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. 

[Emilia42]

@Rhonda301 Instead of being discouraged when a couple uses both bedrooms, change your way of thinking. Price your place according (by raising the nightly rate or cleaning fee) to reflect the entire house being used. When a couple really does use only one bedroom you'll feel that you made better money.

(I feel this way with guests making coffee. When they use the coffee maker, it takes me an extra 20 minutes to clean and restock. But I'm not going to restrict their coffee usage or waste my time asking if they drink coffee. They booked a place that has a coffee marker as an amenity. I just breathe a sigh of relief when the coffee marker is untouched.)

[Rhonda301]

Thank you for this response. It’s funny I don’t mind the coffee maker. I offer oatmeal biscotti and teas, coffee and hot chocolate and that usage doesn’t bother me but then most of my guest so far hasn’t really used it. They all seem to prefer ish g the tea Kyle on the stove. Either works for me. I think I will consider easing my rate enough or the cleaning fee to adjust for cleaning the whole house. Both mattresses are identical. The tv I thought would be used a lot but it’s hasn’t. My place is very quiet very rural. The frogs at the pond are the biggest noise makers. Lol. Anyway several of you made excellent suggestions I appreciate all the responses.   .  

[Laura2592]

@Rhonda301 we used to have the exact same issue. Our place was 2 bed/2 bath and each bedroom had an adjacent bathroom. It was really about 50% of the time with a two person booking that both got used. We never asked guests to specify which one they were using, and we did state in our house guide that the mattresses were identical. Still no matter how "romantic" the stay there was a good percentage chance both rooms were used. 

I don't think there is any solution other than locking off one, or raising your prices!

[Rhonda301]

Thanks for your kind response. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Laura2592 @Rhonda301 @Emilia42 @Anonymous @Helen744 

Just a personal contribution to this conversation:

Sleep is vitally important.  At home and on the road I have my own bed, bedroom. My travel buddy and I rent 2 bedrooms, or adjoining rooms. She sleeps alone as well. My partner and I have very different sleep habits and requirements. As lovely as it might be to share a bed and a bedroom, we don't. Sleep deprivation is not a lovely thing, and is not healthy at all. Folks, don't lock one bedroom on us. If I am traveling alone I'll either do a home stay, or pick one room in a house to sleep in. When making a reservation for two, I'll mention - for courtesy - that we're using two bedrooms and I don't expect to make explanations about it.  If I rent a house, I am paying for the entire space and all that is in it. That's what the amenities checklist is about. That's what house rules are about;  healthy boundaries and reasonable expectations, up front. If you're not on site, and you have a locked storage space for your personal stuff, great, just say so. Have a note on the door for the curious. I have a tiny luggage lock on the attic storage space accessed from the closet. 

Hospitality is about us being flexible, accommodating, and making our guests feel safe and comfortable. 

[Rhonda301]

I understand all you said and my husband snores louder than a train so he’s I get it. The fact is I asked her if she needed both bedrooms in order to prepare all for her and her husband she said oh no we just need the one and I like the downstairs pics. All she had to do is communicate if she changed her mind I would have run over and made the other bed. The suite was deep cleaned just no linens on the bed.  I left them a good review and got a good review.  It was the lack of communication for I was upset to know they slept in a room and had to make the bed themselves.  I asked she said she wanted just one bedroom. Sometimes I don’t know if the two guests are a couple so I make up both beds. This time she said no we want a quiet romantic weekend with each other we will be using one room. If she messaged me quickly to say hey we want to use the upstairs room no problem.  I also had a father who shook the house at night with his snoring. I understand coupes have different sleeping arrangements.y step mother and father never shared a room. In fact she bought a house with rooms on each side of the hose to be as far away from him as possible. I certainly understood since I grew up thinking all men snored badly. 

[Mark116]

@Rhonda301   While I admit to being annoyed when a 'couple' rents the Airbnb and sleeps in both beds, since I don't charge a per guest fee, it is really their right if they want.

You would have to make your pricing and your listing very clear that 2 people were only going to have access to 1 bedroom, and I would guess that this would end up being more trouble than it is worth in saving money on washing bed linen.

[Laura2592]

@Rhonda301 you could always give a small discount to the guests who only use one room as stated. If you are asking and they're aren't being up front, maybe say "we offer a small refund on our cleaning fee when a single bedroom is used but some of our guests prefer the freedom to explore both bedroom spaces." And then if people only use one, give them back $10 from the cleaning fee or something you feel is reasonable.

We thought about doing something like that but never did. Positive approach ("you may get a discount") vs restrictions ("tell me which room and only use that") may help modify behavior. Just a thought. 

