Can host cancel less than a week from trip

[Luis6355]

So we booked a guest house in South Carolina Summerville area and less than a week before our trip they cancelled with no communication no reasoning just denied us the stay I took time off of work I can't get back and now we are scrambling to find another spot worse mistake now I see why hotels are better they can't cancel my reservation out the blue cuz they feel like it first time using this service and my last after this 

[Lorina14]

@Luis6355 
I’m sorry this happened to you. This is not how hosts usually handle reservations as we get penalized for doing this and it’s bad hospitality. You should call Airbnb customer support and ask them to find you a suitable replacement as this was not a fault of your own, is your first time on the platform, and is unacceptable circumstances as you took time off, planned and paid for travel, etc. 

I have known hosts in the past if they had a damaged unit from a previous guest or an unavoidable issue (power outage, water damage, etc) they would notify the guest and also Airbnb to handle the cancellation. However they usually ask local hosts to help them rehome the displaced guests. 

@Rebecca @Quincy @Elisa is there anything you can do to help Luis?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Luis6355 

Host cancellation is taken very seriously on Airbnb. (1) The host will incur a financial penalty, (2) the nights will remain blocked on the calendar so that nobody else can book them, (3) if the host's cancellation percentage goes above 1% of bookings, the host will lose Superhost status, (4) cancellation affects the Guest favourite status of the listing, and (5 - perhaps worst of all) the search algorithm takes it into account when displaying search results.