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There is an ocean of interpretation between the word “suitable” and “allowed”. Airbnb lets you say that “parties are not allowed” and also let you say that your place “isn’t suitable for children”.
The first one says NO way you are going to make a party here it is against my rules while the second one says I told you it wasn’t suitable for kids so don’t raise a complaint after because I don’t a have a protection net installed in the balcony.
If you would like to disallow children at your place you will have to write it properly “Children not allowed” so that the guest is clearly noticed. Obviously, you can do this if there are no local laws that prevent people for make a choice about children.
BTW, I heard you. I also LOVE children but I know that is not the same when they are your guests.
I have to say I’m glad to live in a country where I don’t have the threat of random law suits hanging over me all the time. I’m happy to ‘discriminate’ against kids and very clearly state ‘no children’ on my listing. If a guest showed up at my door with their kid I’d happily turn them away too.
They scream (for literally NO reason), they cry, they’re nosy, they’re annoying, they put their dirty little fingers everywhere, they draw on walls, babies throw up and poo with wild abandon, they’re inherently selfish, they whinge, they spill things… and the worst bit? Their parents don’t care because they’re on holiday and the last thing they want to do is deal with their little brats/devil spawn
Me too and I live in the US. Like most things that people are afraid of it’s really not that likely to happen. Each person has their own risk tolerance. They’ll hop in a car and drive around without a second thought. Now that’s dangerous.
It happened to me once. A couple booked my room with instant booking and wrote me in the messages that they travelled with an infant. The guests were not willing to cancel. I have in my profile that it is not safe for children or infants. So I called Airbnb and they agreed to cancel the booking without consequences. Now I wrote extra in my houserules that it is really not safe for children and infants. That I count every infant and baby as one person and that I can manage just two persons in my room. So I tried this way not to forbid children. I hope this works. So far no requests anymore. I really can not imagine a family of three in a 16m2 bedroom in a city apartment where I live alone, and am always surprised why people want to book my place. There are so many better suited apartment to book.
I had one couple turn up with two unexpected young children. I was quite taken aback by this as I hadn’t been asked if I could accommodate two more during all the many communications before their arrival.
Also I didn’t have appropriate bedding.
The children slept with their parents, as this was their custom, I later learned.
I told the mother in the private part of the review that she should ask other hosts beforehand in case they can’t/won’t accomodate kids if she just turns up with them. I also let Airbnb know what had happened.
Generally, I am happy to take extras if they are happy to sleep on mattresses on the floor that I borrow to do so.
It was all about the courtesy of being asked beforehand,
You have to be real careful on this one as there have been stories about a scam where someone was setting hosts up for being sued for refusing children with the intention of apressurizing them to settle out of court for large sum. This scam was exposed on several tv stations at the time. I believe all of them were confined to the East Coast USA.
I just found your post in a search, as after 4 years as an airbnb host, we had our first booking request from a person with no reviews, no photo, and no stated purpose of visit who specifically asked if was ok to bring their toddler with them. We had stated quite clearly in our “Houserules” no children under 12, along with a maximum of 2 guests regardless of age. Also that any booking requests include a profile photo and reason for visit. We immediately thought of a set up similar to the one described in the first paragraph. Because of this and the fact that the guest either had not read the listing or rules, we declined the booking while gving the reason for decline as booking requirements not met. Guest immediately responded with a very nice profile photo and reiterated the request for infant accomodation but did not state purpose of visit. We again decline that second request checking the AirBnb box for “Uncomfortable with this Guest” and sending a message to guest to the effect that we have have had 97% 5 star reviews and the ones less than that were always the result of guest not reading or understanding the description, houserules or location.
Airbnb should not have allowed the first booking request which was for 2 plus infant, apart from the fact that there was no photo, nor purpose for visit. We have good reasons for that as we have un unfenced pool and do not want young kids around it. We also have a 100# dog who is super friendly to adults (and also gets great reviews) but who is extremely aggressive with other dogs and even will chase after coyotes and rabbits who are foolish enough to come close. We do not know how that dog will react with kids and babies and we don’t want to find out, maybe she will want to lick them to death as she does with all adults or maybe she sees them as a small animal and wants to kill them. We have deleted every amenity for children, and also specifically state no children or pets. We are the ones who would be held liable if a child was mauled by the dog, or drowned in our pool or even got bit by a rattlesnake (our house is surrounded by open desert).
Bottom line is simply that Airbnb should reject any booking request which does not comply with guidelines!
