Questions to ask potential guest with no reviews

[Meghan222]

Hi! We are new to Airbnb and have our first guest this weekend! We have our listing on as autobook for 5 star previously reviewed guests. We have, however, gotten quite a bit of inquiries from guests without any reviews. What questions do you normal ask to vet potential guests? 

Our listing is a bigger house with a bar in the basement, so we don’t know how at risk we are for partying and how often that happens to other hosts!

Thanks!! 

[Emiel1]

@Meghan222 

Questions i often use are:

- Is this the first time you use Airbnb ?

- What is the purpose of your stay ?

I specifically ask to read all information in the listing, including houserules.

Be extra alert when local people want to book (potential party ?) .

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Meghan222 You also need to look out for a small number of guests booking a large house, guests booking for 1 night especially at weekends, and local guests booking your place.

All scream party and should be weeded out either through booking parameters or by asking very direct questions.

Also I would change your profile as it currently says you are many miles away from the house. You need to imply that you are (or have people who are) local and can get to the property quickly if there are any issues. 

Ideally enlist neighbours to keep an eye on the house and have a plan in place if they spot a party happening.

[Huma0]

@Meghan222 

You've already received some good advice RE your question about parties.

As for vetting guests, firstly, I would not be using Instant Book if I was a new host. You need to have more control over who books to avoid potential problems/bad reviews before your listing has had a chance to get established. Turning it off may affect your position in the search results, but that depends on how competitive your local market is.

If you do still want to use it, it's good to have the restrictions set, but bear in mind that 'recommended by hosts' does not necessarily mean guests with five star ratings only. I don't know exactly what it means as the language on Airbnb's help pages about this is rather vague. The other day, another host suggested it just meant guests who don't have 1* reviews! I hope that is not the case, but it could mean guests who are rated 3* and above. Maybe I am wrong, but I have never seen it mentioned anywhere that 'recommended by hosts' means 5* reviews.

Also, if you haven't done so already, activate the instant book filter for verified ID and add the pre-booking questions. When I used to use IB, my questions were along the lines of: 

- Who are you travelling with and what is the purpose of your visit?

- What time do you plan to arrive (check in is between 3 and 9pm)?

- Please confirm you have read and understand the house rules, paying particular attention to X, Y and Z.

These are questions I would ask of any guest (enquiries, booking requests), not just for IB, if they have not answered them in their initial message. 

From my experience, the most important thing is that the guest has read and understood the whole listing/house rules, not just the summaries. Don't be afraid of being very specific and as strict as you need to be in your house rules because it will help to scare off the type of guests you don't want as well as avoiding misunderstandings with guests whose expectations do not match your listing's offering.

You can also activate a setting that requires all guests to have a profile photo, although you still won't be able to see the photo until they book. I check each guest's profile to see that they have verified their ID, phone number etc. If they haven't, I ask them to do this before booking. 

I also ask the guests to tell me a bit about themselves. I want to know who is staying in my home but also, I have found that the communication with the guest can be far more telling than reviews, as so many hosts leave generic, positive reviews for almost everyone. I have hosted many wonderful first time guests. We all have to start somewhere!

For guests that do have reviews, it's useful to check the reviews they have left hosts as these can often be more telling than the reviews they have received. It's a good way of spotting difficult to please, picky people. An easier way of doing this is by using the AirReview Chrome extension. It is a bit glitchy though, but still quicker than having to manually search the hosts' profiles for that guest's reviews.

[Meghan222]

Hi! Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. @Huma0 @We have never heard of airreview and would love to know any other tools that listers are using! 

We do have the settings that require a photo and license uploaded to Airbnb, as well as “positive” reviews setting. 

Most of the people without reviews I have messaged and been very detailed with their responses. I have felt pretty good about most, but I’m sure its pretty easy to fake as well. Since we currently have our first guest staying right now, we don’t know what a person who would burn us say or what that kind of request typically looks like (short stay more suspicious vs long stay, number of guests requesting, ect)

Any info on BIG red flags or stories of how you’ve been burned before are super helpful, as we are learning through other peoples experience right now! 

[Huma0]

@Meghan222 

My first bad review was from a guest who had clearly not read the listing/house rules, even though she had confirmed that she had. She later told me that "I did read the rules. That doesn't mean I have to remember them." She then wrote in her review that my rules were 'TEDIOUS' in capital letters.

I honestly can't recall now if there were any red flags when she booked, but the Easter egg question that guests must answer maybe would have helped because this guest clearly had not read the listing (didn't realise I had three cats, didn't realised I lived at the property), let alone the rules, when she booked. She just lied about that, as many people do unfortunately. 

