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?

What if people who come from cultures that eat a lot of strong smelling food book and then arrive to find they can't eat the food they have brought wirh them?

Unreasonable, if I pay money to stay somewhere if I want to sit and have a bag of crisps on the sofa or some nuts, with a glass od wine I shall and I shall do the dishes when I please. They aren’t doing me a favour, I’m not a guest, I’m paying good money to use the facilities.

id cancel, as I’d assume the owner will be round with a magnifying glass after departure itching to charge for made up stuff.

They are only going to know if you ate food in the wrong place or cooked a smelly meal if there's food or smells left behind. Leave it tidy and non-smelly and you won't have an issue... leave a burger behind the sofa cushion and it reeking of kippers then they'll say you broke the rules and try to claim an additional cleaning fee which would seem fair!

Those rules are absolutely a piss take,especially sending them after you booked.The owners sound as if they don’t really want anyone in their home at all.

I think these are all reasonable requests really, especially if it's someone's home or their own holiday home. To me, this list says "treat this place as if it were your home" rather than "treat this place as if you're paying for it and therefore can do whatever you want". I assume it's a reasonably fancy place and they want everyone to be able to enjoy a clean and well-appointed property.
I'd much rather a list like this than one where you have to strip the bed, hoover the floor, wash the towels, take the bin out etc. after a one night stay in a place that's not even that nice or clean

One of the reasons I don’t do AirBNB

I personally don't think these are unreasonable.
Strong smelling food smells can linger and it's hardly a major disruption to not eat them for the short time you are there.
And does anyone eat upstairs?
The not eating on the sofa, well if you don't spill/stain anything they won't know! They've probably had stained furnishings from past guests

They would be better off saying no pets and removing expensive furnishings.

It's anal and forgetting that hospitality is about making people feel welcome. We have a holiday let - with some very nice things in it - and don't have any of these rules.

YABU for disagreeing about cooking fish it does smell absolutely disgusting and never seems to go away fully

But also, surely you can break some of the rules (such as eating on the sofa) if you leave no trace. I don't think it's about each individual rule as much as it is about respecting the property and being careful

I wouldn’t break any of those rules anyway if i was staying in a holiday let - would you?

Absolutely I would. I happily cook fish or curry. I eat on the sofa and bring food upstairs. I'd even leave my shoes on when I went upstairs!

Relaxing on the sofa with some food is part of my holiday!

Well, “strong-smelling”’ is in the eye (or nose!) of the beholder, so I’d crack on with cooking whatever you like, and just open a window afterwards. “No eating on the sofa” I’d ignore. Everything else seems reasonable, although I agree the tone is a bit off in places - if they’d just replaced the word “intend” with “hope”, for example, when talking about the lack of vermin, it would sound far more friendly.

I don't tend to eat on the sofa but definitely wouid after receiving these rules. Would also 100% be cooking fish!

After reading all that I'd really be quite anxious about staying there, and yet the list finishes up by exhorting you to have a nice relaxing time....

The thing is, 90% of those are things decent people will do anyway. I do use Airbnb a lot, and have always had glowing guest reviews- and I do take extra care with their properties / things- more than I would at home. But the sheer number of rules, and the tone, would put me so on edge I wouldn’t enjoy my stay. I’d cancel. It’s batshit.

coincidentally I was about to book a property last week, but decided not to because the tone of the owners responses to really reasonable comments in the reviews (eg guest says “such a lovely property- but maybe instructions for the wood burner would be helpful” responded to with something like “I had thought it was pretty idiot proof but I guess not, and I’m really hurt that you also said XYZ in your review” ….) I just knew staying there would be more headache than holiday.

I think those are sensible rules anyone would follow staying in someone else’s house, apart from no curries or fish. I’d always take my shoes off. I wouldn’t eat on someone’s sofa. I wouldn’t let a dog on someone else’s bed.

But it’s a bit patronising that they have to tell you that. I suspect they are sick of people destroying things, but that is a bit the price you pay running a holiday let.

No cooking curry or strong smelling fish? Go on op be a rebel - cook a korma!

Bollocks to that! I usually cook a curry or a chilli when we have a big group staying at an Air BnB because it's so easy to scale up for extra people.

And naturally people want to eat crisps and snacks while on a couch on holiday. How ludicrous.

Yes you’re right! Most of the rules are reasonable (still don’t agree that 5 and 6 are) and are common sense, but I think it’s the tone of it that immediately grated on me a bit too.

I think the rules are ok apart from telling you what and where to eat- those are unreasonable and I would just ignore them.

The rest are a mixture of fine and annoying but fine eg no shoes on the sofa- surely this is just normal behaviour and doesn’t need a patronising instruction (anyway you’ve already removed your shoes if they are dirty!)

I do hate this aspect of Airbnb though- people who fail to grasp that you’re a paying customer and ask you not to do anything they wouldn’t do. Very annoying.

A prawn korma, I hope.

All the food amd drink related rules are mad. People are on holiday and can't relax on the sofa with glass of.wine?

I don't have pets, but it seems to me they'd be better off just saying no pets.

The others are just a decent way to behave, decent people don't need telling and it will make no difference to the others.

It seems to me a rather laborious way of saying leave the place as you found it. Which I would, while cheerfully ignoring all the rules I knew by not keeping I wouldnt cause damage, so they'd be none the wiser.