A point has been made repeatedly that nobody knows much about Botan. Really. At all. Her coworkers seem to know about aspects of her personality, but basic little details like her blood type or her birth date seem to have been lost in the sands of time. She's secretive about herself and a lot of things concerning the Spirit World is what anybody would be able to pick up from her as a default impression. If they're really thinking about it. They're probably not, Botan's usually kicked that impression out of the way by being herself.
That doesn't mean she's unfriendly, one wouldn't really expect it from someone that's so secretive that even her author apparently doesn't know basic details about her, but she's quite open and friendly to most everyone (more than likely all, unless they are demons in the early part of the series). She likes to help them out as best she can, once they become her friends this increases twofold and her loyalty to them runs very deep (although anything she might be able to tell them is, as always, in conflict with her loyalties to the Spirit World, mostly Koenma. She'll often dodge the subject or have to have it be forced out of her if it's official Spirit World business or something Koenma is planning.)
Botan will often offer advice to them as well for the better (or at least what's better in her view, which is mostly "this will make you happy, you should go for it, screw any boundaries!" it's unknown if this is because she's been alive for so long and has seen the consequences of certain actions or lack of actions, but the way she speaks almost suggests such a thing) her penchant for helping others even extended to the spirits she would visit, even with Yusuke in tow in the early stages of the series (y'know, while he was dead).
Though sometimes she couldn't do much since it was against protocol and got flabbergasted with Yusuke for outright ignoring that and—for example—dragging off an attached spirit to "go have some fun" she eventually learns that Yusuke is An Exception to the Rule and is actually a much healthier influence for the souls of the deceased as well as living humans (much to his own surprise as well as the entirety of Spirit World's). But that doesn't mean she just sat back with an "oh Yusuke" her exasperation with him never ends, even as time passes, their relationship can be compared to an older sister being annoyed with having to look after her little brother.
(Uh…never mind that he apparently really wants to know what her bust size is and tried to trick her into telling him. She wasn't amused.)
Things were often out of her hands in the beginning of the manga, and though she disliked it it was just how things were and she had to quietly accept it since non-human spirits such as herself weren't allowed to interfere with the affairs of humans. Indeed, they weren't even allowed to really interact with humans until they were dead, though Botan herself seemed to show an interest in doing so due to her own outgoing nature and endless fascination with the subtle ties between different human beings (read: being overly invested in their relationships like it's a daytime soap) and she integrates with humans easily, though she has a bit of trouble with not blabbing about Yusuke's exploits as the Spirit Detective in the beginning or things that she shouldn't have been witness to as a human but was as a spirit.
As time goes on, when people become more familiar with her and Yusuke's work as the Spirit Detective, there are less "hilarious misunderstandings" born from her slip of the tongue (though in the early stages she makes up stories in response to Yusuke saying that he doesn't want his close friends and mother to know about the Spirit Detective thing yet).
Botan has been shown several times to be self-sacrificing, though she doesn't put herself on a pedestal or remind people of the fact that she risked her neck for them, it's often her acting on instinct for the safety of her loved ones. Yeah, she gets scared, she has a sense of self-preservation if someone is directly threatening her, she doesn't want to piss off Hiei in particular (who does?) but she'll still get snippy and irritable with him if he's implying that he doesn't want to help one of their friends, especially not when they're in danger right at that very moment. She becomes more aware of the fact that there's no real thought behind this (literally) throwing herself in the way of something dangerous for others, sometimes for people she doesn't even know that well, but realizes are good people and need to be protected.
Her other friends make the comment that she's "tough" and she'll recover from whatever trauma was sustained from the act; not just physically, Botan has often had to bounce back mentally from things that take a toll on her emotions (which as I've mentioned before are actually very very delicate, either evidence of her being a fairly young spirit in comparison to the others or just legitimately that soft-hearted). Though in the beginning she hides herself away when she's upset so her friends don't have to see something as simple as her crying, they catch onto it anyway and reassure her that it's okay, she can be upset all she wants and lean on them for support (this was a conversation between herself and Shizuru after she took Genkai's soul to the afterlife). Needless to say, she was touched by the sentiment and though a situation like that didn't happen again, presumably she took the advice to heart.
Botan doesn't often distrust anyone outright (the opposite, in fact, she usually greets them with a howdy doo or the Japanese equivalent and treats them like an old friend), though in the beginning she defaulted to thinking demons were harmful to humans and the Spirit World as a whole, due to the deception and manipulation of King Enma (as in, yes, demons were actually controlled into doing bad things to people so King Enma could keep them under his thumb and/or destroy them.) Having everything turned upside down like that when they found out the whole scandalous secret was shocking, but she ultimately stuck with Koenma and Yusuke, supporting them throughout the various trials without a single second guessing of herself even if the head of all of this chaos is the king of the underworld. She believes in Yusuke and she believes in Koenma, as they are her friends and very important companions to her, that's all she needs to go out on a limb and do something ridiculously risky for all reasons.
As things ended up way more peaceful in the end, she seemed a lot more relaxed (a feat for someone that already acted carefree, but like I said Botan kept a very tight lid on her persona and her duties in the beginning), actually appearing in the living realm in her human form more often to spend time with Yusuke and their friends. The jury's out on if she became more open about the doings of the Spirit World, about 100+ years of habit might be a little hard to break even for someone as adaptable as Botan. This isn't to say that she's as cagey as before, no, Botan's as upbeat and optimistic as ever--being an observer of her friends' happiness as always and enjoying it whilst pushing it along as much as she's able to.
Maybe nobody actually needs to know anything overtly personal about Botan; she speaks for herself enough as she is and she just wants to have some fun with life, regardless of what changes come at her, just as long as everyone's happy.
