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Our listing is for 2 people max, and we usually have couples or single business travelers… There’s one queen bed and we do not permit “crashing” on the loveseat. When we get bookings for two friends or a parent and adult child, we make sure they know there’s only one queen bed and the sofa is not for sleeping (short, no extra bedding). We have not had an issue to date. I don’t want sleepers sweating on the bare sofa or drooling on the throw pillow.
Currently we have a 7-night booking that I was glad to get because it’s longer than our 4-night average. However, it’s complicated by the fact the mother arrived with her daughter but now wants to switch out the daughter for the son. I regret having agreed to this at the time of booking, but I agreed because she understood the parameters of the sleeping arrangements, and I was glad to have such a long booking.
Whether they abide by the no sofa sleeping rule, I regret consenting to this arrangement. I didn’t like negotiating the terms of it, and there’s still a third person impact (extra towels). I think my post is about my realization that keeping things simple is more important than money. We’re on approximately our 70th booking and I’m still learning what works for me!
This is really three people who stayed. I would inform her that the extra person is xx amount per night, whether all three were there together or not. She pulled a fast one on you. Then charge her.
This is bullshit. People are the worst when they abuse your trust and assume as paying guests they can do whatever.
Once I had a mother and daughter stay and before they arrived, I told them there’s no separate beds but only a queen bed which they accepted.
When I checked them in and during the tour she casually mentioned her son coming in to meet them and she then pointed to the sofa and said her son could just sleep there. Totally caught of guard to this I did manage to say that the living room wasn’t a comfortable place to sleep because it faces a very busy street and nightlife just outside but she insisted. I told her that I accepted only two guests as a maximum to which she said that they would find him a hotel the day after.
Well, he stayed all of the 4 days, I wasn’t paid the extra “guest” - as it wasn’t mentioned in the listing and she of course tore me to shreds because the living room was noisy at night! I’ve since learned my lesson but dear god I would have killed her if she hadn’t left before I came back!
I know I’m new to this forum as a participant although I’ve enjoyed many of the wise words shared by you lot throughout the years. I’ve done this on and off for 8 years and this was in the early days.
Never accept to be pushed into a corner by a guest and always set boundaries and don’t be shy about pointing out there are limits to what you’re willing to do. And of course always be stern and fair but charge your guest and don’t give handouts.
I appreciate all the supportive replies. As @KenH noted, I did agree to this switching of second guests during the stay, after I had made clear and the guest accepted my clarification of the 2 person max and couch situation. At the time, she also downplayed the likelihood he would be able to come out here but I feel this is the part that turned out to be BS. She messaged me at 9:30 p.m. yesterday that he would in fact becoming that night and was it okay. I referred her to the message in which she agreed to the terms.
If the sofa is soiled, I will definitely make a claim. But otherwise, I’m sucking it up but have learned something moving forward: Pass on the bookings with “special requests” that put me in the position of having to trust the guest!
So the daughter is leaving and the son is coming in? Or do you suspect that all 3 will be secretly staying?
I suppose that the mother shared the bed with her daughter and will now share with her son. Why do you think the son will be sleeping in the sofa? Ok, there is an extra towel to be washed, but it’s for a 7 night booking.
I must be missing something, because I don’t understand the problem and the reactions to it.
Edit: We once had a woman change her long distance boyfriend for her niece on the last night, without asking, she just showed up. I wasn’t here and my hubby was still inexperienced in those things, so she got to stay but luckily my hubby was smart enough to not give her a new towel: A silent form of protest in that case .
Awesome, another early user…do you have a low listing number too? I’m in the thousands, not the millions.
But back to this lady… the other thing she did that would break my house rules is invite people who were not on the reservation to stay. I had a couple once invite their brother to stay and before I could do anything they all shut the lights off and went to bed. I did not charge but should have. I immediately made this a house rule. It would not,matter if one person left and another took their place. It is the same violation!
Christian you are so right. Guests and hosts are happiest when hosts are firm and don’t let guests push them around. If I enforced this while also being unfriendly, I doubt I would have last this long in Air.
