@Jonathan110
Airbnb renting can be scary for new hosts. There are many scams out there and tricky guests, yet also tons of lovely ones.
I agree with @Sharon114 that the default setting Instabook opens you up to pretty much anybody out there and when sharing personal space it's like opening your front door and calling 'Come on in y'all!' The Airbnb call to 'share' and 'live like a local' misleads too many into thinking that everybody thinks like that. Well, it doesn't and the good, the bad, and the ugly live side by side out there and are standing in line for booking 😉
Why do you think the bad and the 'ugly' seem to target new hosts? This community is full of such dodgy stories.
Or maybe practised hosts are targeted too but clearly see the s**t coming before it hits the proverbial fan, because there's usually more than one red flag announcing it.
Turn off Intant Book until you have more experience. It's a bonanza for the more undesired kind of guest if your IB booking doesn't require them to be fully ID checked and have only good reviews.
Turn on ID Verified for bookings.
(Also inform guests and include in your house rules that there will be ID check upon arrival. Keep a kind of Hostelry list like any hotel or motel with date of stay, their names, and ID nos. Very useful in case of theft or shady characters)
Vet your guests in a little conversation to get a bit more information about them to feel comfortable.
Peruse this Community's posts for more useful information and tips on how to contact Airbnb.
Many lower-priced accommodations are popular targets for transients or evicted renters in the same area, which is why experienced hosts usually see a red flag there.
You usually only find such things out by getting into a short conversation before booking gets accepted.
Then have a chuckle but serious read between the lines of this
Blog article for new hosts
and another one more for guests but useful for hosts
Forbes re. Airbnb guests
Another tip. Keep all correspondence on the Airbnb message communication page. It's a record that they can look into in case of future problems. Any exchange you had with guest re. inappropriateness, not following house rules, etc. etc. outside of it is hard to prove, so the premise of experienced hosts is to reiterate such conversations or exchanges in form of a message confirming or repeating such-and-such. That way you'll have at least one message leading up to a possible call to have Airbnb re-locate them or in case of a guest cancelling and demanding refund.
If Airbnb sees any message or exchange in the message thread throwing doubts on a guests allegations it's reason for them to have doubts and possibly even contact you directly.
Just saying.
Too many hosts are dinged later on by Airbnb siding with guest's atrocious reasons when cancelling and giving total refund. If there had been an exchange with guest there right from the start of problems, it would have been different, a kind of paper trail. Sort of like if there's no (paper-trail) proof, it didn't happen.
This may all sound terrifying, but being well-prepared usually prevents bad things happening in the first place.
Good luck with your smelly guests and for the future happy hosting.