Is your listing allergy-free?

[Stephanie]

Hi everyone,

In today’s world, almost everyone has an allergy. Having said that, there are many guests willing to pay a little bit more to have some extra peace of mind. After all, no one wants to arrive somewhere and realise  something might trigger their allergies! 

It can also be beneficial for the host: having an allergen-free listing can broaden your audience and your chances to have more bookings.

From allergen free bedding to using eco-friendly cleaning products without scent, there are many things that can help to make your listing allergen-free. Plus, it doesn't have to cost the earth. 

Is your listing allergy-free? Do you have any experience of receiving unusual allergy-related requests and how to accommodate them? Is it something that you think about in your home?

Share your tips below 🙂

Thanks, 

Stephanie

[Anonymous]

@Stephanie   If @Airbnb would like to feature minimal-allergen listings, it's going to have to stop requiring hosts to accept assistance animals. Airbnb does not consider a host's wish to maintain an allergen-free environment for their guests to be a valid reason to decline or cancel guests seeking to bring these animals.

So I have to turn that question around: How does Airbnb intend to support guests with severe pet allergies when its own policy is forcing allergenic animals into pet-free homes? 

[Kurt240]

@Anonymous 

This is the best question I have ever read in the Air BnB Forum.

How can you advertise your space as hypo-allergenic or 'minimal-allergen' if you are not allowed to refuse a guest access to your booking when they show up with a pet that they never mentioned would be traveling with them and insist it is a 'service animal?'

As hosts for less than two months, we have had issues with this conundrum already. Our cottage and everything in it is pretty much brand new and we want to keep it as pristine as possible for as long as possible. We are baffled by Air BnB's approach with regard to this concern for hosts.

[Colleen253]

Agree with @Anonymous 

"After all, no one wants to arrive somewhere and realise  something might trigger their allergies!"  This is exactly what must happen to an animal allergic guest when they arrive at a 'no pets' listing only to discover an animal has in fact been there. Often times, the host may not even be aware of it, since any guest can bring any pet to a no pet house and not even have to disclose it to the host, due to Airbnb lumping emotional support animals in with service animals. Therefore, the deep cleaning required to remove all traces of animals is unlikely to happen. On this platform there is no such thing as a reliable pet free listing for animal allergic guests.

[Donna240]

There is if the host lives on site. I swear if I didn't live on site, I would never rent out our space. 

[Luana130]

I agree, I live on site and worry, imagine if I was far away...I'd go crazy. And even living on site I check the security cameras that I have outside of the apartments a few times a week. Just last week I caught some guests bringing an anauthorized visitor at 4 in the morning.

[Colleen253]

@Donna240 

The only way to keep animals out is if you have an animal allergy yourself, and you host a room in your home. Then Airbnb will back up 'no pets'. Many travelers want an entire space listing, not a room in someones home.

A guest can bring any pet, with or without disclosing it, whether it's an ESA or they just want to claim it is, to an entire space listing, even if the host is onsite. There is not a thing you could do, according to Airbnb's policy. If you do know about it, then at least you can do the necessary specialized deep cleaning, but what if you don't happen to find out about it? It is possible.

[Sarah977]

@Colleen253  It's not only having an allergy oneself- that policy also states if there is a safety issue, that a service or ESA can be denied. So, for instance, if the host has a dog that won't tolerate other dogs on the property. Or in my case, not only do I have a territorial dog, but the guest room is up a flight of metal slat steps that dogs don't want to go up, and they could get their paw stuck between the slats.

[Michelle53]

There is no such thing as an allergy-free listing  !

One also has to be completely clear about the difference between allergies and sensitivities.  Someone could be hyper-sensitive to fragrances, while not actually being allergic to fragrances. 

Also, degree matters. One person might be slightly allergic - maybe only getting hayfever symptoms like sneezing and watery eyes, while some people might suffer anaphylactic shock if exposed to certain foods such as shellfish or peanuts. 

