I actually have worked at a hotel, not sure why you would make that assumption, and I'm not even sure why it matters as it's superfluous information. I can have an opinion on something regardless if I know that many hotels would refund due to circumstance. You seem like the type of person that wouldn't allow a cancellation even for, say, an incoming category 5 hurricane.

And I also have asked for a refund on a non-refundable stay due to a mistake; I kindly gave my story and nicely apologized, and they refunded me. I was very appreciative and stayed many more times there as a result of their kindness in seeing me as a human.

There are many new users of Airbnb, the details can be a lot to take in and the user interface makes it easy to skip over details. Personally, I'd refund them in this circumstance.