Question about excluding Children from my Listing...

[Sami459]

Hi all, looking for some advice...

I recently had some guests that brought a child and did some considerable damage. Broke a window, ruined a couch pillow, minor dings on the walls and table and burned my deck with fireworks.  I've decided that I am no longer going to allow any children. The potential for mess and damage is not something I want to deal with, moving forward. I've turned off the kid friendly options in my booking settings.

My question is - should I put this in the description of my listing somewhere? If so, where, and how should I word this in a way that sounds more compassionate than "Children are not allowed"  🙂

[Sami459]

Yes, they were bad guests. The broken window story didn't really make much sense to me. He said he was having a snowball fight with his daughter and accidentally hit the window with a snowball. Based on the angles in the yard, this story seems highly unlikely but I didn't press the issue.

They kids had sparklers in the back on the deck. Overall, they were not good guests but things happen. I just don't really want to deal with potential future damages.

[Colleen253]

"I just don't really want to deal with potential future damages." Fair enough. Potential for dealing with damages remains though, if you're simply getting bad guests, even without children. Good guests with children won't be a problem. It's the quality of the guest that matters. 

[Sami459]

Sure, there will always be potential for damage. I've had great luck with guests so far. I've only had one recent bad guest and they were the only guests with a child. I'd just like to lower the risk of damage as much as possible, it's a headache I don't want to deal with.

[Laura2592]

Children, like pets, are the responsibility of your adult guests. Any damage they do is because your adult guests are not paying attention.

I might say "We love to welcome guests who are careful with our space as it is not 100% child proof.  We want our guests to have an exceptional stay, so we have chosen to limit young guests to those with parents who are willing to supervise them at all times to prevent damage or injury. We encourage you to ask questions about the suitability of our accommodation for young children prior to booking."

[Sami459]

@Laura2592 Right! I don't allow pets either. I like the sentiment of your message in quotes above, however it's just not really truthful in my situation. In my situation, I'd rather avoid children alltogether. I understand that accidents happen, it's just part of life. My goal is to minimize the risk as much as possible and that unfortunately means no children allowed, but I'm not even sure if that's a policy that is allowed on AirBnB.

[Lisa723]

@Sami459 Airbnb defers to local law on this:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2867/nondiscrimination-policy

In the US the federal fair housing act prohibits discrimination against families with children (but I don't know whether/how this applies to short-term rentals):

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/discrimination_against_families_children

[Laura2592]

@Sami459  I understand. I was just offering what my husband calls "the HR answer." You don't say no outright, but you make it clear that you want certain compliance. That way if someone cries discrimination you can say that you did not specifically prohibit kids. If I took this approach I might also turn off IB.

The trouble with not accepting kids, pets, over a certain number of guests, etc., is that there is a small percentage of people who will ignore that and try to sneak it by you anyway and then lie about the damage that occurs with those violations. We don't allow infants because our place has very steep stairs and Airbnb puts no limit on the number a guest can bring.  Guests regularly only want adults to "count" toward our occupancy totals (2 bedroom house with 4 adults, 3 kids and two dogs? Nope don't think so... But the kids don't count and dogs aren't people!...They all make messes....). I am all for you managing your space as you see fit. Just expect that not everyone thinks the rules and limits apply to them.

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  I actually think your idea may be more risky, it gives the impression that the host is picking and choosing which families with children seems to fit their idea of responsible, which could lead to claims of discrimination.  It would seem to be much safer to check the boxes on the grounds of safety issues and leave it at that unless a guest brings up the issue. Airbnb allows you to say that the property is unsuitable for children, and allows you to list out some of the reasons.  

[Laura2592]

@Mark116  you may be right. I have just been burned by saying outright no to a booking (recently) and gotten accused of being discriminatory because the person had a bunch of bad reviews and were not able to IB. But I can see your point too. Sadly there isn't a lot one can do to protect oneself from baseless accusations.

[Linda108]

@Sami459   I think it is always a good idea to repeat important rules multiple times and in various ways.  Repetition is used in both marketing and education for a good reason.  As a separate, entire apartment, there might be challenges to the no children under 12 exclusion, but if you identified child safety issues in both your description and even in a picture caption, you would probably get better compliance and less fuss.  Good luck!

[Michelle1851]

Hi Sam, I have the opposite problem, I love kids , I made my listing perfect for families, I usually find moms with kids very responsible.   However my neighbor below dislikes kids and approaches all families who stay with mild suggestions, she leaves all other groups alone, ugh.  I’m at a loss.  But really I think you could either disallow them or just put in a stern statement.  My moms have been great and take excellent care. Michelle 

[Sami459]

@Michelle1851 

I love kids too!  I just don't want them as guests. 🙂

It's great and encouraging that you've had good experiences with kids.

Given that you're also in Colorado, do you know what the state law allows when it comes to this?

[Sarah977]

@Sami459  Of course you have the right to not accept children.

But since you are a new poster here, and for informational purposes, I would just point out that if you spend some time reading posts on this forum regarding guests causing damages, which are numerous, you will find that they almost never involve children. It is adult guests who cause the vast majority of damages.

A broken window from dad playing snowball fight with his kid? That has nothing to do with the kid- Dad shouldn't have been having a snowball fight anywhere near where would be a possibility to break a window. That's just common sense. He could just as easily have been playing softball catch with an adult buddy and broken a window.

Yes, kids can leave sticky handprints on the walls. Adults can leave drink marks on the wooden furniture. Yes, kids can drip ice cream on your throw pillows. Adults can use your nice towels to wipe off makeup or climb into bed smeared with sunscreen that stains the sheets.

If there are reasons why a property wouldn't be safe for children, then 'not suitable for children' is a good rule to have. Likewise if the house is in a neighborhood largely populated by adults who would be disturbed by kids running around having fun, and making kid noise.

But to not accept children simply because you think you'll avoid damages by doing so isn't an idea borne out by hosts reports here on the forum or any other hosting forum I've read, nor by any other hosts I personally know.

[Sami459]

@Sarah977 

Hi!

Like I mentioned, I doubt the snowball story is true, I think the Dad is covering for the child. Their story about the couch pillow also made no sense either.

It was actually a quick search on here and a few other sites that brought up more than a handful of horror stories about children causing damage that led me to start thinking about this (along with my personal experience). 

From my personal experience, I have had 2 bookings where damage occurred. Both involved kids. Why wait for a 3rd and 4th? My place is designed for adults and really isn't appropriate for children.

[Sarah977]

@Sami459 I do understand that some places just aren't set up to be kid-friendly. When I was raising my three, there wasn't anything fragile or super expensive in the house that could be damaged, although my girls weren't the least bit destructive and I taught them to be careful with things.

But now that they are all adults, with kids of their own, I live alone and definitely have had to rearrange some things when the younger of the grandkids come to visit. It's easier to just put some stuff out of reach than to be constantly vigilant about them not getting into things they shouldn't.

Airbnb used to have a Family category of listings, which they seem to have done away with. Seems like a stupid move, because it's clearly better for families to book places that are set up for that, rather than have to check whether a place is suitable for children or hosts having to deal with people asking to bring kids when the listing indicates otherwise.