Revisions
A point has been made repeatedly that nobody knows much about Botan. Really. At all. Her coworkers seem to know about aspects of her personality, but basic little details like her blood type or her birth date seem to have been lost in the sands of time. She's secretive about herself and a lot of things concerning the Spirit World is what anybody would be able to pick up from her as a default impression. If they're really thinking about it. They're probably not, Botan's usually kicked that impression out of the way by being herself.
That doesn't mean she's unfriendly, one wouldn't really expect it from someone that's so secretive that even her author apparently doesn't know basic details about her, but she's quite open and friendly to most everyone (more than likely all, unless they are demons in the early part of the series). She likes to help them out as best she can, once they become her friends this increases twofold and her loyalty to them runs very deep (although anything she might be able to tell them is, as always, in conflict with her loyalties to the Spirit World, mostly Koenma. She'll often dodge the subject or have to have it be forced out of her if it's official Spirit World business or something Koenma is planning.)
Botan will often offer advice to them as well for the better (or at least what's better in her view, which is mostly "this will make you happy, you should go for it, screw any boundaries!" it's unknown if this is because she's been alive for so long and has seen the consequences of certain actions or lack of actions, but the way she speaks almost suggests such a thing) her penchant for helping others even extended to the spirits she would visit, even with Yusuke in tow in the early stages of the series (y'know, while he was dead).
Though sometimes she couldn't do much since it was against protocol and got flabbergasted with Yusuke for outright ignoring that and—for example—dragging off an attached spirit to "go have some fun" she eventually learns that Yusuke is An Exception to the Rule and is actually a much healthier influence for the souls of the deceased as well as living humans (much to his own surprise as well as the entirety of Spirit World's). But that doesn't mean she just sat back with an "oh Yusuke" her exasperation with him never ends, even as time passes, their relationship can be compared to an older sister being annoyed with having to look after her little brother.
(Uh…never mind that he apparently really wants to know what her bust size is and tried to trick her into telling him. She wasn't amused.)
Things were often out of her hands in the beginning of the manga, and though she disliked it it was just how things were and she had to quietly accept it since non-human spirits such as herself weren't allowed to interfere with the affairs of humans. Indeed, they weren't even allowed to really interact with humans until they were dead, though Botan herself seemed to show an interest in doing so due to her own outgoing nature and endless fascination with the subtle ties between different human beings (read: being overly invested in their relationships like it's a daytime soap) and she integrates with humans easily, though she has a bit of trouble with not blabbing about Yusuke's exploits as the Spirit Detective in the beginning or things that she shouldn't have been witness to as a human but was as a spirit.
As time goes on, when people become more familiar with her and Yusuke's work as the Spirit Detective, there are less "hilarious misunderstandings" born from her slip of the tongue (though in the early stages she makes up stories in response to Yusuke saying that he doesn't want his close friends and mother to know about the Spirit Detective thing yet).
Botan has been shown several times to be self-sacrificing, though she doesn't put herself on a pedestal or remind people of the fact that she risked her neck for them, it's often her acting on instinct for the safety of her loved ones. Yeah, she gets scared, she has a sense of self-preservation if someone is directly threatening her, she doesn't want to piss off Hiei in particular (who does?) but she'll still get snippy and irritable with him if he's implying that he doesn't want to help one of their friends, especially not when they're in danger right at that very moment. She becomes more aware of the fact that there's no real thought behind this (literally) throwing herself in the way of something dangerous for others, sometimes for people she doesn't even know that well, but realizes are good people and need to be protected.
Her other friends make the comment that she's "tough" and she'll recover from whatever trauma was sustained from the act; not just physically, Botan has often had to bounce back mentally from things that take a toll on her emotions (which as I've mentioned before are actually very very delicate, either evidence of her being a fairly young spirit in comparison to the others or just legitimately that soft-hearted). Though in the beginning she hides herself away when she's upset so her friends don't have to see something as simple as her crying, they catch onto it anyway and reassure her that it's okay, she can be upset all she wants and lean on them for support (this was a conversation between herself and Shizuru after she took Genkai's soul to the afterlife). Needless to say, she was touched by the sentiment and though a situation like that didn't happen again, presumably she took the advice to heart.
Botan doesn't often distrust anyone outright (the opposite, in fact, she usually greets them with a howdy doo or the Japanese equivalent and treats them like an old friend), though in the beginning she defaulted to thinking demons were harmful to humans and the Spirit World as a whole, due to the deception and manipulation of King Enma (as in, yes, demons were actually controlled into doing bad things to people so King Enma could keep them under his thumb and/or destroy them.) Having everything turned upside down like that when they found out the whole scandalous secret was shocking, but she ultimately stuck with Koenma and Yusuke, supporting them throughout the various trials without a single second guessing of herself even if the head of all of this chaos is the king of the underworld. She believes in Yusuke and she believes in Koenma, as they are her friends and very important companions to her, that's all she needs to go out on a limb and do something ridiculously risky for all reasons.
As things ended up way more peaceful in the end, she seemed a lot more relaxed (a feat for someone that already acted carefree, but like I said Botan kept a very tight lid on her persona and her duties in the beginning), actually appearing in the living realm in her human form more often to spend time with Yusuke and their friends. The jury's out on if she became more open about the doings of the Spirit World, about 100+ years of habit might be a little hard to break even for someone as adaptable as Botan. This isn't to say that she's as cagey as before, no, Botan's as upbeat and optimistic as ever--being an observer of her friends' happiness as always and enjoying it whilst pushing it along as much as she's able to.
Maybe nobody actually needs to know anything overtly personal about Botan; she speaks for herself enough as she is and she just wants to have some fun with life, regardless of what changes come at her, just as long as everyone's happy.