New neighbour with bad character, should i updates my future guests?

[Ayena0]

Hi, I'm a host from Penang, Malaysia. Recently a new neighbor just move in next to my place. Not only he is rude, but more appropriate to describe as "dangerous" (he was formerly a drug addicts). Since he moved in to my area, some houses was broken into and at night time, there are illegal motor racing activities in our housing area (my place is located in a town house area whereby parking lot, leisure area and excess road are shared among the residents, no gate between each houses and no security guard). I'm so worried about this new neighbor but seriously there is nothing more i can do with him. I have a few confirmed bookings. Among them, 2 bookings are just one night stay, the other one booking will stay for 7 days (check in on late November).

My question is, should i update my guests, especially the long stay guests that situation has changes? i can foresee that they might want to cancel the booking due to safety reason. I would be very reluctant if they wish to cancel but at the same time i feel so bad if anything bad happen during their vacation here.

Also, I'm concern that if my place was broken into and my guests property has been robbed, can they claim from me? No matter what is the outcome, I'm sure they will leave a bad review if this unwanted incident happened during their stay. Hence, would it better for me to tell my guests the real situation and let them decide whether to remain or cancel the booking, rather than say sorry later? I'm not sure whether this will be the best solution but i just feel not comfortable for hiding the fact. In any event if the booking was cancelled either by the guests themselves or by me (upon the guest's request), is there any penalties for cancellation under such circumstances? 

I've contact Airbnb via twitter and initially they said will assign a case manager to look closely with my case. The next day they replied that 

"unfortunately, Airbnb is unable to tell you what to do. In this situation what I would recommend is that you visit our Community Center."

I really hope someone with the same experience can help out or share some thought.

Thank

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

It;s really up to you to decide. If the situation is that risky then it would seem wrong to invite guests into your home if you expect them to be the target of robbery, etc. Of course you have no evidence that your new neighbour is responsible for the break ins and you don't say he is responsible for the illegal motor racing either.

In terms of cancellation, one party will have to cancel the booking unless AirBnB decides to do so for the guest, or for you.

My advice would be to tell your guests, let them make the decision as you are being honest about the change in circumstances. I think it would work best for the guest to approach AirBnB as they can say due to your message they no longer feel safe staying there and ask AirBnB to find them alternative accommodation. That way they will probably avoid any penalty and neither will you be penalised.

[Grace38]

Dear Gerry And Rashid, many thanks for your professional replied! I will try to work it out with my guests and hopefully they can understand the situation. 

[Ciern0]

Hi Ayena, glad to hear that you are hosting in Penang!

I'm from Penang too! 🙂

My advice would be to be safe rather than feeling sorry later.

Inform your guests about the incident and be honest to them.. and leave the decision to themselves.

I think you can also email to airbnb and tell them to cancel your reservation if you needed to do so,

there are some situation where cancellation has no penalties. 🙂

Hope this helps!