Guest Etiquette - uninvited guest

[Pauline422]

Hi there,

Our recent male guest made no mention regarding a 'friend' visiting during his 10 day stay.. This friend visited and left at various times during the night. We have cctv.

He has left a review and when leaving said the studio was 'perfect'. I am yet to leave a review as we were not happy about the comings and goings on our property. Should we say anything or 'let it go'? 

What would you do?

[Bronwyn100]

If you have CCTV you must make guests aware of it. It cannot have sound and it can only be away from private areas. I assume he knew you knew so I'd let it go. 

[Nur785]

@Pauline422

I actually disagree with the previous advice. Unauthorized guests is one of the biggest no of airbnb etiquette. I think it's great that he left a review, you leave an honest one. Something like: 

xxx was a good guest, left the place clean (if it's true), however, he had unauthorized guests which made us uncomfortable. 

[Kia272]

@Pauline422 If he was a good guest and has already left a review, I'd let him know nicely via private feedback that bringing in unregistered guests is bad etiquette. It sounds like he wasn't trying to hide it, so he may just be oblivious. You could even direct message him first and see how he reacts, before leaving your review. 

If your guest capacity is more than one, it's actually possible to register the "visitor" as a second guest, and a good guest will generally do that if they understand the situation. Is it clearly stated in your listing that unregistered guests are not allowed? It's important to say that in multiple places, as clearly as possible. 

[Ross869]

Hello, if your space is set to accommodate two people I would say it’s not a big deal. It would be different if it were a third person. Personally, I would let it slide so long as there is no damage etc. 

[Ana2038]

@Pauline422 , in reviewing your listing house rules it does not state anything regarding visitors or unregistered guest(s). Based on that, I probably would not mention anything in your review of the guest. Moving forward, you need to clearly state in your house rules that only registered guest(s) are allowed in or around listing/property. Make sure that your cctv is clearly stated in your listing per Airbnb guidelines. 

Best—

[Pauline422 · Accepted solution]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Very helpful. I have since found Airbnb rules on Unregistered guests.

5. No unregistered guests allowed.

Contrary to what you might think, most guests need to be reminded that they’re not allowed to invite their own guests into the rental property. 

Unregistered guests can cause all kinds of trouble - for example, if they break something, you have no way of holding them accountable. In addition, some countries require  hosts to notify the local police of guests staying at their property – there’s no way for you to do that if you don’t have their names and other details.

To avoid such issues, add a line to your house manual asking your guests to refrain from bringing friends or family whose names aren’t stated in the reservation.

[Jennifer4037]

I had a similar situation occur.  Unfortunately in my case, while my property could handle the additional guests, the undisclosed guests were nefarious and were arrested by the authorities and caused a search warrant to be conducted at my rental due to the illegal activities they were involved in within the week stay.  Then as a host, what should you do?  I only found out regarding the search due to the neighbors contacting me about the large amount of multiple police jurisdictions interest in my phone.  I contacted airbnb safety, yet they weren’t very helpful as nothing was personally directed at my safety.  Interested in your feedback and thoughts! Jen