travelmad478

I'm not sure why you think "so many hosts cancel 1-3 days before" if you have never used Airbnb before? In my experience (admittedly, I've never used Airbnb in Bulgaria), that is most definitely not the case. If you are nervous about that, filter your search to look only for Superhosts (this can be done via the website, but not the app, for some reason)--you can't maintain your Superhost status if you cancel even one reservation.

If you find properties with no reviews, don't book them. I don't know if they are scams, but they are an unknown quantity, and why bother risking it? I would only book at places that had a significant number of recent (positive) reviews.

TravelingNomads

Airbnb automatically puts a feedback when the hosts cancel, so when we were looking at a couple of locations we were seeing some hosts that had 5+ cancellations and then a couple of reviews in between. I think for our first experience we'll take your advice and start with a Superhost.

travelmad478

Yes, in that case definitely seek out Superhosts. I've been to Bulgaria and really liked it, but it is a place where the culture doesn't necessarily focus on following rules (to put it delicately). So best to be somewhat cautious. Find places with a lot of good/recent reviews.

TravelingNomads

Sounds good. We are very excited about our upcoming trip, but are just navigating through unchartered waters. The hotels in some of the cities we will be visiting were only 3 stars at most, so we thought an airbnb might be cleaner. We'll keep checking. TY for your help!

warakorn

What do you have against children?
I bet in some jurisdictions it would be illegal to bar children.

travelmad478

Airbnb host here. I host guests in spare bedrooms in my home, so it would be hard to get any of these rule violations past me without me knowing about it immediately.

Guests arriving with a pet or extra guests that have not been approved would be grounds for not letting them in; these rules are stated clearly in my listing. Smoking would get an immediate request to stop (and eviction if they didn't), as well as withholding of the security deposit for cleaning fees. I don't have rules against children, and have hosted a number of them, but my bedrooms have one bed apiece, so your kid sleeps in bed with you--that's a dealbreaker for most people. I don't have specific rules about noise or quiet hours, but if people were being loud late at night, particularly if both of my rooms were occupied, I would not hesitate to politely but firmly ask them to quiet down.

These sorts of issues are why I do not and will never use Airbnb's "instant book" feature.

invisible, I don't know which forum you posted in originally, but be aware that there is a thread called Ask the Airbnb host in the forum you're now in.

Finkface

I don't allow children in my vacation rental. It is on a very high floor, the bank of kitchen and bedroom windows start at knee height (and open outward) and there is no childproof lock on the sliding glass door. I also have glass tables and tile floors. So there is real potential for injury or worse. I clearly state this in my listing.

I have made exceptions for friends (I know how they parent, I know their kids, and they have seen my place so the hazards are known to them). But I won't take the chance with strangers.

lavajava

As you quoted my reply: I have nothing against children and have one myself.

The poster was asking about potential responses to hypothetical situations that may occur. i.e. have a listing which states it's not suitable for children, which is an option on AirBnB as a host. The place may simply not meet the needs of children. Adults only resorts exist - which are not against the law.