Guest booking shared accomodation for quarantine.

[Jules189]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help.

I accepted a booking from a guest for 4 nights.  He sent me a message a day after telling me that I would receive a parcel with a PCR test and to put it in to his room.  I explained that as I worked that I couldn't be there to receive the parcel and that my listing was advertised as having shared bathroom and kitchen and therefore unsuitable for quarantine stays. I asked him to cancel the booking and I would agree to a refund.  He won't cancel.

Our current regulations for travellers is:

Quarantining safely

As soon as you arrive at your place of quarantine you should, as far as possible, avoid contact with other people in the place where you’re quarantining to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

You should stay in a well ventilated room with an outside window that can be opened, separate from other people in your home.

If you’re staying in a hotel or guest house, you must stay away from others who did not travel with you. You must not use shared areas such as bars, restaurants, health clubs and sports facilities.

Stay 2 metres apart from other people staying there at all times.

I've spoken to UK Health protection this morning and they've said that the booking doesn't comply with current guidelines and strongly advised me to cancel it (which means that I face a financial penalty from AirBnb) or the guest faces a fine of up to £10,000 if a UKPHA representative visits to check quarantine compliance.  As the guest has informed me that he will be going to work daily and not quarantining whilst waiting for the test result I'm really concerned that I'm complicit in the regulations being broken.

Airbnb have emailed that they will suspend my listing if I keep declining bookings (for the same reason).  I'm quite worried that I'm going to lose the income which subsidies my self-employment income,  unless I allow travellers who are required to quarantine to book. 

Will Airbnb fine me for cancelling the booking to comply with our current travel regulations?  Has any AirBnb host had someone from the UKPHA turn up to check that a guest is complying and was the host penalised for allowing them to stay?  Am I allowed to put something on my listing page that tells people that I cannot accept people required to quarantine as the communal spaces are shared with family and other AirBnb guests?

Thanks in advance

Jules

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jules189 this guest is really quite dumb not to cancel. I would advise him (again) to do so especially as the local health folks now know he is coming and will break the guidance (law?). Perhaps say you will return the no doubt rather expensive PCR tests if he collects them one evening.

If this fails then you will have to try Airbnb again saying the guest cannot stay per government regulations.

[Mary996]

Definitely make a statement in your  Listing to say you cannot offer self - isolating arrangements xx

[Mary996]

@Airbnb

Please release this Host from your  conflicting obligation.. inorder to allow her to comply with UK Covid guidance. 

[Mary996]

Hi @Jules189

Try contacting Airbnb again via the message service. Its very good.

Just insist that the Guest has to be TRANSFERED to comply with UK guidelines. then its Airbnb's liabilty. 

I sympathise. We have a shared front door but guests have own facilities and can avoid use of normally common areas such as the lounge which, otherwise, we like to make available.

Airbnb can transfer him to self contained. Meanwhile practice mask wearing and social distancing yourself given this is a highly infectious disease originating from a genetically altered virus. Take high amounts of Vit C and know you will be fine by boosting your immune system xx

[Jules189]

Hi,

Thanks for all of your advice.  I gave the guest the information from the UK Public Health yesterday and he still said he wanted to go ahead so I contacted AirBnb.  

They said that I can cancel the booking to comply with Government Guidance, but I would incur a financial penalty for the cancellation, which I think from the website is about £70.  When I asked why the guest did not face a financial penalty for booking accommodation that contravened quarantine, he informed me that he could reach out to the guest but didn't offer it as an option, so I asked for the question to be escalated.

I'm hoping that the call handler was wrong.  I can't understand how if I decline bookings for quarantine purposes from AirBnb, I risk my listing being suspended (AirBnb listing deactivation warning email received 27/11/21) and if I cancel a booking that I find out contravenes Covid regulation I'll be fined.  Surely the AirBnb guest is responsible for booking correct quarantine accommodation?  I can't see how AirBnb can financially penalise hosts for following Government Regulations?

