Wheelchair accessible rental

[Bruce573]

I am new to AIRB&B but have been renting out my wheelchair accessible condo on Maui for over 25 years to other disabled people.  I am a C5/6 quadriplegic and I set up my condo to be wheelchair accessible which includes an accessible bathroom with roll in shower.  Over the years I've gained a loyal following of guest but want to augment my rentals with AirB&B as they have a wheelchair accessibility filter.  My main reason for posting is to hear from any other hosts (if any) that specialize by offering wheelchair accessible accommodation  and guidance on how best to avoid grief/conflict while continuing to run my own website.  Thank you in advance.  Aloha  Bruce

[Debra300]

@Bruce573,

Great topic.  Bumping your post so others can see it.

[Emilie]

Hi @Bruce573, 

I agree with @Debra300, what a great topic! What would be your own top tips after renting a wheelchair accessible condo for so long and gaining such a loyal following of guests? What type of grief/conflict worries you the most?   

A few Hosts, including @Melodie-And-John0 and @Sarah-A-1 for example, have discussed their experience here, which you might found interesting.

Have a lovely day ☺️

Emilie

[Gayle156]

Bruce573

Hi

i m Gayle. My friend has MD as do her two sons. She built a wheelchair short-term rental at Carolina North Carolina six years ago. She and  a group of volunteer decided to create a website featuring a map of the US with approximately (and still growing) 571 accessible.

You may want to check it out. It’s called BecomingRentABLE. 

[Bruce573]

Hi Gayle  I know Lorraine and her website about disabled accommodation and it is really good.  I am listed on her website along with many other disabled oriented resources on the internet.   Ironically a previous disabled travel website named Accommable.com was taken over by Airb&b and the disabled filters on Airb&b are from Accommable.  Soooo it'll be interesting how the accessibility filters work for my unit.  In regards to Emilie's post, offering accessible accommodation is not for everyone since the disabled population is not cookie cutter like most renters of rental accommodation so there is much more communication with my renters as their questions and needs are varied and much more than about my condo as many disabled folks aren't experienced traveller. I am disabled myself and need these specialized accommodations so I know and appreciate good accessibility.  I am also a social worker by training and I get very positive feedback about my offering the accessible condo and understanding their needs.   From a financial perspective renting into the non-disabled market would be better as the disabled market is generally not as affluent and wheelchair users are harder on my unit by accidentally running into walls etc but I get emotional fulfillment by offering this service. .  I look at this as my part time job and a continuation of my social work career.  I'm curious how the Airb&b platform will effect this intimacy I have with my renters as I greatly appreciate the people and stories I've learned over the years.  I also have a lot of information about disabled support and activities on my website that I'm not sure how to share with Airb&b renters.  It'll be interesting and from first impressions from this forum it'll be positive.  Aloha  Bruce

[John6049]

Hi Bruce,

We also have a house that is designed around supporting people with disabilities, but so far our biggest problem is with airbnb itself.

My wife is an Occupational Therapist and has worked in the community with disabled people for 30 years, based on her experience we built a house from scratch with a flexible design around the idea of supporting a familly where one or two of the guests have a disability. So we built in, level step free access, wheelchair ramps in the garden, electric rise and fall worktops in the kitchen, roll in/out shower wetroom and may more features. So far so good.

Our problem is getting it properly listed on airbnb, we have uploaded photographs for the accessibility section twice now, they go up, then they are listed as "pending review" for about a month or two, then they just disappear.  This is not just us, if you do a search you will find other hosts who are having the same problem.

What it looks like to me is that whoever is doing the reviews is overwhelmed and is doing a bulk delete every few weeks to keep up with the demand so if you are still in the que your request just disappears.

It seems a shame that you have people who are desperate to find suitable property, and hosts who are making changes to their property to be able to make them more accessible and yet airbnb cant seem to put them together, which is a bit weird as that should be there core bussiness.

Anyway good luck with your place, cheers John.

[Bruce573]

Hi John

Very nice to hear from you and it is a wonderful thing you and your wife did by making your rental house wheelchair accessible as there aren’t that many out in the world that provide good accessibility.  I’v been in a wheelchair for over 40 years and have travelled quite a bit so I know the lack of options out there.  The idea that you built your unit from scratch is incredible and  meant you could do the accessibility properly unlike my condo which is a retrofitted reno which makes the bathroom is accessible but the kitchen isn’t very accessible.  

My experience with AirB&B is similar to yours (frustrating) although I’m just new to to it and haven’t had the pleasure of having my listing pictures dumped like yours just the ongoing “In review”.  I first uploaded my pictures a month ago and have communicated via chat 3 times to AirBNB about the delay and I eventfully get told the engineers are working on it.  How long have you been trying to get the pictures uploaded?  and do you think they’ll ever fix it? 

This filter is the only reason I’m trying AirBNB as I've successfully marketted my condo directly to the disabled market for over 20 years with my website and I enjoy working with in the disabled community.  Renting out my condo to other disabled people has been very fulfilling and financially beneficial on helping me carry the condo expenses since I use the condo for personal use many winters.  I am actually quite reluctant to rent my condo on AirBnb without the filter as my condo then becomes a commodity and not the special unit the disabled community sees it. Over my 20 years of doing rentals I’ve had many if not most very enjoyable interactions with my renters and then the kicker is they send me a big check.

Have you done well with your rentals on Airbnb and do you get your rentals from other sources? Thank you for reaching out to me and can you tell me your listing.  Thank you Bruce

[Bruce573]

I got my accessibility features approved so hopefully you John got approved also.  It'll be interesting to see if I get any traffic from the filter especially since my step free shower is 1 of only 4 in Hawaii.  However it plays out it'll be interesting.  Aloha  Bruce

[Emilie]

@Bruce573 Good to hear things have been moving on your end! Do let us know how you find it, it'll be really interesting. 🙂

[Annelies76]

Hi John, 

Interesting to read your post. I am having exactly the same problem with the 'in review' pictures. Like your wife, I am a community OT , who renovated a building in a coastal portugues village on my own. There are very few truly accessible holiday lets here. Did you eventually manage to speak to someone useful? 

Thanks, 

Annelies 

[Ted--Pauline-And-Keo0]

I so appreciate this topic as I love to travel and also find it a challenge to find accessible lodging.  I am a quadriplegic amputee and have hosted for 7 years on the Big Island of Hawaii, but have never used Airbnb as a guest as it is difficult to find accessible Airbnb's.  As a host with an accessible place that is built with people with disabilities in mind, do you feel there should be a way to give priority to guests with disabilities?  Would you want your place to be exclusive to those with mobility challenges?

[Emilie]

Hi all, 

I just wanted to share some news with you, that you might find interesting since you were discussing listings with accessibility in mind! We've announced yesterday a new Category on Airbnb, meant to highlight spaces confirmed to include accessibility features, like step-free paths to the guest entrance, a bedroom, and a bathroom. More info on it here: 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-updates/Introducing-new-Airbnb-Categories/m-p/1712427#M52...

Thanks 😃

Emilie

@Bruce573 @Ted--Pauline-And-Keo0 @Annelies76 @John6049 @Gayle156 @Debra300