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Post by cottagegirl on Jun 16, 2016 15:24:51 GMT
Thus far our Airbnb hosting experience has been good. Our listing specifically states that the property is not appropriate for children 0-2 - and it really isn't. There's no space for a crib or playpen and it's a lakeside property - the liability of a child wandering into the lake is not something we're willing to risk. It also states a max of 4 guests - there are 2 queen size beds.
So, I had a guest book the place for 4 people. He and his wife and his parents showed up - with a 1-2 yr old little one.
They checked out this morning and I thought left the place in good shape until I stripped one of the beds - it's all wet - right down to the mattress. Ugh! I can't tell really if the little one wet the bed or an adult sat on the bed in a soaking wet towel (soaked through the quilt, sheets & mattress pad).
I have 2 questions:
1. Would you mention the wet bed publicly in the review of the guest?
2. How do you handle situations where people show up with a small child or infant? I don't feel like I can turn them away; however, I feel a bit taken advantage of.
Thanks in advance!
Julie
PS: We did have another situation last week where 4 young girls rented. Five girls showed up; they told me the 5th was a friend staying with her cousin in town. When I saw them leave the next morning, all 5 came out of the cottage - one with a sleeping bag & pillow.
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Post by High Priestess on Jun 16, 2016 16:12:07 GMT
What you describe, cottagegirl, is one of the most common and vexing problems described by many hosts, particularly those offering an entire place listing.
Regarding your questions:
(1) In the review, I would try to say positive things about the guests (if there were positives, usually there are) along with a statement about the condition of the bed. And by the way I would also mention in the public review about a child being brought along when your place is not child friendly. I might say something like, "John booked for a total of 4 guests, so I was surprised and concerned when a 5th guest -- a small child-- was brought along as well. We state a max of 4 guests and state that our property is not suitable for children. John and his party were polite and left the apartment in overall good condition, however I was dismayed to find the bedding had been left sopping wet. Unfortunately I cannot recommend John and his family to other hosts at this time, since they did not observe our maximum number of guests rule,brought a child along without notifying us of this in advance, and left the bed in an unacceptable condition."
(2) As far as trying to avoid this happening in the future -- I strongly encourage all hosts who offer entire place listings, or hosts who offer a private room but allow occupancy by more than one person in that room, to communicate with guests in advance in such a way as to minimize the chance of problems like you mention. Here are some techniques for doing that:
(A) State clearly in your listing description and/or house rules that guests may AT NO TIME bring more than the stated max number of guests, and that this number includes ALL guests, including toddlers and infants. You need to state that total # of guests must include children and infants, since many guests simply "assume" that children, particularly infants, "do not count as guests." Stating that children count as guests should not be taken to mean that children are welcome -- it's awkward I know but if you dont' state this you can count on having more "surprises" in the future where a family shows up with children and says, " I thought a 2 year old wouldn't count as a guest...hotels don't count them."
(B) state clearly in your listing description that at the time of booking, guests must state the full names and ages of ALL guests who will be staying at your property. STate that this may be amended up to ___ days prior to arrival, and that after this point, NO additional guests will be permitted to enter your property. You might also state that ONLY registered guests may set foot on your property, -- no friends, visitors or others may enter there, for insurance liability and other reasons. State that if guests arrive with others they did not name and pay for in advance, this violation of your rules is grounds for immediate termination of the reservation and forfeiture of all fees paid.
(C) At the time of booking, be sure to communicate with the guest, reminding them that they must provide you with the names and ages of ALL guests, and that anyone whose information (name/age) is not provided to you, will not be permitted to enter the property. Be sure to ask if the guests plan to bring children. Simply stating that the property is not child friendly does NOT guarantee guests will not bring children. You have to ASK the guest directly if they plan to bring children. Be careful about how you communicate about this, as "familial status" is a protected category under the US Fair Housing Act, and it may be illegal to state that you don't accept children. I consider this ridiculous, as many hosts, such as yourself, doubtless have situations on their property that would pose a danger to children. However, one needs to be cautious. So instead of saying "I don't permit children here" or making any statement to that effect, it is safer to simply ask, very directly, if guest intends to bring children, toddlers, infants. If they say they do intend to bring children, it's best to decline them with no explanation of why you are declining them.
(D) If guest shows up with additional persons who were not declared in advance, then particularly if you have stated in advance that showing up with guests who were not named and paid for in advance is grounds for immediate termination of the reservation, feel free to turn away guests who do this. DOn't turn them away on the grounds that they have children, but rather on the grounds that they were not honest about who was coming, and did not declare their full party in advance.
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Post by High Priestess on Jun 16, 2016 16:22:18 GMT
Just another comment to emphasize that, even though Airbnb is not doing much to educate hosts about this (and Airbnb may be actually setting up hosts for problems with the law by allowing hosts to tick off a box stating "not child friendly" ), and even though we have not seen any host get sued or get in trouble (YET!) for denying a family with a child or children, I really advise caution in this department. I think it's important to avoid making statements such as "no children."
Ideally, if we didn't have this aspect of the Fair Housing Act to deal with, it would be perfectly simple for any host to say, "NO children permitted -- this is NOT a suitable place for children -- families showing up with Children will be TURNED AWAY -- please DO NOT book if you intend to bring children -- I CANNOT ACCOMODATE CHILDREN"
HOwever, because these things could be illegal to state, it is much better (albeit much less clear) to simply ardently insist that guests give precise details of every single person they intend to bring on their reservation. And to make sure that no children are going to be brought. Again, one CANNOT ASSUME that just because a guest doesn't voluntarily state that they will bring a child, that they wont'. It's my belief that a good number of guests actually intentionally omit to state this fact, believing that they will have more success finding a place to stay through deception on this point. So hosts need to be wise to this.
