Hello fellow Hosts-
I have noticed Airbnb's policies increasingly moving towards guest's needs, and further away from the needs of hosts, especially hosts who prefer the security of personally screening people they invite into their home, verses hosts with Instant Book, who do not have as big a concern with safety. I have let many other changes go, but I feel that their newest no guest photo policy hits a new low, and for me, is totally unacceptable.
My home is not a public hotel. If guests do not want to show their faces and want to remain anonymous, they should stay in a hotel- there are plenty of those. Airbnb is supposed to offer a more personal alternative, where hosts as well as guests benefit mutually from honesty and trust. To cultivate this trust, there needs to be transparency on BOTH sides, and blocking photos does not inspire trust!
As hosts, we are extremely vulnerable- guests see our photo, photos of our homes, our neighborhood location, see our star ratings, reviews, and our cancellation history, yet as (non-instant book) hosts, we are not able to access any of these same basic qualities. I am not racist in any way, I accept all nationalities, from all over the world, but I am extremely concerned with personal safety. Airbnb has just removed one of the most important tools that I am able to use to help my intuition determine who I am willing to allow into my home.
I understand that Airbnb wants to be politically correct by encouraging non-discrimination. That is noble of them, but please do not do it at our expense. Do not deny hosts of this important basic tool. And not viewing a photo will not end discrimination! It just will make hosts more cautious and more discriminating, forcing us to base a decision whether to allow strangers into our homes even more narrowly- on the sex, for example, or a name, writing style, living location, or an unjust bad review. In my experience, there already is not enough information about most guests (especially if they have not completed a profile or do not have any reviews), but more often than not, a smiling face of their profile photo is enough to go ahead and trust that stranger. Now, without the thousand words a photo can convey, I will always decline a reservation if the person's communication lacks information that I ask for, has misspellings, or is otherwise less than ideal. We have that right as a host to decline any reservation, Airbnb's host rules makes that clear. Why remove an important tool that allows for more trust?! A trust that benefits guests as well, as they will be more likely to be accepted for a reservation request. Why punish all hosts, when going after the few specific hosts with a history of discrimination, would be much, much more appropriate?
And lastly, Airbnb's solution does not resolve the problem of racism in a fair way. Discrimination is a human flaw that does not just affect hosts- guests are just as able to discriminate against hosts! If implementing this new policy is a true effort to combat racism, Airbnb is actually discriminating against hosts by not imposing this same standard equally to all of us, hosts and guests alike!
I am a Superhost who has enjoyed the benefits of listing my guest room on Airbnb for many years, but by taking away this most basic and important tool, I am considering for the first time, the possibility of going with another rental option if this decision is not reversed. I wrote a lengthy letter in protest, submitted in the feedback section, and intend to send it daily until the new policy is reversed or imposed fairly to all. I told them that if they do not want to lose their hosts, that they should put an end to this ridiculous no guest photo policy, and restore full disclosure between both guests and hosts, which has brought great success to their platform- thus far. I encourage all who dislike this new policy to send their feedback as well!
