Do hosts have the right to enter a guests room without permission?

Sara292
Level 1
Lethbridge, Canada

Do hosts have the right to enter a guests room without permission?

I have a guest who leaves lights on or the fireplace on when leaving, it is in our house rule to turn these items off before leaving the home. Do I have a right to go in and turn them off?

159 Replies 159
Lawrene0
Level 10
Florence, Canada

Hi, @Sara292. I would say go in and shut them off, utility rates being what they are. You might text him about it if he has a Canadian phone plan, or send a message through the platform. "I see you accidentally left the lights on, so I just need to slip in and turn them off for you." Or just do it with no message, as he should have read the rules. If he sets up a fuss when he gets back, mention the house rules again. 

Hate to see lights burning for nothing and heat going to waste.

Until you are a guest and you come home with things missing while your hosts promises you they were only in there to "turn off the lights". No. Get out of my room when I am not there please please please.

I was staying at a airnb once I placed my belongings in the room and left the next morning the host entered in my room without permission but before I returned that day the host was demanding me send them my Identification through messages so I was not sure wht this never happened at a airnb I stayed before so when I arrived I noticed my things had been went through so I confronted the host and they said that there house keeper was cleaning my room when I left. I never gave them permission to enter my room nor did they tell me about any house keepers they had until I notified them cause they never told me until I spoke with them about and they started to denied until I told how I noticed my room was came into and than they said oh yeah that's keeper they clean rooms but the room was not clean when I entered or the rest of the house I noticed I had damaged to my property and now seeking damages for them to pay

I’m sorry that happened to you 😞

Jess21
Level 10
Austin, TX

I had this issue so I started using wifi bulbs and wifi outlets so I can turn them off without entering the space, and I can turn them back on  I see the guest enter (via keypad on front door). 

Zeke0
Level 8
Ithaca, NY

 I would highly suggest to never, ever enter a guests' personal space without their permission. If they are renting a room in your house, that's their room. With the current guest, communicate with them that it needs to be off if they plan on leaving, otherwise you'll have to turn it off for them.

 

Moving forward, I'd suggest you add a stipulation that if they do leave any utilities on while they're away, you will turn them off. I'd also suggest hanging a printout of this as well behind their door. That way, they are fully aware of it. Some guests do not read through the rules, sometimes they don't even read the messages you send them.

 

Anyhow, this will help you with your case so when you do end up having to turn off something, they won't be able to play the "I didn't know" card.

I really disagree.  It's a room in my house and when they go out I always check that the lights/fan/heater is turned off.  I also open/close the window depending on the season.   I recently had a guest with really bad breath so opened the window for a few hours while she was out.

This seems very inappropriate and if I knew this before booking I wouldn’t book it. 

@Laura2646  It's also inappropriate for guests to go out all day leaving all the lights on, and the heat turned up high. If a guest pays $25 for a room and runs up a $20 electric bill simply because they couldn't manage to be respectful and non-wasteful, that's an insult to the host and the host has actually lost money on the booking, as they have other expenses associated with hosting as well.

My recent guest went into town for the day, and it started raining. She had left all the windows open, which is normally fine, as it's warm here and I don't have AC. Should I have simply left the windows open so she came home to a soaking wet bed? I told her I had done this and she was grateful.

I can assure you that most hosts wouldn't go into the guest quarters unless there was a good reason to do so. Hosts who share their homes wouldn't want a guest rifling through their personal stuff and certainly aren't inclined to do so to their guests.

I can assure you that when your things go missing as a guest, this whole picture will look very different and it doesn't matter what "mosts hosts" do. This is my paid for, private space. It should be treated this way when it specifically says private just like a hotel that has "do not disturb" signs I post then the room is left alone. Please either respect boundaries or post you will enter the "private" room because private and coming in to turn off lights.... are two different situations.

@Lisa5061  Just as you would expect hosts to respect your boundaries, a guest also needs to respect simple things that have been asked of them, like turning off lights, turning down heat or AC when not at home. If a guest is respectful like that, a host would have no need to feel they should enter the guest space. When you say it's your paid for, private space, if a guest is running up an electricity bill that is twice what is normal and what the host budgets for, then your "paid for" space becomes "not really paid for."

That said, I would ever enter the guest's space to do something like turning off lights, myself. I would only enter in an emergency situation, which excess usage of utilities isn't. But I can also understand a host who has repeatedly and politely requested a guest not to be wasteful, only to have their requests consistently ignored, getting so fed up with the disrespect that they go in and turn the lights off themselves. Respect is a 2 way street.

I'm very sorry if you had your personal items go missing, that's wholly unacceptable- it would even be unacceptable for a host to touch a guest's stuff, unless they were moving it out of the way of a burst water pipe or something. But please try to understand that in a home-share situation, the guest usually has access to some shared common spaces with the host, as well, so the host's stuff is just as vulnerable to being messed with or stolen as a guest's is. It's all about trust and mutual respect.

 

Trust? I pay for AirBnB's service as a mediator because some people are not honest. If everyone was, I would just use Craigslist. Ensuring privacy, safety and boundaries is why I pay to use AirBnB. I do not trust anyone to come in among my possessions when I am not there, it is creepy. You know how much you being sorry gets me back of my missing property? ZERO. Please keep your apology and keep the boundaries.

 

 Calculate the baseline power bill and if you notice it went up, charge the guest that fee and tell them in advance if it is that important.  To go in an just turn it off is easier, yes. But now it opens up guests to theft and snooping of all sorts. It isn't safe. People have medications they need, cash they need, on and on those things need to stay entirely secure. It's not just privacy, it is safety. 

Technically "private room" means its not a shared room with other guests. In my opinion the owner of the home, especially if they live there with the guests, has the right to confirm that no electronics have been left on if the guest is away for multiple days. That way unnecessary utilities aren't being used which ruins the profit margin.

There have been cases of hosts stealing valuables while the guests were away so I would say that it is not appropriate for a host to enter the property without prior notice. I think that this is especially true if the guest is renting an entire home. I understand that it can be debatable for a guest is only renting a room withing your home.

 

If you need to monitor the heat, electronic devices exist for remote monitoring.