@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.