Review request or accept automatically?

[Emmanuel317]

Sorry for the very basic question. I'm setting up for the first time as Host.
Do you recommend to opt for the  "review every request" option or do you accept automatically? Any tips to avoid getting in trouble either withs guests or AirBNB?

[Emiel1]

@Emmanuel317 

If you are a new host, i would start with "review every request".

BTW I never have used Instant Book, so im rather biassed ...

Maybe read also: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/484/how-can-i-control-which-reservations-i-get-with-instant-book

[Sandra856]

Hi @Emmanuel317 🙂

I would also definitely recommend to start out with that your guests need to send a request to book. At least until you are familiar with airbnb and how everything works. Use this community as you can learn so much.

Best, Sandra 

[Lawrene0]

@Emmanuel317 , I have used both, but I agree with @Emiel1 . Start with reviewing every request. 

I do like Instant Book now, because of the increased visibility in searches, seeing guest star ratings, saving some of the back and forth of messaging, but reviewing all requests lets you get any bugs out of your calendar and listing description while you are new. 

[Emmanuel317]

Thank you Lawrene, I will definitely follow your advice 

[Emmanuel317]

@ Sandra, Emiel1 - Thank you for your quick response. Indeed I think it makes a lot of sense to check first every request. I was just worried of possible negative impact. Thanks for taking the time to respond, 

[Sarah977]

@Emmanuel317  With a new listing, you'll get a boost in search for the first few weeks, but after that, Airbnb gives IB listings preference in search. 

However, I've been hosting for 3 years and I have never used IB and never will. I want to vet guests before they can book, and the trade off with a lower search ranking is worth it to me to have control of who books. Guests still manage to find my listing, and I don't care if I get 100% occupancy. Quality of guests is more important to me than quantity. Never had a bad guest yet and never had any of them rate me less than 5*s.

Here are several pages of posts regarding IB: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Is-Instant-Book-right-for-you/td-p/1094869

There's no "getting in trouble", either with guests or with Airbnb for requiring guests to send requests.

Also, make sure you understand the difference between an Inquiry and a Booking Request. An Inquiry only has to be responded to by message. If you don't feel okay about the guest, don't Decline- just message back explaining why you don't feel it will be a good fit. You'll get proddings from Airbnb to pre-approve, but you can safely ignore those.

For a Booking Request, you do have to either Aceept or Decline within 24 hours, but you can message with the guest before that time is up to help you make a decision.

Declines count against you, so always try to avoid those if possible.

[Linda108]

You have a stunning home, @Emmanuel317  that you are going to hand over the keys to a fairly large party of strangers.  You need to develop a strong vetting process to protect your home.  You need to be able to inspect what you expect in terms of number of guests and unauthorized activity.  You don't disclose you have survellience camera's which you should have and you should disclose.

Your rules are no pets and yet you allow one dog.  Confusing and may be problematic.

Security deposit may be a bit low.

[Helen427 · Accepted solution]

hello @Emmanuel317 and welcome to ABB

So nice to see a visitor from Belgium!
I've friends from Belgium living here in Auckland who Host their home privately and one somewhere in Belgium.

In your situation you may like to advertise you prefer to have an 'enquiry' so you can properly vet people.

It's very important to know who is coming into your home if your not living there.

You may like to mention in your listing that you are happy to receive any enquiries and that they may IB after they have agreed to your requirements, that way you still have the IB option available.

All the best & Happy Hosting

[Pete69]

With InstantBook you may get people who want to do something against your rules, such as bring pets, have 4 people in a 2 people room, etc. Or they may have negative reviews. Or you may get someone attempting to book for someone else (AKA third party booking).  Then if you have to cancel them, you may lose your SuperHost status. Just not worth it on so many levels.

[Helen427]

Thank you @Emmanuel317 for accepting my suggestion as a solution.

If by chance you have someone IB without going through your requirements you can always check their profile, do an online background check of their name online - one can usually find some info about people there - go through search engines with the search set from their country.

If someone IB without your background check, you can always ask them to cancel so you don't get penalised if you don't think they would be suitable guests for your home.

Just had a young man stay who is living here in Auckland with a Belgium couple who are having major household renovations!

All the best @Emmanuel317 & remember to pop into CC to keep up to date as well as receive the Host News monthly emails which always have updates for us.