Hi LizinMN,
Good point. Both business and ethnicities/race/orientation/profiling in the mix here. Ideally, I am guessing all hosts want guests of good character, period. We do. So far, businessmen and women are the best - organised, take care, punctual, communicative, intelligent. Gay men are always near the top - generally, they take care and are clean. Ask any savvy real estate agent. So if it’s a hip gay male couple, we discriminate very positively - and our original stint as guests was at a gay comedian’s hostel in SoCal. And we’re still friends. Super guy, funny guy. Our neighborhood is racist, this local culture is racist. Nothing we can do about it. Guests as families. They feel secure, all right. Groups young singles of different dress, maybe noisy, they will make a stink. We direct those singles to the downtown area where they will fit in. A sheik in a flowing robe? A group of adult males of radically unfamiliar appearance? We must make up stories to calm neighbors. We do what we can, have lots of discussions before guests arrive, discriminate in a good way. No like this Instant Book. Turn it off, and your listing disappears. We are making the stated price sky-high, a thousand dollars a night, with an appeal to make contact first for common-sense, friendly rates and happy hosting.
I live in a neighborhood of mostly white Christians. We host everyone. My neighbors know we host with Airbnb. When a mother and daughter arrived from Saudi Arabia in full burqa, and the mother took her daily walks down our street, no one said anything to us about it. If they had, I would have said they were great guests, as that’s what they were. If anything had happened to my guests by someone else while they were staying here, I would have gotten the police involved and taken my guests’ side. No need to make anything up.
Hi LizMN,
You sound like a good person, great host. Would choose to stay with you.
Where we are, the social rules, moralities, nuances are different. People don’t talk straight, but everyone knows what is meant. Making stuff up is the intelligent assurance that you take responsibility, and all know this. Talking straight is a warning sign that you don’t take responsibility.
This is how it is, for better or worse. Different cultures, different ways.
Wow, that’s different! Where do you live? And thanks for the compliment.
Hi Liz in MN,
You’re very welcome. If MN is Minnesota, good place. Paddled a canoe up near rainy Lake in a rainstorm, cottagers took us in as strangers, kept us warm and dry.
We’re in rural Japan.
what do you mean by “these areas”?
What I like about this topic is that it shows that the vast majority of Airbnb hosts (the ones here anyway) are genuinely caring people who will accept all races, religions etc. and are not judgemental because of a person’s skin colour, race, sexual orientation or whatever.
I believe that it ably demonstrates to the casual reader that most Airbnb hosts are a grand bunch of people. 
Hi @jaquo,
Is this a reference to “The Troubles”? Things seem to have subsided on that front, hopefully permanently. It’s good that sanity prevailed. Others could learn a lesson from this. E.g. India and Pakistan.
I pay $400 for one of my airbnb’s and $1000 for the second which is a farm and covers farm stuff as well. All tax deductible of course.
I’d like the original poster to know that there is a culture of hospitality in the Arab/Muslim world that is remarkable. In many places, it is considered a duty and an honor to offer hospitality. If you had a chance to experience any of this, I think you’d have a much different viewpoint than the one you now espouse.
But I think Shangahi has a good point with the KKK comment. It’s easy to say we all better be prepared to host anyone but if you get a request from some skinheads who say they’re coming to your town for some sort of hardcore concert or a KKK rally, would you accept? Or what if you get a request from members of the Westboro Baptist Church who say they are coming to your city to picket at a funeral?
I was making a joke out of ‘terrorists’ being Muslim by referring to the KKK who are also terrorists. I do not condone judging people by their colour, religion ior otherwise. Except for clowns. I don’t like clowns.
Sorry @donny your comments about instant book aren’t true. I and quite a few of the hosts I know don’t use it and still get plenty of bookings.
Except white Christians, right? That’s how I read what a lot of other posters just said. White Christians were categorized as horrible people that have no place as guests, and no one flinched. No one said a word. Ha ha isn’t that funny? Yeah, hate the white Christians!! They - meaning - ME - were equated with Timothy McVeigh.
Well, that’s me and my family - my husband - who is an amazingly loving, kind servant-hearted man, HE is a white, Christian man. My 16 year old daughter is also white, and Christian. She’s a hard worker, a talented dancer, and a very caring loving young woman. And me, though I’m a bit less white - a bit olive - my skin tone actually matches my Chinese daughter’s much more than my white daughters - but I guess I can be lumped in with the other two. My other two kids are Chinese, so though they are Christian, perhaps they will be given a pass?
Well, that’s good to know that there’s one group everyone agrees can be hated. Always good to know how people really think about you. Yay!
Hi Helsi,
I welcome your input into this issue, and fully understand that you may
have your own unique experiences and statistics
that are all valid and true. I don’t doubt you.
That said, I speak with total honesty that the commencement of Instant
Book in our specific area has indeed affected us.
And 2 bookings in 8 months is a great effect. I don’t know why it is
this way, and I have been reading widely on various forums that
sometimes it is the same as our experience, and sometimes like yours -
as you say, no noticeable effect. Go figure.
So I did an experiment. I added Instant Book. I also upped the price
tag to something silly high. Sudenly, we were ranked much higher, and
visible on the first batch of listings. This morning we got an
inquiry. We’ll discuss, knock down the rate to a friendly one, and
we’re back in business.
So, based on 8 months and that change, for us, there’s an effect.
You’re lucky. I wish we were you.
take care,
donny