Guidelines for guests with accessibility needs

We welcome and support people with accessibility needs. These members of our community should be able to trust that their hosts will provide accurate information about features related to accessibility and be respectful in their conversations. The following guidelines regarding Service Animals also apply to Emotional Support Animals in California, New York and any jurisdictions that require hosts to accommodate Emotional Support Animals.

What we do allow

• Host health or safety exemptions for Service Animals: If a host is unable to host Service Animals for reasons such as the animal would pose a direct threat to the health and safety of a permanent resident at their home, hosts may be granted an exemption if they notify us proactively.
• Requests to remove Service Animals not in the control of their handler: If a guest’s Service Animal is not within their control at any time during their stay, hosts may request that the animal be removed. For example, if the animal is left unsupervised at any time during a reservation without the host’s permission.

What we don’t allow

• Denying a reservation because of a guest’s accessibility needs: A host may not treat guests differently because of their accessibility needs. In the absence of an approved exemption, hosts may not decline, cancel or otherwise alter a reservation because a guest has a Service Animal.
• Adding fees because of a guest’s accessibility needs: Hosts may not charge an additional fee for Service Animals. Check out our Accessibility Policy and understand why Service Animals are different from pets.
• Denying reasonable requests from guests to accommodate accessibility needs: Hosts should grant requests for reasonable accessibility accommodation. For example, it’s reasonable to ask a host to move their sofa away from the doorway so that a guest in a wheelchair can comfortably enter the living room (assuming that there is room to move the sofa and that the host is capable of moving the sofa). However, it is not reasonable to ask a host to expand the doorway of their home in order to be able to fit a wheelchair through it. Check out our Accessibility Policy for more information about reasonable accommodation.
• Unequal treatment: In the absence of an approved exemption, hosts should apply the same treatment, rules and behaviour to all guests, regardless of their accessibility needs.
• Derogatory language: No one should be subjected to language that insults them based on their disability – including denigrating the service that their Service Animal provides or using any other discriminatory language.
• Misrepresentation of accessibility features: Listings must include accurate information about available accessibility features in the space and surrounding property. Hosts should be transparent and discuss details related to accessibility within the message thread with any guest with known accessibility needs.

We’re here to help

If you witness or experience behaviour that goes against our policies, please let us know.