@David6
Ive has amazing luck hosting other hosts, and in fact some have become return guests and friends.
....and here are “entitled” hosts, just like there are “entitled” guests.
It really comes down to communication as @Robin and others share, but I add another dimension because I’ve spent a lot of time on this and it’s made a huge difference for my experience:
Write your listing narrative to the guest you want to host. Yes be thorough. Yes be firm with your house rules. Yes...choose your words, narrative style, and imagery to speak directly to the kind of person you want. DESIGN it to meet your needs and attract the guests you want just as you design so beautifully in other areas : )
Another aspect that Airbnb controls with your Plus listing is the photography.
I have a photographic resume which includes fine art, portrait, nature, landscape, real estate, and filming photography. I understand the whole “HD” look and have shot real estate using this approach... but it’s totally contrived, staged, distorted, and often misleading, especially when you walk in and it looks different...even if it’s that you changed the sofa pillows or your lighting isn’t over the top, and it doesn’t look like a museum.
I shot my listing without all the fancy lenses and techniques purposely, to show the true character, to wow my well chosen guests with the actual beauty that far surpasses the photos when they walk in, and so they know what they’re getting isn’t The Ritz....because it’s not, and I don’t want those kind of guests.
I look at those photoshopped images and cringe because I know every host that’s paid for them will get dinged at review time when it’s not as perfect as it looks.
Im glad you stood your ground about the cancellation. I’ve done it as well and with a clearly written “strict” policy and minimum days for each booking, I always confirm understanding in a message, and if they start out asking me to bend my rules it’s an immediate decline.
Other than the Airbnb glitches I love doing this, and a large part of why is because I’ve learned along the way...from this awesome community, and my own trial and error.
Our experience matters too, because if we start to resent this, that also communicates, and a day off now and then allows me to stay in the space as a guest so I can enjoy it and see where I want to get creative again.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve proof read and tweaked my narrative trying to look through the eyes of the guests I want, and how much it’s helped.