As spoken about in “Step 3 – Get Ready for Guests!” After you receive a booking, you will finally be given access to the person’s full name that they have on file along with a picture (if you require it). That’s pretty much all the info you receive about them. If the guest has stayed at an Airbnb in the past, you could access posted reviews. This makes it pretty easy to end up with some crazy Airbnb hosting stories.
For some odd reason, it had not occurred to me to Google the guests before they arrived. After speaking to a fellow host, he got me curious! This host explained that whenever a new guest booked his property he researched the internet for information about the guest. He takes the guest’s name and googles it. He also looks at social media sites such as Facebook to see if he could find any additional information about the person. My host friend wanted a better idea of what he was getting into (well at least more of a stereotype through judging the new guest by whatever pics and info he could find!).
My first google guest search
I decided to start by googling previous guests instead of the current guests. I figured that I did not want to freak myself out by the information I could find if the person was already in my house! Better to google before the stay, or have some fun after – just not during! I googled a person who recently stayed with me for about three weeks. Until this point in time, googling my guests had not considered. So much is involved in getting everything going for Airbnb that I had enough on my plate. The Airbnb system provides very little information. Google is one of the few tools you have to try to guard against experiencing crazy Airbnb hosting stories.
After he left, a few of the other guests mentioned some odd things. The comment that caused me to be intrigued was that he had made statements about not trusting the police. It became high time I completed some internet digging of my own. What transpired that he cited anti-blue comments? No telling me what I could find!
I waited for the google results
A simple google search and immediately articles writing about police activity popped up. There was no denying the mug shot online. This was the right guy. I was not prepared for what I found! Luckily, no hardened crimes showed, which was a huge relief. I actually enjoyed his stay so I was hoping I wouldn’t find anything too terrible. According to the articles I found, he yelled some verbal attacks against the local police. Later on he purposely visited the Police Station after hours and whipped raw eggs at the building.
Who does this??
Airbnb guests I suppose. I was so relieved nothing violent surfaced (he only hit the building with an egg, not any of the officers). I guess it really does take all types! This man was well into his adult years when the incident occurred. In fact, the crime occurred just months before he stayed with me. Luckily, he did not get angry at me during his stay. I survived without getting a raw one cracked anywhere on my place 🙂 This was truly one crazy Airbnb hosting story.
Caution when researching your Airbnb guests
If you are going to look up your potential guests using Facebook, I suggest you do so with caution. Whenever you view people’s profiles on Facebook, cookies get left behind. Ever wonder why someone’s profile may pop up as a suggestion after you tried to find them on Facebook? Well it’s because cookies are left behind from the sites you view. This article discusses the various ways newcomers appear in your “People You May Know” section. I never want a guest to locate my Facebook profile easily. I have purposely not done this type of search.