Additional Guest - Additional charge or refuse?

[Mita127]

Hi everyone! First time post, long time lurker here 🙂 Sorry for the long post! (Previous posts about additional guests were mainly on entire properties rather than a room in my case. Some background: I have a 2 bed 2 bathroom flat, and I Airbnb out the second bedroom and bathroom - here's my link just in case: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/44039080?source_impression_id=p3_1660306101_B3KjtcL%2FiC4vlPkA The flat is spacious and the room is a double but since I also live here, I personally feel comfortable with just the one guest, which is on the listing i.e. the number of guests is limited to one and there's no option to add to this, and no additional guest charges. 

I have one guest staying with me for a month, he has been here for almost 12 days so he is about a third of the way through his month long stay. He is a recent graduate, and while he is polite and pleasant, he is somewhat "undomesticated" and has not paid attention to the house rules (e.g. cleaning after oneself in the kitchen, not using the shared areas after 10pm etc) which I believe is down to inexperience rather than intentional. He is new to Airbnb.

However, he has just asked me if his ex-flatmate from uni can crash with him in his room for one night and that he is coming over this afternoon! I felt a bit under pressure so I reluctantly agreed, he then said it would actually be 2 nights over the weekend (instead of one night) and that they would be out for the majority of the day so I wouldn't even know that they are there. Then he said a different friend needed a place to crash next week for 3 nights. I explained to him that extra guests is explicitly mentioned in the House Rules, and that Airbnb would not cover me for any issues arising from unregistered guests. There are also additional costs incurred from extra guests, e.g. water, a bit of electricity, possibly use of the kitchen appliances. I'm also a bit concerned that once I say yes, he will ask again to have guests for the remaining 18 days of his stay. Also all the hotels in the area appear to be booked out. So I am not sure what to do. Options are:

1) Simply say no to any additional guests including the one today

2) Say ok to the one coming today but no to any further guests

3) Say yes to the guests he has mentioned AND

4) Charge them for the nights that additional guests are staying, or not?

5) If charging, how much would you charge them per additional guest per night?

Your advice would be much appreciated! 

Thanks all! 

[Mita127]

Good point about keeping comms in the msg box - we are already doing this but good to know! And yes I will be waiting until the last min to leave a review lol. Does Airbnb give an actual time for the review deadline? I can't remember! 

[Huma0]

@Mita127 

Yes, it's two weeks from the check out. If you leave it to the last minute, time it carefully and not too close to the wire as you don't want to accidentally miss the deadline. Of course, if the guest leaves a review for you first, then there is no need to wait.

[Gwen386]

@WOW! And what gets me is his response—that he’s done it before, which means if he is telling the truth, he’s reserving for one knowing **bleep** well there will be 2 or 3. I’m just shaking my head in discuss. If that guest is not gone tomorrow, you really should shorten his stay. You’re nice because he would have been gone today. I be darn if someone—anyone!—is going to argue with me in my own home. 

[Mita127]

@Gwen386 Ha yes I'm probably still being too nice! 

To top it all off, the guest is now keeping MY DOG in his room with his door closed and it's like 1am. To be fair, the dog is probably loving it but that's not the point. I should probably add to my house rules "please do not keep my dog in your room at any time".  Give me strength... 

[Huma0]

@Mita127 

Grrrrr. Hope this is a one-off for you and that you don't have to deal with this type of guest again. 

Let us know after he leaves and we can all conspire to concoct an appropriate review for him!

[Mita127]

@Huma0 Ahh that's really kind! Yes I will let you know once he has checked out, I would love all your feedback about leaving an appropriate review 🙂 

[Gillian166]

@Mita127  this is why our House Rules gets longer and longer! Guests have a marvellous way of surprising us by doing things we never could have predicted. in reality, that's a human thing and it's why there are so many warning labels on things. 

stay strong! you'll get through this.

[Mita127]

@Gillian166 Haha I know right?! Similar to having to state "Warning: Do Not Drink" on bottles of bleach lol. I can imagine... "House Rule #72: You must close the front door when you leave the house". Crazy! 

[Huma0]

@Mita127 

MMM, I think that is in my house rules actually! I can't remember. They are so long. It's definitely something that I have to remind guests of though.

One of the guys I mentioned earlier (the ones who smoked in the bedroom) once left the front door open all night! 

[Stephanie365]

You need to set your boundaries.

No more guests.

It might also be time to end his stay early. Contact AirBNB and tell them this man is inviting strangers into your personal home and is arguing with you when you tell him "No." You would like to end his stay early with no refund for House Rules violations and because you do not feel safe with this guest and his unregistered friends who are showing up. 

[Mita127]

@Stephanie365 Ah thanks for the support. It's mostly just awkwardness at the moment rather than feeling unsafe but I will of course escalate this to Airbnb if it needs to be. Plus I've got 2 brothers down the road if I need back up haha. Apart from the unauthorised guest issue (who I've been promised will leave today), it is just lots of minor infractions from not reading the rules and lack of consideration for others. 

[Huma0]

@Mita127 

As awkward as it is, you might have to simply read him the riot act. What I mean is, not just keep reminding him to follow certain rules. This gets really tiresome and can make you feel like you're a nag.

I mean, sit him down and politely but firmly explain that when he books an Airbnb he is entering into a contract, which includes following the host's house rules. As he seems to keep ignoring several of those rules, please could he reread them and follow all of them from now on. If he doesn't feel that is going to be possible, perhaps it's better that he finds somewhere else to stay. 

Early on in my hosting experience, I had two guys staying who just kept breaking rules. There were several things, but the main issue was late night noise. On the first night, they were arguing loudly at 4am. I spoke to them about it the next day and they were quiet that night. The following night, they were partying at 3am. I had to knock on their door and remind them other guests were asleep and the noise was not acceptable. Again, profuse apologies but it (and other issues) just went on and on.

I called Airbnb and asked them to cancel the stay and relocate the guests. The rep asked if she could try talking to them first. She called up the booking guest and firmly told him that he needed to follow my house rules or leave with no refund (there was still at least 10 days left of the booking). Well, that was a massive wake up call for them. Finally, they took it seriously. I let them stay and it was a bit awkward, but they behaved much better after that and even left me a fairly decent review.

Now, I'm not saying that Airbnb will have your back in the same way, especially telling the guests 'no refund'. This was back in the day when I would normally get through to the Irish call centre and the reps there were wonderful and very well trained. Now it's extremely rare that I get through to them and many of my experiences with CS in recent years have been incredibly frustrating.

The point is that, in some situations (and only you can figure out if this is one of them), the guest needs to be firmly told that house rules are not optional and that they need to follow them or leave.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Mita127 @Stephanie365 

Our rules are "no visitors" which imho covers unregistered guests of all sorts. We do not permit day visitors nor overnight visitors. 

[Stephanie365]

@Kitty-and-Creek0  neither do I. 

@Mita127 it's not about whether or not you feel safe (at this time), but it's a tool to use to get AirBNB on your side. You ARE a female and this man is bringing other men into your personal space. Men who you have absolutely ZERO information about. No name, nothing. You don't know if these men are drug dealers, drug users or convicted rapists because you have ZERO information about them. The SITUATION is not safe.

[Helen744]

@Mita127 are you ready to be a 'dorm master'?I suggest that yourr student is trying to take advantage .is there extra linen and an extra bed , if so charge for an extra guest , whatever you think .Then make it clear that two days  is the limit as you are not his friend,as such but someone who is trying to make a living . Your student is taking over your business .Good luck H