Area rug: yay or nay for room directly over another?

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I have a great guest, who stays every other week in any one of our three private rooms. He gets up during the night sometimes, but the big problem is that he leaves at dawn and one of the rooms that he stays in is directly over another. I just logged a complaint from a guest below him saying they were awakened by his loud footsteps. And they must be pretty loud footsteps since we do not allow Shoes in the Airbnb!

Of course, I no longer have any sort of carpeting or rugs since besides the obvious difficulty in cleaning them between guests I’m concerned that guests will see these things in a negative way. One thought is that whenever this guest stays in the room that is on top of the other, I will roll out that rug so to speak.

My question is thoughts on what kind of rug? I’m from the old school where you buy an area rug and then you put padding under it but this seems like it’s a lot of work to pull this out of storage and unroll it and set it up every time. Is there some sort of a rug that’s going to do the job that’s one piece that I could just unroll or does everybody think that having a rug in that room will not be an issue with my guests?

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What do you mean? Surely thoroughly vacuuming a rug between guests is adequate? Maybe actually washing them periodically with a carpet cleaning machine and/or spot cleaning any actual spillage might be required occasionally but not every changeover. I just can’t imagine the guest that would complain about having a rug on a hard floor.

But in any case, rugs don’t need to have an underlay layer. You can if you want but it isn’t necessary. We have always had rugs on top of floorboards without issue even after decades of normal traffic.

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There are small cushioned pads (I don’t know what else to call them) to stand on when washing dishes, etc. I have no idea if you could get something like this as a runner, but if you could, that would probably be perfect.

Have you considered talking to your guest about his nighttime bathroom visit disturbing guests in the bedroom below? Some people are “heel-stomper” walkers, I happen to be one of them, as are some of my daughers, and even though I am only 5’4" and weigh 100 lbs, I’m sure someone in a room below would hear my footsteps. But if I was alerted to it disturbing a roommate, I could easily be mindful to walk quietly.

Otherwise, it doesn’t seem like getting a runner rug that went from the bed to the door with an underlay, and laying it out once every two weeks would be that big a deal. And I’d get a washable rug in a color or pattern that doesn’t easily show dirt, so you won’t necessarily have to wash it every time.

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But if the purpose of the rug is to muffle sound, an underlay would probably be a good idea.

And without an underlay, a small rug is a slipping hazard.

There are plenty of rugs that are machine washable- no need to use a carpet cleaning machine.

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LOL, my husband is a “heel stomper” and it even drives me crazy on the same floor. I agree that runners are an easier and good solution as it doesn’t require a lot of effort to roll those up and the washable ones (Ruggable) have pads that stick to them so there’s no danger of slipping/falls.

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Can you just put him in a lower room?

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All three rooms are listed on Airbnb and it’s based on what room is available when this guest books.

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But if he stays on a regular schedule, couldn’t you just block the downstairs room dates for him in advance and only have the other two rooms available on your calendar?

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My calendar is usually pretty full, and ‘checkerboarded’ all through. The guest stays every 2 1/2 weeks so it’s not even a consistent week in and week out thing. I would certainly do what you advised if I could make it work.

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I sleep below the den in my airbnb and even though I’ve added very thick insulation and carpet, I still hear the floorboards in the middle of the night if a guest is in this room.

Would it be possible to just have him stay in the first floor rooms explaining the issue?

OK, I just read another’s host’s reply and your response. How about talking to the guest and explaining the situation. Saying that he has to book in advance so that he gets the first floor or he has to be VERY quiet when leaving in the AM?

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Needing the guest to be super quiet is of course not an option. These are working professionals and having them tiptoe around in a room they’ve paid for would not work.

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Yes and no. When guests want to check in past my check in time, I approve it if they agree to be very quiet walking up the stairs. And for the most part that works.

Also, though I run a sound machine a noise machine and a fan to block out the noise but I still get woken up when they walk in the room above my bedroom at 2-3 am.

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Putting it on this guest to solve the problem is not a good solution. For all I know many other guests also cause noise. I just was made aware of it from a recent guest.

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I’m with you there, Rolf. Carpets are filthy, disgusting things that harbor all manner of bacteria and allergens. I would never book a place that I saw was carpeted (washable area rugs are fine).
How often do people shampoo carpets? Once or twice a year? Imagine only vacuuming the kitchen and bathroom floors and washing them twice a year.

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I’m not sure even ‘washable’ rugs actually get washed on every changeover… If I lived in a hot climate I might well agree with your sentiment about carpets, but as I don’t, and underfloor heating in every room is pretty rare, carpets in bedrooms and rugs on hard floors are both normal and expected over here. And hard floors are loud.

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I agree that hard floors are loud. What I don’t agree with is that carpeted floors are “normal and expected” in cold climates. I lived in Canada for 40 years and didn’t have any carpeted rooms, nor did any of my family or friends, unless they were just renting and couldn’t pull up the carpets.

I have a small washable rug in my guest room- it’s more for decor than that it is needed in any way. It’s patterned in dark colors, so it doesn’t show dirt, and you are right- it doesn’t get washed at every turnover. No one is sitting or lying on it, after all. But it gets shaken out every time, and washed about once a month. And it’s thin, unlike carpet- it’s not like there’s half an inch or more of material there to hold dirt or allergens.

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Installing an area rug is a definite “yay” because a dense pile combined with a thick pad acts as a powerful acoustic “signal” dampener, effectively decoding and absorbing the impact noise of early-morning footsteps before they reach the guest below.