Does a random Airbnb qualify as a quarantine "designated location"?

Life Health & Fitness
#1

Hi, I’ve recently restored my Taiwan dual nationality and will be arriving in Taipei at the end of May / early June.

I’m thinking the 2-week home quaratine will likely still be in effect. I’ve searched the Taiwan CDC site for more information on the quaratine, but what I’ve been reading are the news bulletins. If anyone knows a better place for quarantine information, please let me know.

The bulletins mention doing the quarantine at a “designated location”. I know (1) your own home qualifies and (2) designated coronavirus hotels of course qualify. But I don’t have a home in Taiwan. Does a random Airbnb qualify as a base for quarantine? I have a one-month reservation in place made before the pandemic that was to be used during apartment hunting.

#2

Some have do that or rented a room. But you need plan how you will get food, water and other needed items. The person I know, her family rented an outside house and her mon brought over food. The hotel option is good if you do not have someone here to help, as they bring meals to your room.

#3

This couple from Belgium seem to have rented an Airbnb place in Taipei for their quarantine. For food they just ordered Uber Eats.

#4

Thank you for the responses. I contacted 3 “superhosts” in Taipei. They all said no to quarantine hosting.

  1. One told me a host needs approval from the government, and he didn’t plan on getting this approval.
  2. Another told me their building or community doesn’t allow quarantine hosting.
  3. Another just told me no and recommended I go for a quarantine hotel.

The first superhost said I can’t set foot outside my door, so an approved Airbnb quarantine host would have to do extra things, such as picking up my trash outside my door and throwing it away down a chute or taking it down the stairs for me. Yes, I agree the food can be done via a courier. And I saw a thread on here about Carrefour being able to deliver groceries.

The government has a list of hotels: “臺北市防疫旅館相關FAQ”. But they’re very expensive if you want something sizeable, and I’m trying to find a roomy place if I have to spend half a month indoors in one location. Another reason I’d prefer an Airbnb is for a kitchen because I do have some dietary guidelines that I try to follow, and would prefer to make most of my own food.

I’ll ask the Belgium couple what they did and hope they respond. Maybe they got in before the government made hosts seek approval.

#5

Do you have contacts in Taiwan? Your best bet might just be to rent ahead for six months or a year, in which case a landlord might let you do it. I think it will be harder to pull off if you’re a foreigner with limited Chinese. Was your one month rental also with Air B&B? If you have family anywhere, I’d talk to them. Maybe you could rent a small house in [wherever you know people–Yilan, etc.] for a month. Good luck!

#6

if you want someplace cheep and cheerful, try and find out where this couple was,
it was one a few us dollars a day i think.

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#7

Hi! Just curious about what you ended up doing? Were you able to find an airbnb that accepts quaratine?

#8

You cannot quarantine in an Airbnb legally.

Your own residence or a certified quarantine hotel only.

#9

Not true, a lot of people quarantine in rental apartments.

Owning the property in which you are doing quarantine is not a requirement, nor does it matter if you pay your rent cash, bank transfer of credit card(or giving Airbnb a cut)

#10

Rental properties are considered your own residence. By residence I mean the place that you live, or is listed on your residence certificate. You don’t need to own it. Airbnb is definitely a no no, unless you have a contract outside of Airbnb with the landlord. Call the CDC and check if you don’t believe me. Perhaps you would get away with it, but like I said, if you want to legally quarantine it has to be in your own residence or in a quarantine hotel.

#11

Why can’t you reside in an apartment that you rented on Airbnb ?

#12

Icon sums it up quite well.

Also:

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#13

So, if I got a 2 year contract trough Airbnb, go overseas, come back, I can’t do my quarantine in the apartment just because it’s rented trough Airbnb.

Did I understand you correctly ?

#14

The rules may be different for long term rentals, and I would guess only if you have a contract with the landlord, which you wouldn’t with Airbnb. @eunibrows seems to be looking for an apartment to quarantine in, not to live in for a long time so that wouldn’t matter anyway. I don’t make the rules, I’m just informing the user what the rules are and what the CDC will tell him. You, and the user are welcome to call the relevant offices and ask to be sure. By renting an Airbnb to quarantine in, you are directly skirting the requirements that hotels have to abide by to ensure safety. Anybody who tries to save a few bucks by quarantining in an Airbnb and putting people at risk is an idiot. Airbnb bookings are considered hotel bookings, and hotels need to have CDC approval to host quarantine guests.

Would you get caught? Unlikely. Should you do it? No.

#15

Thanks for the responses yall. Not trying to start a contentious argument like I’ve seen in other threads. Just curious @meishija if you’re based in Taiwan right now? My uncle in Kaohsiung said theres a hotline you can call in Taiwan to inquire about these CDC requirements, and he called for me to clarify. He was initially skeptical of using airbnb for quarantine too, but after calling he said that the government officials told him airbnb is ok. I might have to clarify with him specifically what they said, but I trust that he has my best interest at heart.

Does anyone here based in Taiwan know about the hotline? And has anyone tried calling?

#16

Again, lot’s of misinformation being spread in this thread as well as other airbnb related threads. It probably doesn’t help to use information from April or from posters interpreting the law using poorly translated news articles. April is ancient as far as this topic is concerned.

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#17

Indeed. Plus rules in Taipei and other areas might be more strict as resources for monitoring are stretched, more people to watch.

Anyways everybody try to stay as safe as possible.

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#18

Yes I’m in Taiwan now, in New Taipei. Call the CDC yourself, they have an English pandemic line. The rules may be interpreted differently in each city you quarantine in, and you may get a different answer depending on who you speak to. Quarantining in an Airbnb is not allowed officially as bookings are considered hotel bookings and therefore need to meet strict criteria, but whether the CDC enforce the rules, care or even know them themselves is another question.

However, this argument is rather pointless as I doubt you will find an Airbnb host willing to let you quarantine in their place. They themselves know that they are supposed to have a license to host quarantine guests.

#19

When I asked in July around 4 out of 6 hosts were willing to accept us. We quarantined at an airbnb in Kaohsiung in August and the cops who asked were okay with it then when I explained that I was “renting the place for a month.” We were definitely not in violation of any law, epidemic control or otherwise, because the lease term used a monthly instead of a daily or weekly unit. The landlord might have been in violation of article 55-1 by the very act of advertising rentals shorter than a month on a website but that had nothing to do with our contract or epidemic control laws.

I know my current landlord in Kaohsiung is still hosting quarantined people who booked through airbnb. I am not clear on how they’re making it legal / effectively evading the authorities though. The only way I know of how this could be legal is to extend the lease term to be at least one month.

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#20

Ultimately it would come down to whether the CDC considers long term bookings to be hotel bookings or your own rental home.

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