What also would have helped is the very specific questions I ask guests before they book, e.g. "Just to remind you that I have three cats and that this room is at the top of the house so there are a lot of stairs. It faces a fairly busy road, so it's not suitable for light sleepers." They need to respond confirming they are okay with those things. It's funny (or not so funny) how often people tell me they have read everything and then respond with something like, "Oh, you can hear the road? How noisy is it?" or, "Oh, sorry, didn't realise you have cats. I'm really allergic." You need to weed out these non-reading guests!

Every negative review I've had has been from a guest who did not read/understand the listing/rules. Seriously. It's the biggest problem. They did not know I was living in the house. They did not know the room was on the top floor. They did not understand the smoking policy. They didn't read that there was traffic noise, it goes on and on.

The only exception is the guest that left me a pleasant review but low ratings. She was a rather clueless, needy person that I had to make a lot of extra effort for. When asked why, she said it was because the room was 'over my initial budget'. This guest had asked for an extra discount and, when I said no, had gotten her aunt, a Superhost, to contact me to ask again. Again, I said no and the guest instant booked anyway (another reason to turn off IB if you can survive without it). This guest was always going to score me low because she couldn't or thought she couldn't afford it. 

So, look out for those discount hunters. I don't turn away everyone who asks for a discount. I host long term guests, so it's not that unusual. However, be wary of those that really push for one. Also, be wary of people who push in general, i.e. those that repeatedly ask for special favours, e.g. insist that you should make an exception for them with early check in, extra guests, receiving mail or whatever else they are asking for that you already said no to.

Another way that you can spot potential problems is with guests that, in their correspondence with you, seem to be only focused on their particular needs. I have no problem with guests that ask lots of questions (as long as those aren't already answered on the listing) because it's great that they want to ensure a good fit. However, when it's just a list of demands and they say nothing about why they would be a good guest, why they are interested in your listing or don't even supply the most basic info about themselves, even when asked, it can be an indication of a difficult, entitled person who is likely to be a problematic guest and leave a negative review. I have a very funny example of one of these, which I will post here if I can find it...

[Gillian166]

@Meghan222  excellent advice from @Huma0  as always, really value your experience here, you've been so helpful to me these past few months, and thanks for sharing that chrome extension. 

I will say re: overnighters, locals, this "rule" doesn't apply everywhere. We live off 1-nighters and "locals", it very much depends what and where your property is.  

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

Really glad dome of my advice has been useful to you!

Yes, it totally depends on your situation. One nighters can be really important, e.g. to a host with a listing near an airport, for example, and locals, personally, I don't have a problem with but I know a lot of hosts do because those often turn out to be partiers or people using the listing for some kind of dodgy or illegal activity.

As I host long term guests, locals don't worry me. They are often people waiting for the sale of a flat/house to go through or looking for a longer term accommodation, which is not that easy  to find in London. It's important to take each one on a case by case basis rather than making sweeping judgements, but that involves asking questions and having some communication with the guest as early as possible.

[Gillian166]

haha, it's "all of the above" with me. 

plus, people who are in the Hills for a lovely winery lunch that gets a bit boozy, and last-minute decided to stay over. Where's the category for them? haha. 

[Andrea-and-Glenn0]

@Meghan222  I sent you a message, check your inbox. We had the bonus of having an Airbnb mentor living directly across the street from us who guided us every step of the way with our first few guests and we are very lucky and appreciative of that support. 

[Janice501]

I wish I had read all this before accepting a booking with no reviews, thought we’ll you have to start somewhere, it was for four people but there were five of them, still in the property after checkout time, them they said that the property could be cleaner. I felt it had been used as a party venue. I gave an honest review but should I reply to their negative one 

[Ervin67]

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@Meghan222 wrote:

Hi! We are new to Airbnb and have our first guest this weekend! We have our listing on as autobook for 5 star proviously reviewed guests. We have, however, gotten quite a bit of inquiries from guests without any reviews. What questions do you normal ask to vet potential guests? 

Our listing is a bigger house with a bar in the basement, so we don’t know how at risk we are for partying and how often that happens to other hosts!

Thanks!! 

I don't know exactly what it means as the language on Airbnb's help pages about this is rather vague. The other day, another host suggested it just meant guests who don't have 1* reviews! I hope that is not the case, but it could mean guests who are rated 3* and above. Maybe I am wrong, but I have never seen it mentioned anywhere that 'recommended by hosts' means 5* reviews.

Also, if you haven't done so already, activate the instant book filter for verified ID and add the pre-booking questions. When I used to use IB, my questions were along the lines of: 

- Who are you travelling with and what is the purpose of your visit?

- What time do you plan to arrive (check in is between 3 and 9pm)?

- Please confirm you have read and understand the house rules, paying particular attention to X, Y and Z.

[Ervin67]

I use IB but still a lot of guests send an inquiry before they book. I never ask any particular questions because I am no good at evaluating guests from their replies. If they are up to no good they are going to lie anyway :slight_smile:

To me, it’s a waste of my valuable time. You never know what they’ll be like until they turn up - regardless of what they say.