Fire in another unit

[Alexandra313]

I was out of the country when my guests let me know that there had been a fire in another unit and that the building was temporarily evacuated when they came home. They said they were told they'd have to wait till 3am to get back into the building and so booked another spot. 

They are requesting a refund but Airbnb does not cover this so it would be out of pocket. They say it's up to my discretion. I was thinking maybe a 50% refund. Thoughts please!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Alexandra313

how many days they booked? When this accident occured - first day or in the middle of their stay?

Basicly... they could wait until 3 am or book another place for one night and then come back to your place. I think I would offer to refund them 1 night.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Alexandra313

From what I know, most hotels don't provide any kind of compensation if a fire alarm goes off (regardless of real fire or false alarm) in the middle of the night and guests have to evacuate. I've heard that if the hotel feels bad enough and the level of complaints for guests is significant enough, they might offer free meals (breakfast) or pass out drink coupons but I heard that's about it. If Airbnb does not consider this as meeting the "extenuating circumstances" requirement, why should the host? It's not the host's fault and the host has no control over situations like this. This is what "travel insurance" is for. 

If it were me and I felt compelled to offer something, I'd say 30~50% of one night as just something to make up for the inconvenience, and nothing more.