To complain about the Air B'n'Bs next door?

[thatdamnwoman]

30 years ago I made a decision to leave the city and come and live in a rural area of Wales, near the coast, for a calmer, quieter life. The houses in this little enclave are nothing special but they're all detached and in decent-sized gardens and most of the neighbours were looking for a similar quiet, low-key existence. Quite a few of the houses are second homes but that didn't seem to cause much of an issue. Fast forward 25 years and now about half the properties here are being offered on Air B'n'B and the whole atmosphere of the place has changed. The two houses closest to me are both second homes and are both let out almost permanently on Air B'n'B. From Easter to the end of September they are chock-a-block, often with large groups. Both houses have a minimum 2-night stay, so there can be three or more changes of tenants each week.

Weekends, in particular, are a nightmare. Large groups of probably perfectly pleasant people arrive from town and then want to sit out in the gardens until 2 or 3am in the morning, drinking and barbecuing and whooping at the sheer wonder of being able to see the stars. I do understand how lovely it must seem if you spend most of your life in town and how tempting to want to sit out and play music and keep the fire pit going all night — but what about me, next door, having to sleep with the windows shut because of the smoke and noise?

I've asked the two neighbours who own the properties closest to me to change the wording on their Air B'n'B listing to tell people that there's to be no noise after, say, 10pm (I've stayed in a number of Air B'n'Bs where this has been a stipulation) and they have both adjusted the wording to ask people to 'respect the neighbours' — which of course they don't do once they've had a few glasses of wine. One of the neighbours has responded to my complaint about noise by installing a piano outdoors on the covered terrace in their garden, so at 7.15am this morning I was woken by a child 'playing' the piano 30 feet from my bedroom window. It might not be such a big issue in town but here, where it's quiet and there's nothing but birdsong, it's really intrusive.

I've complained to Air B'n'B and the council, but the council is stretched beyond capacity and when I've tried to get Environmental Health officers to come out at 2am and monitor the noise themselves I've been told that there's no one available. Am I being so unreasonable to want the Air B'n'B guests to be quiet after 10pm?

YANBU at all

there's a huge problem with Air B n B generally - I wish they'd ban it.

YANBU and I suspect that if you make a point of continually knocking on the door when the noise is loud to tell the visitors to be quiet, they will end up writing bad reviews which might put future people off hiring and in turn might get the owners to be a little more cooperative and reasonable.

10 would be considered too early 11.30 is normally the time when things would be quieting down for the night.

I've stayed at a place where there was a 'no noise outside the house after 9.30pm' rule — so I thought I was being generous.

Sounds horrendous. I don't have a problem with second/holiday home ownership but the relatively new phenomenon of short let Air B n B isn't going to endear anyone to it if they have to put up with that. Probably not helping the local economy either, if they are bringing their own food and drink.
The least the owner could do is stipulate no barbecues or smoking anywhere on the property.

This sounds rather trying.

I agree that 10 pm is too early however and would concur with Snapped

I wonder if you could take up a noisy or smelly hobby that would mean the visitors leave bad reviews?

YANBU. Yes, I would go round and complain every time to the guests, reminding them that they are visiting a residential area. I would write to the owner every single time the piano is played before 9am or after 7pm; every time evening noise extends after 11pm at weekends or 10pm in the week. I’d keep a spreadsheet of noise you can present to environmental health. Basically I would wage s war of attrition that makes the Air B&B owners adjust their rules to reflect their location. It’ll end up costing them business and bad reviews if not, so it’ll be in their interest to change their attitude.

Can you get together with your neighbours and take a coordinated approach?

@Snappedandfarted2019 I disagree. In the week, in a residential area 10 is more than reasonable. We’ve stayed in plenty of air bnb’s that have a 9pm stipulation in the week due to proximity of neighbours and extend it to 11.30 at the weekends.

This is awful OP. Did you get any response from air bnb when you complained?

And agree you should go and knock each time. The spreadsheet is a great idea. And if that doesn’t work, take it to the press - they love an airbnb story.

better call the owner if the piano is being played in the morning...

I think 11pm would be more reasonable (probably because that's my bedtime!) but I would go and complain to the visitors about the noise every single time. As a PP had said, they may then leave bad reviews which would hopefully reduce the number of people stating there.

And who the hell installs a piano outside?? And then who allows their child to play it early in the morning? What is WRONG with some people?

YABU to have no problem with second homes which are parasites on the communities they claim to support. Air BnB both democratises access to country spaces as well as supporting the local economy by promoting tourism.

If these are only transient guests and not your actual neighbours I’d have absolutely no problems in telling them to pipe down.

I couldn’t bare to sleep with my windows closed, so just shame them by sticking your head out the window and shouting “please be quiet, I have work in the morning and this level of noise is unacceptable”

As for the child on the piano, maybe get a large super soaker type water pistol?

I’d try to raise a complaint with AirB&b about the piano.

I agree with BazaarMum get your other neighbours involved
You have tried to be polite and they put a piano outside. Wankers

You could learn to lay the trumpet and practice loudly at 6am for every guest that had been a pain the night before

I would call the owners every time you are kept awake. Or woken early. Or inconvenienced in any way.

And knock on the door to complain to the guests so that they leave bad reviews.

And maybe check with the owner that they are paying the relevant tax on the rentals.

I would become neighbour from hell.

Just be a right pain in the arse so the guests leave bad reviews and people stop coming. Up until 1am drinking in the garden? Shame that you're practising your new found love of opera singing at 7am with the windows open. Any friends have very barky dog you can borrow? Or a particularly noisy cockerel that will wake them up at the crack of dawn? No one is going to book a property where previous reviews complain about such things.

You've tried being nice and polite, it isn't working so it's time to take action.

Bellasblankexpression

The Gov.uk states night noise is from 11pm-7am

ooh yes @m00rfarm although personally I'd just check with HMRC...

The trumpet sounds tempting but I'd prefer not to get pulled into game-playing.

Thanks all for bolstering my sense that this isn't reasonable. I've been round and complained a number of times and the Air B'n'Bers always say sorry, but don't always shut up — they're on their holiday, they're only there for a couple of nights, what do they care if they keep the neighbours awake all night?

One set of owners (the piano people) are outraged that I would approach their guests and tell them to be quiet. Apparently Air B'n'B is the only way they can afford their second home and I am supposed to sympathise with their problem.

I am often up at 6am for work and I really don't think 10pm is unreasonable during the week.

I'd move, but nowhere is safe these days unless you can afford somewhere with several acres around you as a buffer.

You need to get some nice smelly pigs as pets. All part of the countryside, don't you know!

Opera singing sounds good too. Especially on an outside karaoke machine.

I would call the owners every time you are kept awake. Or woken early. Or inconvenienced in any way.

This

Make it as annoying for them as it is for you.

Keep a record of the disturbances and report this to the council.

If the guests are up late making noise then wake them up early by knocking on the door to complain the next morning.

I think the piano would be suffering a catastrophic injury at some point in the future....