If you were currently on a hen weekend, what would you think if you’ve got this note…

[Greengrassohla]

I live next door to an Airbnb house, that is currently rented out to a hen party.

This has been a recent development with the short-term lets, and frequently we hear really loud music late at night.

I am a little bit worried that sending a handwritten, anonymous note makes me look like a mentalist, but I absolutely do not want to be knocking on the door and interacting with these people.

What would your reaction be if you received this, would it make you just ramp up the noise even worse?

“Hi, I am just writing to let you know that this is a residential area, and any music you play is audible to your neighbours.

It would be great if you could keep this in mind if you choose to play music later. Thanks x”

I think your complaints would be better placed going to the landlord rather than the holiday makers really.

Also if you live in Scotland you can make complaints about short term lets to the council.

It’s not being an asshole but when you have paid hundreds to play some music and have some fun then that’s what you are doing to do.

I'm very noise sensitive and our NDN's built a bar in their front garden during lockdown. Weekends are akin to torture and we daren't ever have a door or window open no matter how hot it is. Until you've lived with it, you've got no clue.

If it's a Kate and Tom's property, they're open 7 days a week.

Oh god. I'd have to move 😆 thoughts are with you

@Greengrassohla do you know the owner , can you ask them to tell guests not to play music after a certain time at night.

But they’re not your neighbours, they’re guests in an Air B n B that probably live hundreds of miles away. If they carry on playing loud music, they’ll never see you again, it’s not like having to live next to neighbours for years. I get the impression you think these are wild, gobby, women with no morals that can’t be approached. Chances are they’re a bunch of nice girls and Mums prancing around to ABBA on their first weekend off in ages. You’re barking up the wrong tree with the note. Complain to the company in Cheltenham and the local council.

I'd have made the note more friendly and personal. It sounds fine but it's a little dry.

Id start it with something like "Hi, Im Jane from 23, I hope you are having a great weekend but I've a favour to ask...." then go on to ask them to keep the volume down if they are going to play music or if they are going to watch loud movies. You could mention that you and your husband are both nurses and have early shift tomorrow. (Lie if you have to!). but make it friendly and relatable.

You don't have to give your real name, address or career!

Lovely handwriting.

There is probably one hen do organiser worried about her airbnb rating and 10 hens without a care in the world. Help the organiser by giving them a deadline or a request to close the French doors so you can’t hear it as much.

I was on a hen do recently where someone knocked. We turned it down but to be honest would have much preferred a note in advance. We were a bit nervous to answer the door in case we got shouted at.

I have one next door too! I’d said I hope you enjoy a lovely break, but please be mindful that it isn’t a detached and the rest of the block are working as usual/not on holiday.

Personally if this was happening frequently in a BNB I would want to be the person who knocked on the door and asked for the music to be turned down . I would also want to be the person with the landlords phone number on my phone ready for the late night complaints, and I would probably also want to be the person who made sure all the neighbours had the landlords phone number too. Why should someone else profit from my sleepless nights!

@Tapasgoofy

HarrietJet
Yes, you always have to factor in the arseholes, op. Sadly.

It’s not being an asshole but when you have paid hundreds to play some music and have some fun then that’s what you are doing to do^

It really is being an asshole! That's really obnoxious to think that you can disturb people in a residential area just because you paid for an air b&b.

That sounds a bit beggy to be honest

OPs note isnt rude

I go away with a group of old schoolfriends every year. We’re probably very noisy and excitable for the first couple of hours. If we received this we’d all probably wonder whether the writer had had some hideous experiences with earlier guests or was a complete arse.

We’d obviously not make any noise after 11 anyway - we’re middle aged women and are normal considerate people. But we’d feel better disposed to you if you a) give a nominal curfew time so they don’t think you demand silence at 3pm and b) sounded a little bit more friendly and understanding. Dear temporary neighbours; sound travels and reverberates round here; lots of kids and people who need to work in the morning; hope you enjoy your stay in Liverpool or wherever - that kind of thing.

You also don’t need to tell them it’s a residential area. That does sound a bit pompous.

Whereas you sound lovely…

There was a great thread on here (or maybe Reddit) about how to deter AirBnBs'... you only need to do it until there are a couple of bad reviews. Then it'll be sorted.
Shame I can't find it now!
The original purposes of AirBnB was for spare rooms. Whole house short-term lets should be banned in residential areas.

I think this is completely reasonable and I think the owners should have taken this into consideration when they decided they'd accept hen dos.

If I received that I would be mortified and certainly would turn down the music.

But the likelihood of me ever being on a hen weekend where loud music was being played is slim to nil.

Tbh if I was staying in an AirBnB I probably wouldn't read any notes through the door, mostly because I would assume that it wasn't for us and/or may not see it till later.

I'm just thinking of every property I've ever lived in, and many of them the front door wasn't on the "main route" through the house so I might not see a note lying on the door mat - either there was a separate porch; the front door was essentially at the end of the hall and you'd only go towards the door to go in or out or it generally wasn't in your eyeline when you're in the main part of the house - as they aren't going to be in and out of the front door in the same way as a resident will be.

That's not to say you shouldn't send a note if you feel the need to but if you do I think it would be better to be explicit about what you want (and imho it would be better as a spoken conversation but I understand that some people don't feel comfortable with that)

"Hello AirBnB guests,

I hope you are enjoying your stay but I have heard the level of <the music/general noise/whatever else you've heard> this afternoon. I am sure you are aware that this is a residential area but we have had issues in the past with AirBnB guests in the past being loud/annoying/drunk etc late into the night which has disturbed us and other neighbours and I am concerned that the current noise level may go on late into the night.

Therefore I wanted to pop a note in to request that whilst I don't expect you to sit in silence it would be appreciated if you were considerate of the noise level and could ensure the music is turned down/taken inside after 11pm.

Thanks, Jane at #46

Hi there,

I hope you’re having a fab start to your hen do and congratulations to the bride. I live nearby and I’ve had really bad experiences with loud music in this house since it was made into an Air B n B so I just wanted to ask if you could close the French windows and turn down the music at 11pm?

I’m Anne at number 34.

All the best,
Anne

Take a bottle of wine, knock on the door and ask them politely to not be loud after 11 pm. Give them the bottle of wine and say have a lovely evening x

Sympathy OP. We live in a residential, non touristy are where all the surrounding houses are large, gated etc. The house was rented on AirBnb for months and we had to put up with weekly disruption. One weekend was particularly bad where more than 200 people showed up for a party, professionally supplied nitrous oxide and who knows what else. We and some other neighbours were on to the council every weekend. It was hell until the police were finally called and they managed to get it sorted. AirBnB don’t care unfortunately but I would use the council route and call/write to them every time there is late night disruption.

The house next door was rented on Airbnb I meant!

I'd be miffed if I received a note like that before actually doing anything wrong.

Well that's hardly logical thinking...

'Audible'

Why the need for a wanky word? Just say it can be heard by.

You sound stuck up