Just my 2 cents on my experience with hosting this summer.
I used to host a bunch of people in Krakow 3-4 years ago so I had a profile with a dozen references and some old photos.
Since I wasn't travelling for work purposes anymore and was staying in one place I decided to put my nice central flat in Warsaw on Couchsurfing.
The site has changed recently and looks much worse unfortunately. Initially I decided to remove all the old pictures of me backpacking and hanging out with hostel dwellers with something more professional. The first week I got crickets, no requests whatsoever. I then reverted to the old pictures and voila...not sure if the website was messed up or if the pictures made a difference.
The problem with Warsaw is that many girls don't travel solo and you get a lot of requests from dudes. If you add in the screening process then you realize your options are limited.
Meeting friends ? Sorry, not available (short for "I have no patience for cock blockers")
Staying only one night, having a flight the next day ? Sorry, not available (short for "I'm not a fucking hotel)
Generic lazy ass request that shows you haven't read the profile ? Pass (I don't even bother to answer those)
One girl asked me if I can pick her up from the airport. The level of entitlement has reached new dimensions when girls expect random guys to pick them up from the airport for free. What's next ? Wine and dine ? Maybe a massage ?
Notable guests:
Guy from Budapest stayed for one night. We went out, showed him around, even bought him a few shots, got myself an easy reference and verified status.
Australian girl, 22, fresh out of university. Her request was short and last minute, a red flag. Didn't take the time to properly screen her. She looked very Polish with nice blonde hair and blue eyes, short but with a slim body. She was quite attractive for an Australian
However, I got bad vibes from the beginning when I had to cross the street to catch her attention. She was staring at her phone, wasn't even looking around to see if I'll show up or not after we agreed to meet in front of the apartment complex. 10 minutes in she tells me she had a bad experience with a previous host who hit on her (and then decides to stay with me, a bachelor, woman logic at its finest). Stayed 3 nights and was like a cold fish, hooked on her phone 24/7 and always going out with "friends". Who the fuck has friends in Warsaw when traveling all the way from Australia ? Probably some dudes on Tinder as she didn't even bother to come back on her last night. No cleaning, cooking or grocery shopping left a very bad impression, felt like I was being used as a hotel service.
Blonde girl from Germany. While she was kind enough to clean the whole flat when I was away and even bought me drinks when going out, she wasn't very receptive to flirting. I liked her but wasn't sure how to proceed and decided not to push it. Now I'm thinking maybe I should've been more aggressive on her last night but I didn't want to get a negative reference.
Chubby Polish girl from Krakow. Unfortunately this was a typical case of pictures that don't match with reality. I generally don't care but I felt embarrassed walking around with her on the street. She was very talkative, smiling all the time but there was no attraction so I tried to make myself invisible. As she was staying for the weekend I had to bullshit my way into a "guy's night out" as I didn't want to waste my time with her.
Also hosted one dude from Ukraine who had amazing references. This guy was mad, we spent 2 nights partying until morning and I think we approached all the Ukrainian girls along the river. Got some good numbers which later converted into dates. If I go to Kiev I'll definitely catch up with him.
Finally the highlight of my summer hosting experiences, a Russian girl from Siberia, exotic looking, more Asian than Slavic, a solid 7 and I'm not even into Asian girls. Passed my screening tests by writing a very nice request and flirting on whatsapp. First thing she asked when stepping into in the flat was where can she buy groceries to cook me something ? I was a bit shocked. Since I was working during the day we only went out during the evening. The first 2 days I took it easy, exchanging normal conversations getting to know each other, joked about cheap paintings in my flat and how she was supposed to watch over them while I'm at work. Third night I organized a mini party at my place where I re-arranged the furniture to make space for a dance floor. Two bottles of wine and a vodka helped a lot. By the time we got to Despacito we were already making out. The sex wasn't very satisfying as I was half drunk, tired and had to wake up early the next day. When I returned home she wasn't there. Not sure what happened but she came back late and said she was tired and wanted to sleep. I agreed but knew that something was off. On her last night as she was preparing her luggage we took some selfies and started making out then ended up in my bed. Didn't bother to ask what happened the day before but got a promise she will visit again in spring. We'll see about that.
Since I will start traveling again I won't be able to host anymore. Maybe I'll try it again in a more popular city, although that might not be such a good idea. The Australian girl was in Rome previously and her mailbox was full of dozens of invitations to either be hosted or hang out with thirsty Italian dudes...