Hi, new hosts here. Probably a familiar story, probably falls into the category "its the new guests who do the new hosts the most harm without realising it".
Our first four reviews went swimmingly, 5 stars all the way on everything.
Then the booking from a chap "I'm new on Airbnb".
Firat a Location 4 stars despite saying it was "Ideal" for exactly what it said about the listing in the title and listing details, and photos of the area, despite public review "great for coast path and local amenities" Go figure!
Then marks only3 for cleanliness. I appreciate people don't all have he same standards, but sadly this wasn't the case, in fact it was because we had dogs. Apparently the guest hadn't read the listing very thoroughly and was surprised to find dogs on the property in one common area.…. it didn't stop him and his friend booking a second night though.
So anyway, this dropped us to a 4.8, and buried the previous "spotless" and "great location" tag lines as well, as it was only our fifth review.
Been in business 25 years, almost 20 selling online, so I don't take these things personally, but I'm wondering how much business we may lose if we restrict instant booking to guests who have had recommendations from hosts?