Instant Booking and Additional House Rules

[Erica-And-Daniel0]

Hello,

I have created my first listing to list my spare bedroom in my house. Since I am a female who lives alone, I was advised to start off only hosting female guests, which I'm allowed to specify if it's a shared space.

The thing is, Airbnb keeps trying to get me to turn on Instant Booking, but I'm worried about my safety and rights if male guests book and I cancel. I have listed in my house rules in additional rules section that only female guests allowed, but I wonder how well airbnb honors the additional section and how hard it is to cancel without getting penalized. 

Thanks!

[Marzena4]

Hello @Erica-And-Daniel0. A better question concerning the listing is how well potential guests are going to read the description... From experience.

As for IB and cancellations - every time, to avoid penalties, you would have to cancel through Airbnb - a lot of hassle, believe me.

[Sarah977]

Airbnb keeps trying to get ALL of us to turn on IB. It is not of interest to a lot of us, especially those who are sharing their home. Ignore the prodding from Airbnb. We all need to do what works for us. Better to have a few less visitors than have to deal with uncomfortable or hassle situations.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Erica-And-Daniel0

Make sure you have "female only" in your title and in the short description emphasize its a shared home private listing females only. Repeat this throughout your description and again in your house rules. You shouldn't be concerned about penalties - I had a 3rd party booking that I cancelled and I sent a message to the guest to inform them and also contacted ABB as a precaution to let them know the cancellation was because it was a 3rd party booking so I asked for confirmation that I would not be penalized in any way whatsoever.