@Donald28
Don, I have said before, when I started to host, a wise person said to me...."Don't put anything out there in the cottage your are not prepared to loose"!
You go the other way, you are an Airbnb icon, guests come to you because you embody that core Airbnb philosophy ....to provide a genuine Airbnb experience. You have 340+ reviews and most of those are generated around the uniqueness of what you offer Don.
Such rotten luck but it is going to happen.
You are in every probability right....... the guest will say, "well that's what happens when you have guests, accidents happen, that's why you have insurance, claim it on insurance, he is only a kid, he didn't mean to break it!.".......and they will refuse to pay, other than possibly make some token gesture to settle on $50 or some small amount! And if they do that, then that strengthens your hand because they have accepted responsibility! That at least puts the negligence thing in their court, not yours.
How this gets handled is, to major extent, is up to you Don.
I feel the best approach is via Twitter. At least that way you will end up in the US with someone who will have a better understanding of your circumstance rather than ending up in the phone pool in Manila!
You may already be familiar with Twitter Don, but just in case you aren't......
Step 1: Log into Twitter
Step 2: Search for @Airbnbhelp and choose "Follow" them.
Step 3: Send a Direct Message (DM) explaining your issue and wait for their response. They may ask for information such as your listing but always provide it over DM so it is not public.
Staff who man the Twitter feeds are quick to respond, and from what I am told seem to have a higher level of authority than the phone pool. I have no basis for saying that Don, it is purely an observation that has been made by many users over the years.
When they respond keep the annoyance under control Don, these people have their patience tested many times every day. Be that 'island' of pleasantness that they can heave a sigh of relief and put their energy into for a while.
Ask them to look at your hosting history, see what you do, maybe even put in that video link, and say to them......."By doing what I do, I bring guests to Airbnb, I am the company's front man here. If I didn't offer with my unique arcade game facility what I do, it would not just be a loss to me it would be a substantial hit for Airbnb as well.
If this guest refuses to financially cover the cost of repairing this iconic sign, can you guys cover me here so I can keep on doing this and keep on making Airbnb unique. I don't want to take all the good and uniqueness here to another platform!
Don, it's going to require a bit of patience on your part but, I truly feel you have an excellent opportunity here of having Airbnb cover you regardless of the guest. It's not as though you are trying to hit them up for 5 grand, I am sure they will see the benefits obtained by supporting you far outweigh the reasonable cost you are claiming.
Good luck Don, I would love to know how you get on!
Cheers......Rob