The question of whether or not to allow pets in an Airbnb listing is one that is quite contentious, especially among pet owners. If you do have pets in the house, it’s important to think about their access to spaces and interaction with guests. If you rent a private room in the house, will you allow pets to access it? Can you actually prevent them from entering? If not, consider making lint rollers accessible to guests who might be visiting for a wardrobe sensitive reason like a job interview or wedding.
If you do have pets, be sure this information is included in the Amenities section of the listing description. This makes it easy for people who might have pet allergies to quickly filter out listings with pets. If someone does have an allergy and submits an inquiry with a question regarding pet access in the home, the safest thing for a host with pets to do is decline the request for the safety of the traveler and to prevent any pet-related issues mid-stay. There are tons of listings that do not have any pets which would be a much better fit for those guests and it’s not worth risking a potential reaction.
Some people who have their own pets would like to extend the privilege of allowing traveling pets to stay in the listing space. If the unit is an entire home or apartment which allows pets, concessions can be made on an individual basis depending upon circumstances. Hosts have the ability to request additional pet rent through the Airbnb Resolution Tool for the privilege of making the space pet-friendly. If the unit is a private room in a shared space, consider how comfortable your pets are with visitors. Are they protective? Do they get along with other pets of all ages? How will they react to having others in their space? If you think they will be amenable, be sure to fully discuss the arrangement with the potential guest before approving their request.
There are really great properties who cater to folks who are hypoallergenic. Currently the Airbnb amenities list and filtering system does not include functionality for searching for a pet-free home, but hopefully this is a programmatic change they will be making soon. Because of this, it can be easier to use Google to look up things on Airbnb. Use the search term Airbnb along with your target city and the specific phrase you are looking for and you can usually find a relevant property. Google does a good job indexing all of the listings to make searching for specific qualities easy.
The nice thing about Airbnb is that available properties are representative of the innumerable types of homes and living arrangements. As a result the debate over pets will always be a part of that landscape. As a traveler it is important to consider how you feel about sharing space with unknown pets and as a host you must consider exactly how your pets will interact with guests in your home, approaching that scenario carefully.
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