Unregistered guests

1

Hi,
I’ve been a new host for about three months.

I live next to the house that I rent out. It has three bedrooms and is suitable for a maximum of six guests.

Because I once had a very unpleasant experience with a guest who thought he could invite everyone he knew to the house, I have clearly stated in the house rules that unregistered guests are not allowed.

The current guest informed me at the time of booking that they (a professor and three assistants) would be staying in the house, and that their students would be staying elsewhere in the city.

However, it turns out that all of these students — around 20 people — are currently having dinner in the house. I found this out from one of the students I happened to meet outside. She told me they would go back to their own accommodation after dinner…

The kitchen, dining room, nor the living room are suitable for hosting so many people.

So far, I have received only excellent reviews, and I’m afraid that if I confront them about this situation, they might leave me a negative review. Perhaps I should just let it go this time and mention it in the review.

What would you do in this situation?

2

Cancel their reservation. They have broken your house rules.

Tomorrow, buy a door cam for each entry door.

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3

It’s their last night, they’re leaving tomorrow morning.
Cancel their reservation? How could I possibly do that? Als if I could go and tell them to go and sleep in their cars before driving back to Germany?

And I have the cams, just didn’t get the chance to install them yet.

4

My response to advice about extras that goes out in the booking message…because we know guests dont read the house rules
Dear guest
Please note - due to my permit, insurance and liability only registered guests are permitted on the property. No day or evening viistors are allowed. If this rule is breached, you will be immediately asked to vacate the premises. Thank you for understanding

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5

The language above is ambiguous. If that;s what your “official” rule says, it could legitimately be interpreted as saying only registered guests can stay at the property, It is not 100% clear that your rule means “not on the property.”

The ambiguity is on you, and Airbnb may well side with the guest in a dispute. If that’s the case, my advice is be gracious now and change the language for next time around.

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6

As it’s their last night, there is no point in “doing” anything now. And while the booking guest shouldn’t have done this, unless you are clear, both in your listing info and in pre-arrival messages to guests that no one but the guests on the booking are allowed in the house, regardless as to whether they are spending the night, many guests simply don’t realize this isn’t okay.

In the future, make these rules clear to guests. You can also say they may be able to have others over, but only with your prior permission. (A host friend of mine used to have a senior couple who booked her place about once a month when they came to town to visit their daughter. They used to ocassionally invite another senior couple over in the evening to play cards, which was fine with my friend). But be cautious about vague requests, like “We’d like to invite a few family members over for a bbque”- how many is “a few”? 3? 20? In other words, they should be specific, and you should also.

And a word of advice- don’t think of talking to guests about something they are doing that isn’t okay as a “confrontation”. Explaining something to guests, that they may, in fact, be unaware of, (or even if they are aware and just ignoring house rules) can be conveyed in an easy-going, friendly, and reasonable way, and not result in any bad blood or bad review.

As an aside, while having 20 people over for dinner could result in a big mess, I’d venture a guess that the German students and their instructor would be clean and respectful.

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7

My mother language is not english, so I might have translated it poorly here.
I can assure you that I have made it very clear in my own language that I only allow acces to a maximum of 6 people.

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8

As others here have suggested, when people first book (or make a booking request) it is a good practice to send them a message on the platform that says something like “We want you to have an enjoyable stay, so before we move ahead, I just want to double-check that you will not be inconvenienced by the fact that access to the property is restricted to registered guests only, that no pets are allowed, and that we do not rent to smokers. Please confirm that these restrictions are not an issue with you [and your group].”

This informs guests who haven’t read the rules in your listing, and sends a signal to those who are aware of the rules, but think they are not strictly enforced

NOTE: We very deliberately used the language and tone of a host and not an enforcer.

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9

I don’t think it is a bad idea to state “access to property, including visitors not listed on the reservation …” Because people can have a way of “interpreting” things to their own advantage. I can see a guest giving the excuse that “I thought access meant someone entering or leaving on their own, using the door code”.

