ProTip: Confirm the number of guests
Miami, FL Feb 9, 09, 2026
We often hear from hosts where guests book their listing for fewer people than show up on the arrival date.
Our guests often confirm the number of people arriving before they arrive, as this family did.
Looking forward to our stay! To confirm, we are 4 guests: 2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant.
So, how on earth do we get guests to let us know how many people will arrive for the booking?
It's simple. We ask.
Here's how our check-in message begins:
"Dear Anna [not our guest's real name],
We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome you on 08 Feb 2026 at 04:00 pm for your stay at Miami Pool Cottage! We want to confirm a few details to ensure that our team has prepped our place correctly: You have reserved the Miami Pool Cottage for a total of 3 guests, are not traveling with a pet, and you are checking out on the 12 of 02 at 10:00 am."
It's a lot harder for guests to argue that they didn't know the reservation wasn't for 8 guests, or that their dog needed to be added to the reservation. Even our check-out time is much less of a back-and-forth because we've confirmed everything 24 hours before check-in.
And often, they will confirm how many guests are arriving. Now you may say, "I don't have the time to remember to do this the day before arrival, having to dig through my reservations to figure out how many people are coming, whether they are traveling with a pet, and whether the guests paid for a late check-out."
Can I let you in on a little secret? Neither do we. All that info gets pulled from the reservation by our PMS, which knows all the details, even early check-in times or late check-outs, and it is scheduled to send the message to our guests exactly 24 hours before they arrive.
Of course, that same paragraph looks like this in our automation:
"Dear {{guest_first_name}},
We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome you on {{checkin_date}} at {{checkin_time}} for your stay at {{listing_name}}! We want to confirm a few details to ensure that our team has prepped our place correctly: You have reserved the {{listing_name}} for a total of {{number_of_guests}} guests, {{reservation_pet}}, and you are checking out on the {{checkout_date_day}} of {{checkout_date_month}} at {{checkout_time}}."
You can make a similar message in quick reply in Airbnb - it's not going to be as customizable as one that's inside a PMS, but it's a good start.
The bottom line is that if you want to know something about your guest, just ask. You'll be surprised how often they'll just tell you.
Stick to your guns …
Miami, FL Jun 20, 2025
Well, more accurately, your policies and procedures. We had an Airbnb reservation that we canceled yesterday. For a 3-day booking starting today.
It’s hard to give up a guaranteed booking, but for the past year, we have been requiring guests to complete guest verification outside of Airbnb, and it's served us well.
Airbnb actually backed us up on this.
Not only does Airbnb allow it, they also back you up and cancel the reservations of guests who have not followed this part of our house rules. Just like we did yesterday.
$ZERO is better than a bad review
We’d rather lose out on a three-day booking than have to deal with a guest who doesn’t respect our home.
It’s no fun seeing that money disappear, and the canceled reservation shows $0. But dealing with a potential bad rating, bad review, or even worse, damage to the property, is not worth a few days' booking.
But if our listing is priced right, you still have a chance to get a reservation and salvage 2 of the 3 days, achieving 60% occupancy.
Or you can get a last-minute guest who is looking for a place now! See? There is a God, and he loves us. We just got booked by a sweet family starting today.
And yes - even though they made the request to book at 4 pm, we stuck to our guns, had them complete our guest verification, and now they’re in the pool, having a great time.
And our weekend is back to 100% occupancy with great guests.
Set policies.
Stick to them.
Enjoy hosting.
Insurance: How to save 5-figures
Miami, FL Apr 09, 2025
Insurance is a major expense in our vacation rental business, ranking third behind mortgage payments and property taxes.
I've heard many hosts express frustration that the insurance premiums for their short-term rentals (STRs) are pricing them out of their dream of hosting.
I can relate; when Proper ran a quote for only one of our four properties, it was higher than what we paid for all four houses in 2024.
We received a renewal quote from our insurance broker a few weeks ago, which showed an increase of 20% in our insurance costs. When I got the quote, I was not looking forward to having another large chunk taken out of our profit.
Although we are running a business, we all know that guests are not going to accept a 20% increase in nightly rates. They'll just book another place.
Here's our solution: Over the past few years, we have employed two separate insurance brokers to explore the market for the best deals. The broker that provides the best coverage and pricing earns our business.
Always Shop for Big-Ticket Items
Today, we received a quote from our second broker that is 40% lower than the renewal quote, but it offers the same coverage as last year’s policies.
The moral of the story is that you can increase your profits not just by raising your nightly rates but also by cutting your costs!
Saving 40 cents on each dollar spent on a five-figure insurance policy adds up quickly—it equates to the value of one additional booked night for every two bookings across our listings for an entire year. And who wouldn't want that?
Question: What do you do to keep your insurance costs down?
We don't trust Airbnb to vet our guests
Miami, FL Jan 29, 2025
We just received a reservation request for a same-day booking from a guest who has just set up her account and has not completed ID verification with Airbnb. First red flag 🚩.
Airbnb breaks its own rule.
I called Airbnb support to confirm, and they told me that the granddaughter was making the booking for her grandma. I thought Airbnb didn't allow third-party bookings, but oh well. They also said her granddaughter will complete the ID verification when she comes home from work this evening.
When I asked about violating the third-party booking rule, the Airbnb agent wrote to me that she was aware of the third-party booking and thanked me for my understanding. Second red flag 🚩🚩.
Then, the guest account status suddenly changed to ID-verified—wow! Airbnb Magic. The agent wrote to me that the ID verification will happen tonight, which is the third red flag 🚩🚩🚩. (The guest just messaged me that she is working on her ID verification - 2 hours after her Airbnb account shows that she's verified in their system. Hmmm.
So we have a brand-new, unverified account making a third-party booking for a same-day check-in, all with Airbnb's knowledge and blessing. Can you see my pattern of distrust here yet?
I message the guest that, despite these red flags, we are happy to host her. However, I let her know that, as with all our guests, we require external ID verification with Truvi, signing our short-term rental agreement, and purchasing a damage waiver.
The guest ends up canceling her request. Thirty minutes later, the support agent contacted us and said the guest did not want to cancel the reservation (even though the Airbnb system shows it as canceled, and our calendar is open again). Fourth red flag 🚩🚩🚩🚩.
Airbnb breaks another one of their rules.
Oh, it gets better. I'm chatting with an Airbnb support agent online, and she reiterates that the guest wants to keep the reservation and asks me to please call the guest to discuss this. What? I thought Airbnb had a policy prohibiting hosts from contacting guests outside the platform, and now the agent is telling me I should phone the guest. WOW. What are we up to now, 5? Yeah, fifth red flag 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩.
You may think we are crazy for still being happy to have this guest stay with us, especially with all those red flags 🚩!
We are confident that we have bulletproof systems in place during our registration process because Truvi will verify her ID to ensure that the person making the booking, their credit card, their Airbnb account, and their selfie match the person on their government-issued ID biometrically. Part of our physical protection includes in-person check-ins, ring cameras, noise detectors, and Wi-Fi systems that track how many guests are supposed to be on a reservation, helping keep our guests safe and honest during their stay.
Let's see what happens with this guest, but we've learned not to trust Airbnb's ID verification (which magically changed to 'verified' without the guest providing an ID). We've also learned that the Superhost support ambassadors are happy to violate Airbnb's rules by allowing third-party verifications and asking us to contact the guest outside of Airbnb channels, which we declined.
Understand that you're on your own
The moral of the story is that, ultimately, it's up to you to protect yourself, your listing, and your business.
To learn more about how Truvi can keep you safe, even when Airbnb seems not to.
