New to hosting: how to screen guests

[Tina459]

So I am completely new to Airbnb as a host and as I am a young woman living on my own I find the thought of inviting a stranger into my home slightly scary! I'm renting out my guest room so will share my private home with a guest.

An older man has recently booked the room, and I have a bit of a weird feeling about it... He is a verified guest, but with no reviews. His email is quite strange with loads of letters and a few numbers and he is not connected to any social media sites. How sceptical is it normal to be? Am I being paranoid thinking I might be uncomfortable with this? I don't really have a reason to consider cancelling, but as I have never hosted before I am not sure about how I feel.

I have instant booking turned on as there seem to be a cancellation fee when it is off, but maybe I should reconsider it as I only aim to rent out  the room part time... 

Any suggestions and opinions are welcome! 

[Ned-And-Laura0]

As a single women offering a shared space you are allowed to limit guests to those of the same sex as you without penalty from airbnb.  If having men alone in your home concerns you then I would consider this as an option for your listing.

[Yulianna0]

Hi, @Tina459, I’m in the same situation. My only advantage is that I’m not young:) I have a small trick: I’m calling some of my friends and we are talking. And I’m telling that I have new guest, describing him a bit in a very positive manner. May be I’m talking a bit loud:) So the guest has an opportunity to hear something. Then I apologize, explaining that friends are curious about Airbnb 🙂 

[Steve143]

Hello @Tina459,

What you see as th email address is not the guest's real email address. It's a temporary one generated by Airbnb which you can use to communicate with the guest without their real one being revealed. It will disappear about 2 weeks after the guest checks out. Guests see a similarly constructed temporary one for you. So it's normal that it has lots of odd characters and numbers. It usually starts with the person's profile name.

Guests have to start somewhere so it often happens that they have no reviews.

When you say he's verified do you mena he has submitted government ID. If so there'll be a green tick on his profile like there is on yours. This is usually a good indication as it means that the guest was willing to provide a photo of a government ID document to Airbnb. The process also requires them to submit a photo from thier laptop or phone camera which must match the photo on the ID. This helps to ensure that the ID is theirs.

Apart from these verifications the best way to form an opinion of a guest is to message them.

You can enquire if they'll need parking, ask what brings them to your area etc. You can judge by the tone of their responses or whether they don't answer at all. Get some chat going.

Airbnb allows hosts who share spaces with guests, in your case the bathroom,  to accept reservations only from guests of the same gender. The article at the link below has more information on this.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1807/can-i-choose-to-only-host-people-of-my-own-gender

Instant booking does give a boost to a listing in search results and you can set requirements, recommendations from other hosts and government-issued ID, when it's turned on.

Some hosts suggest that new hosts not have it turned on so that all guests have to send a request which you can evaluate by messaging in the 24 hours you have to accept or decline it. You could then turn it on when you're happy with your ability to screen guests by reading their reviews and messages to you.

Steve.

 *[Reply moved from duplicate topic]

[Lawrene0]

The email address itself being "loads of letters and a few numbers" is not a worry, @Tina459. That is the temporary email address that airbnb provides to all guests. Take a look here:  https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/694/how-will-my-email-address-look-to-other-people

Everyone's email address on Airbnb looks like that.

As the others have said, think about options that work for your peace of mind. You can do as @Ned-And-Laura0 suggest, or as @Yulianna0 suggests. Some female hosts include a man - a husband in my case, or a brother or friend - in their profile picture just to pre-screen a bit. It never hurts to be prepared with numbers to call in case a situation gets uncomfortable.

All the best with hosting. You did the right thing asking others before hitting the cancel button. It is what the community is for. You are off to a great start! 

[Paul154]

@Tina459

It's always good to be concerned about your safety. ALWAYS.

Although my reading of your guest is not alarming, your spidey sense is important.

Do not greet this guest alone. Have a friend with you (the above mentioned telephone trick is OK too). Then you can get a better reading of your guest 

[Victoria567]

Hi @Tina0

please look at my listing of my guest accommodation and screen out the type of guest you do not want to share YOUR living space particularly as you live on your own.

[Rachel0]

@Tina459 As others have said, you are entitled to list your property for female guests only.  Also, having the IB turned on does not prevent a cancellation fee as far as I am aware - if you cancel a  guest you will be severely penalised, you will stop your chance of becoming a superhost and the dates you cancelled will  remain blocked.  I would turn of IB until you have hosted several guests and have a lot more experience.  I hope it all goes well for you.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Tina459,

Me again! 🙂

I just wanted to check if you have seen the replies here and if you have any thoughts on this?