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I’ve read the thread about guests with children, but wondering specifically if anyone can help with crafting an answer to:
“What features of your space might be dangerous to children or easily damaged?”
The only thing I can think of is the 14 steep stairs.
Lamps, decor, power outlets, sharp furniture corners… hosts that say that they dont want kids and who should get to decide if their space is suitable or not…
Thank you. I just realized, too, that I have large original art that is low hanging. That might be a deal breaker.
I don’t include the information now. It was easy when they were in my part of the house. It was dog boarding in my home. I have no idea if most of the dogs here are used to children. Now that they are separated from me it’s harder to use that excuse. Most dangerous now is a bookcase not secured to the wall, a shelf with refrigerator and microwave, and also things like full length mirror and low hanging picture frames. If anyone tries to book with kids anyway and you reiterate those dangers they may just say "that’s okay, I’ll be watching them all the time. " But that’s not possible.
What sort of floor coverings do you have? We have all tile. The thought of a child hitting its head on them makes me go cold all over.
Also:
Balcony
Open water
No childproof catches on kitchen cupboard doors
No childproof covers for electrical outlets
Glass coffee table
How about this one: I just don’t want kids in my listing.
That is not three case for my whole house listings but it is for my shared house where I live. I could go further to describe all the reasons (dogs in the house, etc.) but I shouldn’t need to. Since when does ABB actually require a host to justify their no children box tick in the listing?
Here are the policy links again. What it boils down to is that if you don’t have a good reason to prohibit children you may be accused of discrimination based on familial status. That’s why I don’t turn down people with children I try to convince them this isn’t a good rental for them. That’s why I was so glad the other day when I canceled on the woman with 3 year old twins. I didn’t say anything to her about kids, I said I decided I can’t exceed my guest limit.
Nondiscrimination Policy - Airbnb Help Center?
Traveling with children - Airbnb Help Center
So, KKC, what reason do you use to decline if they say “I’ll be watching all the time”?
I’ve got a glass coffee table!
I have only had 3 people out of over 600 bookings ask about children, that I can recall. In one case, the kid was 10 and then they were a no-show. One couple wanted to stay a month to be near the hospital. I told them they could book it but I explained how small the room was, said there is no kitchen, no laundry and that they could probably get a much better place for their needs. They thought about it overnight and agreed. To be clear, I was dreading it if they said, that’s okay with us. BTW, that was an infant and infants under 2 don’t count as people. So I couldn’t use the “I have a limit of three” reason. Third one was a woman last week who I posted about and then canceled because she exceeded the guest limit.
My approach is to try to talk to them about what is best for their child and how my place is not best. Like the woman last week said “oh if they get antsy I’ll take them to the park” when I described how small the space was. It’s a 10ftx11 ft room. No lounge space, basically just room to put your luggage and walk around the bed. Lots of people have space that really is suitable for children, they just don’t want them. That’s much tricker than a really small space that is naturally unappealing.
One final comment: If it’s really important to you just say "I don’t accept reservations from people with children, sorry. " Then leave it to them to complain to Airbnb. My guess would be you could turn down a lot of people before you got in trouble.
Wow, interesting. So, the gap for me is: if infants don’t count as people, does that mean that Mom and Dad can book for themselves and baby (as a reservation for 2) and circumvent the no children policy of my listing?
Tiny Tiki Retro Hideaway:
says—Not safe or suitable for children (0-12) or pets. Uneven terrain. Wild animals. Unfenced cliff. Not a child-proofed environment at all.
Here’s possibilities for you to think through: chemicals, insecticides, knives on display racks not in drawers, a pool, slippery outdoor tile around the pool, glass decorations, high voltage outlets, no child plugs in outlets, no places to play, few outdoor lights.
Those would have to be disclosed in the listing as weapons, perhaps? If you’re going to violate Airbnb policy no need to have two possible violations. I know you mean cooking knives but I’m not sure I would use that. And be careful to not say something that would lead to someone complaining your listing isn’t safe for adults either. You don’t want the guest to complain to airbnb.
Nevertheless, Pitonview cracked me up. I’m really enjoying all the creativity of the community, from decorating ideas to dodges. Ty : )
My place would probably set off all kinds of health and safety alerts for children. But my son grew up here, hale and hearty, and numerous little nieces and nephews have survived too. I’ve even had guests with wee ones and they survived too. I like children. As long as their parents are aware that it’s not a clinical, government-assured safe place (!) all is well.
I made a list of unsafe things and wondered how Baba ever made it. But we always had one eye open for kids and pets. Some guests don’t.
Uh-oh, I wasn’t trying to be funny! Except for the cooking knives, all those other items describe our home. We have 240V outlets. We’re perched on the top of a steep hill, and the fall from the railing in front of the pool to the ground is 30 feet. We’re in the rainforest, and there are no streetlights and only one neighbor. We keep some chemicals (mostly cleaning stuff) in the house. We have a pool, and the pool deck tiles are slippery when wet.
In my case pond in the garden, log burner and open plan kitchen with oven which when being used is hot to the touch. And very steep stairs
My 1740 house has two steep staircases, together with steep stone steps up into the main garden where there is a 10ft drop from a flower bed into a courtyard. My house rules/settings have always said no children under ten or infants.
A cautionary tale; my second set of guests mentioned a ten year old. After booking, she sent me another photo with an toddler in it, as well as her daughter. When I queried this, with my description of unsafe stairs, she begged me to let them come, with assurances she would supervise, was a great parent etc etc etc. I fell for it but she wasn’t a good parent.
She left the toddler sleeping whilst they had a “rare” breakfast together. The daughter chose (?) to sit in my kitchen to eat. The toddler woke up, came to find them and promptly fell down the stairs. If I had not both heard and caught him, he would have smashed his head on marble floor tiles.
I was enraged, and read both parents the riot act of my expectations of child supervision. Her revenge was to leave the bathroom trashed, dirty nappies on the floor, sabotage the bath tub drainage which flooded into the dining room below and damaged the original ceiling plaster. As for her review, thankfully it was so viciously bonkers, that future guest saw through it, often laughing at her “we arrived early and felt like we were intruding”. But I am still suffering from her 2*s from two years ago. The review is well buried by now, but it still effects my overall standing.
No longer faint hearted, I use the experience to illustrate “NO”, when pushy parents still think they are such special parents, I should allow their children to stay.
