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There can be a difference between what is comfortable and what is excessive use or resources and potentially dangerous to HVAC systems.
Not saying this case falls in that.
I don’t care if a guest is comfortable at 50 F in the summer. That isn’t happening if 80F outside.
I think that a lot depends on the price point. If I’m paying the equivalent of a good hotel, then I want to be able to control the thermostat. If I’m in a hostel, then I’ll just add another sweater. 
My HVAC company told me to never allow the AC to be set below 69. In the summer my Nest thermostat is locked on AC and it can’t be set below 69. In the winter, it is locked on heat and cannot be set above 72.
If I was a single hotel room and guests were simply heating or cooling 300 sq ft - whatever. But I’m not. I rent my whole 1100 sq ft cottage. Guests are extraordinary careless with heat and cooling, if you let them. I’ve seen more than a few turn on the AC without closing the windows - and leaving said windows open for 5, 10, 15, 20 - up to almost half an hour at which point I have sent a message and asked guests to please close the windows if you choose to run the AC.
Even the “good hotels” (whatever that is; I know people who wouldn’t get caught dead in some of the places I thought were “nice”) don’t seem to let me get the temp I want. Oh sure, there’s a thermostat but I sure as hell can’t get the temps I want most the time. And the Hilton/Hyatt whatever the College Board put us in at Daytona Beach, the AC would go off whenever the sliding door to the balconette was opened.
The only guest that I have had to actually go over to the house to help during their stay was one that called me at 11:30 at night because “the air wasn’t working”. This was during 100 degree daytime weather here.
I went over and she had set the air to 65 so of course the system had frozen up. I turned it off, hosed down the unit until the ice melted off, and tested it. It was blowing nice cold air (I have an air temp gun, it was great to be able to show her how cold the air was coming out of the floor vents) and I told her not to set the unit so cold to prevent it from happening again.
I’m just glad it happened on a Saturday night so I could hang around and chat with her at midnight.
Horrible place. It doesn’t deserve to be in a lovely state like Florida. Mind you (just in case someone is going to tell me it’s a wonderful place) I haven’t been there for a long time.
Exactly. I’ve had guests turn it down to 65 or so hoping to get it colder faster. My HVAC guy advised me to lock it - so I do. If you don’t have one already get a WiFi enabled thermostat. Mine is even tied into my hot water heater so when I have it in “away” mode it also doesn’t waste energy heating the water.
LOL. I thought it was okay but I know what you mean. When in Rome…first year there (I think the AP readings were there 4 years) I rented a Harley and took it for a ride on our free night. And I’m not from a very posh place so I was comfy and there was an ocean and I made several new friends.
Now that is the way to appreciate Daytona 
It can be set to not depend on your cell phones but on activity in LoS of the nest.
What do you use to tie into your hot water heater? I want that tremendously!!!
I have a Nest thermostat and smoke detectors which can sense if anyone is in the house (HOME mode) or not (AWAY mode). I have a Rheem water heater with a Wifi module called EcoNet. EcoNet and Nest are linked, but I can also toggle Home/Away manually.
My water heater is electric, but I believe they come in both electric and gas. An on-demand water heater would have been my first choice but electric on-demand is just not ‘there’ yet.
I’ll look intonEcoNet since o already have nest but does it have to be Rheem water heater? Mine is likely not that, although it is electric. Normally I just switch the breaker off to turn it off.
So I just contacted nest after reading the instructions on the website on how to do it when my app didn’t match what it said. The rep said it only works for UK nest thermostats and not US. BUMMER!!! Now how to go about getting a UK version. Where did you get yours since you are in US?
How does the Nest thermostat know if someone is in the house?
Can it be disabled at night? It annoys me at hotels with motion sensors when you go to sleep and the ac shuts off.
Nest can use two methods 1) motion detection or 2) your phone’s GPS. Since I host remotely I use the first. I have various Nest products including cameras and I can decide which devices determine if someone is Home.
I’ve not had a problem with that. Algorithms, I guess.
I also rely on the Home / Away notifications to let me know when guests (and my cleaner) arrive, leave and - to a lesser degree - if they’ve left their dog in the house longer than three hours, which is my cutoff for pet owners.
I do a lot of things that many hosts here like to proclaim as crazy - I host remotely, I allow pets, my personal belongings are in the house because it is my part-time home, the cottage is styled in unique and personal way and (gasp!) I leave condiments in my fridge. I’ve been hosting since 2011, on Airbnb since late 2012, and my star rating is 4.99 across a 125 reviews. I rent more nights per year on HomeAway than Airbnb, but the number of reservations are about 50/50.
Nest has a motion sensor built into it (and, rumors of a camera!). It can tell by motion if people are home…
My current guest and my last guest have both kept the heat at the highest my ecobee will allow 72, which would drive me out of the place!
RR
My current guest just stepped out on the deck in the snow, shirtless with the heat set inside to 72
Lol
RR