Family Connection only with a TV ?!

[Philipp]

We are renting our house in Sweden, out in the forest, next to a lake where families can enjoy what nature has to offer. While children usually have everyday access at home to TV, smartphones, game consoles etc. I think it's perfect if they also have a break once for a while. That's why we have decided not to have a TV at our place and for our children.

It really bothers me, that AIRBNB thinks a TV is necessary to become the Family Connection Batch. 

What are your opinions about this?

Further I think requiring a TV is also a bit old fashioned. Since people often bring their own ipads, notebooks and so on along with them and can watch netflix, youtube…

[Tilly]

I totally agree! 

I rent my home, which I live in part time with my 6-year-old son, and we don’t have a TV- never have! 

I wish it was not a requirement- seems odd.

[Robin]

@Philipp @Tilly

Hello Philipp, unfortunately TV has become a part of our lives whether we like it or not, and our personal thoughts don't really carry much weight any more. TV is just one of those accepted things!

Airbnb include TV there in the decsription for your own good Philipp because, you do not mention anywhere in your listing description that a TV is not provided, and if a family arrived to find no TV they would complain and mark you down in the review process!

You should make some prominent mention in your listing description that you promote a relaxed lifestyle getaway from television and other stresses of everyday modern living! 

At least then prospective guests will book with you on the basis of your listing and your phylosophy rather than be 'ambushed' by the lack of it when they arrive! 

All the best Philipp.

Cheers.....Rob

[Branka & Silvia]

@Philipp

hm... my daughter doesn't watch TV, she has laptop and there is all she needs. She is 23 y.o. We also rent long term to  students and half of them didn't move in with TV .

But  I do have TV and watch it regulary, even fall a sleep watching it from bed . So yes, young crowd don't care for TV but  older generations do and would probably be dissapointed not to have it , specially if it rains .. or during Word cup :)

And one more thing - yes, we all love our kids and want to spend some quality time with them etc...  but we need a break too. Cartoon chanels save parents life ;)

[Lisa]

@Philipp I recently polled all of my 2018 guests about the importance of TV to their stay. Based on the results I'm going to discontinue TV service in our small cabin (mostly young couples) but keep it in the larger house (mixed age family/friend groups).

[Kath]

@Philipp  @Lisa @Robin @Branka & Silvia @Tilly

@Lisa, thanks for sharing your 'poll' results - very interesting! I have had hosts suggest that I put a TV into my guest room but most of my guests are youngish and my impression is that they don't want/need a TV. My 22-year-old son, for example, never watches TV. They much prefer to be on their phones/tablets/laptops so having WiFi is much more important than having a TV. The only guests that ever ask me if they can watch TV are the older Australian ones - they inevitably ask if they can 'watch the 7 o'clock news' and then spend the rest of the evening watching the telly (and completely intruding on my personal space while they're at it).

Personally, I think it's great to get yourself and your kids away from the TV once in a while, especially when on holidays.

[Sarah]

@Philipp  There was a lot of discussion about this a year or so ago. I'm totally with you- I never had a TV in my house, I had three kids, and there weren't even all these devices for them to play on back then (my youngest is now 36). They did creative, artistic things, played outside in the fresh air. If I had booked a family vacation in a remote cabin, I'd have been really dismayed to find a TV there- the last thing I'd want is to spend vacation time with the kids constantly nagging to be allowed to watch the TV, when it was supposed to be family time with outdoor activities, or if raining, playing board games or reading.

TV should not be required in a family listing- that's daft. It should just be one of the amenities that a host can check or not. The people who came up with that requirement must have been parked in front of the TV for their childhood and think it's essential.

[Kath]

@Sarah, 100% agreed! We didn't have a TV until my son was 13 and we never had playstations, Nintendo, X-box, etc. etc. As a result, my son actually played outside and built stuff and wrote poetry and read books! I would also never book a place with a TV when on holiday with kids - imagine the nagging! IMO, people who want a TV when on holiday are just weird...

[Sarah]

@Kath  When my oldest was about 15, her boyfriend's family gave her a TV they were getting rid of- they thought it was inconceivable that we had no TV and felt she was being deprived, I guess. She had it in her room- the result was that she'd come home from school, go straight up to her room, turn on the TV, and we'd not see her again for the rest of the night, altho I did insist she come down to dinner, not take  the food up to her room, which would have been her preference. It also intensified her mortification at having a "hippie" family- she saw all these perfect families on TV and wanted us to be like that, not realizing that those kind of families don't actually exist.

[Kath]

@Sarah, hahaha! I'll tell you a funny story - not long after we got our first TV (which to be honest I picked up off the verge (someone's throw out) to watch the first Obama election results come in I was so excited about it), same thing started happening with my son. He'd come home from school, turn the TV on, not do anything else, and stopped hearing anything I was saying. I literally couldn't drag him away from it! One day, after he had ignored me for the umpteenth time as he was so transfixed, I just walked over to the TV, unplugged it, picked it up and carried it to the back door, and threw it off the back steps! You could have picked my son's jaw up off the ground he was so shocked. It was most definitely one of my more 'crazy mama' moments but it was quite possibly THE MOST SATISFYING thing I've ever done! Needless to say, it was some time before we got another one...

[Philipp]

I am sure your sons face said more then 1000 words :) Great moment.

[Philipp]

@Branka & Silvia @Kath @Sarah @Lisa @Robin 

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, experience, polls and stories about TV's. Was great to read.

I am aware that we all deal different with media consumption and that it's also a cultural thing. 

As you mentioned it @Sarah, this would also be my ideal way:

"TV should not be required in a family listing- that's daft. It should just be one of the amenities that a host can check or not."

Will write an email to AirBnb :) But what I read from other issues, it seems they do what they do.

[Melissa]

i totally get you! my family has a great beach house but it has no internet, 1 TV, heaps of old school board games and is a bit of a step back in time. We have always loved this and when talking about whether to bring it into the modern age we've always agreed not to do it. BUT...  it's getting to the point where the kids don't want to go there, infact I kinda feel the same (no netflix, hello), i could do with an espresso machine and it's just not as much fun as we want it to be. No standard TV would be almost unimaginable and we LOVE the outdoors and all that goes with it. I get you, but being in a similar dilemma I'm thinking a slight upgrade wouldn't hurt anyone! let me know how you go! 

Mel

[Jim]

I totally agree.

[Rebecca]

@Philipp I do not have a tv and refuse to get one for my guest room. In the two years that I have been hosting on Airbnb, I have note received one single query about a tv. Most of my guests are here on vacation and are off doing fun things. Those who are here for work or other activities just logon to my fast WiFi on their laptops, tablets or phones and watch movies or shows on Netflix. 

I was also disappointed when the lack of a tv meant that I could not qualify for the family listing. 

@Robin it it gives me great glee to disagree with you. ;-) We do not have to state that we do not have a tv. It clearly shows on our list of amenities whether or not a tv is included.  On mine, tv is crossed out.  One might expect a tv in a hotel room, but it should not be an expectation as a guest in another’s home.