Thanks for the great overview. This is our third year as a Host and overall we have been very pleased. We offer separate spaces witin our primary residence. I think it's time to solve some of the problems you identify.
First, Instant book. It should be very simple to add several check boxes for hosts to describe who can book:
"This Host allows Instant book ONLY for the following:
_x__Adults
___ Infants
____OK ____Pre approval only ____extra fee
_X___Children
__X___OK _____Pre approval Only
_X__Pets
dogs: ___OK or __x_Pre approval only __x_Extra fee
cats: ____OK or ____Pre approval only ___Extra fee
Above is how I would fill this out. Translation: We do not allow infants, children are OK and we only allow pre approved dogs with an extra fee. We don't allow cats.
Something like this would alert guests to identify their children and pets and could accomodate notice of extra fees involved. I charge a dog fee with pre approved dogs only, which I collect in cash upon arrival. I have not had an issue with it, it's only $10 a day, but it's not ideal. A pet fee could easily be added right along with the cleaning fee. I do not understand why airbnb has not offered this option.
I recently has a guest reservation made at 12:30 AM and saw that a "pet" was included. This was the first time I have seen this type of notice. A step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it was a first time guest on Instant Book. For various reasons we were not accepting pets that week and, of course, he did not read about the need for pre-approval and never mentioned his dog in his email, so it was a disappointment all around. I am hoping that quitting instant book as you have suggested is not the only option to address these problems. Maybe something as simple as a flagged note from airbnb to "read the rules carefully, particulalry about pets, you will be bound by them" could be added to newbies reservations on the site.
Second : Reading the Listing: Most peple don't read a listing fully so it's important to provide pre-digested information of the most important things. Hosts are trying to describe their places to best advantage so narratives (mine in particular) can get very long and descriptive and the reader's attention span is breached. The Rules section is helpful for this, but I find many guests don't read that either.
Finally, there are differences between the multiple rental properties you describe and those of us who are essentially offering space in our own homes. Security issues are a concern, but are different. Backgound checking, email communication and intuition, and, in fact, a certain chemistry are important for those of us who have guests in our homes and sleeping down the hall. I plan to look around for a thread that may have already been started on this issue. Suffice it to say that the airbnb community is very diverse.
Thanks again, Stan. We have a condo in Portland which is not airbnb friendly unfortunately. Will get in touch if we come to Bend.
Susan