My sister was allergic to all kinds of things, and used to get asthma as a child, until she went for a course of desensitization treatments. Pollen, house dust (mites), certain foods, cats, dogs, feathers. When she went for the "pinprick" test, I think every one swelled up. 

One can try to be hypo-allergenic  i.e. try and limit potential allergy-causing agents.  

But for most people with allergies, they will have specific things that trigger them. They have to be specific about asking in advance about their particular allergy or sensitivity. 

e.g. Cats. I have cats, but I don't allow them into my guest space. If people are allergic, I usually tell them that, although the cats aren't allowed in the space, I do have central air, and there is the potential for dander to enter the space.  Most people will then let me know if they will just take an antihistamine in advance, or cancel their request. 

[Emilia42]

While I would love to provide an allergy free home, I simply cannot for the reasons mentioned by @Colleen253 above. Airbnb does not ultimately allow hosts to provide allergy free accommodations because they are so Pet/ESA centric. 

[Karen-and-Will0]

While allergen free can be challenging to achieve we do attempt to minimize certain aspects of allergies.  For example we do mention that we have no carpet, just hard surface floors, use only natural/organic cleaners, and organic cotton sheets.  We also have a large air filter and the house is exceptionally clean (our family has dust allergy issues). The very first guest we hosted years ago told us they selected us because of these small gestures towards limiting allergens.  Since then we have had many others express appreciation and told us they selected us for this reason over other comparable properties.  We aren't trying to market to the allergen free market, just happen to have allergies and live our lives this way and decided to mention it in our listings.  Hope this feedback is helpful in some way.

[Wendy684]

I agree with all the comments above. 

I'm not sure what I would do if someone attempted to come with an assistance dog.I love dogs however this is my home and I have 3 cats so I wouldn't want things upset by a dog however well trained. 

Curiously I had a first turn up this week surprised to see cats and then say one of them was allergic! Turns out they had antihistamine and the next air bnb had a cat too . But they didn't read my listing fully so didn't see that.

Maybe I need to make it more prominent. Photos of cats might do it 🙂

[Luana130]

@Wendy684 I think you can use the same argument I use for not accepting animals. I have a big house that I divided in several small apartments, one of those apartments has a separate entrance, I do accept animals on that one. The other apartments share the same main entrance and on those I would not allow even real service dogs for security reasons. I live on site and have large dogs, one those dogs hates other animals (it took a lot of time and effort to get him used to our other dogs, some of which we still have to separate from him sometimes). So I do not accept animals on these units because if he saw an animal he could break through the gates I have in place, and either him or the other animal would get injured (probably the other one because my baby is quite big), and myself and the guest will probably get injured trying to separate them.

He is not dangerous, he loves people, is just animals he hates.

You could use the same argument, it can be dangerous to your cats to have another animal there.

[J-Renato0]

AAAAH...AAhhhh...AAh... CHOOO !!!!!

Well, My listings .....

AAAAH...AAhhhh...AAh... CHOOO !!!!!

Sorry...

Again... My listings does not have carpet and curtains that retain dust...

All my listings has tiled floor except one that has wooden floor on some rooms.

It is just because I think it is more practical to keep them clean.

So, in terms of floor they are considered  allergy-free.

However, if someone ask me if some listing is allergy-free I say no.

I can not guarantee that someone that has an allergy will never have an allergy crise due to something they found in the streets or whatsoever and triggers a crise. It is unpredictable. I do not want to have a guest that has an allergy who will blame me because they are sneezing or for having their skin stained with red spots.

To be honest... I am not willing to have a guest that wants to pay a little bit more to have some extra peace of mind while I take the risk of having a nightmare.

[Trevor243]

We have some properties that are dog friendly, others are not. We don't use feather bedding. We use a non-bio laundry detergent. We use common household cleaning products. And that is as far as we go normally.

Properties are thoroughly cleaned between guests so you wouldn't normally know if dogs had been in a property.

We don't make any claims about preventing allergies. We can't guarantee that guests won't have an allergic reaction.