I agree. My husband and I started with CouchSurfing, and we loved the massive amount of information a potential guest could put into their profile (from multiple photos to interests, etc). We never accepted a guest if they didn't have a certain percnetage of their profile filled out. I wish that we could get a better idea of who the person staying in our house is through their profile.
I agree with Susan and Michael. I don't think I need to know about children or their lives but it is creepy that someone wants to com into my home and not show me before what they look like, camera shy or not.
Well guests DO have bios, just not all of them choose to write one. Does Airbnb send them prompts like ''hosts like to know a little about you, how about writing something in your Profile section?'' I am sure they do, they have prompts for all kinds of things. Guests might not care enough, or realise how much store hosts set on it.
As a host I like to see who is coming to my home. I like to know my guest with a decent photo or tow, if they are tow and get familiar with their face. Having picture of a doll, sky, flower, dog, etc... Is not correct and doesn' give a clear image of whom are we hosting. I think Airbnb has to ask everybody post a recent and decent photo.
I think it should be mandatory to have a completed profile including what they do for a living, their interests and a bit about their living situation ( married with kids, college student or live alone or with housemates, etc before being aloud to proceed with a booking. Although I ask for this on my listing along with the purpose of their visit before they send a request or inquiry, it's amazing how many people don't do it. I guess they are inquiring about many listings at the same but this should be a basic requirement that airbnb has so we don't have to ask each time. This is especially true for a 1st time guest with no reviews. I totally agree about the picture-a real one of them, not a back view or their dog. I think airbnb has stricter requirments of hosts than they do of the guest and are quicker to penalize the host. For example denying the right to get Superhost status for a year if the host cancels a reservation. I had this happen even though there was a valid reason and the house (no longer listed) has a tenant. I only saw it by mistake and it was on Instant Book which I would NEVER do.
Definitely agree with all of the comments on this topic. Airbnb guests must have a close up picture of themselves, not their dog or there children. Their profile description must also be more than just a couple of words.
I just don't accept bookings if there is no information about the person. If I can't get any sense of who they are I ask for a bit more info. If I don't get it they don't get to stay.
I agree Lesley and do the same thing but I get tired of having to ask when I think Airbnb should have it as a basic requirement of the guests before they're allowed to proceed in the system. I always ask nicely and say it helpful for me and other hosts-just wish Airbnb would make this mandatory so it's one less thing we have to as hosts.
