New Airbnb Infant Policy

[Wylie1]

Babies are louder, smellier and they often break things. So why has Airbnb decided not to let hosts charge for the worst guests?

Due to airbnb's most recent pricing decision I will be denying all requests from people with children who will be staying for free.

[Trevor14]

The reality of hosting on Airbnb is that most of the damage done by guests will not be paid for by those guests but by the owner.  Airbnb has a severe bias in favor of guests and in my experience, even if I have "proof" that a guest has done damage, airbnb simply ignores my requests for compensation and if they do respond, they say somethink like "the guest denies it and that is "their truth" so you're out of luck".

[Zen-Home0]

It is very very hard for Airbnb to pay the damages. They ask for proof of "smoking marijuana smell" - Really?

[Lauren620]

I have found Airbnb very supportive of my positions so Im surprised at your experience. I will say that I don't claim damage often but the times when I have Airbnb has quickly honored their host guarantee policy regardless of a guest contesting or not. But for a lot of minor wear and tear I consider it cost of doing business and build it into my business model. 

[Ros-and-Chris0]

Hi Kim,

I love having children to stay, but they do cost- extra bedding, accidents in the night, breakages and a lot more air-con than adults use as they spend a lot more time indoors in the high summer. And a lot of safety equipment that gets broken and needs maintaining or replacing.

So, to me the problems are not that children are coming, it's that I'm not given the choice of charging for an expensive addition and Airbnb has decided they are not people to be counted. They sure would be when it comes to insurance!

[Sharon824]

I completely agree!  

We host lots of families with young children and I delight in seeing them picking fresh wild strawberries and  raspberries, paddling in the stream and will make time to walk with the little ones and collect eggs from the chickens or toast marshmallows on a real fire  - if we are to raise conscious adults, we need to show them about the joy of life and how to appreciate the natural world and be kind to animals.  I am a parent of 3 (grown up) children and know what it's like trying to find a safe and supportive place to 'rest' with little ones ;0) On the whole, my experiences with guests are very positive indeed and many return :0) 

We don't charge much for our cottages - about £40 per night with 2 sharing and lay on a huge selection of toys, a high chair, travel cots and lots of love as part of the package.  

We have had though, a couple of really difficult situations where breastfeeding couples have kept the heating on 24/7 so that Mum and baby could sleep with fewer covers and the increase in the gas consumption has resulted in us actually subsidising their holiday! (£60 worth of gas used in 1 week!) In addition, families with young children tend to use more hot water too for washing up and bathing, so we would like to charge a nominal fee of £7 extra per night per person (however small!) to cover the extra fuel use.  Airbnb's 'infant' policy does not allow us to make that charge for anyone under 2 years of age - and I feel that it is grossly unfair. It is not much to ask and on such tight margins,  is necessary for us.   Surely hosts should be able to set the parameters in their own homes? I have asked Airbnb about it and nothing has changed.  

I have amended my listing details to mention that we DO charge for 'infants' for these reasons, but the booking process online asks for ages of the children and only the most conscientious parents (having read and understood the listing) will book their babies in as 'children' to incur the small surcharge.... leaving me with difficult emails to write.   It is making hosting uncomfortable and sets up a negative feeling before the holiday has even begun.

Airbnb... PLEASE sort this out!    It is not being 'child unfriendly' to ask for a fair contribution for what is used.

[April--Mike--And-Maggie0]

Hi @Abraham18--while children are indeed a blessing, their parents are often oblivious to the problems they (they parents) cause with their thoughtles inattention.  For example when they plop the baby on a bedspread, without a changing pad or other protection, to change a poopy diaper.  Or allow their toddler to eat yogurt in the living room, where they proceed to finger-paint the furniture with it.  Or place a sick infant on a light-colored handmade quilt while trying get medicine into them...and end up getting it all over the quilt instead.

I enjoy having children visit, and try to have age-appropriate snacks and surprises for them, but I have to allow extra time for cleaning and laundry.  And some stains never do come out.

[Julia513]

I had a family with two babies overstuff all the garbage cans with smelly dirty diapers that made a mess!  Also kids who use a high chair drops tons of food all over. If they walk they get fingerprints on everything! It is so hard to clean after them.  