I think it’s more likely than not that an adult son will not want to share a bed with his mother, despite what the mother thinks. She’s making the promise but she’s not the decider.
Well, I can’t speak for other sons, but I have travelled a lot as an adult with my mother. We always tried to find rooms with two beds, but when these were not available we just shared without any problem. I really don’t see any reason why a daughter would share and a son wouldn’t share.
Following your logic: Will you always be worried about your sofa if a mother-son combo makes a reservation? Or a father-daughter combo? Or two friends?
@konacoconutz The OP was asked and allowed the switch. Wouldn’t you allow the switch? Or would your guests have to make two reservations? One reservation for the days with the daughter and one reservation for the days with the son. I don’t see the problem if guests ask and you know who will be present when. (Not talking about people sneaking extra guests in etc. …)
We’ve had plenty of “two friends,” a father-daughter, and several mother-daughter bookings. I think the difference is, for those bookings, the two people chose our listing (except in the case of one of the mother-daughter bookings and that was terrible. See other thread) and knew the set up. Here, the son is showing up to a listing the mother booked with the daughter. I just don’t trust that he’s buying into the parameters.
If the sofa is that special, put a cover, sheet, throw rug… something to protect it from the dribbling guest. Are they allowed to sit on it?
All the furniture in my houses I expect to be used and occasionally people abuse it through ignorance, carelessness, or just plain laziness - rarely do they they treat it with respect. I sometimes wonder about their own homes and how they would react to a hot saucepan melting its way into the finish on a timber coffee table…
I think you’re worrying too much about this specific situation. You’re supposing a few things and working up your mind with worst case scenarios. If there’s a sofa in your guests’ room there are loads of scenarios in which the sofa could become contaminated with any kind of bodily fluid. Your sofa has survived in the past, it will also survive in this case. Doesn’t matter what combo is staying over. Just relax .
I would be concerned if it was a Queen bed they would be sharing but not if it were a King. I think the son would have issues with the smaller bed but a King bed is huge and I think it would be fine.
Thinking back, one of the worst guest combinations I’ve had is mother and teenage daughter in my one-bed condo, and 3 mothers and their daughters (all high school friends) on a mother-daughter retreat. (Ugh!)
In each case, there must have been friction. I got the worst gripes from the mother w/daughter who must have sat around looking for stuff to criticize. I’ll bet the daughter kept wanting to take off and do her own thing without the mother and they bickered constantly.
With the group of mothers/daughters, it was at my whole house rental at Tahoe. I suspect the same thing happened. The teens wanted to go on their own the whole time and talk about boys and such and the three mothers didn’t really blend. There’s always a third wheel. When the mothers insisted on bonding time, the girls got cranky and all heck broke loose. That combination was not a good one for my rental either.
Ummm, I don’t know. It’s an odd request. You just want to have a guest check in and not ask for any additional requests. I may be a technicality but I say this guest has had three people stay, not just two. Especially if there are additional linens, etc., required. And if the guest violates her rule of crashing on the Love seat.
I think there’s a saying that “sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.” But, to answer your question in all seriousness, yes, guests are allowed to sit on the sofa. Did you know we lose a liter of moisture each night as we sleep? We don’t want guests sleeping on the sofa anymore than we would want them sleeping on the bare mattress.
I don’t know what it would mean to have a “special” sofa, but our listing is a pristine, hotel-like listing. That’s what we’re selling. In keeping with that, the sofa is recently professionally cleaned, and immaculate for each guest.
Sleeping arrangements are simply not a concern. I have been surprised by the choices that guests have made, but in the long game, I simply don’t care. I also assume that people will sleep on the sofa, and make a point to ask if they need it as a bed. When they do, I make it up as a bed.
Sadly I wasn’t being sarcastic.
So sit on it but not breathe on it?
I grew up in the hotel industry and guests do dreadful things to furnishings.
I remember a chair were a female guest had obviously sat on a gold upholstered chair naked during her “time” and left a large “mark” that covered half the cushion. What did she do? Flipped it over to be discovered later…sleeping on the sofa seems very mild.
Your sofa sounds like it belongs in an off limits best room, not in an area where someone could use it and possibly damage it
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