No profile picture/no reviews

[Laura6059]

Hi, 

I have been using Airbnb for many years, but I am new to hosting. We have just listed our space for the summer. I have an inquiry with no profile picture and no reviews and the profile was created recently. It makes me a little nervous but I also don’t want to deny a booking because they are just new in the community. 

What questions should I ask, what are red flags? So far they have asked about public transportation and number of parking spots available.

Thanks in advance,

Laura

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Laura6059 firstly you will never see a profile picture until a booking is made. This is part of Airbnb's anti discrimination plans. We have many newbies staying with us but we are next door so there is less likely to be trouble and certainly no parties. I would just ask them what brings them to your neck of the woods.

[Laura6059]

Thank you! We haven’t had our first guest yet so I don’t really know what to expect, based on their questions, they are tourists coming to town.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Laura6059 they sound like perfect guests then

[Calixto-and-Cindy0]

Just recently we had the same experience - they asked about wheelchair access and if pets could visit (our home is no pets).  After several back and forth of odd questions, and multiple people signing in to AirBnB and asking about the same dates and the same questions - we declined their request.

When we book for personal travel we have gotten the question - What brings you to our city? - before our stay is accepted and I'm trying to find out how to do that for our listing.

[Laura6059]

Yes! When I have made Airbnb’s reservations, I always tell the host who is traveling with me and why we are traveling. But now that I am hosting, people usually don’t tell me anything about themselves 🤷‍♀️.