Does anyone leave extra rooms beds bare?

[Star20]

I'm tired of people having, surprise guests and nearby family stay over without adding to the reservation. One woman used a towel for every night she was there.

Does anyone leave the other beds bare if you only have a booking for one or a couple? Also I'm thinking of leaving  minimal towels in the house. I'm not made of money to do their crazy amounts of laundry. Thoughts...? 

[Anonymous]

@Star20  Guests should only have access to the resources (towels, soap, spare blankets, etc) that you intend to make available for their stay. When you're renting a property you generally assume that anything inside of it is available for your use (unless clearly stated otherwise), so hosts who want to limit the usage of items such as towels should either keep the spares securely locked away outside guest access.

Leaving a bed bare would only make sense if you can also lock up the room that contains it. Otherwise, what you're going to get is a stained mattress - much harder to clean than the linens.

You might also consider a strategy for catching the entry of unpaid/unregistered guests as soon as it happens, such as external cameras with live notifications. If you only find out about a violation after the checkout, it's far too late to enforce your rules in a meaningful way.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Star20 Even if you could lock-off unused bedrooms the sad fact is that bookings are for numbers of people not numbers of bedrooms. We have a 3 bedroom listing but if 3 people come we don't know if they will use 2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms or, I suppose, 1 bedroom!

I haven't seen a good way around this problem.

[Cathie19]

For me @Star20, I have a two bedroom space that can be either a queen bed + a king, or a queen and two long singles. My scenario is that a guests pays for the whole space. I say the space will be made up as ..... unless I receive specific instructions for the other. It’s not my business or concern whether there are two people who choose to sleep together or not. If they bed hop sleep in one and nap on others. Currently I have had longer stay STR guest and gave them a change of sheets for both beds. They only needed for one, but both were made, both will be stripped at the end of the day and washed. Covid19 In my head, requires this....

There is no way I’d consider lockIng off a room and make them choose on site on arrival, or before arrival. They pay for the space.......So for me, it’s a simple philosophy. Simple.

But really, is it worth the anxiety or hassle if it’s only an extra bed? 
FYI: we live on site so an extra guest has been few and far between..... and my house rules are specific and extensive, with never a booking guest complaining!  😊

I make the beds up, that’s it! Only becomes my concern if sheets were to be ruined! 
Always two mattress protectors per bed (waterproof on the bottom and then a padded protector) with a gel topper under these between the mattress and protector.

[Debra300]

@Star20,

I have apartments in two different locations, and each space can be rented as either a one bedroom or two bedroom.  If the space is rented as a one bedroom, the second bedroom is locked off with the extra towels and linens in it.