Hi Helen,
When first starting out to host it can be quite a difficult process navigating your way through the system...! I know. I’ve made my share or mistakes. What I’ve learnt is that you should never feel pressured to take a booking if you don’t feel comfortable. Even if it’s a request to book immediately (i.e. 24 hours to accept), don’t feel you have to take the booking. You must feel comfortable with who you’re letting into your home. (When declining you can state your reasons).
Airbnb have recently changed their photo policy (I’m guessing guests have complained about being discriminated against) so you can’t see the photo when a request is made. However, if you go into booking requirement settings you can set it so you require guests to have a photo, though you won’t see this until the booking is confirmed. Annoying, I know!! But it’s better than nothing...
As far as deciding whether to accept a booking or not, engage with the guest immediately if they haven’t offered anything about themselves. Ask about them and the people who will be coming with them. More often than not potential guests are very open to giving details and you can very quickly gauge what they are like through their communication. I have a set response for any potential guests who wants to book but is new to Airbnb and doesn’t have any reviews:
“Thanks for your request to book. As you're new to the Airbnb community and don't have any reviews yet, we'd love to know a little bit more about yourself and who else will be coming for the weekend. We rely very much on reviews and guests telling us a bit about themselves so we know who will be staying in our home (in much the same way as guests look at photos of our home to know what they are getting!).”
If there is a 24hr time limit on the booking request then I let them know it and ask them to get back to me ASAP because of the time limit, otherwise I’ll have to decline. More often than not I find people extremely obliging.
Though if you don’t feel comfortable after all then don’t accept. I do this. If I get a funny feeling about a guest then I try to put them off the place and say I don’t feel our house is suitable for them. It’s simply not worth stressing and worrying over and definitely not worth feeling like you have to accept a dodgy booking. It would be far worse to come back to your property to find it trashed!
I know this doesn’t help with the booking you’ve just accepted but you have every right to ask her further questions. And explain that you’re also new to hosting and would like a little reassurance. If you’re open and honest it is often reciprocated 🙂
With very best wishes,
Katerina