The free infant thing

[Amanda660]

Yesterday after departing guests left a bin full of honking nappies, rug smooshed  with coco pops and every surface smeared with ‘?’ I decided to change my setting to no longer accept  free ‘infants’ and go with age 2 and above. 

Today I get a booking request for a couple with a child and an ‘infant’.  I replied that we don’t host under 2s and that’s why it came through as a request and not as a instant booking.  He came back to me to say that the  ‘infant’ would be 23 months at the time of stay and would I reconsider. 

I’m in a quandary - I really don’t want the extra clean up for nothing but how do I convey this to the would-be Booker without sounding completely mercenary?

[Kelly149]

@Amanda660  ok, well at least this wasn't a "free toddler"... and that family likely would have left a mess regardless of what ages... a mom that lets a 2YO smudge and trudge snacks thru the whole house will be doing the same with their grade-schooler and teenager as well.

[Susan1188]

@John2406  While it's indeed the parents fault and not the children's fault;

Parents of young children have a lot of work if they want to prevent their kids from making a large footprint on your home.  Even if the children are well educated.   

Families with small children stay inside more (nap time, bed time), use all of your appliances more (laundry, kitchen, heat), make more mess, have more equipment, etc..  It's inevitable even with the best and most careful parents.

[Helen3]

If the child is indeed over two then they should have added them on the booking as a child and paid for them @Amanda660  Sounds like they were trying to get a free stay.

I would tell the guest they need to amend the booking to reflect the fact they have two children.

I would also suggest your check out process makes it clear how you expect guests to clean up and have a bin and nappy bags they need to use to dispose of nappies if being used. 

[John2406]

@Amanda660 @Helen744 @Kelly149 . Can I just pick up on something you all mentioned within your comments, and which I've been sitting here scratching my head about )and no, I don't have nits or anything like that, but I am a bit bewildered!)

To be perfectly honest I should have picked up the wording, and one word in particular, from the heading "The FREE infant thing", but somehow or other, the word 'free' somehow bypassed my brainbox - anyway...., and in the same order, @Amanda660  said 

'..no longer accept "free" infants...' @Helen744 said ...'take the baby on the understanding that the child is paid for..' as well as   '...not sure why infants are free...' and @Kelly149 said ...'at least this wasn't a "free toddler"...' 

So what's all this about "free" toddlers/infants/babies, as our rates are for the number of Guests staying, irrespective of how many (up to our maximum), or of their age (other than babies/toddlers/children/youngsters under a particular age aren't allowed to make a booking under their own name [the same goes for dogs who want to stay], not because we are biased towards older Guests, but because no Company anywhere will allow anyone under a certain age range to enter into a legal contract! so whoever pays for a stay, and enters the contract with Airbnb (and fulfills our contract as well) I would have imagined, pays for each individual contracted to stay?

I realise that I can be quite thick at times - and this may well be one of those "times" but are you all saying that you charge per person who stays (but children from birth to about 2yrs old, can stay free of charge?) or are you saying that when someone books to stay at your place, you should charge [extra] for any child aged 2yrs (24months) and younger? - the third alternative being that if children under a certain age weren't allowed to stay, I wouldn't have been asking what is - most likely - a very silly question!

With apologies - many of them - for even asking, but I really am more than a bit confused!

Hoping someone can clarify the what's, when's, and why's etc!!!

[Kelly149]

@John2406 awhile back ABB declared that to better align with hotel practices they were making infants "free"... it was a fun thread

To make it clear as mud, Hosts could:

1) stop taking any guests under 2

2) tell guests that to bring an infant, they needed to list the infant as a child in order to have them counted in the fees and occupancy limits

3) ignore their own occupancy limits and fee schedule by allowing up to 5 free infants to any and all bookings

[Mark116]

@John2406   Airbnb's policy is that a guest should be able to bring 5 free infants to any property.  So, for example, according to Airbnb our 2 bedroom apartment should be totally fine for hosting 4 adults and 5 infants up to two  years of age.  Madness.

