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House Rules and Policies

I have guests who have openly admitted that they have breached my house rules/policies. Specifically guests are asked to shower before entering the pool, they haven’t done this and now I have a green pool. The pool has been cleaned correctly (before anyone suggests otherwise) and we have had to add an additional unscheduled clean. We went to our house to inspect- the guests were disrespectful, rude, called us liars and implied they were still not going to follow our rules.

 I always send out in advance of arrival a copy of our House Rules and Policies which includes pool rules and ask that they confirm in writing they have read and understand them. Which they did. There is also a copy in the Guest Information book and pool rules are also displayed next to the pool. I have informed them that due to the damage caused they would be charged €30 for additional cleaning- I don’t think this is unreasonable. They only have 1 day left but I have new guests checking in the day after. 
Am I being unreasonable in charging them? 


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Didem - Commun… 1 year ago

 

Hi @Nikki Warnock ,

 

I'm sorry about your experience with these guests. 

 

I'd like to share with you these two articles which you might find useful:

 

1) How do I report issues with guest misconduct?

2) How can I set up a damage deposit?

 

About your question, I'd like to ask other partners if they have any experience with this type of situation and if they could share some advice. 

 

Is there anybody who could help Nikki among our partners?

 

Also, Marzena Lasocka Gios, do you have any suggestions from your experience in helping our partners with these topics?

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HappyHols 1 year ago

Thanks for your reply, however I have already read both articles and set up a damages deposit. I have many years experience in dealing with difficult customers from a previous job (believe me holiday guests are no where near as bad as the customers I’ve dealt with before)

What I do find annoying is that guests blatantly ignore house rules etc and apart from deductions on damages deposit there is very little a host can do, but they will be the ones with a poor unjustified review. Yes you can block them from booking in the future but the damage is already done, to both your property and your reputation. Your response to their review can be read but can sometimes be interpreted wrongly. Your overall review score drops which also is extremely unfair when you can see from past reviews that your property is highly rated.

 I personally think the whole review system needs reviewing it would be more advantageous if hosts:owners could review guests!


 

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Isle of Wight … 1 year ago

Always require the guest's address etc - you can take legal action if you have their name and address - you can set this requirement in policies

If a guest breaks the rules, report them for misconduct. If they give a bad review, report them for misconduct.

Add an extra clause to your terms stating that negative reviews will result in a report of misconduct and possibly legal action for damages to your reputation. Tell guests that if they have a problem, they are to contact you, not post a negative review.

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HappyHols 1 year ago

Thanks for responding, completely agree. I have the “always require name address” etc. I also take passport details upon arrival before I even let them enter my Villa. The misconduct reporting is a good tool but this only prevents the original person from booking again and not the rest of the guests in their party - another thing that should be addressed by Booking.com. I always ask guests to complete an emergency contact form prior to arrival, this way I know who I’m expecting as well as a good tool to use in the event of an emergency or serious damage.

Having checked I don’t think you can report a guest for misconduct for giving you a bad review if anyone does know how I’d love to know for future reference.

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M Adamopoulou 1 year ago

Hi Isle,

Thanks for sharing your experience…your suggestions are very helpful….guests, as we all know, don’t read rules but communicating with them the moment they make reservation makes things easier…

Guest’s address etc, passport or ID should always be required in policies…

 

Wish you a beautiful day.

 

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HappyHols 1 year ago

Thanks for your reply, it’s good to know we are all on the same page I just wish sometimes that Booking.com did 

Wishing you a beautiful day too :)

 

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BrookAve 1 year ago

I don't think you are being unreasonable but they're more likely to just ignore you and just leave, so be aware of that