Seriously, get a Venmo security deposit for a few thousand dollars. Cover yourself.
Also, Air penalizes hosts for parties… Tell her you could both lose Air privileges if she has parties.
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We actually do have insurance and business license requirements on capacity, so that for us has been helpful in protecting our home our septic, our well and our off grid power system.
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geez, and I got cancelled because I mentioned travel due to a wedding… my brother’s… he will be 64…
Agree 100% with John F, I cant begin to imagine the time and energy necessary to clean after 10 adults, let alone 14 leave. And, for a one night stay? Strategically speaking, I wonder how many family groups searching for a large beach house for a week stay, you might have lost?
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I expect a 4 star when I say no
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I hope all goes well. We have a brand new development with 3 houses together and the venue lends itself to being a party venue. We have had parties of all male and all female staying. I must admit, at first I was fretting about it but so far so good. I include a £250 security deposit but would never claim. On Monday I have a reservation for 8 young woman 18+. The Dad booked it and his family reviews are excellent but it is a concern. Our holidays aren’t cheap so I guess we have to take everything into consideration. So far families with young children have been the worst.
Good luck!
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- We also make them stay a minimum of 3/4/7 nights. Never just one night.
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Since we reopened last July, we’ve kicked one nighters in to touch. They were around 25% of our business, but as we now have a buffer day between bookings, single nights would increase our dead time.
We now have a minimum of four nights during the summer, reducing to three in the shoulder season and two in the Winter months. There are exceptions, for specific local events, but so far it’s been working well.
It’s meant a lot less work for us, and going by BDC stats, our length of stay figure is three times the average and our ADR (average daily rate) is on par with two years ago.
Doubt we’ll ever go back to one nighters other than a few times a year.
JF
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I clearly need to provide more context here. We have a 3-night minimum and she wants the extra friends to come for one of the three. We do have families stay during our peak season and require a 7-night stay. The end of August isn’t peak in our area and we go to the 3-night. We are a 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath home and host groups of 10 regularly. We also have families stay and allow up to 13 (3 kids in top bunks) so we are used to max capacity. We have a professional cleaning team and an awesome process. None of that is the problem. It’s the nature of her gathering and how she begged for more adults that had me on the fence. The comments and suggestions here are great and I’ve taken all of that into consideration. We are allowing her to stay and asked her to keep it to 10 people. We have security cameras, nosy neighbors (thank goodness for them!) and we live nearby so we will stop by from time to time. I will definitely post after her stay with an update. Thanks again!
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Agree, one night stays aren’t worth it! There is a misunderstanding that this guest is staying for one night because she references that in her note. She is staying 3-nights (our min for end of August) and wants the extra people to come for one of the three.
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Upon further thought, extra people for a 1 nighter celebratory get together is kinda asking for trouble. They’re likely to be going full tilt with drinking and being rowdy, unless they’re observant Southern Baptists or something, being as it’s a one-night opportunity to party down with old and new buddies.
Here’s hoping they don’t miss the toilet when puking.
Agree, one night stays aren’t worth it! There is a misunderstanding that this guest is staying for one night because she references that in her note. She is staying 3-nights (our min for end of August) and wants the extra people to come for one of the three.
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The forum can be great, it can also be frustrating. A few things about the way things tend to go here:
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No matter what your question, people are eager to tell you what they would do differently. Many of these people don’t want more context, they see things in black and white.
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People will answer the OP before or without reading the other responses or your follow up comments. So 4 people will tell you how to cancel the booking even though you’ve made it clear you aren’t going to do that.
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Members often veer off topic. So you’ll get notified of a bunch of responses where people are arguing about something not really of interest to you.
I can’t wait for this stay to happen and we settle all the questions.
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She booked for 3 nights (our minimum) and wanted the extras to come for one of the three. I’ve had multiple exchanges with her and have made it abundantly clear that we are not allowing the extra guests. Her note was long, rambling and annoying and I think she’s a spoiled bride-to-be of the entitled generation. That said, of the other multiple exchanges I’ve had with her, I don’t anticipate puking all over the home. If that were to occur, we have a professional cleaning team that does an outstanding job. It’s rare in our area, we are pretty residential, but did have a group of guys earlier this year that partied their butts off - it was disappointing but nothing that couldn’t be addressed by the cleaning team. So, we’ve been down that road and have seen the other side. I will post an update after her stay. Thanks again for all of the comments.
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Thanks KKC. Yep, I see the themes here. I do appreciate the comments from everyone but am ready to move on since I’ve made my decision with this guest.
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A wedding is a one-time event (we hope) and large amounts of money are involved. Finances are treated differently than the regular monthly budget. Spending beyond the budget is to be expected. I would continue to offer her help in finding alternative housing for the “overflow”. She might move to this “Plan B” anyway after she gets a firm no from you.
Thank you, Nancy, for the thoughtful and relatable response. I gave her the firm no on the overflow and offered several options as a Plan B so we will wait and see…thank you! 
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You did the right thing I tell people continually if you don’t like dogs this isn’t the place for you and I get these reservations it is maddening
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Yep. We’re all definitely hanging out to hear the post mortem on this stay.
I actually believe the guest. I think that her story is genuine and all of this ‘humbling’ and ‘virtue-signalling’ is a clumsy attempt to get you to say yes.
This isn’t to say that there won’t be the standard hen’s party excesses whether it’s 10 or 14 participants. You already crossed the Rubicon when you accepted the hen’s party for 10. All we’re negotiating now is the terms of destruction.
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Are we allowed to do Direct Security deposits? That would be great. I always feel exposed with the bogus one from Abnb. I do carry insurance.