See your guests' star ratings

[Quincy]

Hello everyone,

We have heard from conversations in the CC that you would like to know more about guests that book your listing via Instant Book. I therefore wanted to let you know about a new feature which allows you to see how other hosts have rated the guests coming to stay at your place. You’ll be able to see both their overall rating and a breakdown.

If you’re uncomfortable with a reservation on Instant Book at any time, you can cancel penalty-free. And if you ever rate a guest at 3 stars or below, they won’t be able to instantly book with you again.

To find out more, take a look at this blog article.

We hope these updates are helpful. Please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks,

Quincy

[Clare0]

@Quincy. Am I correct that this feature, the ability to see the guest review stars, is only available to hosts who have Instant Book enabled? I don't have IB and cannot see guest review stars.   

[Quincy]

Hi @Clare0,

I hope you're doing well!

Viewing your guests' star ratings is indeed only available if you have Instant Book enabled.  

[Leif6]

👎

This would be a great tool for hosts except that it is instant book only.  I will not enable IB because I want to get to know guests before they book.  It is part of why people enjoy my home and why I have many repeat guests outside of Airbnb.  Renting an entire home, like I do, is much more risky than a room, and I will not enable IB.

Very dissapointed that this useful feature is being dangled in the faces of hosts and used as incentive to enable IB, which is very unsuitable for many hosts.

[Jairus0]

I completely agree with @Leif6

This feature would really help us hosts with Instant Book disabled to get to know more about our guests. We can use this info to tweak our home so that it would give our guest the best stay possible. 

I hope AirBnb can give equal treatments for both IB and non-IB users.

Jai

[Kimberly127]

I agree because I’ve done rentals myself and with Mgmt co.   Guest do lie in hopes to get money back.   I’ve seen this so many times.  It’s actually true families depend on refunds to afford trip.   Seen it to many times.   How do we protect ourselves from their ratings when we do agree to their terms or they’ll slam us in reviews?

[Edwin57]

The way I see it is like rules are rules. I have IB you still can review the guest only though Airbnb you still have the choice to confirm the guest so far I had great guest as far being a first time Airbnb houst you still get to see the guest review proving the houst are true in giving good review to guest

[Regina38]

Won't do instant book . This is discriminatory.  I am getting tired of educating guests only to have them book elsewhere. 

[Vivienne0]

But you can check previous reviews without instant book. I always check by looking at their profile. If there is no profile information I don't accept them.

One thing which has happened to me with instant book is that somone who fulfilled my Instant book criteria, booked and then it was somebody else!!! so they booked on someone else's behalf without telling me....grrrrr.

[Clare0]

@Vivienne0 I accept new guests all the time and haven't ever had a reason to regret it.  (Your reviewed guest was my first timer!) New guests and new hosts all have the same hurdle when everyone wants to see a track record. 

Regarding the 3rd party booking, with Instant Book you can cancel penalty free since this is a violation of Airbnb's Terms of Service.  The booking guest must also be the guest staying.  The only exception is a business Travel Manager booking on behalf of an employee. 

[Angie29]

Kind if disagree on the profile and no-profile acceptance or rejection.  My family was a first time Airbnb guests with no reviews at all and we respected and treated that host's home as our own and left it cleaner than we found it.  I have hosted first time guests and I wish they'll come back.  And I have also hosted first time guests and gave them 1 star.  I guess it all depends on the guests' ethics or un-ethics.  I had a very bad gut feeling about those guests but I was afraid to decline their request.          

[Amanda270]

It is all very well Airbnb saying that you can cancel if a guest breaks house rules but by that time often the damage is done and police called.  Another thing I don't like is Airbnb protecting a guests name and address when they have done damage and I want to prosecute.  This has happened to me in the past year.

I stopped doing IB for ages as I did not like the type of guest that was contacting me - mainly because I am hosting in a party, trendy, seaside town.  Currently I have IB back on but if a guest has no feedback or is a newbie and under 45 in age I ask for an £80 security deposit - that seems to do the trick.

Another thing I have noticed is that guests can have been members a good while and have no reviews even when they have stayed elsewhere before.  What is going on there?

[Phil-and-Dion0]

"Another thing I have noticed is that guests can have been members a good while and have no reviews even when they have stayed elsewhere before.  What is going on there?"

I also would like to know. I turned a 14 day stay down because the potential guest had been a member for nearly3 years and had claimed to have  stayed in lots of houses and yet had zero reviews. To me that was a red flag.

[Sabina36]

Even with a security deposit, you still have to go through the Airbnb resolution system. And they get FINAL say.

[Vince34]

Perhaps as important, I'm interested in seeing the reviews guests have left for hosts. I'm tired of getting newbies who leave four stars because they either expected too much for the price or they broke my rules and I rightfully criticized them.