Guests having guest

[Denise1416]

Hi Everyone;

We have a guest who has a friend staying with her.  She asked if she could have a friend over for a few hours for dinner then she came with a suitcase.  What is the common practice for guests- hosting guests?

Thank you.

Denise

[Anonymous]

@Denise1416  These situations so often turn into Trojan Horse Guests that I can only recommend setting an unambiguous House Rule that only the registered and paid guests may enter the home - no visitors for any length of time. Of course you can privately make exceptions for guests who have earned your trust, but there should be no room for a guest to presume that it's OK to bring people over whenever they want. 

[M199]

@Denise1416 

Your listing shows 2 guests, so your guest may not be incorrect in letting her friend visit.  From a guest perspective, I think that she was fair to reach out to you in advance to ensure it was ok to have a friend visit.

I haven't looked at your availability setup for nimber of guests or if any additional charge is made for more than 1 guest.

[Huma0]

@M199 

There is a difference between a guest asking if her friend can visit for a few hours for dinner and a guest whose friend turns up with a suitcase and ends up staying in the listing without permission, if the latter is what has actually happened here.

It doesn't matter if the listing allows a maximum of two guests. If the booking is for one, then the booking is for one, regardless of whether there is an additional fee for a second guest, which there may well be, in which case there is also the issue that the guest is paying for one when two are actually staying.

Besides, as far as I am aware, Airbnb's insurance will not cover any damage or anything else that arises due to an unregistered guest. I know there are a lot of horror stories here on the CC about Aircover (and Host Guarantee previous to that) not paying out for damages, but the one time I claimed, it was pretty simple and I was reimbursed. Had that damage been caused by some random person not even booked on Airbnb, I am not sure it would have been that straightforward.

Besides, it's just rude. It's not okay to ask if a friend can come over for dinner and then have them move in! Of course, I don't know from the way @Denise1416 's post is worded whether the friend is actually staying over or genuinely just came for dinner. She might have had a suitcase with her because she was on her way somewhere afterwards.

[Denise1416]

Thank you for your response.  

The guest has stayed overnight since she “came over for dinner “.

I feel it was deceptive and of course rude. I will speak with our guest.  

I didn’t think about the liability situation.

[Anonymous]

@Denise1416  Yes, it was deceptive and rude, and while one doesn't always want to rock the boat, you don't have to put up with that crap. Depending on what result you want to achieve, you can require the guest to accept an alteration changing the head count, you can demand that the second guest leave, or you can simply run out the clock. No matter what, though, this guest deserves an appropriately scathing review. 

[Denise1416]

My place can have 2 guests but only one guest registered.  I met her when she checked in and she advised it would be just her.

[M199]

@Huma0 

Agree completely, was trying to keep it simple.

Thank you for your further explanations and detail.

[Huma0]

@M199 

Yes, sorry, I am writing a few essays on the CC tonight it seems!

[M199]

@Huma0 

We all learn from the experiences of others.  Thank you,  keep contributing 😄

[Sarah977]

@Denise1416  There's no such thing as guests of guests. Anyone who stays in your home is your guest, not anyone else's.

If this is an "over for dinnner but now she's staying here" situation, you need to have a talk with your guest. If your place is listed for two and her  friend wants to stay, she needs to be added to the reservation. If you charge more for two guests than one, and she isn't willing to pay, the friend needs to leave.

[Denise1416]

Thank you.

[Denise1416]

I spoke with our guest and her guest left.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Denise1416 

I have in my house rules that we don't allow guests of the Airbnb guest in our home but once we had a guest (exchange student) ask if it was okay for a friend to be with her on the day of check-in, and the friend would not be staying.  We said yes if the friend isn't staying but were surprised when they showed up with 2 really large suitcases - seeing our surprise, our guest explained that one suitcase was her friend's and the place her friend booked had a late check-in time (we allowed early check-in at 10~11am) so they would be back around dinner time to retrieve her friend's suitcase, thanked us for allowing early check-in, and that was it~ 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 Your story about the two large suitcases demonstrates the importance of communication. It seems when hosts and guests actually talk to each other without an automatic assumption that there is a problem then many 'issues' just melt away.