Question on bedroom use

[Rhonda301]

Hi we host a two master bedrooms 122 farmhouse all updated.  When we get a couple, the  house holds 4 adults,  we expect them to use only one bedroom. We ask for preference letting them chose which en-suite but is it unreasonable to expect them not to use both bedrooms?  

the current guest told us she changed her mind after one night and used the upstairs.  Both have identical mattresses both are charming but I wondered if it’s reasonable to expect guests to not changed bedrooms. Are we wrong?  She said it was becasue of the windows but there are fully lined curtains in that room and we are so rural no one can see inside any of the rooms we have 15 acres surrounding us plus each farm around us has enough trees we cannot see their properties

is it a bad idea to lock off the bedroom not chosen?. We have ample photos to represent the amenities of each.  I wonder if they didn’t have other guests to stay undisclosed. 

[Ted307]

@Anonymous I sure do hope that the cleaning fee deters people who want a short stay, but I think the higher price mostly deters those guests who would not treat our places very well. I believe the 3-bedroom house probably requires more than the fee we paid to hire cleaners. I know that ours would not be high enough for the sub-par cleaning company I tried. I just do it myself.

We have a 2 day minimum to deter people who would just block our weekends for only 1 night, and we do have some guests who book for 2 nights and then leave early!

We do offer a 10% discount witch wipes out most of our cleaning fee for a 4 day booking. It has not produced any 4 day stays.

There are hosts in our neighborhood who charge a higher cleaning fee, they seem to have more bookings under the new "category" system than we do.

Chris

[Gillian166]

@Rhonda301 
We have a similar situation and this kinda drives us crazy too. 2 of our listings have 3 bedrooms, and we often get bookings for 2 people, who then use 2 bedrooms. this of course increases your turnover time, the laundry time, and general costs. 

Solution:
for our guest suite in our main house we have a listing that is just for 1 room, 1 bathroom (we were also finding people who occupied just the one bedroom were using 2 bathrooms) and priced it low, with an explanation of the situation. One room, one bathroom, and of course the lounge and dining space as normal. Then we have a normal listing, which is priced higher, and if people want to use 2 rooms, so be it, we have it priced $40 higher. 

We can't really do this so easily in the cottage so i nudged the price up a bit, which is bad for couples who do share a room, but we've found over 50% of our 2 people bookings use 2 rooms, so we have to price for that situation.  

[Mary7036]

They rent the whole house. Not a bedroom. They should be able to sleep where they want. Or move to another bedroom if husband is snoring, etc. If they wanted a house with one bedroom they'd rent it and it would be cheaper. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Mary7036 @Rhonda301 

Here's my personal take on the situation:

Many happy couples do not sleep in the same bed, or the same room. I know many! For many happy couples, that is why they are so happy and so healthy. On vacation - or any other reason they travel - these people should not have to sacrifice their quality of sleep and rest by being forced to share a room, or a bed, if they are accustomed to being separate. There are many reasons for sleeping separately, most of them to do with health matters - snoring, restless legs, insomnia, etc. What if my partner is a day sleeper and I am an early to bed and early riser? What if one partner sleeps hot and the other sleeps cold? Lack of sleep is a negative on most people's health. If people rent an entire house, they should be able to use it all, and most people who rent an entire house do so in order to use more than one bedroom. 

My 5 cents opinion. If I, as a guest, rented a two bedroom house and a host locked me out of my private sleeping area, I would be more than unhappy. Please do not assume that I must sleep with my partner, that is not a decision my host is qualified to make for me. Not every guest will share that information with a host, nor should they be required to. Just my opinion, as I know many couples who are decades together because they sleep separately. 

Again, just my 5 cents worth.

[Greystone0]

HI @Rhonda301 ,

interesting discussion here!

Here's some info on how we handle:

- we have a 4 bedroom house with 9 individual beds and can host up to 10 (based on our permitted amount). When all the beds are used it is a herculean effort to deal with a change over. Landry is a bear and getting all the beds remade is a bear. I am acutely aware of the effort needed to deal with an additional sleeping space.  Our cleaning team works miracles when this occurs.

- we are now allowing the following arrangements to accommodate how guests use our home:

1. main floor suite, priced accordingly for two people, one vehicle (no children). The two upstairs bedrooms are locked and the bunk room is locked.

2. Three bedroom suites: 1 king and 2 queen en-suites ,up to 6 adults, no children. bunk room is locked.

3. FULL HOUSE - all four bedrooms available

Our current AIRBNB listing is the full house listing and the other options are available to our guests on a case by case basis. We are happy to have less wear and tear on our property but still monetize the space.