Guest with medical conditions

[Ann631]

I recently had a guest with Chrone's Disease. I didn't know what that was before, but found out the hard way, after days of him stinking up my flat with dihorhea and not being able to breath in my own house, and not having any appetite to eat due to the smell. Finally, I had to evict him because he eventually soiled the bed - confronting him about it was awkward for all and not something I would wish on anyone. He was a nice, reasonable guy and left without any drama so that was fine... but my question is, are there any minimum requirements for guests? Because, while I'm sypathetic to people with medical conditions, I don't feel that AirBnB is suitable for someone with this disease. I am not a hotel and don't have full cleaning service to deal with these things, and that is why I don't charge hotel prices. Therefore guests should be of a certain standard - they should be independant enough to find a house on their own, they should leave the place reasonably clean, and I believe they should be healthy enough to get to the toilet in time to do whatever they need to, and not damage your property.

In the end, I decided not to leave a bad review because he would just create a new account anyway if I did that (as his was blank to begin with). But, I do believe AirBnB has to start taking some responsibility about this. Currently there is no rule about minimum requirements for guests (while there's plenty of minimum requirements for hosts) and this should be addressed. Perhaps it should be stated upon sign up that guests must be a certain level of health, safety and hygeine, and cannot enter someone's home knowing they have this kind of illness without letting the host know.

[Ann641]

I am positive he knew he was sick when he checked in - living with this condition, you would know the signs, and they were all there (I just didn't know them at the time). Also, he just left me a bad spite review, despite the fact that I was kind enough not to give him a review after eviction. And, his dog shredded my chair. All in all, he was just clearly not a considerate person.

But it is not true that hosts cannot discriminate on ABB. Hosts are allowed to deny people with infants or pets, we can prohibit parties, and there is no rule that all homes must be wheelchair accessible, so we can discriminate against those with disabilities by proxy. So where does Airbnb draw the line?

[Catherine232]

This reminds me of a recent inquiry for a family to stay after the mother had had surgery for breast cancer! I was quite alarmed, but did not refuse outright. But then it turned out the patient also had MS and a wheelchair (we have stairs up to the home, and a narrow hallway into the main floor bedroom she would have used). Then to top it off the booker asked for a discount, because she was flying from SA with kids to be with her Mum. I responded saying I could not offer a discount and was unsure about the hallway but could measure for their information. Fortunately they didn't book in the end. I felt like a right cad, but really didn't feel my home was an appropriate location for their needs.

[Alon1]

@Catherine232 

I wouldn't feel 'a right cad' under any circumstances when endevouring to figure out if my home is appropriate for guest needs, more so as a live-in host. 

For this reason I've resisted Instant Book from day one of its introduction, which I find contra the original ideal of 'home-share' and finding the right 'fit', etc. 

Without IB, the process of Inquiry can be as thorough as need be. In six  years I've dealt with a little under 1,200 Inquiries. My conversion rate from Inquiry to bookings has remained remarkably consistent. I've accepted about a third. The remainder is roughly divided half-half between those that I do not feel are appropriate for my home, and a third who decided it was not for their needs.

I've had to deal with a number of medical conditions. The ones who have been up front were the ones with disabilities, necessarily so since my listings emphasize it's not a ground floor flat and no elevator in Amenities.  Conversely, I discovered those with physical ailments have been least forthcoming, and this has led to some difficulties during the stay.

The most extreme condition I've had to deal with is Lupus with OCD. (But this turned out to be a very warm engaging lady with a young daughter, to whom I became a virtual servant for the first week till husband/father turned up, and extended one week into three week stay.)

The worst experience was with a psychiatric condition, that turned out to be a clinically diagnosed paranoid. It was made worse as an undisclosed 3rd Party booking by his flatmate. It became very uncofmortable for both me and others in the flat, that I duly had to ask the Guest to leave, the only one in near 400 bookings. The booker took revenge with an awful Review and Star Ratings which also led to a 5-Day 'pause' to the listing. It took me a month and considerable effort to get Airbnb to delete the Review & Ratings based on infringment of 3rd Party Booking rule. 

[Ann641]

@Alon0  I agree turning off instant book is the way to go... I don't care if I get less bookings, as long as I get less headaches.

I had a flatmate with OCD and it was actually great. She was always cleaning 🙂

My guest has also now left me a bad spite-review (even though I was sensitive enough not to leave a review at all). I guess I was niave to think that any eviction is ever really 'civil'... hearing your experience, I honestly don'tt hink I would host if I didn't live with my boyfriend. It just sounds like a potential safety issue...

[Ann641]

You were absolutely correct in your thinking. I am seeing an alarming pattern - people are using AirBnB like it is any old accomodation when it's not - it's someone elses' home and they cannot be expected to be on hand 24/7 like a hotel.

[Wendy217]

Hi Ann, that sound terrible, I'd suggest you put  a version of that which you stated above on your own criteria ,,, "must be a certain level of health, safety and hygeine, and cannot enter someone's home knowing they have this kind of illness without letting the host know.' I personally ask guests to cancel if they have a contagous illness (flu etc) and I ask guest not to use scented cosmetics because I have allergies, my guests are very responsive and I realise now its about me being congruent and authentic about my own needs and expressing that to potential guests. I also live and learn through experience and have to add things to my criteria as I do so. Good luck Wendy

[Ron-And-Carol0]

We recently had an inquiry from a person who said they were coming to the area to receive attention for a medical issue. The person had said they would be in the unit for 5 weeks (we have legal 30 day min) but they wanted to be able to get out early. 

I responded back asking about the nature of the medical issue.   The person became indigent. 

My concern was reasonable since we are not equipped to handle a medical emergency or tend to a sick person.  If someone was coming for dental work, that would be of little concern.  If they were coming for Chemotherapy, that would be beyond our capability to handle.  

We have seen close friends going through Chemo who generally were very sick for a couple days after treatment; and two had strokes, one died.  This is extreme no doubt but it happens.  A person receiving Chemo or other difficult needs someone handy in the event they need help; they really need to be in a place that can provide medical services or have a person aid them if needed. 

AirBnB needs to develop policy on this issue.  Like handicap access, pet or no smoking rules, hosts should be able to inform guests weather or not they can book a given property. 

In the case of people with severe illness or medical conditions which could require personal interaction by a host, the guest should be required to inform the host so the booking is an informed decisions.  Perhaps the guest can be required to fill out a scorecard which would qualify or disqualify them as a suitable Abb guest for medical reasons. 

One other point - I get dinged with a decline because I turn down an unsuitable guest.  That is unfair to me under these conditions.  

[Kevin1322]

One of my adult sons has Crohns.

He would have gone go a hotel if he had a flare up, funds permitting.

Perhaps the guest couldn't afford to do this.

Most people with Crohn's Disease manage it, it was unfortunate for you and unfortunate for your guest. But your guest has to suffer this awful affliction for the rest of their life, which puts it in perspective.

The guest was wrong to leave you a spite review, but imagine how humiliating it must have been being thrown out.

But as his dog shredded your chair you possibly reviewed him too kindly in the first place.

No good deed goes unpunished, does it.

I'd just draw a line under it and move on. I'm sure you'll have many guests with Crohns or other diseases in the coming years and never even know. Most people are responsible enough to match their accommodation with their conditions. You just got unlucky.

 I'd definitely bill him for the chair though.