[Ted26]

I think you're missing the point, Abraham.

FIRST: I absolutely love kids. Any family or friends party you'll see me playing with the kids as much more more than hanging with the adults. I've been changing diapers and babysitting for family and friends since I was a pre-teen myself (and I'm now 48). I gladly look after others' kids when they need a hand or want a break.

So, this post is coming from someone who loves having kids around and doesn't think negatively of them.

With that said, the comments and concerns are valid. They don't necessarily indicate any dislike about children, but, rather, that infants do bring negative aspects to the home (often at the fault of their parents, who don't control the kids).

So, Abraham, don't misinterpret peoples' concerns about the negatives that ALL kids can potentially bring, and Airbnb's inept policies/procedures regarding kids, as anyone talking bad about kids in general.

[Sharon64]

Last week I received a request from a woman who is totally new to Airbnb. She sent me a request that she, her husband, and their 7 year old child would like to stay here. Her grandchild would sleep in his sleeping bag. My listing clearly states 2 in the room (no exceptions). I was insulted that this woman would even do this unless she is like many others who just don't bother to read anything. I declined due to fact 2 in room, no exceptions. This is why I had to host new users. They don't know the rules, don't read, and feel they can check in and out whenever they please.

[Maja69]

Sharon, I so feel with you I don't allow for first-time users to stay at my place anymore, way too many problems, they never check or read up on any even the most basic of conditions in the listing and then mostly make up straight out lies to try to get an invalid refund, so as annoying and frustrating as it is, it is easier only to allow for guests that have official IDs and ALSO comes with at least one recommendation from another host.

[Donald28]

I find first time guests are the best! They don't know what to expect and when you WOW them, they really appreciate it. I love getting the review from someone saying it was their first airbnb and they will use airbnb more in the future. 

[Jennifer719]

TY! Although we have made our new property listing available to families with children plus offer lots of extras 'on request' like Pack-n-plays, rock-n-plays, high chairs, we are concerned of liability if children get hurt even if it is due to unsupervised behavior. We have tile floors (this is clear in the listing) which is a hard fall for children and heaven knows telling them not to run in the house is meaningless. With 12 grandkids we have seen most of the things that can happen just as a day goes by:-) We also have a pool which many people with a pool do not allow children. We hope the parents of small children will use swim diapers and keep our pool safe for everyone. Anyway the property is not an apartment so we dont worry about sounds of crying bothering anyone. We have tried to protect all our bedding with waterproof covers so when someone is changing a diaper but forgets to put a pad under we should still be fine or if an accident occurs in the night our mattress is not ruined. As you can see that to welcome children to the home is a lot of additional costs and risks. To us it is worth it because we want our home to be a place for FAMILIES to enjoy a vacation together. Thanks so much for your comment.

[Maja69]

I am a parent to a young child too and have been a frequent million-mile flier since LONG before I became a mom and I think it's PERFECTLY correct for people and hosts to complain about infants and people traveling with children and NOT asking first if it's ok. A host should be able to charge any child over 6-12 months at LEAST 50% of the price and any child older than 2 shld pay full price for individual bedding. These are BASIC security issues and completely valid, such as one person here who mentioned concern about a young child making his place over-pass capacity. I have, as a a SuperHost myself, several times had people NOT mentioning or even bothering to register a young kid before making the reservation and that is entirely NOT acceptable, just as you booking a hotel or flight ANY WHERE in the world you have to register ALL children and their exact age. Since we are talking about mostly PRIVATE homes it should be ENTIRELY the right of the individual each host to decide whether or not to accept any child or any age, and in case they do accept younger children and/or infants whether to charge them or not.

[Donald28]

Children under 6 ARE the worst guests. I'd even go father and say under 10.  6 year olds don't pee the bed as often as the younger ones but they're still horrible guests to have in your home. They get dirty little hand prints everywhere, drop food all over the place, break things, step on things, stain whatever they are near etc etc etc. They have no idea of how their actions have reactions and can do harm to property. They don't care. 

Abraham it's great that you think your 6 month old is a perfect guests but look at it from someone who has no kids perspective. Kids are gross. 

[Sarah977]

@Donald0  The same could be said for many "adult" guests.