@Shannon233 While I dislike "coded" reviews, i.e. where the host doesn't really give any valuable information, I can understand that with a local booking from a bad guest, the review can be problematic. In that case, what you can do is mark the guests 1* across the board (guests can't see the star ratings they are given) and leave a coded review such as "Guests stayed 1 night" (or however long they stayed) or "Locals. Stayed 1 night". That would say to most hosts that you had nothing good to say about the guests but for some reason didn't want to go into detail. And to the guest, it doesn't look like a bad review. Certainly nothing for them to retaliate over.
Hosts who don't use Instant Book also aren't privy to view guests'star ratings, but at least the Instant Book hosts can see them, and I think 1* ratings prevent guests from IBing anyway.
Yeah, don't take bokings from locals unless you have a way to check out their story or they have a page full of glowing reviews. They are reportedly almost always bad news. The only legitimate reasons I can think of for locals to book is if their own home is undergoing renos or repairs that make it impossible to stay there, or maybe they live in a small apartment and have a roommate and have family coming to town they want to spend time with.
I do have a friend in Canada who also hosts a suite in her home, who books a motorhome on the beach close by
once or twice a year, just to relax outside her own busy household. She can forget about her to-do lists, walk the beach with her dogs, read a book with no distractions, sleep with the sound of the waves. The hosts know her now, she's a repeat guest for them.