@Amanda820 @Ann72 @Ben551 @Kelly149
Amanda, hosting is a gamble but I do feel we need to be 'glass half full' people, rather than 'glass half empty' ones.
Instant book accounts for about 85% of my business and as far as I am concerned I prefer IB guest to those who send a request!
IB guests have seen my listing are happy with what they see and just want to pull out their credit card and book. They don't have a myriad of questions that would have no doubt been answered if they bothered to read the listing description properly!
Hosting has brought me over 300 wonderful stays and 2 not so good ones. I have very few checks in place, I accept people without verifications, I accept people without previous reviews, I accept people without profile photos. I don't look for problems.
I do feel that guests fall into two categories....passive/complimentary and questioning/aggresive. People either like what they see and just want to stay...or they want to ask lots of questions all the time strengthening their ground and weakening yours! I don't deal with them.
Amanda, put yourself in a room of 500 random people, there will be 300 you would never want to see again as long as you live. When 500 potential guests come to you, there is a certain empathy there, purely because of what you offer, and what they would like! And there is every chance a hosting will go well. You are bypassing that 'random' element!
Amanda, step back a bit, don't look for ghosts behind the every door. Leave your IB in place. I feel you did not receive sound advice from CX. With every IB there will be a guest message and that message will tell you more about the guest than all the verifications under the sun.....was it complimentary........ or was it aggresive!
It hasn't let me down Amanda!
Cheers......Rob