The policy does say that 'some' hosts will count infants as part of the guest count, so it's typical confusing trying to be two things at one time Airbnb double speak.

[Helen744]

@John2406. If you pop in to google and ask 'can infants stay for free at Airbnb' you will find all the community centre threads . As far as I am aware under twos are for free. Yes.It is sometimes a stretch of the imagination as to why, but I just think of it as a 'poor bloody mum' tax.My last guests were having their first trip away after the birth of their baby and asked for a cot . I did not see them or their baby as my co host dealt with them on that occaision but the review was one of the lovliest I have ever recieved. I do think that under one year though is really an infant . H

[Helen744]

@John2406 I was tested early on this rule too. I had a group of three mums on a girls weekend . Between them they  had  five children and one extra partner.Three children were free.they co slept in three queen size beds . they were not willing to give me full names of guests and after being accused of wishing to steal their identitys I found out later that they gave me false ID.The guest booking eventually left very late with her partner and two of the children after telling me that she had a disability.I was taken advantage of in every way. I think this is rare though.All up there were at least eight people of one size or another at my house that was set for six. Now I will only accept five people . The guests I dislike are those mums or dads who take the whole footy team to our city and say things like'We will be in about midnight ,or we have three boys of ten with three different games at different places They drag these children around at all hours of the night and day . I honestly see little children with angry dads because they did not win and I do not like these people and feel sorry for the children.Do not do this to your children H

[Kristina46]

I have no children under 12 checked. Airbnbs and kids just generally are not a good mix.

But recently, I let a relative with a toddler stay and then was reminded why I don't take kids! fingerprints all over the glass door, cheerios on the floor, wrappers strewn about, chips in the rattan vintage furniture that weren't there before, the disclosure that she lets her run in her nudies but she isn't toilet trained yet. Allowing her to pound on a teak table while I was sitting right there. And on and on. And left it for me to clean. A big mess. (Just who did she think would clean it? my staff?) 

And all for free!

Next time I will be 'booked' when relatives want to come to Hawaii. 

[Susan1188]

@Kristina46 
I've had exactly the same experience;

Accepting a family with small children despite my better judgement;

The sinking feeling when they arrived, kids tearing around my beautiful apartment, banging on the furniture slamming doors, hanging on hooks, standing on the chair near the balcony railing (!!!) and the parents clearly unable to control them at all.

I am going to require an extra deposit through the resolution center for future families with children.

[Debra300]

@Amanda660,

I learned last autumn that it's not the guest's fault if a property that doesn't accept children still gets requests or reservations from guests with children.  Please note that the Airbnb search engine only looks at the total number of guests and not the age group when it displays search results.  This means that all listings that can accommodate the number of guests will be shown, including those that exclude children.  Guests who have included children in their guest count reasonably believe that all of the properties returned meet their search criteria, and are not necessarily ignoring details and restrictions. Airbnb has put the onus on the host to point out to guests that children are not accepted, and deal with the repercussions of declining or cancelling the booking.

[Amanda660]

@Debra300  at first I wondered why it hadn’t come through as an instant booking but then realised that it had been filtered into a request to book as it included an infant.  I explained to them what and why it had happened.

[Debra300]

@Amanda660,

The guest probably didn't meet all of your criteria to IB, because that is the only time that the Airbnb system displays the request to book button for IB-enabled listings.

[Susan1188]

This is true for infants, not children.
If they add "children" only properties that accept children will show
However if they add "infant" all properties show up even ones clearly stating "adults only"

[Gillian166]

i think really we need ABB to change the "infant" rating down to 1 year. once infants are walking (roughly around this time) they are toddlers, and causing all sorts of mess and mischief! an actual baby really isn't an issue at all, it's just whether the parents are considerate with nappies and other paraphernalia. a family with toddlers will probably use the bath, and leave a mess. I travelled a LOT with my 3 kids and I was always SO paranoid about being a "good" guest, representing parents. I don't see enough of that these days. 

However, i've had a couple of groups that have wonderful kids and i always mention that in reviews.