exact location revealing?

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Sergiu0
Level 1
Romania

exact location revealing?

Hello!

 

A potential guest asks me to reveal the exact address of the apartment i offer for hosting... can i do that?

 

Thanks!

1 Best Answer

My home is a single family home. Showing the location within 100 meters would show my exact location. That's the size of my yard! If you don't trust that the host knows the distance from their property to public transport, don't rent from that host.

 

Revealing the exact location is dangerous. Period. If you need to know the exact location, get a hotel. I'm tired of people on here making excuses for needing to know the exact location of a property that has a private owner. If you don't like Airbnb's reasons for not revealing the exact location before booking, then get a hotel.

 

As a property owner AND someone who has used Airbnb as a renter all over the world, I stand by my reason that revealing the exact location to people who have not booked is dangerous. I do not, as a renter, want the owner of the property giving out the exact location of the place where I am staying to someone, anyone, who hasn't booked the property. That person could come there while I'm staying there and do anything.

 

People who need the exact location, for any reason, should book hotels. If you  have mobility issues and can't walk very far, stay in a hotel that is equipped to handle those issues. Sounds harsh, but it is true. Do you want, as a renter, complete strangers who haven't put up any money to find this location, to know exactly where that property with unsuspecting renters who potentially have a lot of cash is? Who may be women staying alone? I don't. 

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180 Replies 180
Ali298
Level 1
London, United Kingdom

Are you a simple?? W


@Deborah0 wrote:

It's best not to reveal your exact address/location before a booking is made, to avoid potential problems, or in some case, scams.  (If guests are demanding about this, one might give thought to the other ways that this guest might prove to be demanding.! ) Just tell the guest that the exact address will be given to them after they complete a booking. Many guests are new to using Airbnb and dont' understand how it works -- it can help for hosts to educate them a little about how the system works and how address and contact information is not exchanged until AFTER a reservation is booked.  

 

I always wonder why some guests feel a need to know the "EXACT address" in advance-- and that is the phrase they often use (those few who ask about this) .   For what purpose, I wonder?   If you think about it, it really is not necessary for someone to know your EXACT address before they book -- really all they need to know, for purposes of planning their trip and transportation plans, as well as to assess safety of your area, is your general vincinity, which is already given to them on the map.  If they know where you are within a  couple blocks or a few blocks, that is really all they need. 



ho pays money to rent a flat if they have no idea where it is, how they get there? 

Someone who agrees with me ....at last 

As a person who has used Air BnB a lot I fully understand why guests want to know the exact address once they have confiirmed a booking. I often make trip notes on any extended vacation and like to include a Google map of how to get to our accommodation. This is only possible if an address has been provided. Thee are too many reports of peopel wandring around looking to find the home. A cell phone would be useful but we don't own cell phones so this otpion does not work for us.  

As a frequent traveller I would like to know the exact address to make sure the building isn't facing busy roads, railways, tram rails etc. If the building is right next to suck kind of stuff it's likely to be noisy especially if windows are facing the road.

Neville17
Level 1
Brisbane City, Australia

Not knowing the exact address causes the guest anxiety and puts them at a disadvantage. OK for Airbnb and the host but it's bad for the guest especially if I'm tring to plan a compicated journey with mapping software etc. Understand hosts get worried about having their stuff stolen but put yourself in the guest's shoes now and again. And what about your insurance? or is that an expense too far? Travelling to a place, sometimes on the other side of the world to an unfamiliar city where you dont know anyone or speak the language and they won't even give you the exact address raises a few "what ifs" like; What if I get there and I'm left standing in the middle of an intersection with no apartment in sight and the host isn't answering their phone or airbnb app? Hasn't happened to me yet but it's putting yourself out on a trust limb. Airbnb (big corporations in general) will keep pushing clients (and hosts) boundaries till the guests will eventually give in and book a regular hotel instead.

I want to know the exact location to decide how long I have to walk to the shop I know. 

@Mary1482  All you have to do is message the host, tell them the name of the shop and they can tell you how far it is.

They DO need to know - for the reason the building might be unsafe. Like in the case of airbnb host's misleading guests and not disclosing the location until TWO days before when guests are staying at Opal Tower in Sydney - evacuated because of construction concerns in Dec 2018 and not fully fixed.

I don't agree with the host not providing the address or at the minimum a street location. The vacationer in most instances are paying significant coin for the rental. The broad locations indicated on the map could mean the difference between a reasonable location or a sub-standard location for the vacationer. This could be critical for a family with young children and stuck on a busy road for the duration.

Ask the host or check into a hotel 

Knowing the exact location, for me, is to be able to plan my daily travel to and from public transport, food locations. On a daily bases, the distance one has to WALK makes a big difference if the place is a few blocks away from what one has to guest at initially. 

@Glenn122  All you have to do is message the host to ask how far it is to public transport, shops and restaurants. Or the name of the cross streets.

In my case, giving my exact address wouldn't even give a guest anything to go on. Where I live, none of the house numbers go in any discernible order and the streets aren't well marked. And my place doesn't show up on Google maps. I'm very clear in my listing how far it is from town, reiterate this when they request to book, and send my guests a detailed map a week before they arrive. Not one guest in 2 and a half years has had a problem with any of that.

Here’s why: I’m taking my family to a big city in a foreign country I’ve never been . . . and I want to know where I’m staying, what it looks like . . . Is there graffiti spray painted all over the buildings on the block?  Is it an attractive building?  Is my family going to feel safe there?  Am I going to feel like my money was well spent?

 

So, because of the “few”, the majority must pay . . . seems to be the new world we live in.

 

Can you solve the dilemma?  And reading 3 or 4 reviews from people i have no reason to believe doesn’t work.

 

From my side of the equation it feels like “bait and switch”:  hand us your money, then we’ll give the address . . . And if I’m disappointed, what are my options?

Ana1136
Level 10
Ohrid, Macedonia (FYROM)

@Mark1612 in that case it might be better if you book a hotel, that way you will know every detail before you arrive. There are also many hosts who have pictures of the outside of their properties you can see if you like it and also you get the approximate location so you can google if the neighborhood is safe or not. There is no need to know the exact address. These are people's homes and they need to feel safe there every day and not have random people show up to check out the property. Hosts don't even see who will come before the guests books, their options are the same as yours, canceling and dealing with refunds. 

@Mark1612  So you want the host to walk up and down the block, taking photos of of all the  facades on the block, so you can make sure there's no grafitti? How else would you know? Google street views are not always up to date- what if some taggers came by the night before you arrived and grafittied the outside of the building of the listing you booked? Does that somehow make you and your family less safe? Because some kids bought a can of spray paint and went wild with it? 

Look, Mark, I do understand what you're saying, but you see how ridiculous it is, as well? As a host I work really hard to make it clear on my listing info what the area and my property is like, warts and all. If guests have further questions, all they have to do is message me. I've had single women message asking if the 20 minute walk from my place to town was safe. My answer? I have lots of single female guests who do that walk and no one has ever had a problem. It's a rural area of family homes but there are some stretches of fields with cows and horses and no houses. But I can't guarantee anyone's safety. Just like anywhere, there can be random incidents- you take the same precautions you would anywhere. And there are taxis that one can grab after dark for $5.  

Guests can see the general area I'm in. Whether my house is down the dirt road a block south of me or the dirt road a block north of me is not going to tell them anything of value.