Twice - twice burned. Here are the reasons I would never do it again. These are just some of the things a non-booking guest can not care about:
- House Rules
- Amenities offered and not
- Communication
- Reviewing and reviewed
- Expectations
Read on, if you want to know the particulars:
I accepted a rez for a local small company in a tight situation for their last minute new hire from the mainland. As @Hilary-And-Ed0 said, it's not allowed. I try my best to be a rule-follower, so we set it up such that, the hiree was to work with me to change the reservation to his account that evening. He did not, and every step from checkin on was arduous. He complained about everything and things went missing when he left. Boss never responded after booking. It was such a poor experience in so many unexpected ways, I said I would never do it again. As a superhost, I was pretty sure it wasn't my hosting that was a factor.
So later on another occasion, when I suspected a boss was pretending like it was going to be a rez for her and someone else, I asked questions that would prove it out. I then called AirBnB, as from what I understood, booking for someone else was not an option for insurance, guarantees, etc. I was shocked when the agent said it was 'up to me'. I was expecting them to inform the booking boss and cancel it according to the rules. Regardless, I did tell the agent I wanted the rez to be cancelled and for him to have a discussion/teachable moment with the boss. I figured if she was for real, and not trying to get away with something, the workers could rebook the room themselves. They did and with apologies. Still...argh! For many of the same reasons, it turned out to be a lousy experience. So I would only rebook in this same situation if the booking (agent) was upfront with it, and I started out with the guest from the very beginning with all my vetting usual questions and discussions in place.
When the guests book themselves, they 'choose' what they want, what they don't want, how much they want to give up for other amenities (no private bathroom but $10/n cheaper or closer to the bus stop, etc.). But when someone else is chosing, they do all the comparing and weighing out. The same way a spouse (very occasionally) can be disappointed in what their partner chose for their trip, complains, doesn't read the House Rules or checkin instructions, communicates, doesn't care about being reviewed or reviewing, etc.