I also think hosts should use common sense- if a guest gets dropped off by a friend or family member, who helps carry their bags into the house, stays for a few minutes and leaves, I certainly wouldn’t make any stink about that.

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10

One of the reasons people choose a house over a hotel is that it’s more like “home”.

And one thing you can be certain of, is that there will be guests who drink, smoke, have religious or political views that you don’t agree with. If you try to prohibit this, you will be disappointed.

I know hosts who present a detailed list of house rules defining what a guest can and cannot do. Aside from the few common sensible rules, some can be absurdly self evident; “Do not stain the sheets and towels”. “Do not throw food at the TV”, “Do not throw empty liquor bottles into the pool”. Really? This happens a lot? What kind of people normally stay here?

Yes, like anywhere, we have a no smoking rule (one of the few rules we have) but if you think this will prevent people from smoking, prepare yourself for disappointment. So, our rule is “no smoking in the house”. If you smoke, please do it outside. There’s ash trays and everything you need to enjoy your cigarettes out there. Now they won’t stink up the house, and they won’t toss their cigarette butts on the ground. And most smokers don’t smoke indoors at home nowadays anyway, so nobody complains. Everybody happy.

With respect to this topic, one reason that guests choose a “home” over a hotel includes being able to invite some friends over for dinner and socializing. Many of our guests do this, and we welcome it. It’s one reason why they choose our place. It’s like home. And it’s presentable. It’s not embarrassing to invite your friends over.

However, 20 people isn’t “a few friends over for dinner”. That’s more like a “party”, and that’s expressly forbidden, for obvious reasons. But even then, what can you do about it? Are you going to call Airbnb and have them thrown out? Good luck with that. I smell a full refund for “invasion of privacy”, and of course the scathing retaliatory review complete with imaginary atrocities you committed on the guest.

The point is, I think it’s important to stand in the shoes of your guests before thrusting a list of rules on guests that lead to habitual conflict because they will inevitably be broken. If it doesn’t actually damage you in some way, is it really worth the conflict and consequences? Airbnb sure as hell won’t enforce your house rules, and could even severely penalise you for it.

Maybe your energies would be better spent striving to attract a better quality of guest in the first place.

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11

I suspect many, if not most, guests simply think the guest limit is about the number staying overnight in the accommodation and therefore do not see having a group round to eat a meal or socialise together before dispersing to be a problem. Inviting a crowd over for a wild party is another thing entirely, but this doesn’t sound like what happened in this case. If it was left neat and tidy and the only reason you knew about it was because one of the group happened to mention it, then maybe it doesn’t really need any mention anyway. But for future guests, if the possibility of anyone other than the registered guests setting foot in the property bothers you, then you should definitely word your house rules more explicitly.

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12

There are other things to consider if guests invite others over, aside from the obvious that hosts don’t want them throwing a wild party, making noise and a mess.

Over-capacity may void a host’s insurance if something bad were to happen.

Systems may fail if too many people are using them. A couple years ago, when my family came for Xmas, there were 7 of us here for 9 days. My septic system is designed for a household of 4. It was never a problem to have a few more people here for a few hours, and even though everyone was respecting my caution not to take long showers or flush the toilet if all they did was pee, that many people for that many days caused my septic to plug up and overflow, which it hadn’t done since the place was built 16 years previous.

And of course 20 people in a place listed for 4 are going to be using up a lot more toilet paper, soap, hot water, any food items you supply, dirtying more towels, etc. And areas of the world where there isn’t an unlimited supply of water coming down the pipes 24/7 could run out of water.

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13

When my kids were in college, I rented homes because I wanted to have a get together for them and a few of their friends. It was THE reason I rented a house in a college town. I always let the host know up front that’s what I was doing to assure them it was only for a few hours and no one was staying the night other than the number I booked for. Don’t get all upset over this…just know that you must have a place that makes sense for something like this and ask questions when people make a reservation. I wouldn’t prohibit it…just charge for it.