how do you navigate the issue of identity of guest especially if guest refuses to show

[Pauline335]

hallo guys am currently hosting a guest who seems to have an issue with me seeing her identification,she told me that airbnb has sorted that out i dont need to see.number two she clearly has no respect for house rules,when i went to drop off the bin waste bags i found her having spread the bath towel on the floor and when asked her about it she told me she just wants to step on a clean towel and she was like "you will clean it after am gone".who spreads a bath towel on the floor however clean the floor,its really unhygenic

  i just have a feeling she will do a bad review

[Susan151]

@Pauline335. Your house rules do not include the requirement to show identification, nor does it forbid towels on the floor. I think you might need to think about relaxing a bit. Humans don't always behave the way you want or expect them to. Becoming a host teaches you this very quickly!

[If your floors are clean, it is not unhygenic to have a towel on the floor. If your floors are not clean, that may be why your guest chose to use a towel for stepping.]

Since you have not had your identification verified by AirBNB according to your profile, it is hard to be too firm on this account.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Pauline335

you have every right to demand to see their photo ID and to write down your guest's personal info on arrival. Hotels do that as well. But.. you have to have it written in your house rules (we do)

Towels on the floor is a pain... my guests walked around in shoes and then threw the towel on the floor. Those stains were impossible to wash without the bleach (the city is dirty). I wrote a note in a few languages and tape it on the bathroom wall:

"please don't throw bath towels on the floor or use it to wipe shoes and other dirty items. thank you"

Since then my guests don't do that anymore.

Of course, we have a bath mat as well.

[Pauline335]

thanks i will definately do the notice on the towel,by the way i have noticed on many occasions friends booking for friends places to stay,so you have a guest who staying but he is not the one booked so anycase of anything actually you cant trace anyone

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Pauline335

Honestly I think you are being too sensitive - you can only assess a guests treatment of your property once they have finished staying there. Many guests made a mess while there, but clean up very nicely before leaving. We all have our foibles - and putting a bath towel on the floor is quite a trivial one. Personally I am wondering why you don't have a bath mat for her to stand on....I  would expect that.....

Also - you have no requirement in your house rules or description that state ID must be provide before or at check in. If you are going to ask for this in future then put it in the description and in the first email you send to the guest, and remind them in your final message before arrival.

Good luck!

[Pauline335]

thanks guys i will check on my rules,i have floor mats every where in the house,plus enough sandals in every corner of the house.

reason for identification is because of late we have had so many incidents of the person booked is not the one staying

sometime last year a guy books my place,...long story short after two days the guy gets arrested and the only contact he has in kenya is me.am called by police and the minute am in the police i have all my facts right he is my guest and he booked via airbnb.shock on me the name on airbnb and the his passport name dont match.he starts saying the friend booked for him because he does not own a an airbnb account.on closer check he had actually extended his 3 months stay since he arrived in kenya.so here i am being accused of hosting an illegal person.

since then i have always wanted to confirm the booked guy and the person staying are one.

whats so bad about about wanting to see some id,hotels do it all the time

for towels am just going to do a note,the bath towel needs to be kept in a clean place,however clean the floor is its a no no,i mean who wants to use a towel that has been put on the floor.

[Ben551]

@Pauline335I'm very sorry if this sounds harsh but... since you are not verified, and have not provided Government ID on your host profile... if I were your guest, there is no way on this green earth I would show you my ID.  You could be anyone, using any name, for any reason... I think as a host if you want to hold your guests to a high standard then you are obliged to adhere to that standard yourself.

[Bryan10]

I'm unsure why I'd ever want to see a guest's ID. Am I missing something? I remember having to hand my passport into the accomodation in communist Vietnam about 30 years ago - but I think most countries have moved on. The guest booked and paid - that's enough for me. 

As for towels on the floor: that's yucky but I've seen worse.