Can I refuse to host single male guests?

[Julia943]

I am a single female hosting B&B in my home, it is fairly rural with no immediate neighbours. I haven’t been doing Airbnb for long, but I’ve just had a booking from a single male for 2 nights. He only has two reviews, both being for him and a female partner, not as a single. I am not happy to host him and would like to cancel. Can I do this without penalty and can I specify no single men anywhere in my listing so this doesn’t happen in future? Thanks

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Julia943yes you can.

Gender Identity

Airbnb does not assign a gender identity to our users. We consider the gender of an individual to be what they identify and/or designate on their user profile.

• Airbnb hosts may not
  • Decline to rent to a guest based on gender unless the host shares living spaces (for example, bathroom, kitchen, or common areas) with the guest.
  • Impose any different terms or conditions based on gender unless the host shares living spaces with the guest.
  • Post any listing or make any statement that discourages or indicates a preference for or against any guest on account of gender, unless the host shares living spaces with the guest.

• Airbnb hosts may
  • Make a unit available to guests of the host’s gender and not the other, where the host shares living spaces with the guest.

It is written here https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1405/airbnb-s-nondiscrimination-policy--our-commitment-to-inclus...

[Ricardo85]

@Julia943

Read this.

Ricardo

[Gordon0]

Brilliant, @Ricardo85 - but only if Julia is fluent in Portugese. 

[Ricardo85]

@Gordon0

Link updated!

But you can go at the bottom of the page and choose your language.

Ricardo

[Julia943]

Thanks

[Julia943]

Thank you

[Gordon0]

@Julia943 Like @Branka-and-Silvia0 says, but you may also want to make this clear on your listing, ie. 'No single men'. However, the message this sends to anybody else may narrow your market somewhat, for instance, are you OK with a gay male couple?

Good luck all the same. 

[Julia943]

I am extremely happy to host couples of any orientation, or single women, my concern is simply for my own personal safety with a single male guest. But I can see that refusing one category of person is going to be impractical and my concerns are probably unfounded.

[Gordon0]

@Julia943 You need to feel comfortable with who's staying in your house, that's a given, but it's a tricky situation to get down in 'black and white' alright. Gay single male...it's a minefield. 

[Sarah977]

@Julia943  Yes, you can do this if you don't feel comfortable with single male guests. But FYI I am a single female host with a private guest room in my home (I have a rural listing, too, although I do have neighbors close enough that they could hear me scream, but who knows if they'd be home?) and although I tend to get far more single female guests than male guests, all my male guests have been great guys- friendly and respectful, no weirdness at all. And my guests do have their own bathroom, so there's that, as well.

What I don't do is use Instant Book- I want to be able to read a guest's reviews before accepting the booking as well as exchange a message or two with them- I find you can tell a lot about someone by their communication skills.

But definitely don't host single men if the prospect makes you feel uneasy.

[Julia943]

Thank you for that. I think your comment about instant book is a good one. I am using that at the moment, but I will change it.

[Valerie192]

Hi @Julia943 feel free to look at my listing if you are interested to see how I advertise I don’t host guys. Thanns

[Julia943]

Thank you Valerie, that’s really helpful.