The guest only told me about the PCR test arriving after he booked and then confirmed in writing that he will be leaving the house to work daily.  This breaches regulations, as quarantine must continue until a negative PCR test.  I can't see how this doesn't evidence that the guest is knowingly planning on breaking regulations.  AirBnb policy says that guests who break regulations may have their AirBnb account removed, but his account is still active. 

I haven't heard back from AirBnb yet.  The guest has messaged to say that he has cancelled but his booking is still showing as live today, so I'm a bit confused.

I have put on all of my listings a message saying "Under current National Covid Regulations, we CANNOT accommodate guests required to quarantine after travel. Do not book if this applies, it will be cancelled/declined. You may also be fined £10,000 by the UK Health Protection Authority.

Walkways, toilets & kitchen are shared by family, business and AirBnb guests, it isn't possible to comply with social distancing."  I'm hoping this will reduce the number of people booking for quarantine, but if someone has decided to not tell a host, the only option I have is to cancel them if I find out.  To face a fine for that from Airbnb does feel a shock.  I'm hoping the call handler got it wrong and that someone will call me soon.

[Helen3]

Hi @Jules189 

if you don't accept  guests under quarantine you should mention this in your house rules and in your listing.

i always check the purpose of a guests stay on booking.

did you use IB - if so insist Airbnb cancel penalty free as guest confirmed he's breaking UK quarantine legislation. 

the guest probably doesn't want to cancel as they would lose money 

I don't believe you are correct in terms of yore interpretation of the legislation - you can still host in a shared home setting - what the legislation says is to minimise contact 

[Jules189]

Hi,

Does IB mean instant book? I don't have that turned on.

The call handler at Public Health asked me to describe the property and said that as it wasn't possible to maintain 2m social distance and the reg saying "If you’re staying in a hotel or guest house, you must stay away from others who did not travel with you. " that the accommodation wouldn't be considered as appropriate for quarantine.  The call handler was also concerned that the guest had written that he would be going out daily whilst waiting for his PCR results.  From my point of view, if a guest doesn't respect Covid guidence, are they any more likely to respect the host or the accommodation?

I've been called this afternoon by an Airbnb rep who said that the message I wrote on the listings is fine and any bookings that are made that turn out to be for quarantine can be cancelled with no financial penalty, which is a great weight off my mind.  He's speaking to the guest to ask him to cancel the booking fully refunded.  Fingers crossed, the message will put off the people who should be booking the self-contained listings on Airbnb.

[Huma0]

@Jules189 

Glad to hear like the problem will be sorted. 

I put something on my listings quite a while back about them not being suitable for quarantine, but I have also found it useful to remind any guests coming from abroad about it as many people don't read the listings properly. Once it's on your listing, they can't really argue about it (although of course they could still lie). It's so much easier to clarify all of this before a guest books.

Now that the regulations have changed again and require self-isolation until day 2 test results, I would not be willing to accommodate any overseas guests until they have those results, but there are rapid test services where they can get the results the same day providing their flight lands early enough. Of course, these are more expensive. You can suggest this to future guests and then it is up to them if they want to do that or not, but personally I would not take the booking until they have the results.

Another thing to bear in mind is that, even under the former restrictions, if a guest's day 2 results come back positive, they have to quarantine for 10 days (not including the day of the test, which is day 0). If the results are inconclusive, the same thing applies, although then they can do another test and end quarantine once they get a negative result.

If your listing (like mine) is not suitable for quarantine, it's important that guests understand this and have a plan B. Of course, it's the guest's responsibility to check out all of these restrictions before they book and to keep up with any changes, but not everyone does, so it's a good idea to make sure they are aware. I just had a guest cancel because he hadn't realised that a negative test would mean at least 11 days of quarantine.

From now on, I will be making sure that any guests planning to come here from abroad are aware of current restrictions and that it is their responsibility to cancel should they need to quarantine.

[Mary996]

Great info @Huma0

Do you happen to know the costs of the two levels of test?

