To ask guests to pay for air con?

No way I'd ask now. Surely that's part of an upfront conversation.

I would be happy with this if I were them. I would pay £15 a night for air conditioning, if I were getting a free stay on a tropical island 🏝

They are getting the villa and all amenities for free, they can def stomach the cost of air con

😂

If they aren't close friends then getting free accommodation is already a bonus! I would go with we don't use it. It costs £15 a night and we can put it on if you wish and will cover the costs. Otherwise our home is run the way we usually run it

I thought you were going to say you run a B'n'B, in which case you would be being unreasonable. But since you're letting friends stay for free, I think it's fair to say, "I'm happy for you to have the use of the villa, but I'm afraid I have charge £15pp, per night, to cover the cost of utilities, which are really expensive on the island." This is still considerably cheaper than they would have to pay at a hotel or if they'd booked a villa through an agent or Airbnb.

I too am intrigued by the cost per night. I have a house in Spain with a whole house air con system, so I'm used to what that costs to run and we find that fine there.

May I ask what you pay per kWh of electricity OP, and what the wattage of your air con unit is? I'm genuinely interested.

Would an option be to put it on in a timer for a bit before they go to bed?

I don't think you can just suddenly ask them to pay towards it, no.

Your options are:

• Only ask people to stay who you're close enough to to cover the whole cost.
• Ask people for a nominal payment for their stay - to cover the air con but without telling them that's what it's for.

It seems weird to me to let them stay when it would cost so much otherwise, but then to make them pay for the air con. If you can't afford to have people to stay for free - don't.

Is there an option to compromise and cover half of the costs? I’d definitely tell them before they get there, just say by the way we don’t use the air conditioning because of expense, it’s around £15 per day. If you would like it on we would really appreciate a contribution of £X for the week, otherwise we normally use the fans which are fine for us but appreciate you might prefer air con!

obviously it would have been better if you raised it earlier, but you’ve been generous and I think most people wouldn’t mind given the money they have saved. Don’t lie and pretend it’s broke - I hate being hot and would happily pay the extra!

I'd just send an email with some pre travel information like insect repellent, what travel pass to use etc in bullet points and include that the aircon is expensive 15 per night so you don't use it but they are welcome to put it on in their room if they want to cover the cost.

Pretty much yes the main places.

Good point though, forgot ac costs
more if you have a very inefficient unit, possibly up to £1.50 per hour to run. most cost maybe 50p hour even in high cost areas.

Also, is the £15 per day or just 8 hours at night. Because it would be uncalled for to run it 24/7

I'm bemused that you'd have guests who are not close friends coming to stay with you. They wouldn't be, if you weren't on a tropical island, would they?

You're blurring the lines. Either operate as a guest house and charge accordingly - or only have guests that you love and will actually want to host.

I would have just put the air-con charge on whatever correspondence there was and made it very clear that it needs to be paid if they want it.

I'd explain how expensive it is and let them know you don't use it because of the cost. But do that now.

I would just say the cost of aircon here is extortionate so we don't use it, if you feel you need aircon the cost will be £15 per day which you'll need to cover, but the fan should suffice, that's what we use.

I'd say "we don't use the air con as electricity is so expensive on the island, if you find you do need to use it, we'd really appreciate a contribution towards the cost of running it".

I think it's fine to pass the cost on. If they're not happy they can stay elsewhere or manage without ac.

Really?!

You know the price of electricity everywhere in the world?!

I'd happily pay if I was getting otherwise free accommodation on a tropical island for a week! I agree that it's tricky to ask so close but I would maybe say that it's very expensive to run it and see if they offer to contribute.

I'd be honest about it. They may not be aware of the cost. Tell them warmly, 'oh, we never used the Aircon. It's too expensive and we are used to the heat. Can you believe it's £15 a night for one room? I know, crazy. If you do use it would you mind donating that amount per night you do switch it on? Thanks very much. Here's my bank details.'

It's way too late to ask.

Bit late to ask though I think.

If they're not close friends, then tell them that you don't mind them using your villa but if they use the Aircon then you will need to charge them.
They can like it or lump it.

I’d be totally fine with you explaining air con is expensive to run and asking me to pay for it. If the cost of air con was going to tip my holiday budget over then I really couldn’t afford to go in the first place or I can live without it.

This must be an island seriously off the beaten track. I have never heard of anywhere in the world with more than 50p per hour electricity.

I have a holiday home and the hints you get to stay are ridiculous. I even had a child sent to ask my child if her family could stay. In fact I could fill a thread with them. Only let very close friends and family stay if you really like them, for free and not often. The rest make an excuse/say no. The only exception is if they have a holiday home somewhere you like, you can swap,

If you never use the ac I think it's OK to say you don't think they will need it and to just use the fans. But if they do need it it's very expensive to run so you would need a contribution to the cost. It does depend on the guests though some might be really offended and then the stay could be really tricky!

Of course if they come laden with expensive gifts that might change the conversation.

Why are you inviting people who 'are not close friends' to stay for a week? Are you entertaining them or are they just spending the nights and then off by themselves? If the latter asking them to pay for ac seems perfectly reasonable.