Guests arrive with baby

Thank you for this info. I was wondering what the proper diaper disposal procedure is.

Anyway, I am guessing that the guests who have left diapers in the bathroom garbage just didn’t care. They have access to tons of plastic grocery bags, and I provide regular trash bags too. Plus, they have their own grocery bags from when they go shopping. All of my guests puchase some types of groceries. You’re right about the smell permeating…lol

I had twins… This is why we never went anywhere until they were six or seven, LOL!

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It’s a more complex decision. People come to our area for watersports which mean towels going to the boat, beach. Then there is the capital cost of towels. I’m only working 1/3 time due to head injury, my place was set up for family many years ago, so I didn’t have very much to buy, have very little money available. As well, I have to limit my activity as any over exertion causes severe pain and I have to call in sick at work. The only way I can do this is with the help of a cleaning lady and my brother.
I had a pile of towels, which along with a great deal of extra bedding, I donated to a work colleague whose home was lost to fire at Christmas. As I have mentioned before the other local listings don’t offer sheets, towels or pillows. I provide all except towels. Our guests come by car from a 2-4 hour driving distance.

That is the custom in most cottage rentals in our province. I provide small plastic bags for sanitary pads, tampons, baby wipe and diapers to protect septic.

Well, actually, J-Wang, it IS a “minor” detail! :wink:

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Yes and cry a lot and leave lots of smelly nappies and of course let’s not forget me having to tip toe around my home because little Pierre is sleeping.

I don’t think I would chuck them out either but I would be letting the guests and Airbnb how outrageous the situation is and be insisting they pay the fee I charge for extra person whether Airbnb charges it or not. And they can put the smelly nappies straight in the garbage bin, double bagged, out the front, not in the house. If they don’t like my generous offer to help them out after being deceitful, deliberately, in their booking, they can leave and I would be clear with Airbnb I expect to get paid as I have a strict cancellation policy and the cancellation is on them for breaking the rules. These guests are so taking advantage of you Glad, as hosts they are experienced enough that this is not a mistake. They also take the risk of booking in someone’s house which is really inappropriate for babies and children so they are not setting a great example of responsibility as parents. Wouldn’t give me a whole lot of confidence.

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I breastfed my son for a year and worked full time, that was a challenge but you’re wrong to make such a definitive statement like that. There are many reasons people don’t breastfed and the research is actually not so clear cut, there are many health and psychological reasons people may not and the research is actually that supporting women to breast feed, if they want, is best and not judging their decisions. I know this because I have studied this at university FYI

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It seems you’re the only one who thought the mention of breastfeeding was a negative but it’s nice that you apologised for this misunderstanding. Not sure how many hotels you have booked lately, I’ve booked four in the last 12 months and they ALL asks how many kids snd their ages. These are 4 and 5 star hotels and remember, we are not hotels, we are Airbnb. It’s like saying a taxi is the same as hiring a car of your own. It’s not and different rules and standards apply.

I charge for infants. There’s no reason not to as they can constitute more of a mess and hassle than full grown people. I’m not money grubbing and seriously resent your allegation to the contrary. I don’t tell you how to run your listing and you should refrain from telling others how to run theirs or being PC police about “child bashing.”

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Why can’t people just be honest? I mean trust is an important factor when you’re inviting people into your home and it has to go both ways. Sometime people can just be very inconsiderate.

Once I received a booking which I accepted way ahead. And when the time came (about 3 weeks prior to arrival) - I wrote the guests asking them for the arrival details so I could coordinate with my cleaning lady and check-in by my self.

He wrote back the details and then he asked if I had a baby’s crib! I wrote back that I didn’t since my place wasn’t child friendly and then he simply replied: "no problem " ! - they would bring their own. After a couple of days he wrote back and asked if I could arrange a baby’s high chair !! ?? !! …Needless to say I was gobsmacked by the audacity of him asking me to do that apart from his negligence to inform me that they were travelling with an infant to my house which clearly said not child friendly.

I wrote back that I had asked around for a high chair but nobody could spare theirs. That was a blatant lie but I didn’t want to create a conflict by saying: No read my listing and pls stop asking me to arrange shit for your kid who you never mentioned was coming with you.

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You CAN charge. According to Airbnb you just have to include a House Rule that says guests of any age count towards the booking numbers and will attract any applicable extra guest fee.

The problem with this approach is that (a) it contradicts the representations made to guests by Airbnb in the ‘Travelling with Children’ FAQ, and (b) guests never read before booking and are likely to feel aggrieved when asked to pay more or cancel.

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You are correct about the problems this approach will cause. We recently had a guest who was so incensed that the listing she’d reserved charges for babies that she cancelled. She booked with us last minute. We waived the extra guest fee for her (delightful) 22 month old son. She was adamant that no lodging should ever charge for children. Amazingly, she gave us less than four stars for value.

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So the extra person fee was more than the AirBNB non-refundable fee? Or did she cancel based on the principle?
And this might go into the category of No Good Deed…

Perhaps adamant people are not good star-givers. They are not generally 'go with the flow" or ‘integrate yourself into a stranger’s home’ kind of people.

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The extra person fee was $35.00 which is pretty high. She canceled based on principal. She kept telling me that nobody charges for babies, no hotel ever charges for toddlers. I tried to tell her that Airbnbs aren’t the same as hotels, but she cut me off to say that it is wrong to charge for babies. Astonishingly, Airbnb paid out the other host and refunded the guest and even added a bonus, so she came out ahead.

I think the reason she gave me less than five stars for value is that she is from Spain. The economy there is so depressed that everything seems expensive.

The baby was such a sweetheart it was worth it.

Any idea if it was one of the listings with the new drop down format and it says infants are free? Did she say charging for all ages was in the house rules?

I just did a search for Malaga in January on hotels.com in two different browsers. Trust me, prices were significantly higher in the browser where I added a child to my search. The amount per night is averaging at $30 more per night . Perhaps that is a function of the room size that is required? I think this is often the case with hotels. They SAY the child is free, but you can’t get the best rate. However, in this case, it doesn’t matter since she believed something to be true.

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In my experience, the more a guest asks for and expects, the less they are. That is to say, they mostly get peeved when they can’t get what they want, no matter how unreasonable or impossible. Consequently, they give lower stars and reviews.

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Truth!!!, …

I don’t know what the listing said. The guest found it inconceivable that anyone would charge for a baby under any circumstances, so I doubt that she read the listing carefully.

This is why I almost automatically decline anyone who presents with a demand on the first inquiry. For example, I recently had this inquiry,

“We are looking to book your apartment but wonder if the unit is soundproofed. Will we hear you walking or talking upstairs?”

ME: Sorry, the space is not soundproofed in terms of insulation or structure. We do endeavor to be as quiet as possible upstairs when guests are in.

NO answer.

But if she had requested I would have declined. Her bio was a little kooky too, as one of the things she wrote was that yoga made her giddy.

Just no.

Goodbye $1000… hello peace of mind.

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Hmm…since Air completely paid out the host, it sounds like the host refused to allow her to cancel her reservation. So then she pitched a fit with Air, and they rewarded her with a full refund and a bonus. If they had not given her a refund, then she likely would have kept the original reservation. Since she wasn’t willing to be charged $35, then I doubt she would have walked away from an entire reservation plus service fees. Just guessing here…

But Air could make it very very simple and give each host the option to set their price for any ages.