contacting guest before booking decline or accept

[Cindy1142]

Hello, Can I respond to a guests booking request asking them for more information before I decline or accept their request?  

[Emiel1]

@Cindy1142 

Yes. Go to your inbox and communicate with the guest.

But keep an eye on the time limit to accept or decline (24 hours) .

BTW If there is no good match with your listing, you can also ask the guest to retract the booking request (then no decline needed)

[Cindy1142]

@Emiel1 Thank you, I have a request for a child as a guest and on my listing page it’s stated not suitable for children.  I responded to them but haven’t heard back. How would you handle the request. 

[Sarah977]

@Cindy1142  Are you sure it's a Request, not an Inquiry? It's important to notice and understand the difference.

An Inquiry is just a way for guests to contact the host with questions without committing to a booking. On Inquiries you only have to answer the message, you don't need to click on pre-approve or decline (and never waste a decline, which counts against you, on an Inquiry).

If it's a request, you can certainly communicate with a guest before deciding whether to accept or not (also look to see if they have any reviews). That's the whole point of Requests as opposed to Instant Book, that the host can communicate with a guest first. This is how hosts get a sense of the guest, vet guests to make sure they will be a good fit, have read your listing info and rules, etc.  If the request is inappropriate, let the guest know that, and try to get them to withdraw the request so you don't have to decline before the 24 hr clock runs out.

A sample message might go something like,"Hi XX, thank you for your request. However, it doesn't appear that you thoroughly read through my listing info, including the  house rules, where it is clearly stated that my listing isn't suitable for children. Sorry about that, but the house isn't set up for kids and it would invalidate my insurance to accept them. You should withdraw your request ASAP so you will be free to find a suitable listing."

[Garry127]

Hi I have the same issue I’ve just been asked to accept/decline a request to stay as the person has no reviews so cannot instantly book on. My issue is they have an infant which I’ve said we don’t accept on our listing but I would like to speak to the person to find out more information but can’t find a way of contacting them without accepting first.

[Amanda660]

@Garry127  I had two enquiries last week, first one I could message.  The next one that came in the following day but had the message option removed.  Sometimes you really need to chat first. @Mike-And-Jane0  I’ll need to check the inbox option next time. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Garry127 I believe you can message the potential guest via the inbox. Apparently Airbnb have removed the option to message from booking requests but I haven't experienced this yet.

Just remember you need to accept/decline in 24hrs or your stats will suffer.

[Jamie886]

This is incredibly frustrating. I have received two requests to book in which I am unable to message the guest for more information. We as hosts, should have the option to message a guest to get more information before being expected to accept or decline a request. If someone just joined this month and has zero reviews I would very much like to know what their intentions are prior to accepting  their booking but I also don’t want to miss out on a great guest because I don’t have the option to learn more about them.