R. Wright thought her Airbnb allowed kids.
She thought wrong.
She found herself homeless on the streets of Chicago during one of the busiest times of the year — and Airbnb wouldn’t give her a refund.
Can Wright rescue this Airbnb stay?
Let’s find out. (Also, please see an update at the end of this story as well as my mea culpa.)
Wright’s case is important to anyone traveling with kids. Many Airbnb guests choose a rental because it’s child-friendly (or so they think).
I’ll tell you what happened to Wright and how she ended up on the street. We’ll also review Airbnb’s policy on kids and what to do if you’re ever evicted.
So let’s get to Wright’s story.
Kicked out of my Airbnb for complaining
After Wright’s family checked in, they discovered the host hadn’t cleaned the place properly. The bathrooms were filthy, the carpets hadn’t been vacuumed, and the kitchen looked like someone had just prepared a meal in it and left. Yuck.
“We took extensive photos documenting how dirty the place was,” says Wright.
She expected the host to clean the rental. But that’s when he turned on them, she says.
“The host became angry at our request,” she says. (Related: I’ve been banned by Airbnb, but no one will tell me why.)
Instead of promising to clean the apartment, he retaliated.
“Without notice, he asked us to leave. Then he changed the code to the apartment, locking us out.”
Seriously?
Seriously.
The host alleged that she had brought children into the rental without permission, even though Wright has written evidence that she disclosed that she had kids, including an infant.
“This left us stranded without many options for housing,” says Wright.
Fortunately, a friend helped her family find another place. But now they had to get their money back from Airbnb. And that wouldn’t be easy.
“We did nothing wrong”
Reading the thread between Wright and Airbnb is cringeworthy. She repeatedly asks Airbnb for help, and Airbnb seems to ignore her.
First, she notes that the host wanted to kick her out. But Airbnb only says it will circle back with the host, and then appears to go silent.
Next, she asks Airbnb for help getting alternate accommodations. But Airbnb doesn’t give her a meaningful response, either. (Related: Locked out of your Airbnb? Here’s how to get back in.)
Then she asks for a refund. Airbnb says it will ask the host, but she never hears from the platform again.
“We did nothing wrong,” says Wright in one of the exchanges. “This host should NOT be on the Airbnb platform.”
There are two explanations:
First, Airbnb was just tone-deaf to her complaints.
Second, I don’t have a complete thread. Wright didn’t share the exchanges between her and the host, so there’s some missing information.
But there’s enough information to know that something went terribly wrong here. You can’t just kick a family out of an Airbnb and change the locks.
Or can you?
What’s Airbnb’s policy on kids?
Airbnb allows kids in its rentals — but there are limits.
There’s no blanket ban on children staying in Airbnb accommodations. But it’s not always straightforward: While Airbnb as a platform welcomes families, individual hosts have the final say on whether their property is suitable for children.
How to find out if your Airbnb accepts kids
You can determine if your Airbnb rental accepts kids by doing the following:
- Read the listing carefully. Hosts can specify if their place is family-friendly or has age restrictions.
- Look for “family/kid friendly” amenities: This search filter can help you find the right place — and avoid the wrong place.
- Safety first: Not all properties are childproofed. Check for potential hazards in the listing’s photos and description.
- Extra guests, extra fees: Some hosts charge additional fees for children and even infants. Always disclose the exact number of guests, including kids.
Most important, you’ll need to communicate with your host if you have any questions about your kids. Most hosts are understanding when a family stays in their rental and can sometimes offer a crib or toys for the children. They can also remove fragile items before your visit.
But what happens when your Airbnb host claims you moved into a place with kids without telling him, as Wright’s did?
What should you do if your host kicks you out of your Airbnb?
No one should ever get evicted from a vacation rental. But it happens.
To avoid an eviction, I recommend reading the house rules and Airbnb’s policies. Airbnb has strict rules against having parties, and it will almost always stand behind a host who removes you from a property for partying. (Related: Airbnb lost my reservation and then banned me.)
Similarly, Airbnb has little sympathy if you smoke in someone’s house or make loud noises or try to set up a meth lab.
But if your host tries to remove you because you wore shoes in the house — Airbnb will probably not support such a move.
Here’s what you need to know if you find yourself suddenly without a place to stay:
- Don’t panic. If your host kicked you out of your accommodations without cause, Airbnb should be able to find a place for you to stay.
- Preserve your documents. Channel your inner accountant and keep all receipts, voicemails and text messages. You may need them if you have to fight for a refund. Note the exact time of your eviction. Take pictures and videos of the problem.
- Contact Airbnb immediately: Don’t wait to report the issue. You can use the Airbnb app or website to contact customer service. Calmly explain the situation. Ask about their immediate assistance options.
Note: If a host cancels your reservation while you’re still in the property, Airbnb will not pay the host or will reduce the payout by the amount refunded to their guest. So in case you’re wondering — Airbnb has your money, not the host.
Can Airbnb keep your money after you get kicked out?
My advocacy team and I couldn’t believe that a heartless Airbnb host would evict a family with an infant after they had the audacity to ask him to clean his rental. If that’s true, then the host really shouldn’t be on the platform.
