We had a party of 5 stay at our 4 bedroom house. The house rules indicate that there are no parties allowed. However, our security cameras (outside) displayed 7 cars parked in the driveway and people coming and leaving after midnight. I am not sure how to comment. I have not written the review yet. I want to let the guest know that it’s not OK. Also, how do I word it in house rules how many day guests are OK and when should they come and go? Thanks!
Only you can set your own limits. E.g. max of 4 visiting guests to leave after midnight or will need to be paid for as registered guests.
What would the limits of the neighbours be?
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If the guest didn’t violate any rules then it’s hard to review them negatively. A party of 5 for example could have as many as 5 cars and then they had two friends over. I’m not saying this happened, it sounds like they had a small party.
When you saw all the cars and people coming and going you should message the guest immediately on the airbnb system. If you didn’t see this until the next morning you still could have messaged them. If people are coming after midnight it sounds like they may have stayed overnight and you can have a charge for additional guests that you levied.
As for wording it in your listing, many hosts simply don’t allow any non-registered guests at all at their home. If you consider that extra guests are using the plumbing and or other amenities of the home it is reasonable to charge more. Some of this depends on the home though. I rented a home for $750 a night that would hold up to 14. It was the same price regardless of the number of people 2 to 14 was the same. But if you have a more reasonably priced place it makes sense to charge for extra people. If you want to allow guests during the day I’d say something like “all visitors must be off the property by 9 pm,” or whatever time works for you.
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I’m one of the hosts that doesn’t allow unregistered guests. For me it’s an insurance/liability issue and I want the guest count to reflect the number of people on the property. My rules might be considered too strict for a whole-house stay, but as I’m hosting a suite in my home and don’t want people shoehorning extra guests into the small suite or taking over my back garden, this works for me.
I’d suggest checking the details of your STR insurance to see how they handle guests of guests. If that doesn’t make the decision for you, add max daytime guests and what time they should leave by to your house rules as @KKC’s suggests.
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YOU SET YOUR OWN LIMITS. We do not allow “day visitors”, period. Or pizza delivery dudes, or anyone other than the guests. This MUST be explicitly written, in words of one syllable, where even the most lame guest will see and read it. You can also explicitly write this in your first message to the guest, immediately after they book –
"Hi, and thanks for booking with us. Just a reminder – our house sleeps X, no more. NO day visitors or parties allowed. If we see that you violate these rules, you will be charged $100 per additional person per day. "
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Sounds like they took advantage of you.
I can’t remember the exact wording but we say something like ‘you may have visitors to your apartment during your stay limited to two adults only and only during daylight hours’,
We have a whole-house rental, and no longer allow unregistered guests. We had a returning guest who brought friends along who rented the cheap place next door, then those friends proceeded to hang out at our house from 9 AM to 11 pm every single day for a week. So our contract now says "No member of the Rental Party may invite any person not in the Rental Party onto the Property without prior written permission from the Homeowner " and we offer a “day pass” for purchase if they are travelling with other friends. Fortunately, we have on-site management to enforce this.
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They held a party. I hope the house is ok.
SET YOUR rules and parameters !
If not, your neighbors will hate you and turn against you and that will produce awful results.
Whole house: Know exactly the number of guests and the number of cars at time of booking. That is all that is allowed… start with NO day guests. No on street parking.
Unless you give permission there are no day, evening or night visitors, no parties, events, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, drop-ins. No makeup people, bridesmaids, photographers. No Dogs unless you allow it. The best way to begin is NO NO and NO.
Have set quiet times. Midnight action is too late in a neighborhood.
Put out a camera surveillance sign. Make sure everyone is aware the exterior is recorded.
Create a contract and get it signed before every group arrives at the time of reservation.
No one night bookings. No locals unless you know why. No booking the day of…have a cut off.
Work on being neighborly first.
Good Luck reigning it all in.
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I thought about it but it was 12:30 am. I also felt odd to watch people on our Ring doorbell camera. The truth is, I never check the camera, but their guests rang the doorbell and caught my attention (our guests have a door code and don’t need to ring the doorbell). So although it’s an outdoor camera and I am not invading their privacy, it is rather awkward to tell my guest “I see what you’re doing”.
Thanks!
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Personally I don’t allow guests any visitors, because it’s never to my advantage and makes the dog bark. The guest has their own key and can come and go as they please, including to cafes and pubs to meet their friends.
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A woman bought a house in my street well under value, and thought she might put students in there with no guidance or supervision on their noise or mess, just sit back and take the money. A few parties into the early hours later, her dealings with revenue and licensing are enough to change her mind. As I write I can see scaffolding where she’s decided to fix it up instead. Result. It will make me laugh when she has to move in herself and live amongst the community she shat on.
Don’t bother the neighbours with your Airbnb!
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I understand. It’s certainly easy to sit here behind my keyboard and tell others what they should do. However, once your house gets trashed and Airbnb pays nothing because you didn’t follow the protocol to the letter or they pay a small fraction of your claim you will see the wisdom of prevention over treatment.
No one can enforce your rules but you. It might help to message each guest with a friendly reminder after they book. Also be sure the camera is prominently pictured and described in such a way to act as a deterrent.
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In addition, your house rules should tell guests that covering, disabling, or obscuring cameras will result in instant cancellation and their departure with no refund, as will holding parties. Then when they violate the rules, you send them an AirBnB message telling them that they must stop the behavior immediately or you will have Air cancel the booking. If they don’t answer within a few minutes, you call AirBnB customer disservice and tell them guests are violating rules where the penalty is immediate departure without refund.
If you don’t have someone on site, you need more than a Ring camera for a whole house rental, and of course you disclose that there are multiple exterior cameras. That will help to keep partiers from booking.
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