You could check guests in in person.
RR
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I agree. It’s common knowledge that guests will open every cupboard, drawer, and door and go in every room that they have access to. I’d wager this has happened before to a lesser degree and nobody noticed.
It seems like the host is resident in the building but not in the STR unit.
I’m always surprised by hosts who don’t do this, either themselves or via their co-host. I just don’t understand why, because the house tour is so important for so many reasons.
With this in mind, I don’t see how the host could justify an extra charge. The guests would simply say that they were tired, it was dark, or whatever excuse they wanted. People do get lost all the time. I’m not saying that these people did, but they could say that.
The same applies to the review. If the guests weren’t met and shown to their room then it could (I’m not saying it was, but could) have been an honest mistake.
Going forward, with a host and a co-host on the premises, simply meet the guests on arrival.
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I’m going to be blunt as is my habit. You seem to have come down with a case of “want my cake and eat it too” with regard to both your rental and this forum. We rarely commiserate with hosts who are trying to skirt the edges of the law. Yep, we are a bunch of self-righteous prigs. Some of the less frequent posters might be along to commiserate though.
On this forum, as in most places on the internet, trying to dictate the responses is not going to be successful. But members here will typically tell you how to prevent what happened first and how to solve the problem about which you asked second, if at all. As River Rock puts it, take the best and leave the rest.
As for your rental, it is your obligation to make the two spaces clear, easy to find and to guest proof your listing. Your regulations sound like the ones in NYC. You can only have one group of guests in your owner occupied home and hence the “can’t lock the doors.” Because of this you are occasionally going to have problems and you will just have to live with it. One solution used by another NYC host who posts here is that one listing is rented, the other one gets blocked off so there will only be one group of guests at a time. I’m sure you don’t want to do that but at least you get to eat the cake in that case. Deb’s solution of clear signs on the door sounds like a great one.
Even well meaning guests can make a mistake but it doesn’t sound like these guests are in that category. It’s part of your job to fool proof the listing. So self check in might be out. One more issue that a host here reported running the kind of rental you have is that one set of guest stole from another set of guests. So make sure you are ready to deal with that. You probably don’t have any kind of STR insurance for your setup so that kind of disaster might come out of your pocket.
And you said you make it clear that there are no locks on the door so anyone can come in and out of the guest rooms at will. I hope there are at least locks on the insides of the doors so that when I’m in the room I can keep you from barging in on me.
I’d advise taking the hit on this. A message like, "Sorry for the confusion but the room you occupied is not the one you rented. There will be no charge for tonight but I have guests in that room tomorrow and will need you to move your stuff by 8am or you can move tonight when you get in so I can get it ready for the next guests. " At 8 am I’d be knocking on their door getting them up and at it, all with a smile on my face (try not to make it the “cool sex toy, bro” smirk) and a song in my heart. If you feel they were purposely duplicitous then wait for the review and let them have it there. You still have the rest of the stay to get through.
Another thing to keep in mind. I fully expect guests to start using city regs against hosts who skirt them. As in “if you give me a bad review I’m going to report you to the city.” If you mess with them you have a lot less leverage than a fully legal host so that’s something else to manage with difficult guests.
So, this is the next morning, what did you end up doing?
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Your detailed instructions are good for the 99% of guests who have some level of common sense and, most importantly, good intentions. Your setup will fail whenever you come across someone who either 1) lacks every shred of common sense or 2) has bad intentions.
You can deal with #1 by meeting guests at check-in or installing some “smart home” tools that will alert you to movement in unexpected areas. Or just decide that’s too much trouble and deal with the 1x/year issue like this where someone goes to the wrong unit.
You still have some fundamental risks in a setup where more than one group stays in a place where they can’t secure themselves or their belongings. Some percentage of the population will have bad intentions and take advantage of your setup. In this case, it was just entering an unoccupied space, but they could have walked in on another couple (in bed with their sex toys!).
Without changing your setup, the only thing I can think to do about that is make a house rule about entering other units. “Your listing is on the first floor. For the privacy of the second floor guests, the stairs and second floor is completely off limits.”
There’s only so much you can do without locks, though.
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I am scratching my head about your local STR rules and would love to see the regs (I’m a retired bureaucrat, can’t help it). So you can’t rent out the whole space on the one hand, and you can’t separate the spaces with a door on the other hand. I know legal requirements are sometimes impractical in application, but this seems particularly wacky. In addition to theft/privacy intrusion concerns, I would be concerned about the fire hazard in not having a door in between two dwelling units.
Maybe put up a marker board by the “entrance” to the bigger unit. “This upstairs space reserved for the Smiths, January 3-5,” even if there are no Smiths actually staying there.
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https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/overview-airbnb-law-new-york-city.html
Note I don’t know if the OP hosts in NYC or not. I’m just familiar with them due to posts of hosts here and being a big fan and visitor of NYC. I’d like to stay in Airbnbs when there but have to be careful to find legal ones. And between legalities and wanting privacy it’s tricky.
I would charge them the full price for the night if they are only out by 8am…just the cleaning fee if they leave in the evening.
I would be nice about it like KKC days and only submit the charges after the review period or the reviews are completed.
It sounds like they were obviously getting over on the host. Add a house rule about it perhaps? I guess that would depend on how Airbnb handles supporting you or not.
