Many cities have “anti-airbnb” regulations. And in a building, when locals see a family of tourists going in and out of an apartment, they wouldn’t know that these are exchangers and not renters.
I don’t feel safe hosting families with kids anymore -but I’m happy to have one guest, a digital nomad type of traveler.
Maybe it would be helpful to have an option to specify a preference for solo visitors?
It’s very simple. When setting up your home, just reduce the number of rooms and beds until only one single room for one person, or one double room for two people, remains. This way, only solo travelers or couples will be able to contact you, without the need for any additional filters.
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Thanks - yes, in an ideal world, it would be that simple. But I do describe my preferences - and get plenty of messages from families anyway. People don’t read too carefully, or people just try everyone in their desired location, hoping to get lucky.
HE does have “minimum nights” and other such preferences - why not “solo travelers preferred”?
In theory, I understand that if you edit your home and leave only one bed—so that only one person can stay—the system should not allow requests for more than one guest, as that would exceed your home’s capacity. So it’s not really a matter of whether people read your listing or not.
Or does it not work this way, and is it actually an issue with the app that allows requests for more people than a home can theoretically accommodate, @Melisa.HomeExchange?
On the other hand, if the idea is to offer a home with a theoretical capacity for more than one person—since it lists several beds, which increases its GP value—then trying to host only solo travelers while still charging the GP corresponding to a higher-capacity home would not be very fair.
For that reason, I wouldn’t support the introduction of such a filter.
I now see the forum showing me similar related posts - people asking to sort by number of travelers, or to prefer families no kids. There seem to be various possible reasons why for each host why fewer guests are important.
And if I have a three-room flat that one solo guest can fully use - why would it be worth fewer points than if it were a family of four?
Because, precisely, one of the factors that increases your household’s GP number is the capacity to accommodate a certain number of people. I wouldn’t feel comfortable adding all the beds just to obtain a higher GP and then restricting the use of the apartment to a single person, who obviously will not sleep in all the beds but only in one, and who will not generate the same levels of water, electricity, gas consumption, etc., as multiple occupants would—not to mention the work involved in preparing all the beds and towels and then washing them afterwards, etc.
But each person to their own conscience—there’s no accounting for taste, as we say in Spanish. Regards!
I don’t believe the philosophy of HE is chasing the highest GP. I don’t approach this with a business mindset, trying to maximize earnings - this is an exchange community, not a moey making business.
I set my GP value based on my estimation of the value of my place according to several factors, and I will not raise it above that even if the platform allows it.
I am sure some percentage of hosts do do that, chase the highest GP - but for community-minded others, a quality exchange is important, and an option to choose a solo guest is part of that quality of experience.
Exactly! I also don’t believe the philosophy of HE is chasing the highest GP. That’s why I was saying at the beginning that ,if you edited your home to only have one bed, you’d only be contacted by solo travellers and not families. 
I wish you happy home swaps!
Sorry - I don’t see the logic in doing it the roundabout way and distorting information about what my home really is.
How is that preferable to a plain straightforward solution - checking an option “host prefers single guests”?
Well, because if you do reciprocal exchanges, it doesn’t matter. But if you host other people for points, you’re requiring them to give you more than you would be entitled to simply by listing a higher capacity.
Anyway, from my side, I think we’ve both explained our points of view clearly enough. I would just add that HE considers it an abuse to offer a home for X people and then state, in the same listing, that you only accept a significantly smaller number of guests.
Best regards.