Hi Airbnb Community!
In the two years that I've hosted with Airbnb, I've had my share of nightmare guests. When I started hosting, I had zero experience, and quickly learned that Airbnb has no real way of pre-verifying if a guest is going to be good or bad. Airbnb provides a Name, maybe Photo, maybe Verification, and maybe some reviews, but it's really not enough.
Now that I've had a little more than 80 reservations with +100 guests, I learned that there was a common thread linking all my bad guest experiences. These "red flags" had been present the whole or presented themselves quite early in the process. Some of these are obvious, but some are less so, but each one of them is a strict 100% dealbreaker, do not pass go do not collect $200. I'll decline and refer them to a local hotel or bed and breakfast. Because often enough, what they really want is a hotel but at airbnb prices.
Obvious Deal Breakers:
1. No Reviews
2. No Picture
3. No Verification
4. Bad Review(s)
Additional Deal Breakers:
5. Asks for a discount
6. Asks to for an early check in and/or late check out/hold luggage, etc
7. Asks to bring more than the maximum guests
8. It becomes clear they have not read the house rules
How have you guys selected guests in the past? Has it changed? Do you guys have any deal breakers that have really helped?