I personally don’t like the setup but if it is clearly explained and demonstrated in the listings it is what it is.
So, what did you do? What has transpired so far?
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If it’s in NYC, maybe the guests are savvier than they first appeared. Your Nolo link says that hosts can’t install locks because, when STR requires host presence, guests in shared space must have access to all parts of the dwelling. Therefore a host there would appear to have no authority to require that the guests stay out of the “other” unit. An interior lock to be used by the guest whilst sleeping seems reasonable, if not technically compliant (?). Or provide those portable travel door locks that wedge the door from inside but are not permanent installations. If the rental is in such a desirable area, maybe the host could experiment with providing space for only one large group at a time who would use both sleeping areas.
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I agree with this, and it’s actually what Airbnb recommended over the phone - they recommended I send a ‘Change Reservation Request’ to the booking they decided to occupy. I didn’t want to do this as I had yet to hear back from the guests - it took them over 6hrs to get back to us. If they were apologetic or confused, I would be happy to only charge them the cleaning fee. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
And I’m with you - it’s definitely in our House Rules!
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It’s a head-scratcher, for sure! Our particular unit fits into several categories, but not gracefully.
Regarding intrusion/privacy concerns, the spaces feel very separate and I don’t list anything as being an Entire Place - just a Private Room in a Shared Space. We want to be fully transparent with guests, and responses have been really good - feedback has been that they’re surprised at how big/private/quiet/affordable the space is. I think this group of interlopers felt the same…!
I had the same thought - we have a chalkboard up at the entrance way! But I do like your idea of a white lie…thank you!
Depending on their attitude I might just cancel their reservation. But it sounds like a bad-retaliation type review might be coming. What is their excuse for using the wrong room?
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I had the same thought! I offer portable travel door locks, but only one guest had taken me up on it, and she only wanted to use it to keep valuables locked while she was out. I don’t offer safes, so it’s a good, flexible option, even if it’s rarely used.
My question- is if it is possible to have a lock on the bedroom doors… perhaps a keypad. Thatd provide security for all who are staying while not likely violating any str laws. The more public areas would still be accessible but prevent guests from being in the wrong bedrooms.
If they stayed in the big suite and never their correct listing you could get their review removed since it would not be for the correct location?
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Thank you for this, and I’m sorry to leave you hanging - the day got away from me!
A lot of what you recommended is already in place, thanks to doing our research when we set up the space (thank you, all! This forum was super helpful in that).
I have clear signs with names, STR insurance, temporary locks for use, check-in instructions with photos, and I always offer to have myself or my cohost meet them in person. 10% of guests take us up on this offer, and it’s always just to meet our dog!
Since we do occupy the property, we were on hand to discover the guests’ error. We immediately reached out “I apologize for the confusion but my cohost went upstairs and it seems that you checked into a space you didn’t book. Please review the listing you reserved (including photos and written details) as well as my check-in instructions, and let me know if anything was unclear.
Fortunately, the space you’re in is not expecting guests tonight, so we’re happy to have you stay there for the same price but will have to charge you the additional cleaning fee associated with that space. I’ve linked that listing for you to confirm that it’s the space you’re in. We will block this space from our calendar so that we don’t have any last-minute guests tonight, as well. Please let me know if you have any questions, and friendly reminder that check-out is at 10am tomorrow. Thank you, and enjoy your evening!”
They responded six hours later accusing me of miscommunicating, and they wouldn’t be paying more money (the cleaning fee). Honestly, their communication was chaotic but I wasn’t surprised - it was well after midnight and they had already accumulated 3 empty bottles of wine when I discovered their error at 6:30pm (2hrs after they checked in).
Our interactions make it clear that they were the .01% outlier - brand new account that tried to book a cheap spot and help themselves to a free upgrade, as they assumed no one is accountable for the space or would discover what happened. Luckily we’re not “hands off hosts” and hopefully they can use this as a learning experience moving forward.
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That was my thought! I took photos confirming their check-in of the incorrect space. So it’s kind of like they were a no-show for the listing they booked.
Today they’re extra chaotic (this is an english-speaking, late-twenties couple from several hours away), and have sent me screenshots of their booking reservation receipt. Guys, we’re already all confirmed that you didn’t actually stay in that listing…
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It’s actually not possible for us to install any locks on the bedroom doors, as per our area’s laws. We offer temporary door locks to guests, but the only time a guest has used one has been when they wanted to store valuables after a big shopping trip.
The feel of the space is more ‘Cool Big Historic Home’ than ‘Hostel’, so we haven’t had guests raise security concerns.
That’s what I was concerned about, and what I expressed to Airbnb support on the phone.
My thoughts were also, “Eh, they’re just a one-night stay and are at a nearby game. They’ll be gone tomorrow AM but I do need to make it clear to this new account that this is a serious violation that could have gone very differently - I could have canceled their reservation and sent them out, or guests could be checking in…thank goodness it’s a slow month and no one is booked there tonight!!”
Did they still leave a considerable mess, including “using” both bedrooms? Yeah, I feel totally fine charging them the full cleaning fee of the space they decided to use.
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Paws crossed here that Airbnb backs you up. Either they are scammers or are playing the “idiot” card. Don’t discount the fact they may actually be stupid, not dishonest. And when faced with their own stupidity the stupid often double down. Yelling at the top of their lungs that they were right somehow makes them feel better.
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