Requests with no reviews

[Mark3179]

I have made it a policy that I do not accept guests with no reviews. However. I do not state that on the listing. Reason being, if someone sends a request and then sends me compelling information about themselves, I may make an exception. Examples: They are related to someone in my neighborhood or someone I know. Does anyone else handle “No reviews “ similarly?

[Peggy-And-Mike0]

I have hosted 130 sets of guests and most of them never had a review -- we are their first Airbnb stay. Do not let zero reviews scare you...we've had great experiences with our guests. We are in-home hosts so that tends to weed out most rascals, but even if we weren't I'd take a new guests. You can ask questions, and get other documentation, and get a good feel for what they are like.  If you don't feel like you can screen well, then hire a company to do that part.  

[Anonymous]

@Mark3179  The worst guests I've ever hosted had all positive reviews on their profile when they booked. This is also true for the one you negatively reviewed recently. Many of my best had zero reviews. I don't think reviews are all that useful as an indicator, except for the bad ones.

The quality of the guest's correspondence is the best predictor of how they'll be as guests.

[Kate867]

@Mark3179  We accept new guests to the platform quite happily, and I concur with @Anonymous .  We only pay attention to bad written reviews and new guests always seem the best.  Our latest guests left us a lovely review.. they were actually quite nervous when booking as they were ‘newbies’ and had heard some ‘Airbnb Horror Stories’ but also accepted that these would generally be the exception to the rule.  Our Housekeeper actually rang me to check if the guests had actually stayed as the cottage was immaculate.  Probably our best ever guests!

[Emilia42]

Like Andrew, some of my less desirable hosting experiences have been from guests with multiple (many times dozens) of good reviews. Just this morning, I got a booking with a one-word introduction message. This guest has 25 good reviews and a 5-star for communication. Yesterday, a booking came through from a review-less guest with a very pleasant greeting stating the purpose of stay and lots of gratitude. I don't put much weight on reviews.

[Kate867]

@Emilia42   I agree and I also sometimes wonder about that old saying ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’.  I think sometimes guests with lots of five star reviews behind them start to rely on those and don’t worry too much.l I also suspect not all hosts leave Honest reviews.