Declining guests with poor reviews

[Alison573]

I have had a request from a guest with one three star review. The previous host mentioned lack of respect for house rules and damage done by the guests’ pet. I have declined the request on this basis. Now he wants to know why. Am I required to give him an explanation?

[Kelly149]

@Alison573 no

[Elena87 · Accepted solution]

@Alison573 

No need to explain your reasons why. Your place, your decision.

Probably if you do reply with a 'it's because...', three star guy would get indignant and would want to enter into predictably unendurable and tiresome correspondence.

I'd ignore, or send a condensed generic ' best wishes etc' non-answer type reply, then ignore.

[Alison573]

This is just what I want to avoid.

[Ute42]

.

@Alison573 

I had 293 views of my listing last month but only 1 guest booked.

292 people did not explain to me why they refused to book my place.

[Linnea-Or-David0]

Maybe I'm naive, but I would tell them why they've been declined.  They may not realize that their actions and reviews from previous stays have consequences.  Commonsense is not that common.  No need to carry on the conversation past your reply, but at least maybe if someone else accepts them they'll respect their rules knowing it will affect future bookings.