[Anonymous]

@Rhonda301   It's quite common for guests' needs and wishes to be quite different when they're actually on the trip than what they imagine they'll be when they're planning it. Being able to change beds is a fun little luxury that hopefully enhanced your guests' romantic experience.

But it's definitely for the best that you didn't go over there during their stay to make the bed - even though I'm sure your company is delightful, that would have been super awkward for the guests. On the balance of things, you're better off just preparing both beds and letting guests decide which they want to use once they're there.

Here's a tangent....last weekend my partner and I were staying in a holiday rental that happened to have an extra little bed in the room that we didn't need. I got the impression that the host just left it made up without changing it over from the previous guests, because when I moved it a bit to plug in my phone charger, a whole bag of weed fell out from under the pillow.

5 Stars!

But yeah, the lesson there is that even if it looks like a bed wasn't used, you might want to take a closer look. @Laura2592 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Anonymous @Rhonda301 @Laura2592 

I make sure that all beds are made up and clean; guests can use any of them, and they can change sleeping arrangements mid-stay, for any reason or none. I would not leave an available bed unmade. For example, when I stay in a hotel with the usual 2 beds in my room, they are both made up and ready to use, that is for a reservation for one person. I don't get why we would do anything differently.

As per your find, @Anonymous  I'd think that it would have been found by a cleaner doing their job as well as by following their nose! (busted!)

[Anonymous]

@Kitty-and-Creek0   It did strike me as a strange oversight! But the place was impeccably clean aside from that one detail. Especially impressive considering that it was a dog-friendly cottage in the forest. That little discovery didn't bother me at all, but a family with a little kid in that bed might have been less amused.

[Debra300]

@Anonymous,

Or, maybe the cleaner truly made the bed, and it's their Glad bag that dropped out.  

[Laurelle3]

@Rhonda301 great topic with lots of different answers. We have a cottage with 2 bedrooms, sleeps 4. Our price is for 2 people and we charge for extra guests. 

In my house rules it says that if only one bedroom is being used the other bedroom will be locked as I don’t charge a cleaning fee and I am the cleaner.

We have had a few people prior to arrival say their partner snores, or friend gets up early and I have no problem with this and no extra charge (you win some you lose some).

Because I don't know the relationship of my guests when they arrive and I show them through the cottage , I say to them will you be using one bedroom and they tell me yes or no. If stating only one bedroom I repeat what is in the house rules (no cleaning fee and I am the cleaner) and have learnt to keep key in door and lock door or remove if going to use it. I also leave the page open in folder with house rules open and it is astrixed if questioned. 

I have never had a problem with guest on this issue. I also leave the room open if couples are staying more than 4 days as this gives them extra space.

Most people are aware of our health rules with covid and all the linen has to be washed in the 2nd bedroom. 

As a retired nurse I do a complete infection control clean and everything is cleaned, aired and sprayed and rested 24 hrs between guests. 

Covid is still running around Australia and people are now getting covid for the 2nd time.

It is not worth taking chances.

As hosts we know how much effort and time we put into cleaning or how much a cleaner costs.

In the end,  we have to make our own decisions as to what is good for ourselves.

[Ted307]

@Laurelle3 

We recently stayed at a 3 bed room house because it was on our way, and we liked the look of it. The cleaning fee was for a three bedroom, over $100. The host was never there, we used a lock-box. We enjoyed staying there, and paid the full price for 3 bedrooms, but never used the 3rd one. Or the washer & dryer or the yard. The house was clean, we used it the way we wanted, and then we left it undamaged. If I owned a 3 bedroom, I would make the cleaning fee high like those hosts did. I charge the same cleaning fee to every guest, because like you point out, cleaning must be done on the whole place every time! We only stayed at that place one night, we would not have even qualified to book our own place for only one night due to our 2 night minimum.

Chris

[Anonymous]

@Ted307   The "Cleaning Fee" is really just a short-stay penalty, and it seems to cause a lot of unnecessary confusion for guests who don't have hosting experience. If the fee was really about cleaning, it would logically follow that a home with a $100 cleaning fee was twice as clean as one with a $50 fee, and a place that didn't charge a cleaning fee at all is basically a truck stop toilet. But of course this is not the case - there's no correlation at all between the cleaning fee and the quality of the cleaning.

They should really just call it a Changeover Fee, since that's what it's really about. This would also fix the problem of people thinking that because they paid a special fee for "cleaning," they're not obliged to tidy up after themselves.

I noticed that a lot of hosts dramatically raised their cleaning fees when Airbnb imposed its Hygiene Theatre policy, and kept them up there well after the scientific evidence established that Covid was not being transmitted by contact with surfaces, and that cleaning practices had no significant impact on anyone's infection risk. I've chosen not to waste my money on those listings.