4 bedrooms instead of 5

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Hello everyone,
I am new to hosting. I have 1300 sqft unfinished basement area to renovate into a 4 bedroom suite.
The basement already has a huge family kitchen with big dining space as well. I am considering doing 5 bedrooms instead of 4 but I will not have enough space for a living area with couch and tv. Maybe just corner chairs.
Is it better to do 4 bedroom with kitchen and a bigger living area or the 5 bedroom plan?
I plan to host the entire basement and not partial

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I would say it is very much dependent on your target market. Personally i would keep the living space .

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I agree. When I started I allowed 4 people and cut it back to 3 because I found smaller groups caused less wear and tear and no parties. Also, I would want living room too.

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Check your zoning rules depending on where you are. This would not be legal where I am, where there are a maximum of 4 unrelated adults allowed at a single address. (That’s assuming your upstairs is occupied by one or more people, and that “only” 1 person is per bedroom. If you envision 8 people downstairs and already have 4 upstairs … well you might be heading for sewer drain overload among other problems.)

5 bedrooms sounds more like a tenement than a “suite.”

Also given the constant complaints we hear about on this forum regarding upstairs noise and walking and kids running, it would be a consideration as to how you will, or already have, soundproofed the area.

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I have a whole house rental with 3 bedrooms and five beds, it sleeps 8. I find that guests use the livingroom a lot, especially on rainy days. I feel it’s necessary to offer them a living room space. You can add a twin size bed in each bedroom to accommodate more guests. I have a queen and twin bed in two of the bedrooms. It’s perfect for families.

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Thanks a lot for the helpful information.

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Thanks a lot for the helpful information Puppylover :slight_smile:

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Thanks a lot for the helpful information Lynick4442

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Thanks a lot for the helpful information Helsi

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I would also say stick with 4 bedrooms for the same reasons as the others.

Also, I assume 4 bedrooms would be for up to 8 guests and 5 bedrooms would be for up to 10 guests? How many bathrooms are in the suite?
You would want at least 2 1/2 bathrooms for 5 bedrooms/10 guests and 1 3/4 for 4 bedrooms/8 guests. Anything less and you’reheaded for trouble.

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Hi Brain,
We will be putting in 2 full baths

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You should limit the max number of guests to 8 because of your bathroom count, otherwise it may occasionally come up in reviews.

One thing you might consider is having 4 bedrooms but adding a sofa bed to the living room so that it can be used as a “bedroom” by groups of guests that want the privacy of 5 separate rooms.

This is exactly what I do in my 4-bedroom/2-bathroom/8-guest listing, although it’s much bigger at 2160 sqft. I only wish I could close off the living room area (e.g. with double doors) so that the area could be more like a real bedroom when needed.

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As a person with both 4 br and 5 br houses, I feel that groups require a gathering area. 1300 sq feet is very very small for a 5 br suite. I recommend you do 4 br max plus a den, but if I were you I would consider only a 3 br plus a den, and not a 5 br. Remember you live upstairs, and 5 br is a huge number of people to be staying below you in a basement.

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Thanks so much for the feedback… Appreciate it!

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I would go 3 bedroom 2 bath, 1300 sf is too small for 8-10 people. I would Cap it at 6

RR

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These rooms will not all be booked very often. But when they are it’s a full time job. That is why I only accommodate one per room.

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One person per room is not practible in reality. It is better to plan on 2 people per room and have fewer rooms. I am confused who is posting…did Vivian turn into Mandi ?

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Thanks so much for the reply.

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I am not sure what you mean Georgy, I allow one guest per room. Otherwise there could be as many as 11 people here. Even with 2 baths that’s too many. Not to mention the noise, etc.

To each his own!