I love in Los Angeles on the West Side. Many houses don’t have air conditioning. I state in my listing that I don’t have air conditioning. We are fully booked almost all of the time.
Just a small correction - per airbnb - ‘entire’ can be used if there is a door that separates your area from the guest area that the guest can lock.
I’ve installed such a door and wall - well, construction begins at 8 am this Wednesday - so I now list as ‘entire’ with 2 bedrooms, while making it clear all over the listing that it is an apartment in our home.
Can you please explain what qualifies as a commercial inappropriate listing is? I don’t think I’ve seen one of those.
Listngs that aren’t from regular home,sharing hosts but are from those absentee hosts who buy up blocks of residential districts and turn them into Airbnbs.
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Martha,
Sorry to hear about the suspension 
That’s the first time I’ve heard Air doing stuff like that in any location. I was invited to a superhost meetup in my area and got a chance to meet the regional manager. I was discussing some things with her, and she bought up a topic about deleting “poor performing” listings. I thought she was kidding but now that I think of it, it freaks me out. Mind you, I’m not saying your listing is terrible or anything, as I never though 4-stars is bad at all.
Well, apparently they did suspend them. That link (even if you delete everything after the question mark) goes to a search index page showing all the listings in the area.
Update My listing is problematic. The house is enormous and we rent out the third floor, 3 bedrooms an a bath. We do not rent the rooms separately. Currently it is listed as whole house but sometimes we have one longer term person on another floor. In that case we list as shared. Air reinstated us quickly so I was not that bothered. The reviews from last summer all come down to lack of air con which is not unusual in Canada and 3rd floor which was clearly stated in the listing. People don’t read the listing and then reviews ding us for “surprises” that are clearly spelled out. I had 4 inquiries for Canada Day 2017 - July 1. VERY big in our area. 3 people did not book or cancelled when I reiterated that it was 3rd floor and no air con. In the end it was booked by a family who have vast air bnb experience an have clearly understood an awknowledged these two points. It is a beautifully restored heritage house so central air is out. We will get some standing units for next summer.
Many posters seem to wonder if the place is a dump, so here is the link which I think should reassure you. https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/10585211?checkin=26-05-2017&checkout=29-05-2017&guests=5&adults=5&children=0&infants=0&s=keToGVaD
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I see a major problem in that it’s listed as whole house, but in reality it’s shared with owner’s son. This is not disclosed until you read reviews. So I’m not sure the reason for suspension was 4 stars, but misleading info on listing. I just scanned listing, so I may have missed info that shows separate, locked entrance to third floor.
As to Air conditioning, I’m Canadian and in Ottawa and Southern Ontario, air conditioning is the rule. For homes like this, there are numerous options for installing air con. I’m writing this as forum members elsewhere may accept OP’s assertion that lack of AC is not unusual when in fact our very hot humid summers are very uncomfortable without ac.
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If your son lives in the house, it is NOT a whole house rental. I recall you previously mentioning that it is stated several times in your listing that your son lives there, but I sure can not find that information clearly stated.
Amenities do not include air conditioning, so I don’t understand why people would assume that A/C would be included. However, as our summers get warmer and warmer, we are finding that we much have more window units. In fact, we added one to a room that was clearly listed as NOT having a window unit this summer since it seemed cruel to ask anyone to sleep in a third floor room without it. Sometimes, you have to adjust on the fly.
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Lets take it from the top.
Summer 2016. Son lived in the house which was stated THREE times in the listing. Listing indicated SHARED.
SON HAS MOVED OUT
Listing is now changed to whole house. Therefore I have rewritten the listing to reflect that. [quote=“Martha, post:167, topic:7388”]
sometimes we have one longer term person on another floor. In that case we list as shared.
[/quote]
As for Air Conditioning it is NOT “The Rule” in a heritage district where the houses are 125-175 years old. This is indicated by not being a listed amenity and in email communication.
I think I am pretty well done with this site. I feel a real rush to judgement. I have never misrepresented this listing.
However the smug an accusatory tone of some posters has me finished with this community.
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Please don’t leave. I don’t think anyone meant to judge harshly. It wasn’t clear before you showed your listing that you had changed it since your son doesn’t live there any more. If I were you, since your reviews mention your son, I would add into the description that at this point, the house has no other occupants. But your wording is likely to be better than mine!
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@Martha - Your home is lovely but there is a glaring omission in your listing. You have not included a photo showing stairs and the accommodations are on the 3rd fl.
It is common knowledge that guests do not read. Not showing at least one photo of the stairs can be perceived as a disservice to potential guests who are then later ‘surprised’. Obviously, just having it ‘clearly spelled out’ in the listing is not having the desired effect.
(Oops, I just read that you are exiting so just ignore my intended helpful input.)
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If your son has moved out, but the reviews point out that he is on site, I would add a paragraph stating that the home no longer has your son living there. Obviously, and I read very completely, this confused me. You must assume that it would confuse others reading your listing nowhere near as carefully.
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It’s silly to ban people for 4 stars.
If you only have a small number of guests so far, one cranky entitled guest can ruin it for you, or blackmail you into a refund.
Personally, I’d get a new account and list under that. Maybe photos of the bedrooms only and list the space as ‘rent a bedroom only’ and not common areas. Risky, but hey, 4 star bans are tacky.
Private house is the entire house, nothing shared, separate entrances. If you or your son have access to any of their space that isn’t locked off or have to walk through their area to get to yours, that’s shared or private room-- not entire house. You could just list 2 separate bedrooms, renting by the individual room.
I’m still having difficulty accepting that 4 star ratings will get your listing suspended at Air.
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Absolutely… I mean, look at this listing that was No 2 in our market for at least five days.
8 reviews; 3 1/2 stars. And she has other properties.
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They can’t blackmail you for a review, that is against the TOS and can be reported for removal.
Sure they can. This actually happened to me. And Airbnb’s reaction was, essentially, do you have proof? And of course I didn’t. So, apparent moral, if a guest tries to blackmail you by threatening you with a bad review, make sure you have an invisible video camera running.
Yes. If it’s a threat made in the messaging system there would be proof.
If having only 4-star ratings will get your listing suspended, Airbnb will probably loose 1/4 of its hosts overnight.
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