Single night last minute requests

[Polly107]

I am getting occasional requests from people for use of my home for 3 hour guests, from those who live 4 minutes away and who seem to believe that Airbnb is a hotel.

This week a sexual predator requested a one night booking and Airbnb turned him away only after 20 hours, during which time  was concerned that it was suspect because he lives in the next town.

I feel exposed and fear retribution if there is no greater protection for my otherwise fairly unprotected home, which pictures I gave removed from the site! Anyone else have better perspective on this issue? I was blissfully unaware to date with wonderful guests from all over the world, booking only on a part time basis.

[Anonymous]

@Polly107 You can easily adjust your Calendar settings so that same-day availability is blocked by default. This option still enables you to selectively unblock on a date when you're fully prepared to accept a same-day booking.

You can also filter out a lot of the dodgy business by setting a Minimum Stay of more than 1 night. Not all hosts object to their properties being used as hookup locations for consenting adults, but it really comes down to how long of a booking is really worth all the time and effort you put into each turnover.

I'm not sure what kind of protection you feel your home requires, but one thing that's for sure is that Airbnb is not in the business of providing it. So, I would strongly discourage using exterior photos that would make the property identifiable from Google Maps, disable the "precise location" from the map settings, add some firm House Rules concerning things such as unregistered guests, and consider some security features such as external cameras (which must be disclosed in the listing).