

@Anonymous right, I told him that he should just book a hotel after the first "pipe broke" issue. The host claimed a freeze in their area (in a southern US city) but the weather channel did not bear that out. It was clearly a dodge. He was trying to be economical with his hotel expenses for work but there is really no reason to when the flip side is a last minute scramble and personal tap dance to convince someone you really aren't a nightmare. Hotels are glad to have the business and he can enjoy some room service. 

[Lawrene0]

Yes, it has happened to me as a guest, @Laura2592 . Part of the problem is that I am often that most despised of bookers -- the last-minute booker -- thanks to my job. Nothing looks so fishy as a superhost booking for tomorrow. 

A host can burst a waterpipe just thinking about it. 

Overall, though, it's great having hosts here, and it's great staying with hosts as a host. Pre-pandemic, those were fun interactions.