Construction noise waking baby

[Quinn0]

We are 2 days into our rental and there is ongoing construction of another building a couple meters in front of our balcony which we were not notified by the host.  Every morning it wakes up our baby and sometimes in the afternoon if we are home and she needs to sleep in one of the bedrooms.  

As we are seeking a month long stay many of the area listings in our price range are already booked out.

What can we do?  If it wasn't that we had 3 small children under 4 years old we would have no issues but travelling has different needs for us now for my husband and I.

Thanks for your input everyone!

[Gordon0]

The first thing you need to do is complain to your host, @Quinn0, and explain the situation. Do this via the app so there is a 'paper trail'. If this doesn't help, get in contact with Airbnb customer service. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Quinn0 

If the host was aware that construction was happening and it could potentially affect the quality of your stay, the host should have definitely informed you and let you decide what to do. I think this is something you should bring up with the host but realistically, I doubt the host can do anything to stop the construction or make it quieter. You can (and should) complain to your host, but you should also figure out what do you want. Let's say your host offered a 10% refund as a sign of good faith and apology for the discomfort since you have been inconvienced from the extra noise. It's not going to make the place any quieter and won't prevent your baby from waking up from the noice every day. Imo, if there is something you want the host to do, then you should be clear about that as well. 

I would also like to say that there is the possibility your host wasn't aware of the extent of the construction or how noisy it can get during the day. There was on-going construction of a new apartment building near my home for a whole year after I moved in. Since I'm at work during the day and the type to sleep thru a tornado I barely noticed, but Henry worked from home and is a light sleeper so I know it was much more stressful for him. 

You should also consider contacting Airbnb CS and ask to be re-homed while getting a full refund for remaining days. You might even be able to persuade CS to give you a bit of extra credit so that you can look at places that are slightly over your budget. Whatever you decide, good luck~! 

[Lawrene0]

I don't know how helpful this will be, @Quinn0 , but a couple more days of it and the baby may adapt. That has been my own experience.

If you can ride it out, you can stay in the budget place and you won't have the stress of rehousing.

But you'll get home and the baby will need construction noise to sleep. 🙂

Seriously, I see you know both sides, as a frequent guest and superhost, so you wouldn't be posting if it was something that could be so easily fixed. Do as the others say and talk to your host - maybe he/she has another place? - and then talk to Airbnb if you need. 

All the best. Let us know how it turns out. 

[Kelly149]

@Quinn0 

white noise machine?

turn on a fan?

my kids # 3,4 & 5 got to where they could sleep through anything...

Kid #1 woke up if someone breathed funny.

Hard to know without being there if this is something the host should have told you or if its just part of life where you are. Did you discuss with your host before confirming that total quiet was important to you?

If a guest told me that they needed to not have any noise disturb their baby for a stay at my place then I would tell them to book elsewhere bc I can hear trucks, noisy motorcycles, etc from the barn and those aren't things I can control.

[Sandra126]

There is (or at least, used to be, website does change from time to time) a space in the listing form where any temporary or permanent noise issues could be mentioned in order to accurately describe one's listing. As I understood it, if it WAS mentioned in the listing, guests could not complain about it, but if it WASN'T mentioned guests could, as the noise should have been mentioned.

Construction a couple of metres away is very close. I was renovating when I had a baby and would use the sleep time to get on with it. No hammer beat could wake him up as he did indeed get used to it. Loved sleeping to music too, if baby falls asleep to music the intermittent building noise might not wake baby up? I put on something like The Pogues for fast building speed and heavy napping.

[Quinn0]

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions - another reason why I love this Airbnb community.  Always out to help in the truest sense!

Construction and noise was not mentioned to us or in the listing prior to check-in.  I guess I will have to add this to my list of questions to hosts going forward.  There seems so many especially for here in KL where even sometimes kitchens are non existent or sparsely equipped.  No knives especially since those are not common for eating.  But I thought there would be a chopping knife at least for simple prep of food.  Not always!  Do I have to ask if they have forks and how many?  I could have many questions if in this case.  Suppose I will steer clear of any listings without reviews going forward.  My folly this time.  Thought I would give it a chance.

Well looks like we have another issue more pressing than the construction... cockroaches!  Yes they do coexist somewhat in tropical environments and I am no squeamish about them.

We have contacted the host and they are bringing cockroach baits for us but I am still uncomfortable about the fact that my children may return to sleeping on the thin floor mattresses in this unit in particular.  The baits may not be 100% effective.  

If this was a budget place perhaps but we are still paying quite an amount so moving to a newer building and better kept unit may be the answer.