AIBU to be a bit taken aback by some of these ‘House Rules’?

[Speckly]

So I’ve booked an Air bnb for a long weekend. Going on this break will be myself (F54) DH (58) and our two DS (29 and 27). Neither of them live with us any longer but will each be meeting us there. In case it’s relevant the price for 3 nights was £346, which I think is a good price. There was no mention of particular rules in their listing (the first image is the list of rules on the actual Air bnb listing) but today (the day before we leave), we were emailed another list of very specific house rules (the second image is the list received from the owner today).
Now obviously we’re going to respect their property and be careful (we always do when we go away), but I do feel like some of these rules are a little bit over the top: Rules 5 and 6 particularly. Out of interest, do you think it’s ok to tell people what they can and can’t cook in the property when they’ve paid to stay there? To not let people cook fish seems unacceptable to me. Personally, I also don’t think it’s acceptable to tell me where in the property I can and can’t eat. Surely as long as I look after the property and it’s left in a good clean condition, I’ve fulfilled my part of the hire contract? I understand the owners want to keep their property in the best condition possible and I will respect their space, but I just feel like I’m not going to relax now and will be overthinking everything we do while we’re there. So AIBU or are these very specific rules a step too far, especially as they weren’t stated upfront?

This is why I don’t bother with air bnb.

These are all perfectly reasonable requests

Those rules are a pain in the ass. Because the people that follow them don't need to be told. The people that won't follow them won't be moved to by a list.

Yeah, I agree some of these rules are a bit ridiculous, no cooking fish or strong smelling fish? No eating upstairs or on the sofa??

Gosh I was expecting way worse than that. I think they are all fine (possibly just the not cooking strong smelling foods - I guess it isn’t nice for the next person though if you can’t get a fish or curry smell out quickly). I think they all sound obvious but then people treat places really crappy sometimes to probably have to be told.

did You get the rules before or after you booked? Before, you agreed to them and need to follow them. After, I don’t think it’s reasonable to be told what you can or cannot cook or that you can’t eat on the sofa

Yeah they can’t tell you what you can eat or where you can eat it. Complain to air bnb.

All reasonable I think, except the cooking one? If they don’t have adequate ventilation to deal with cooking smells, that’s on them. We are currently staying in a very “naice” villa. DH made an amazing curry last night, no smell at all this morning.

Did you read the Op?

Tbh most of them are very reasonable but I felt (probably unreasonably) annoyed reading them.

It might have been the tone “we are pest free snd intend to keep it that way” or whatever. Anyway, it just sounds like they’d be difficult to deal with and you’d be on edge all weekend (whilst eating and drinking over the sink - and washing up immediately afterwards!)
I enjoy going away for a break from domestic drudgery and this just seems like hard work.

5 and 6 are not reasonable

No cooking curries is ridiculous.

most of the rest is par for the course although usyally written as polite requests.

We have a property in Spain which we let using Airbnb.
Our only rule is to turn the aircon off when you go out.
We have a no pets policy too.

Once had the pleasure of cleaning a Airbnb place that had 14 guests in an 8 berth place. Food stains on brand new white furnishings.
Some people are twats..
At least your host ensures every guest has a nice place to stay...

I wouldn’t break any of those rules anyway if i was staying in a holiday let - would you? The problem is that some guests really do take the piss. PIL used to let out their holiday cottage but during COVID (when people could not go abroad) guests started treating it like everything was expendable. Breaking things, trampling food into the carpet, spilling red wine in the bedrooms. One guest left a rotting kipper in the fridge! Another set of guests drove their car over the lawn and had obviously been snorting coke off the coffee table! More than one asked for a refund because a listed 18th century cottage had a low ceiling. Ultimately they decided it was more trouble than it was worth, despite having let it out happily for 30 years before then.

it sounds to me like the airbnb owners have had some bad experiences

I totally agree

I think the rules are ok apart from #3 and #6. Much better to just not allow dogs than talk about washing a dog's feet at an outside tap, just thinking of trying to do this with DM's dog is exhausting, never mind the puddles afterwards! Go for "clean any mud your dog leaves" for #3 and "ensure it isn't smelly when you leave" that should cover #6.

Actually, I've just remembered another. Use the parking space number 6.
The owner of 7 has deliberately keyed our car because he felt we had encroached into his space!

You usually find a book of these type of rules lurking in a folder somewhere in the Airbnb. I must admit - I have never been sent the house rules before arriving. They are mostly reasonable - apart from specifying what you can cook.

Eating on the sofa is my #1 hobby

Do previous reviews mention ALL the rules? If not, I'd be adding that you were only sent them AFTER you'd booked when you review.

Whilst I agree with most of them, I've never been sent a massive list like that before. I now book with booking.com because some AirBNB places are ridiculous!

Agree.

You’d think that someone who us that fastidious about the cleanliness of their property wouldn’t allow pets in.

The ‘treat it as your own home’ contradicts the rules if you like cooking, having curries and dogs upstairs.

I once stayed at an Air BnB a bit like this. The owner was lovely but I only stayed one night in the end as I was just so tense (had originally booked for four.)

Reasonable to tell you when you book and allow free cancellation say within 48 hours of booking.

Not otherwise in my view.