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?

Not when they send those rules the day before arrival and outside of the cancellation window they can’t! 🙄

I don't have fussy rules. My only rules are about smoking and not using hair dye. You clearly haven't read my posts. I said they were 'fantasy' rules because someone once spread pizza all over the sheets- not a natural spillage it was everywhere. But someone picked me up and said I shouldn't be providing French linen sheets! Which you are also saying it seems.

Also the packaging it comes in if not washed or even if washed and left in the kitchen bin.

Quite often in hotels you're not supposed to eat in the room at all.

We still use air bnbs because it’s so much cheaper and easier with kids in tow but when they put in stipulations like stripping beds and washing floors or taking bins out - We ignore it. That’s what the cleaning fee is for.

Just on this, we use airbnb all the time, we dont really book anything else apart from a short hotel stay each autumn

We go away around 7 times a year. I have tens and tens of positive reviews as a guest, I leave the places clean and tidy

But among lots and lots of things Ive observed over the years, one I never understand is why hosts dont use sofas that come with replaceable washable covers. A lot of sofa companies sell sofas with removable washable covers and sell spares for that particular style. So thats what you should do. Same for cushion covers, Im always mindful that while the bedding may be changed for each stay, I hope - the cushion covers wont have been. Those same covers that I might want to use for sitting up in bed, having a snooze on the sofa, sitting with my head propped up on the sofa.

Each cushion cover should be changed each stay and each sofa cover should be changed every couple of stays.

@Gwenhwyfar

"Quite often in hotels you're not supposed to eat in the room at all."

Never had this . What sort of hotels have you been staying in?

Hotels will usually have a hospitality tray in the room, and very often have room service.

I can't remember staying in one that doesn't allow eating in the room.

possibly they meant bringing take away in ?

I think most of these are reasonable, but I would feel uncomfortable receiving this list, especially after booking. The tone is very heavy handed, I'd be nervous about staying somewhere with owners like this in case they turned up to check I wasn't having a surreptitious biscuit on the sofa.

I do often snack on the sofa. No eating on the sofa and trying to dictate what you can and can’t cook is a step too far!

I stayed in a dog-friendly cottage but I think reasonably it did ask that if dogs were on the sofa not to remove the covers that were washed after every guest.

It must be a fine line for hosts to tread to try to beg guests to behave decently whilst at the same time not sounding unwelcoming.

I did have a bad host once: notes were on practically everything - even saying that the dvds were checked after every guest (exactly why would I want to steal a 90s D movie…) but the piece de resistance was when the house phone rang. I answered and it was the owner, hundreds of miles away, asking if I had touched the central heating . We were being spied on! 😬

@MaturingCheeseball we had our host ring up to check if everything was okay given that we had just arrived! It turned out we had to drive past her sister’s house and she’d told her.

I stayed in a cottage once that felt a bit chilly when we arrived. We looked all over in vain for the thermostat and read through the welcome pack, there was no mention of the heating. Feeling rather foolish we called the owner. The heating could only be controlled remotely by her! She very reluctantly turned it up. Another time the shower stopped working on our last morning. They were still banging on the door at check out time to hurry us up.

Other cottage rental sites are available.

They can make up any ridiculous rules they like, if they advertise their rules in their listing, before they have accepted any money and made a contract. They will probably find it a lot more difficult to let their property though.

I have never been in a hotel where you can't eat in the room. Most even offer room service and supply free biscuits and coffee so they must expect people to eat in their rooms..

Provide whatever experience you like, but guests don’t enjoy feeling like they’re being scolded or scrutinised by a snippy host.

If you can’t comfortably afford to replace or repair things, choose items that won’t distress you if they get marked: machine washable sheets, removable sofa covers, wipe clean surfaces, laminate, wood floors or lino with rugs you can throw in the washing machine . Guests want to relax, not worry about every drip or crumb.

Hotels expect stains and wear, hoteliers, managers etc don’t get upset or offended by messy guests and don’t hark on about a time when a guest spilled some pizza. they bulk buy good quality linens and launder them constantly, and build the cost into their business model. That’s part of offering a “luxury experience.”

One of the biggest issues with Airbnbs is when hosts are too emotionally invested in their décor or possessions. If you’re going to rent your home or a room, it needs to be fully usable and functional, not a place where people feel like they’re walking on eggshells because the owner’s aesthetic can’t handle normal living.

I'm not scolding anyone. You have literally replied to.my post saying I don't have any rules by haranguing me for having rules. Rules I dont have. I've literally never charged for damage- even bleach on a brand new set of sheets.

I do not have rules like the ones in the OP so I'm really confused.

As an Airbnb owner, the rule about cooking strong foods is there to protect the next person checking in. On two occasions, the food cooked at our property left unpleasant smells that lingered for days, even after opening windows, turning on fans and spraying fabreez. Also, you do need to include common sense rules like not putting certain things down the toilet. We’ve had people do that do. I would agree this list is a bit much. Rules about cooking limitations should be stated up front so the person is aware before they book.

If you don’t want problems about smelly cooking, why be an Airbnb owner?

Nobody’s trashing your property by making a curry or cooking fish. They’re just using the place reasonably.

Instead of telling people not to cook strong smelling food, why don’t you warn people up front that the place might smell of a previous occupant’s meal?

It seems mind boggling that some people have to be told not to out their shoes on the sofa! But I guess they’ve had issues before. Agree that the tone is a bit off.

@Travellady see also thread today about how someone HASN’T made an offer on a house because it smells so bad from cooking. It’s a thing, some people must have sinus problems or be nose blind.

@DenizenOfAisleOfShame I didn’t say I didn’t want to deal with smelly food, I suggested this may be a rule because it ensures the property is in good condition for the next guest. I’m curious why you are getting so defensive and angry about this rule if it is stated up front in the listing??