My understanding is that you have to allow a service animal unless you are renting a shared space. We rent a room in our home and I am allergic to dogs so Airbnb has allowed me to decline people with service dogs. I am waiting for some other weird service animal to show up.
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Follow-up question: sure enough, they left the dog alone in the space according to our security camera. I’m not going to pursue since they are checking out Monday and as a newish host I don’t want a retaliatory review. So can I include this in a review? I know it’s a fine line for mentioning “assistance animals” but obviously it’s not one and I have cam proof they left it alone after leaving for the day.
As unfortunate as it sounds, in most cases you have to allow a service animal. This is with the exception of renting a shared space (room in house or shared room). This is a touchy subject with Airbnb. If you try to get out of a reservation with a service animal or there’s an indication that you don’t accept someone with a service animal, you may get flagged for discrimination. It’s justified when it’s a legitimate service animal, but there’s lots of people who falsely claim so and bully their pet into your property.
Stay positive, there’s lots of better guests out there. Do your best to let this pass and focus on the good ones.
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I see absolutely nothing wrong with stating facts.
“Guests arrived with a dog they claimed was an assistance animal without disclosing it in advance. This made it impossible for me to do the pre-animal prep that I normally would. Also, they left the dog unattended in the rental for xx hours/x times despite explicitly telling me they would not do so. This is a breach of my trust and violation of Airbnb policy. I would not recommend these guests to others hosts nor would I host them again.”
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I had one schemer who schemed hard, tried extortion, turned out to have been successful at getting free stays in the past, but didn’t get away with it here. It wasn’t that I was so savvy; I was just lucky that the CS agent I reached saw, and acted upon, that past history.
That was one guest in something like 900 here. So I’m still pretty okay with people. And dogs.
Cats, though, can’t be trusted. Maybe that’s just my cat?
Oh, I don’t think you’re alone. My cat, though a treasure, can be a little menace.
I’ve only once in many many years had to ask a guest to leave. Plenty of weirdos but mostly lovely people.
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I 100% would allow and be fine with a well trained service animal, especially if given a heads up so I could prepare the rental appropriately. It’s just sad when people try to game the system meant for folks who have real need.
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I’ve traveled with my two cats across the country and at other times stayed at Airbnbs with them. I doubled checked with hosts that it was ok to have cats and they did nothing naughty.
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My dogs agree: it’s an all cats thing
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Yes—they also borrow granny’s handicap parking placard to go shopping. Same mindset
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Are you sure? C-A-T-S can be sneaky…said the dog. 
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OK, one for sure can be sneaky.
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I allow any kind of animals. What I find after cats have stayed that most annoys me is the way their very fine hair seems to float through the air and get on everything and that continues after I’ve cleaned the room. But I charge a pet fee and that’s what it’s for: the extra time cleaning.
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I do the same. (One cat only though). He’s never been any trouble at all. Although we always take our duvet with us because Stanley likes to sleep on the bed so I think that’s fairer to hosts.
My cat sheds enough in one day to fully clothe another cat.
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Since for effing ever. Did you ever read your Terms Of Service?
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@HudsonNY - Advice from @KKC on review is great! Say nothing negative to them. Leave your review. As a host if I saw that review I’d never allow them to book. I support ES animals but not dishonesty. Good for you, btw, for hanging in there. If you must do extra cleaning or there is damage from the animal you can make a claim w/i 14 days of departure (love how it’s right inside the review time limit also…sigh). (Anyone reading this: Please see correction from @HudsonNY regarding time limit to make a claim is 14 days OR before next checkin, whichever is sooner)
FYI it’s 14 days OR before another guest checks in (which is a few days later for us)
My bozo guest count is about 1 in 30. We no longer allow pets. Something I haven’t tried with the service animal, is a charge for extra cleaning of pet hair? The pet hair was the main reason we stopped accepting pets. As we explicitly state no animals on furniture and bedding. If animal hair is found on furniture and bedding, there will be a minimum extra cleaning fee of $35 an hour. As our housekeeping service sends a bill for the extra cleaning, I have had airbnb enforce it for the two times in the past two years that we asked for it and guest refused. Once was for the wiping of dog poo on the deck, and airbnb allowed the extra charge for pressure washing. If they allow to charge for poo, will they allow for hair? Hopefully, I won’t have to find out.
I don’t think you can charge for a service dog - or an emotional support dog.
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