Lack of information for Hosts regarding Guests Start Ratings and Recommendations

[Carolyn20]

It has come to my attention, and I confirmed this morning with an Airbnb Customer Service person, that Airbnb no longer tells us how many Host Recommendations a potential Guest has, nor are they letting us know what the Guests' Star Ratings are in each category Hosts rate them on.   These are items I have been depending on to evaluate the requests of inquiring Guests or "Instant Booking" incoming Guests so that I could message them about concerns I had or decline a booking request.

For example, I have a requirement that all guests have at least one recommendation from a Host.  Yesterday I got a request to book from a gal with just one review, but no indication of what her Star ratings were for Rules, Cleanliness, Communication.  Nor was I able to access wheither the Host who gave her a (run of the mill) review was really recommending her.  Plenty of Hosts will avoid spelling out problems with the thought that other Hosts would be able to evaluate these folks by their Star Ratings or the fact that there were no recommnedations, just a scanty, vague review for that new Guest (you know the one:  "They stayed for the night." Period.) .  Now none of these Host tools are available to us that I previously used to determine if I should approve the request or not.  Does this gal have a recommendation or not?  How do I determine if she meets my requirements for booking? 

Airbnb seems to be stripping Hosts of some of the information we used to get to assist us in determining if a guests would be a good fit.  Profile photos have become optional for guests (althought not for Hosts it seems) so that it appears I have a flock of chickens checking in next month!  (Maybe this is an inproper third party booking by a pack of dogs?)  😉  What's next?  No reviews at all?  No info on the kinds of information Guests have provided, when a Government ID is one of my requirements?

[Linda108]

@Carolyn20   After over 500 reviews I would imagine you have pretty great radar about guests, right?  Still it can be disconcerting when Air BNB fools around with what we need for making a decision about approving a request.

You use Instant Book,  I do and so far I get more information about the booking guest including the number of host recommendations and the reviews.   It is possible for someone to have a review without a recommendation, however.  The deeper dive is not quite as good.

I do require a portrait profile and will ask the guest to upload if it is missing.  I find it more important to me to see how a guest reacts to my messages.  I get more of a feel from that than from pictures.

I think guest vetting is more important for different markets.  Mine is a resort based market while others might have a business based market.  I am in a small town and others are in dense cities.  Each has a different need and this one size fits all hosts is not that good.

[Carolyn20]

Another issue with Airbnb and Hosts seems to be them allowing folks to send a request to book, even when they do not meet my booking requirements (Govt ID, 1 recommendation, no pets, no children, no 3rd party bookings, etc).  And then when I decline to accept the booking request because of one of those valid issues, it seems Airbnb holds that against me and lowers my % of acceptance.  I believe I even saw an Airbnb note that warned I could lose the ability to keep the listing up if I failed to bring up my acceptance percentage. There should be no penalty for not accepting bookings that are obviously not in accord with a Host's booking policies.

Their note in that section says "Make guests feel welcome by accepting requests whenever you’re available."  The place may be "available" because it has not been booked yet,  but it is not "available"  to people that don't meet the criteria set or who want to be exceptions to the House Rules.  Some folks I'll take a chance on if they are brand new to Airbnb and their communication with me is great and they give that good "vibe,"  but that's me being generous.  I don't want to be penalized for not accepting those bad vibe requests that are out of the boundariesI've set for booking.

This is shown under "Opportunities, " "Basic Requirements,"  "What to Work On"

Requirement

Accepted reservations: 85% (Target = 88%)

Anyone else noticed this issue with their space listing?

[Sarah977]

@Carolyn20  I absolutely detest that wording- ""Make guests feel welcome by accepting requests whenever you’re available."

Of course we're going to accept requests whenever we're available- we're in the hosting business, we're just not going to accept inappropriate requests, and the fact that Airbnb wants us to sure tells you a lot about how much they care about our welfare.

[Ninah-and--Annabel0]

I accept instant booking.  For those who need to request a reservation, often there is no information in their profile.  I think this, along with government ID's, at least one good review, and a profile pic should be required, and I've said as much to Airbnb.  In the meantime, Airbnb requires me to respond with either an acceptance (if I'm available) or decline (If I'm not).  I always ask for more bio info from the guest before I decide whether or not to accept, yet when I message directly the guest for such info, this is does not count toward my response rate.  I don't know if Airbnb follows these forum posts, but I'm hoping so.  In the meantime, what do you other hosts, and super hosts, do when you get a request from someone who provides absolutely zippo info about themselves or their fellow guests?