Two teens on their own in a rental in another country? Is this a joke?
This is what ABB is allowing?
Is there some punchline I am missing?..seriously?
NO -
no no no
What if “something” happens to one of them? “anything” at all ?
Is 14 the age of adult in Peru? or 17? Who is in charge in case of emergency?
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Oh yes they are! Even when they belong to you! Yes yes, my daughter at 30 is still the most awesome guest! Good thing I love her!
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You would have a choice with this; it’s a third party booking!
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If this is stressing you, please cancel as is your right with a 3rd party shout. Call me paranoid but if they know the area so well as keen surfers, why are they not staying with someone who already knows them, unless they have proved a handful for hosts, even with Mum present? I think her reviews hint at this. I guess Mum is basically asking you to stand in Loco Parentis for her two teenagers, and might well know that none of the people who they’ve stayed with before will contemplate doing so. A 14 year old in particular would be classed as vulnerable without Mum around, and her saying that they know all the cafes etc, where to go, simply gives me the willies. You could end up feeling responsible (and worrying endlessly) but without parental control.
I’ve just remembered the 15 yr old whose mum left her in Goa with a “friend” in about 2006, Scarlet McSomething I think. Mum went travelling with her b/f, her daughter was raped and murdered on the beach.
Apart from anything, I simply wouldn’t contemplate sand and surfboards in my home. If you have other guests, it’s not fair on them and certainly not fair on your family or you.
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I would contact their former hosts and ask how they were as guests/
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I hadn’t a similar problem regarding third-parking booking. Read the thread: Cancelling a guest who now wants to run her business from the premises
In my case the person booking wanted to book her clients to stay in our house and then followed up after accepting with a request to run her workshop/counselling session with him at the house. Turned out she was some kind of sex worker!
In any case, third-party booking is a no-no, but cancelling after accepting affects ratings blah blah blah. All I did was contact Air and tell them the situation, that the guest had misrepresented herself, that I was concerned as a super host about affecting my ratings by cancelling so they cancelled it for me. No harm no foul and always better safe than sorry.
As a teacher and youth development coordinator for the past 20 years I can tell you that teens, while not a dead cert for trouble, cannot be relied upon. I’m also a surfer so I can guarantee you’ll have sand in the sheets, in the shower and possibly in the loo! Yes, prior experience.
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I didn’t know that was a function?
I believe you send an enquiry
UPDATE:
The mom assured me that they won’t be surfing in Lima and that the boys were raised to take care of things. They were raised in an unusual, alternative, way (traveling, home schooling), and the fact that their mom allows them to travel alone to the other side of the world, indicates that they are mature for their age. Since we were able to get rid of our worries by communicating, we have decided to just keep the reservation.
I will keep you updated: They will be in the apartment from Saturday to Tuesday. Fingers crossed 
OTHER STORY:
In the mean time an other funny story: Yesterday a girl made a two night reservation, to in fact stay from today 11am to today 7pm. Today she canceled because she realized it’s not an entire apartment, but just a room. Was very apologetic, didn’t ask for a refund, won’t receive one either 
. Strange people.
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GutHend, I think their stay will work out just fine. After all they are from Switzerland and more than likely quite adept at getting around.
Jeez…at 16 I went on a 3 week bike tour with 2 girls from from school …we all stayed at hostels, found our way with maps, probably never called our parents or perhaps once a week. Had a great trip and experience.
2 years I had a 17 year old teenager stay with me for an extended period for a school semester. Never a problem.
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Have to admit… I went beach camping in S of France/Italy when just 16 with a b/f. My dad thought we were with b/f’s dad, his dad thought the inverse. Totally ruined when half our year learned we were kipping on the harbour in Monte Carlo and turned up!
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When I was young this wasn’t weird at all. My mom got married in 1944 at age 17 and was on her own with a baby while my dad served in the military overseas. Then when I graduated high school at 17 and took a 3500 mile road trip on my own at 18 in the 1970s it didn’t seem odd though my mom was worried.
The last few posts shows that there’s nothing unusual in guests (often from Europe) being very self-sufficient and travelling om their own as teenagers. Also that at one time, American teenagers were the same. It’s only in recent years that this has been seen to be odd.
I think that the USA isn’t like the rest of the world in that respect. But it used to be as @KKC says. It was common for women who were well under 20 to be married with a couple of kids.
Wow! My mom too! My dad lost him arm in the war but they survived and lived into their late 80s and early 90s. What a generation
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That was in the 1970’s, and the 40’s and 50’s
It is now 2018 and things are not handled the same way in the world…or in the USA.
We did not used to have seatbelts either, or car seats, or helmets, or a zillion safety features that have become normal since the 1970’s.
I know what I did in the 70’s and it is the reason why there are parents who are much more attentive now.
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In 1956 my 17 year-old sister and I travelled the world by ourselves for eight months. We started out from Australia and I had my14th birthday on the plane – not a jet back then – for the first leg of the journey. We were in Singapore, before it was cleaned up, and what was then known as Calcutta, Manilla, Jakarta, Beirut and several countries in Europe. Then the USA. it was unusual but an extraordinary adventure which opened my eyes, mind and heart and changed my once tiny view of the world.
Teenager is simply a word, and a rather recent word and concept at that.
It means nothing as a way to determine who a person is or how they may conduct themselves
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If it were me, I would not do it. Surfing can be somewhat dangerous and if there is an accident, or one of them gets ill, who is going to look after them? Would not be me unless I personally know the parents and kids.
That’s not our business model. I’ve communicated that a few times.
Why do you ask? The answer is NO!