Should children under 2 Free? I think Not!

Monica4
Level 10
Ormstown, Canada

Should children under 2 Free? I think Not!

I have hosted families for over three years. Children are the most work because they.....well...they are children. I just recently found out that my listing shows that children under 2 are free. My goodness....the spilled juice on the floors, the fingerprints on my glass doors, extra laundry, diapers in the garbage......all OK "if" I get paid for the extra work but it seems that Airbnb has decided that I should do this work for free? Sadly, the only way that I can stop this free promotion is to change my settings to "unsuitable" for children under 2 and now my listing will not show up when a family is looking to stay somewhere with small children.

 

Oh well, I had better go and check the other two platforms that I use.

171 Replies 171
Gillian120
Level 4
Peachland, Canada

On checking Airbnb site they quote

 

"If a host adds Family/Kid Friendly as an amenity, this implies that infants, children, and families are welcome in their listing. You'll still need to disclose the total number of guests, including infants and children, accurately when making a reservation request. "

 

 

 

Much too nice to report them to Airbnb for not disclosing they have an infant but will definitely be changing my acceptance of booking note and House Rules after this.

 

@Gillian120 

if there are more people then booked then you are not obligated to host them. Do not let them in before they accept/pay extra fee for extra people

Or you can contact Airbnb and make them cancel the reservation

I would strongly advise you to charge for infants (put it in your house rules) to avoid such situations.

 

If your listing is family-oriented you may think of the possibility to remove laundry machine from your amenities or to buy coin-operated model. Hotels don't offer it for free either.

 

I will never forget the amount of laundry I had while my daughter was a kid, it was fascinating.

 

Hi

Thanks for the comment but do say in my house rules and description that children under 5 are accepted on the discretion of the owner but they obviously did not bother to read it and did not have the heart to cancel once they arrived.  However, I have removed having a washer from my listing, which is a shame as I  really do not mind a guest using it for one load.  As it's upstairs from the guest's suite in my utility room I find it more convenient for me to do it myself and give it back when finished.  Airbnb should let us give more details on laundry facilities offered so we could stipulate times it can be used etc.   I have also changed my acceptance message to make even clearer they must include and let me know the ages of ALL children whatever age.

@Gillian120 

yes, they did count on your good heart and got what they want.

 

We all started without any house rules and then we added them after each new guest 🙂

I have said this before and I still believe it to be true - Air Bnb have forgotton who they are and who we are; they are the platform on which we list our properties, we are the hosts who offer our properties (out homes in many cases). They should not be dictating to us who we have in our properties or homes (aside from complying with the law, obviously). If we choose to compete with hotels by offering free accommodation for under twos, that should be up to us. It is not a decision that should be imposed by the platform on which we advertise our homes.

Debbie you have said it perfectly! AIRBNB have forgotten where they would be without Hosts!

I'm not sure how much longer I want to be a Host. And, don't get me started on their ridiculous Call Centres!

@Gillian120   You can edit your amenities to describe any restrictions you might have.  For example, I allow some kitchen use, but limited to light cooking.  You could restrict washer use to a minimum of 3 days stay.