"I didn't think that was serious. "

[Laura2592]

Booking has been slower than usual so it's particularly irritating to get requests for things we don't permit. Case in point yesterday....couple, 2 infants and a pet sent a request. We don't allow infants due to safety issues (clearly stated in our rules) and its over our capacity. I explained politely. The guest responds with  "Thanks.  I didn't think you were serious.  Most of the time we book places that don't allow infants or pets. Too bad."

So one does wonder 1. What's the point of rules if ABB permits guests to book when they don't meet stated requirements? And 2) are other hosts not vetting guests at all?

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592  Here is what Airbnb displays to your guests when they enter their head counts for a booking request:

Regardless of the parameters you chose, they all but encourage guests to request your listing for up to 9 people (adults plus 5 infants) and up to 5 pets. Had you chosen not to allow pets, guests would have been directed to "Bringing an assistance animal" and given instructions for how to claim that their pets are exempt from your pet policy. ( Kindly let your host know if you're bringing more than 2 pets, but if you're just traveling with 2 emotional support elephants, I guess you don't have to mention it).

Hosts with rules similar to yours might be trying to vet their guests, but are too scared of the consequences of cancelling or declining bookings like these. Airbnb deserves most of the blame, for making it so easy for guests to shove through these wildly inappropriate numbers. This is a massive screw-up.

[Laura2592]

@Anonymous I know. It's just so irritating. 

Who do you know who travels with 5 infants? My social rolls include approximately zero parents of quintuplets nor any twins and triplets born within Irish twin time frames.  And no one I know travels with 5 pets. Airbnb seems to be targeting a market of baby meet ups and puppy parties. These are not markets we have gone after.

I do have to wonder about the arbitrary number 5 for each category. It makes me think its based on Astrological calculations or Feng shui rather than any real data or market research.  

[Mark116]

@Anonymous  That is truly insane, but not surprising.  I'm trying to imagine my 2 bedroom 4 person max apartment with 4 adults, 5 'infants' and 5 emotional support animals.  

That tab is so depressing, even down to they don't even recommend sending an inquiry but a request, that the host will have to decline and then get hit in the search results.  Awful. 

[Gillian166]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

@Laura2592  Here is what Airbnb displays to your guests when they enter their head counts for a booking request:

, but if you're just traveling with 2 emotional support elephants, I guess you don't have to mention it).

🤣😂 thanks for the laughs! 

[Mark116]

@Catherine-Powell 

This is an example of Airbnb working at cross purposes with hosts.....

1) "Infants" which includes according to Airbnb toddlers up to 2 years old should count as a 'guest'.  They take up space, use resources, create waste, and in the case of toddlers can damage items, sleep in beds and may be at risk in some properties.

2) Why does Airbnb compound the insult by refusing to count 'infants' as guests and then try to push hosts to take not 1, but FIVE infants to toddlers in their properties over and above the stated guest maximum?

3) Why does Airbnb not think that guests should tell the host about all animals?  Why only more than 2?  

4) Why would you set up this tab to basically force the host into declining the guest, which harms the host listing, when you could simply switch 'request' for inquiry?

It is these things, things that should be simple and straightforward, that Airbnb's very strange templates and policies, create confusion among hosts and guests.  

An easy fix, but will it be addressed?

[Michelle53]

@Laura2592   I just had someone send a Trip Request for  2 adults and  1 child. I have "not suitable for infants" and "not suitable for children 2 - 12" checked.    Guest claims she never saw that at all. Possibly.

After some back and forth, the child is 10, travelling with grandparents with good reviews, so I let it through.  I hope I'm not going to be sorry I did that 

[Laura2592]

@Michelle53 we don't have insurance coverage for kids under 2 and I honestly can't trust most of our guests to be responsible about watching their own children. We used to allow infants when we had a different insurance carrier but had a poor guest complaining about our steep stairs because she basically wanted to veg out and drink wine all weekend.  After a daunting cleaning post stay we just stopped allowing infants.  It's too risky. 

