Does anyone know if guests are acknowledging mask policy for shared spaces?

Lori2240
Level 2
Brandon, FL

Does anyone know if guests are acknowledging mask policy for shared spaces?

Does anyone know if guests are required to acknowledge the shared space policy of mask wearing and have to agree to this policy?  Do hosts have to provide the masks? 

23 Replies 23
Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

"Your original post was quite discriminatory." 

 

What's wrong with that? - This is the thing that most annoys me about Airbnb; We SHOULD be allowed to choose who we let into our houses, we should be allowed to turn people away for ANY reason & should not have to justify it! - Our houses, our rules! 

Of course hosts should be able to make judgment calls as to who they accept to share their homes. What is discriminatory is putting forth the notion that someone coming from a foreign country poses more of a risk to you than people in your own community, when you live in a super high-infection rate area yourself. It's like being fearful of accepting someone from a country with a high crime rate, as if anyone from that country could be a murderer, when you live in a high crime rate area yourself and don't have that same fear about accepting guests from your own area.

@Helen350

Clare167
Level 10
United Kingdom

I think that the topic of mask wearing is just exceptionally polarising @Lori2240 . My own experience, of 7 guests over the summer, was that some chose not to follow the rules I imposed for protection of myself and later guests - nothing to do with masks, it's an Entire Place. I think that you can expect the same. I then snoozed.

Clara116
Level 10
Pensacola, FL

@Catherine-Powell   I'd love to hear your input on the host question here and their take on COVID Airbnb standards and in home shared spaces. With the amount of effort put into the CDC cleaning protocols we have put  in place these questions and style of hosting are somehow  confusing. 

Thanks in advance

Suzanne302
Level 10
Wilmington, NC

@Lori2240  Accountability can feel like an attack when you're not ready to acknowledge your behavior. As @Anonymous was simply pointing out, if I were a host in another country I'd be more worried about a guest from the US. We ARE the high-risk Covid country. We have more cases and more deaths than any other country!

 

I think @Kia272  gave you some good advice. Set clear expectations for your guests about mask wearing prior to arrival. As you continue to host you'll learn not to rely on Airbnb to set policy for your own listing and to take any of their "initiatives" with a grain of salt. Your listing, your rules, your enforcement.

 

I don't think anyone here is judging you for hosting a shared space during a pandemic, but the advice is that if you are worried about Covid, whether or not your guest wears a mask in your home is probably not going to make a difference. The only way to be absolutely safe it is to avoid shared spaces with strangers.

Terrill0
Level 6
Dresden, ME

I wish this discussion was still active! I host a cabin that until covid had a shared bathroom. Because of this we snoozed our listing completely until just recently. We reopened but we no longer share the bathroom with our guests because we don’t know people’s vaccination status. As we live next to the listing and share outdoor spaces we increasingly aware that we cannot assume anyone’s vaccination status . 

@Terrill0  I'm not sure what the problem is. Certainly, if unsure of vaccination status, don't share a bathroom unless cleaning in between uses and limiting close or unmasked contact while accessing the bathroom.  However, given what we know now about the likelihood of spread in an outdoor environment, I'm not sure what your concern is there.

If you have doubts or are unwilling to ask your guests about their status, then mask up when interacting with them. 

I don't think asking is a problem. I think that making their stay conditional upon a vaccination is the problem, although ultimately it should be up to the host. It's also an honor system. A verbal yes or no will have to suffice, rather than asking for proof with a vaccination card. 

I mention my own vaccination status in my check-in message and now in my listing,  and most people respond with theirs, although I do not ask. I simply open the door. 

I think here in the US in certain areas, we've gotten comfortable with being vaccinated and making assumptions about the vaccination status of the general population. I'm comfortable welcoming guests because we interact outside. I still wear a mask in public, mostly to be self-righteous (ha!), partly to set a good example, and also because some vaccinated people have gotten sick with the Delta variant, although not as sick as they might have gotten without the vaccination. 

I suggest mentioning your own status in your listing or in your messaging, without demanding anything of your guests. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find out. Good luck. 

@Kia272 Please clarify what you mean by " making their stay conditional upon a vaccination is the problem"  When I called Airbnb this morning the rep told me it is acceptable for hosts to require proof of vaccination in order to book. 

I operated on the honor system until today. I asked 3 guests if they were vaccinated and 2 were not. One of the 3 had tested positive for covid.  She was asymptomatic and didn't know she had it. Another unvaccinated guest entered my indoor business (which is separate from, but next door to the airbnb rental) without wearing a mask.

Because of these experiences I reached out to Airbnb. I know there are many hosts who listed shared spaces and I'm curious what is going on for them right now. The CDC is only tracking breakthrough cases that result in death or hospitalization, and that number is at 5500. They are not tracking infections. My listing is in a popular tourist area so nearly all of my guests have just travelled from out of state.  Since risk is partially based on your populations vaccine rate, and I'm in a shifting population of travelers it is hard to know the risk. I will tell you that when we ask people if they are vaccinated either in our business or our Airbnb they are not...and they are not wearing masks.

Your business, your AirBnB. You can absolutely make masks a requirement in both places. 

I actually don't know AirBnB's policy on the vaccination, because masking and social distancing are still options. You can interact with an unvaccinated person under those conditions, as we all did for about a year-without being vaccinated ourselves. 

But you can't wait until a guest arrives to ask. If you are demanding that your guests be vaccinated, then make that a condition of booking. 

AirBnB reps will tell you anything; whether or not it's based in fact you'll never know.