We had someone hoping to make it for his daughter's graduation. He cancelled as the Regs meant he'd have to miss it which was so upsetting for his daughter too. But yes this next day result turns things around for Guests so hopefully our discussions here will result in strategies we can offer Guests which result in both safety and compliance xx

Thanks for bringing this up @Jules189 and I'm so glad you persisted with assertions to @Airbnb They do get it eventually!! Well done and I'm happy for you and hope it hasn't put you off hosting!! xx

[Mary996]

Also @Jules189 is the case that in your situation Quarantine is not permitted due to the narrow width of some areas of your home?

[Huma0]

@Mary996 

I actually did quite a bit of research for this guest as it seemed he hadn't really looked into it at all. 

So, these are London prices and it may vary, but I found test centres in Central London offering results in 3-4 hours and that was expensive, around £250-£300.

As his flight was landing at Heathrow around 8am, I suggested instead that he use one in or near the airport. There was one that seemed very good value. It was £59 and offered results within 5 hours if the test was taken between 7am and 6pm (otherwise you get the them the following morning), BUT, these timings were not guaranteed and they said it could take longer during busier periods.

There was another near the airport that was £147 and guaranteed results by the end of the day. However, they did not specify how many hours that would take or what the end of the day meant. I found others that counted end of the day to mean up to 11.59pm, so if the guest was hoping to check in the same day, that's a bit risky again.

There were plenty of other clinics either at the airports or around London offering next day results. I didn't look closely into the prices of those as the guest wanted to check in on his day of arrival rather than have to book a different accommodation for the first night.

The deciding factor in his cancellation was that he would have to quarantine if the results were positive. Seeing as he was coming for two weeks, he didn't want to risk spending the majority of it in quarantine, which I understand, but these are all things that international travellers should consider before they book a holiday. Unfortunately, they don't always think to do that.

[Huma0]

@Mary996 

As a comparison, I paid around £69 I think for my day 2 test (a home test one whereas the examples given above are for in clinic) and it didn't arrive until right before the cut off point so I did it straight away and had to sprint to the post box. The results arrived the following day, but that's three days after my return. That was back in mid-October, so the price could have gone down a bit, but that's why I thought £59 was good value to get the results back within five hours or even by the next morning.

[Christine615]

Glad you were persistent.

[Jules189]

Hi,

Thanks for your helpful messages.

I put the message on my listings yesterday, which Melvin from Airbnb checked for me.  The message is right at the top of the listing and can be een without clicking on 'more....'.  

Last night I received 2 more booking requests, one guy didn't seem at all put off by the possibility of a fine!  I'm just going to set an auto response message to cover myself to all enquiries. 

've had an Airbnb guest who came to stay, as she was uncomfortable in her previous shared accomodation (not Airbnb) which was available for quarantining visitors.  As she works with the elderly, she felt that it presented greater risk.  The walkways in my home don't allow 2m social distancing and having 2 listings, I really don't want to put any of the guests I host in an uncomfortable situation.

I've been hosting since August, after a change in circumstances meant I'd be unable to pay my mortgage.  I went from genuinely scared to the happiest ever.  I love hosting, the majority of my guests have been amazing, and I'm friends on Facebook with a few, who keep me updated with their adventures.  One even turned up to surprise us one evening for diner.  It's brilliant to have someone to chat to whilst we're cooking dinner, catching up with them after work and even being taught the joys of 'Strictly Come Dancing' 🙂

I do find the requests to accept bookings for quarantining guests a bit overwhelming.  I'm as bored of Covid as everyone else and obviously the revised restrictions have affected the income I make, but when the guest booked and then used my address to order a PCR without letting me know, writing that he'd be going to work daily before receiving his PCR results, I didn't want to be complicit in breaking regulations with the potential of dragging the restrictions on for even longer. 

@Huma0  It's amazing that you've done so much research.  Have you hosted for a long time? @Mary996  thank you for your messages :), it's nice to meet you all.

I'd love for Airbnb to have a section for guests to confirm whether they are using accommodation for quarantine, to screen out my listings.  The 2 who tried to book last night had either not read the top of the listing or had and booked anyway.