Hosts should be permitted to say no to guests who aren't safe at their space. Period full stop. Our cottage has zero to entertain a family with a baby. I just don't understand why this is even an issue. Though I do think guests with older kids sometimes check the infant box to get out of paying the guest fee over 2 people.  It backfires when we cancel or reject because we don't allow infants.

[Michelle53]

@Laura2592   Some years ago I had someone try to book with children - I can't recall the exact details now.   But when I said the space wasn't suitable, she accused me of discrimination.    I don't recall whether she felt it was discrimination against her, personally,  or age discrimination.   But then I explained that there were bookcases not attached to the wall, a tv on a stand, also not attached to the wall, lamps with long cords etc etc, and that it wasn't possible to remove everything that might be a hazard, and she backed off.

Who knows where that would have ended up in today's environment ?

[Laura2592]

@Michelle53I believe age discrimination only kicks in over a certain age-- 40? I am not 100% sure at this point. But kids are not able to book on ABB legally, and therefore its always a sticky point for hosts to say they don't want them even though it really should not be if there are safety issues. If a parent gets rejected over and over for not reading a listing or trying to push where kids aren't allowed (maybe legitimately because there aren't a lot of hosts that love having kids in a certain area) I can see where they may start to throw around frustrated threats. But that seems to be the opposite of what my potential guest was saying-- she books all the time in places that expressly disallow members of her group.

[Michelle53]

@Laura2592  I think it was more a case of discriminating against people with children. I thinks folks who feel that way will try and book anywhere, just because.  Like certain folks with assistance animals.  I think they feel they should be entitled to go anywhere they want, and not be limited to places that are suitable. 

[Mark116]

I hate one size fits all.  The beauty of Airbnb was that guests can choose from all kinds of properties, huge houses, condos, tents, treehouses, historic houses, tiny houses.....places that cater to families, to solo travelers and to couples; from luxurious villas to budget bedrooms and everything in between. 

If a host doesn't believe that children are a good or safe fit, that should be the end of it.  I have never been too comfortable with the legal idea that the owner of the property can't substitute his/her judgement over a potential guest in terms of usability of the listing.  Who would know better than the owner whether it is a good space for children, or people with mobility issues or fragrance sensitivity or whatever the case?

[Sarah977]

@Michelle53 "Guest claims she never saw that at all."

"Ah, well that would mean you didn't bother to read through the listing description or house rules, which is a pretty important thing for guests to do."

@Mark116  Designating 0-2 as "infants" is absurd to start with. A walking, talking 2 year old who can climb up on things, fall down stairs, stick things into electrical sockets, scribble with crayons, walk around the place with food, etc, isn't an "infant". No parent refers to even a 1  year old as an infant unless they are trying to get them in for free.

There's little reason why hosts of an entire place listing couldn't accept actual infants- little babies who are not yet mobile on their own, remain wherever the parent places them, and do little but eat, sleep, and vocalize. If Airbnb classified age groups in a sane way, i.e. "infants" are pre-crawling stage, I imagine a lot of hosts wouldn't be wary of accepting them. But a "terrible two"? Nope, not suitable.

[Michelle53]

@Sarah977  I've had a lot of people lately not reading the listing.   Just this morning, I awoke to a request for one guest, for a person and their significant other. I have a per-guest fee.   I asked them to withdraw the request and book for two guests.  They did the withdraw. That was it. 

It's so tiresome dealing with all this at times.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 I wouldn't accept any babies particularly if you were staying with a pet as well.  Its difficult enough to cart laundry and suitcases up our stairs much less a crying, wriggling baby. Throw in a dog or cat underfoot and a distracted parent and you have a recipe for tragedy and disaster. 

A good friend of ours who is a mom twice over and a frequent guest said it best "there's no reason on God's earth for a stay at your cottage with a baby. It's not baby friendly. I could see two people booking to try and make a baby but certainly not bring one of their own."

I honestly feel like pushing hosts to accept infants (or pets for that matter) has a lot more to do with the kind of image ABB wants to project and not any practical reason.