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Post by Maria Lurdes (Milu) on Jun 16, 2016 19:05:03 GMT
Deborah, this a triple star bookmark answer, and very good information for all hosts who struggle with this issue. Thank you!
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Post by helgaparis on Jun 16, 2016 20:40:16 GMT
Yes, very clear advice, Deborah ! Some people have strange notions when it comes to their children. I rent my atelier in Paris, it's tiny and full of art. Two small rooms with two lofts with very inviting stairs where a kid can break its neck. The text said no kids under 8 and 2 persons, 3 in exceptional cases on request. I got a request from an Arab and he mentioned family. I asked what family. Wife and kids. Kids? Plural? How many kids? 5 under the age of 6, but they would bring cribs.
Haha, there is not enough space for cribs in plural. With suitcases, there is no place for one crib. And imagine 2 adults supervise 5 kids not to break their neck on this fantastic playground.
You really need to ask and ask till you get exhaustive answers.
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Post by High Priestess on Jun 16, 2016 23:58:29 GMT
Helga, you give a very good example of why we need to question guests and make sure we know what they are planning. Some guest expectations are so totally unrealistic and unworkable that there would be no way to keep the reservation.
Also, partly because it has become a very common phenomenon that guests either bring undeclared extra guests along, or try to "sneak" in extras after they get in, or engage in deception about who is actually staying at your place, I think this behavior on the part of guests needs to meet with more negative consequences. If every guest who did one of these things, ended up with a review where the host told the world what they had done, I think we would gradually see less of this problematic behavior. Guests would learn that they can't pull these stunts without ending up with the story on their profile for everyone to read about what they had done.
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Post by maria on Jun 17, 2016 3:03:05 GMT
What you describe, cottagegirl , is one of the most common and vexing problems described by many hosts, particularly those offering an entire place listing.
(B) state clearly in your listing description that at the time of booking, guests must state the full names and ages of ALL guests who will be staying at your property. STate that this may be amended up to ___ days prior to arrival, and that after this point, NO additional guests will be permitted to enter your property. You might also state that ONLY registered guests may set foot on your property, -- no friends, visitors or others may enter there, for insurance liability and other reasons. State that if guests arrive with others they did not name and pay for in advance, this violation of your rules is grounds for immediate termination of the reservation and forfeiture of all fees paid.
Regarding point (B). On my last reservation with AirBnB last month, I had to fill-out a form with the name of each person coming with me. AirBnB even put on top of the form (I am paraphrasing), "Full name of each guest, so your Host knows who is coming; hey, it is their home!" There was a line for an email address for each additional guest.
I was annoyed. AirBnB never gives us the names of the accompanying guests; the information they collect ONLY with marketing intentions. I typed my husband's email, and he received shortly an email inviting him to AirbnB, etc. So, AirBnB "fraudulently" collects information "on our behalf, as...hey, it is their (the Host) home." Very sneaky.
It wouldn't surprise me that some guests initially disclosed the information, names to AirBnB, and then assume we, the Hosts, also have it.
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Post by High Priestess on Jun 17, 2016 3:13:27 GMT
That's horrible, Maria, that Airbnb actually collects information about the reservation, as if they are going to give it to the host, and then uses it for marketing!! Appalling!! First they deceive the guest, then they shortchange the host by not passing on necessary info, and then they spam the guest's party with marketing!! 
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Post by Inanna (Shaun) on Jun 17, 2016 6:34:49 GMT
This is really smart. Somehow the issue of people showing up with babies unannounced has always intimidated me. One, because I had assumed, silly me, that stating "not child friendly" would mean that the parents would realize that I was not actually going to be friendly about their child and not book with me! And two, because the parents arrive in a van from a ten hour road trip with a baby and look like death warmed over. I steam and I stew and feel tricked, but I smile and get them comfortable anyway because I *only* clicked the box for "not child friendly" and did not state in neon lights in my rule book.
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Post by Inanna (Shaun) on Jun 17, 2016 6:38:37 GMT
We could really use that information.
One way I have discouraged people from visiting with babies and toddlers is to describe for them how the house is. That it is loud and crowded with many young people staying up late, meeting together, playing music and having a drink. I present this in a friendly way, like it is a good thing, but it is a slight exaggeration. We do have young guests who like to meet and my partner likes to play the guitar. But it is not animal house. Often then, the parents find another place and are sorry to let me know that maybe our place is not right for them.
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Post by High Priestess on Jun 17, 2016 14:45:02 GMT
That's a good technique, Shaun! Gently dissuading them...with a somewhat exaggerated description...
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Post by Inanna (Shaun) on Jun 17, 2016 17:08:58 GMT
Only once did it not work. A perfectly lovely family from Czech Republic road tripping around the US in a van, with the sweetest little boy. They saw my description as no problem at all. In the end, they were truly perfect guests, with one exception. When we went to clean the room, the comforter was missing! From the vibe they gave off, I was somehow sure that it was not intentional, but more likely to be a harried young dad just scooping up his kid and the kids blanket without really seeing what was what. It was my oldest comforter, so I just let it go.
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Post by cottagegirl on Jun 21, 2016 20:49:20 GMT
Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the responses - very helpful!!
Thankfully the bed was not stained - and the more I think about it, I think it was someone sitting in a very wet towel on the bed after they made it.
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