But there are two sides to every story, and we don’t have the other side. Wright didn’t share any of the messages with the host or even his name, which left my team at a disadvantage.
So what could we do? We could ask Airbnb for its side of the story. After all, the platform had taken her money and hadn’t paid the host. So it would need to refund her. (Here’s our guide to resolving your consumer problem.)
I should note that Airbnb hasn’t been all that talkative lately. The company, if it responds to my team’s advocacy requests, will offer a terse, generic statement but will never disclose any details. So I was not surprised when Airbnb acknowledged my email and then went silent. But a week later, we heard from Wright.
“Airbnb contacted me and issued a full refund,” she told me. “Thank you for your help. You are a miracle worker!”
So in the end, Airbnb didn’t do anything wrong. Too bad our team had to get involved to right this wrong.
Wright’s case is a stark reminder that in the world of vacation rentals, “host” and “hostile” are sometimes separated by just a few letters. Always be ready to fight for your rights – and your refunds.
Update (Aug. 5, 2025). The host has responded to this story:
On the morning of August 15, 2024 I received a message via Airbnb’s platform from Ms. Wright asking to check in that day. She had written that she would be volunteering at the Democratic National Convention which would be starting in a few days. I had assumed that she was contacting me from Washington, which was listed as her home on her profile but soon after I would learn that she was already in Chicago, at the airport. It’s worth questioning why someone would get on a plane with an infant and fly to Chicago without accommodation during a major event such as the DNC. Must be more to the story, right?
Once the reservation was accepted she asked to check in almost immediately. When I wrote that I would need a little bit more time she requested that I store her luggage, which I did. I allowed her to check in an hour early at 1;30 pm.
I did not hear from Ms. Wright again until the following night, around 9pm on the 16th, after she had been residing in the apartment for almost two days. This was the first time she raised the issue of the cleanliness of the apartment. She also complained that the tv remote had “the buttons gouged out”. I knew that wasn’t true before her stay as I had placed the remote on the table next to the tv after having trouble finding it when the previous guests checked out. How the remote was destroyed I don’t know, but I know for certain it happened during her stay. As for her long list of complaints regarding cleanliness I
I responded by offering to come by the next morning to address her concerns. And I also offered to refund the amount she paid less the two nights she had already stayed. She rejected both. She wrote, inexplicably, that she would get a recommendation from her “friend” to clean the apartment.
The next morning, around 11am, I knocked on the back door of the apartment and we conversed while the door remained closed. I told her I was there to tidy up the apartment. This is what she said : “I’m sorry but I don’t want some old white man going through my things. I found someone to clean the apartment. You should let me call them if you don’t want another one star review..” I left without saying anything further. Within 15 minutes I received a call from Airbnb telling me that my guest had complained about the cleanliness of the apartment. I immediately asked Airbnb to terminate the reservation with a refund for the unused portion of their stay.
For the next 8 hours, Ms. Wright and her family refused to leave the apartment. After the first hour they ignored calls and texts from Airbnb customer service and Airbnb Trust and Safety. Around 6pm that night, when I noticed someone who was not on the reservation letting themself into the apartment, I changed the code on the lock. Ms. Wright and her family and at least one other person were in the apartment at the time. They were never locked out of the apartment. Around 8pm that night, they finally left.
Shortly thereafter, I submitted a trip alteration request for a refund for the remaining nights on the reservation. This request went to Ms. Wright on the Airbnb platform. If she had approved it she would have been refunded for those nights and those dates on my calendar would have been opened up for me to rent to someone else. She ignored it. This request was outstanding for five days. When her original reservation ended, I withdrew the request.
In addition to the damage done to the remote, Ms. Wright’s party stole the umbrellas from the apartment. Airbnb paid me in full for this reservation and refunded the replacement of the remote.
I never mentioned anything about her daughter and in fact rushed to get the apartment ready for her so she could put her daughter down for a nap. She was never locked out of the apartment. She was repeatedly offered a refund for the unused nights on the reservation.
My listing is not fancy. It is a two bedroom apartment modestly priced ($129 a night) on the edge of a gentrifying neighborhood not far from the Loop. I believe Ms. Wright planned to reluctantly stay with friends or family members but when she saw my listing and read the previous horrible review, she hatched this plan. She references the previous bad review in the message thread. She probably would have “cleaned” it herself , charged me $200, then complained further to Airbnb that the apartment was dirty and she didn’t have a tv available, and seek a refund for the rest.
Loading ...About this story
When we received this case, I saw this as a story about Airbnb’s policies about kids in rentals. We always strive for a quick resolution, so when Airbnb offered Wright a refund, we closed the case. In retrospect, we shouldn’t have.
There was another story to be told as well about the host’s interaction with Wright. More than six months after this story appeared, the host reached out to us to tell his side of the story, which we have now added as an update to the article. The host also provided evidence in the form of a chat transcript, and has noted that Airbnb paid him for the stay.
The host, whose name we have chosen not to publish, wanted to emphasize the following: He did not evict a guest because they brought a child into the unit. He did not refuse to address their concerns regarding the cleanliness of the unit. He did not change the code on the front door lock while they were away and they couldn’t get back in. He did not refuse to offer them a refund for the unused portion of their reservation. We regret the oversight.
