An infant is not a piece of luggage!

[Rich3]

From the November newsletter: "Infants (under 2 years of age) will not count toward your guest maximum"

Please, please don't do this! I charge for extra guests because they mean more work for me. I have no problem with babies at all, but my experience has been that parents of babies leave the place messier, I assume because they are busy with baby-related matters. That's totally understandable, so I don't want to downrate them for it. I just want to be compensated for the work I do.

This is not giving us "more control" -- it's taking away control. Under this policy we would not even know if there is a baby. It's just another surprise guest and more work for us. I would either have to say "no babies" which is unfair to parents, or write in some complicated, awkward workaround in my rules.

This change is totally unnecessary. Let the guests fill in the ages of any children and let us set who we count as extra, so the guests can make their choice.

[Lois-and-Darryl0]

Our experience has been the same -- babies and toddlers ARE not luggage; their parents are distracted and busy, and if there are bigger siblings, then they run amok.  Hosts need to know all of the Guests in their home, not just some of them.

[David641]

To add to the discussion, our listing is on a well and septic system. Each PERSON consumes water, each PERSON adds a load to the septic system. Each Person requires additional sheets, towels, creates more mess, and adds to the overall workkload of a host. The only choices we will have is either click on the "Not suitable for children under 2", or raise our rate to all guests. Either choice is not one to be taken lightly, yet it would be the only way we could cover or eliminate the additional cost of doing business related to having guests with small children. While this showed up in the Newsletter, I haven't seen it in the Terms of Service. Please do not enact or enforce this policy, it is not good for the hosts, and will not be good for the guests.

[DragonflyHill-Collective0]

This is really messed up. Now when hosts indicate that our listing is suitable for up to X guests, it's really X guests + 5 free children under 2 years old, and there's no way to adjust for this. This is outrageous. 1. We should have a say in who comes in our homes for free, 2. We should determine the total number of guests. 3. FIVE FREE INFANTS? REALLY? FIVE? THAT'S A WHOLE PRESCHOOL CLASS. EVEN PRESCHOOL CLASSES HAVE A COST AND THOSE KIDS GO HOME AT THE END OF THE DAY.

WE want our home to be comfortable for children and welcoming, but when we said we could only accommodate up to 4 people, that didn't mean up to 9 people if 5 of them were under 2 years old. It didn't mean free lodging for ANYONE.

You could allow hosts to offer free passage to children, in a discount setting. You could allow guests to search for "chlldren are free" or "infants are free" in a search feature.

You absolutely have to allow hosts to determine how many people they can comfortably, affordably and safely lodge.

My email, because you always ask for that, is dragonflyhill345@gmail.com But then you never message.

We've added the following statement to our listing:

"While we are children friendly, we cannot provide free accommodations for children OF ANY AGE.  We welcome your children into our home but all fees and total number of guest limits apply.  We love and welcome children but at the prices we are offering, we cannot afford to have extra people of any age here, without compensation for our labor and resources. "

[DragonflyHill-Collective0]

This is really messed up. Now when hosts indicate that our listing is suitable for up to X guests, it's really X guests + 5 free children under 2 years old, and there's no way to adjust for this. This is outrageous. 1. We should have a say in who comes in our homes for free, 2. We should determine the total number of guests. 3. FIVE FREE INFANTS? REALLY? FIVE? THAT'S A WHOLE PRESCHOOL CLASS. EVEN PRESCHOOL CLASSES HAVE A COST AND THOSE KIDS GO HOME AT THE END OF THE DAY.

WE want our home to be comfortable for children and welcoming, but when we said we could only accommodate up to 4 people, that didn't mean up to 9 people if 5 of them were under 2 years old. It didn't mean free lodging for ANYONE.

You could allow hosts to offer free passage to children, in a discount setting. You could allow guests to search for "chlldren are free" or "infants are free" in a search feature.

You absolutely have to allow hosts to determine how many people they can comfortably, affordably and safely lodge.

We've added the following statement to our listing:

"While we are children friendly, we cannot provide free accommodations for children OF ANY AGE.  We welcome your children into our home but all fees and total number of guest limits apply.  We love and welcome children but at the prices we are offering, we cannot afford to have extra people of any age here, without compensation for our labor and resources. "

[DragonflyHill-Collective0]

I Didn't know there was a newsletter. I've never been sent one. How does one access the newsletter? Where?

[Daniela167]

It is illegal to host more people than what is permitted by the law in Italy. Children of any age are counted as people. If Airbnb do not count anymore children below 2 years old as guests, Airbnb is making hosts breaking the law.

Italy is the third market for Airbnb in the world, similar capacity rules are in other countries too.

I marked 2 guests maximum because my apartment can host 2 people for the law. What is the sense to show my apartment in the results to families of 3 or 4 people? I made it on the website putting 2 adults and 2 children and my apartment is showing up in the results!!

Now I have to loose my time to explain the law to foreigners and apologise in behalf of Airbnb???

[Nikki4]

Hi all!

If you are concerned about the "Free Infants" policy, please consider posting a message on the Airbnb Facebook Page.

Please share your concerns directly with the company, so hopefully we can get this ridiculous policy changed!

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

Right.  I would suggest Aibnb ask the parents of these babies if they are 

a) human, and

b) work

I would imagine that all parents (and I am one) would agree that these adorable little babies are, in fact, people, and that they do, in fact, require an inordinate amount of care, attention, and cleanup.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Even hospitality industry standards allow only up to 2 children under age 12 to share a room with parents!

I would like Airbnb to give us an example of a hotel or reference of the hospitality standard they are referring to that allows up to 5 infants (age 0~2) in one room for free.