Should we accept this Guests?

[Gail-And-Rod0]

We are new Hosts.

A Guest with 4 other people requested to stay at our place however she has no profile. She's been a member though since 2015.

She said no one in her party has ever used Airbnb. We declined her however she's back again and wants to know if letter of references would be good enough to stay at our place. Is there a contract that we can ask that her and the other guests to sign?  

They are coming for a 2 day music festival. Some in the party are college students.

Would you accept them to stay if you were us?

[Christopher187]

It really depends on you and your space but I would not accept that booking unless it were ridiculously lucrative.

If you do consider it, get everyone's names and indicate you need to see ID's upon arrival, and perform any other extra diligence you can think of.  If your extra requirements scare them off, then that's almost certainly for the best.

[Donna240]

Do you live in the property? Bad behavior happens more often in properties where the guest lets themself in and the property owner is out of town, and there are a group of unrelated people (from what I've read here). You can have the guest sign a liability contract, but if the guest is not of "legal" age, they cannot be held responsible financially for any losses you may incur. Unfortunately, Airbnb does not even charge any security deposit that you may set for your property, until after a problem is reported, so the guest doesn't even have the potential loss of their security deposit to deter bad behavior. With all the mention of loss that is on the website, where hosts are not compensated, guests may not worry at all about their security deposit.

If the security deposit could be collected by the host, paid upon arrival, I suspect more guests would be careful about how they treat the property. That was how another website I worked with handled the deposit and I had no noticible damage for 3 years. But you don't have that option here.

Airbnb says a host can decline a request of they are "uncomfortable" with a potential booking. I'd go with my gut on this one.

However, if I had the chance to meet the guests and talk to them about my concerns via Skype where we could "meet" face to face, and my house rules were such that no one else could go into the property without my written permission, and I received agreement from the guests to abide by the rules, I might give them a chance to create a positive review for themselves on Airbnb. However that is also impossible to do on Airbnb unless the booking is accepted.

[Gail-And-Rod0]

Thank you Donna for your advice. Skyping is a great idea. You brought up good points though. 1) we live 2 hours away from the property although we do have a person who can be there in 20 minutes. 2) they may not all be of legal age  3) we have no option if they damage anything. We are new at this and we'd like to keep our remodeled home intact. The home is in a quiet residential neighborhood and we don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Someone will give them the opportunity since they are willing to pay  a lot of money for the special music festival event. If we had more experience we would. Thanks again

[Gail-And-Rod0]

Thank you, Christopher for your response. We could probably get the same amount of money given the time that they want the booking. Gut feeling right now is "no" to them. In hindsight, we've thought about it-college students at a festival? That could be a lot of partying. However your idea is smart to get everyone's name and see ID upon arrival. Thanks again, Chrisptopher. 

[Gail-And-Rod0]

Hi 

Skyping them- That's a great idea! 

[Donna240]

It may be, but, you cannot get their personal information, even last names until you accept the booking. My thought is that it might be easier to trash some anonomous person's place than it would be to do it to someone with whom you've spoken and created a good rapport. I've looked at the liability issue every which way, since I read the fine print in the host guarantee.

[Alexandra316 · Accepted solution]

@Gail-And-Rod0 I had the same situation recently with someone asking to stay for a bachelorette party. No profile, no host reviews, and wanting to bring a total of 5 women for a weekend away. I asked her to verify her ID and complete her profile including a photo, and I told her she needed to provide ID for each guest upon check in. She came back saying she didn't like to provide that kind of personal information online. I said if you're staying in my house, I need to know who you are; I never heard from her again, and I definitely think it's for the best. I'd tell them what you want, and if you don't get it, no dice. Listen to your gut!

[Gail-And-Rod0]

Thank you Alexandra. Our "gut" says no.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Gail-And-Rod0 if it’s for Coachella, they will be gone all day long and back after 10pm both nights. 

I sold out both weekends and StageCoach weekend too. I see it as easy money really. 

[Fred13]

   Hmmm. Music Festival + 5 young people + host not on property + a very inviting pool that has 'party' written all over +  quests with no Airbnb experience thus no reviews nor profile + new host with a nice house and in a quiet neighborhood that would like not to make waves = @Gail0 your instincts may be correct it telling you 'no' to be on the safe side.

   A pity, might be good kids, but..imagine the opposite.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Gail-And-Rod0 A couple of things I noticed

1. Your rate is way too low and

2. Your listing doesn’t show your Palm Springs license number. 

[Gail-And-Rod0]

Hi Rene and Zac,

Thank you for your response.  You mentioned that you thought our rate was too low. What rate do you think we should be at?  Our Palm Springs license number is on our listing at the bottom.

[Christopher187]

Gail,  

My guess is that the only reason you're even considering this booking is that you may feel uneasy about turning someone away.  Get over it, say no thanks, and wait for something better.

[Gail-And-Rod0]

I agree with you Christopher. Someone else will come.