How do I check reviews on guests?

[Kathy881]

For example, many times the person who is listed as the guest is not even the person who shows up;  it was booked on someone else's account.  Also, we have a non-smoking policy so how do I know if a guest has a habit of smoking whenever and wherever he pleases?  How do we know if a guest has a history of breaking house rules?  I don't see a way to check on them.  Any reviews posted have been sparing and positive.

[Sarah977]

@Kathy881  All of this is a matter of you developing skills at vetting your prospective guests, because, as you say, you can't always rely on the reviews and some guests are new to the platform and don't even have any reviews yet. First of all, someone booking for someone else is a 3rd party booking and against Airbnb's terms of service. You need to have wording in your listing which makes it clear that the person who books has to be one of the people who is coming. Same with smoking. Make it clear in your listing what the rules are, reiterate the salient points when a guest books or requests to book. Ask appropriate questions to get a sense of what they are like and to make sure they aren't booking for someone else. (I've been hosting for 3 years and have never had a 3rd party booking)

There are no guarantees as to how a guest will behave, but I have found that how a guest communicates during the booking process and pre-arrival is a good indicator. All you can do is try to make things crystal clear and take steps to correct a guest's behavior if they aren't following rules or be prepared to either let it go or boot them out. 

[Anonymous]

@Kathy881 The only information that's available to you or anyone else about a guest is what's provided by previous hosts in the public reviews. There's not a secret extra layer of information stashed away for hosts to look into. This is why it's of the utmost importance that hosts submit honest text reviews, even when it's an unpleasant task.

As for the former question, it's up to you whether you choose to admit people to your property who were not the ones booked. As well as whether to screen guests in advance of confirmation, or hold your breath and let Instant Book do what it does. Your concerns are completely valid, but Airbnb is just an entity that exists to make profit from the transaction and does not care what happens to your house. Only you can take the appropriate measures to ensure that your standards are adhered to.