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?

'Treating as my home' for me definitely means eating fish and curry (possibly a fish curry), on the sofa if I fancy it, and leaving the dishes until I can be bothered to deal with them.
I'd ignore all the rules, they're not part of your contract.
Maybe leave them on the kitchen counter when you leave with rules 2-20 crossed out.

Glass of wine and some cheese, sitting on the sofa watching a film is one of my joys of a weekend away.

As is coffee and toast in bed.

Very patronising list of rules.

Bit OTT, but I’m debating buying somewhere with an Airbnb and I reckon this host has been burned in the past. We stayed in one this year, someone had obviously smoked inside and the smell was very noticeable, unfortunately.

We tend to pick up a pre-ordered curry en route to the Airbnb if we’ve left on a Friday night. Oops. And I’d definitely be sitting with treats and a glass of wine on the sofa!

Ultimately I think their house, their business, their rules. I expect it’s how they live so they need other people staying in their house to do the same.

As other PPs have said, people can be idiots and even with the best will in the world, clumsy! I don’t see the problem with not eating meals outside of the kitchen.

If it’s only a short break why does it matter if you can’t cook certain stuff? Surely you don’t want to be spending ages cooking anyway.

Also I would say there’s a difference between using loads of spices, oil etc to cook curry from scratch, than just a jar of sauce. The latter doesn’t have as much potential to ruin pans or create lingering / hard to shift smells.

Also I imagine by spelling everything out to the letter they are covering their own backs if rules are breached and there is damage caused as a result and they need to seek compensation / claim on insurance or whatever.

It would have been worse if you hadn’t known about, for example, the curry / fish thing before you actually got there because for all the owners know you could have been planning a curry weekend and arrived with days worth of ingredients.

I just think they’re covering all bases.

@BunnyLake my neighbours cook a lot of curries from scratch and I can smell it in my house. You probably aren't aware of any smell but the smell of fried smelly food lingers.

It’s their rental property, actually OP is a customer, not a non-paying guest.. the issue is a hotel wouldn’t dare issue a set of rules like that and this is the problem with Airbnb..
it’s totally possible to have snacks and a glass of wine of wine on your sofa, or cook fish , without wrecking a property..

This post reminds me of my friend’s MiL who advertised her holiday let as having a TV and DVD player, but the TV was so old that you couldn’t plug a DVD player into it, and when someone complained she told them they shouldn’t be watching DVDs on holiday anyway 😭

We cooked fish in an Airbnb recently - didn’t even think not to - we just opened the window for a bit.

I think the owners would find their email had gone into my junk folder. I like eating on the sofa and in the bed and I like eating fish so they can bugger off if they think I’m not going to do those perfectly normal things in a house I’ve rented!

So dogs are allowed downstairs only and not on furniture. And you must 'clean their feet' before they enter. Not really that pet friendly.

And no I don't think they can deny you cooking fish or curry. It's very specific isn't it? I mean I personally can't abide the smell of British style roast lamb, for example. But I wouldn't say people can't cook it.
I'd actually say the mention of curry could even verge into borderline racial discrimination? As obviously some cultures have curry spices in the majority of their food.

Most are common courtesy but the sheer volume of rules, and the way they only sent them just before you arrived is a bit annoying.

I guess you just have to obey them and probably not go back.

I totally agree normally but sadly, in this instance, a hotel in the area we need to be was over double the price.
However had I seen this list of rules in advance, I'd probably have found the extra. I just feel so anxious about it all now and know I'll be checking everyone else (no matter how hard I try not to!)

Mostly reasonable rules, but surely those are unnecessary as they’re common sense. Ensuring washing up is done in a timely manner is irritating (who is going to check?). My main gripe would be with the typos, grammatical errors and no full stops 🤣

Ensuring washing up is done in a timely manner is irritating (who is going to check?).
Leaving the washing-up for days would attract vermin.

Yes but the profit a hotel makes and resources it has available to spend on cleaning rooms / replacing damaged items / furniture is on another level compared to an Air B&B. You can’t really compare the two IMO.

I'd be seeing how many of those rules I could break without getting caught. I'd take a malicious glee on putting my (clean, dry) shoes up on the sofa, cook a curry, (with the extractor fan on because I'm not actually a monster), bring in fish and chips one evening, and take hot chocolate and a biscuit to bed with me every night. I leave AirB&Bs spotless and have reviews saying as such, despite having two dogs I bring with me who are used to getting on sofas (I bring throws), so I'm not a slob, but Iike hell am I going to adhere to ridiculous rules like this.

If the owners have entered into a contract to rent me their home and I've paid for it, they don't get to dictate what I do while I'm in it.
if they can't find the ability to tolerate that, they shouldn't be renting it out.

No illegal activities of any kind in the property? Bizarre rule. I'd hate to say at this airbnb. Sounds like a Blackpool guest house from the 1950s.

It's not ridiculous. Curry smell can linger in textiles and be quite off putting. Same for smelly fish.

Most of it is ok. No eating on the sofa, no shoes upstairs and no smelly cooking are all ... silly. A lot of them could be phrased as "We kindly ask you to take muddy shoes off at door" etc.

Copying & pasting the rules into review seems reasonable. "Lovely stay but I was a bit worried that following all these rules might challenge me." etc.

Ultimately I think their house, their business, their rules.
Not when they haven't told me the rules until the day before I arrive! They've effectively sneaked these all in at the last minute. I will be having a cup of tea and a few biscuits in bed regardless.

If it’s only a short break why does it matter if you can’t cook certain stuff? Surely you don’t want to be spending ages cooking anyway.
Or maybe we just can't afford to eat out for 3 nights? I'm pescatarian so yes, I'd like to have been able to cook fish!

I'd never cook curry with a jar of sauce! How revolting!
The reason I stay in lots of holiday rentals is that I like cooking, it's part of my holiday relaxation. If I didn't want to cook I'd stay in a hotel.
I stay in very nice places with substantial deposits, and I've never had any deductions, so I presume I'm leaving them in satisfactory condition, which is all the owners can expect.

"I'm pescatarian so yes, I'd like to have been able to cook fish!"

Pescatarian means you eat fish, doesn't mean you can't go a few days without it!

In any case, just eat non-smelly fish.

See this is my point. I have numerous guest reviews on Air bnb and every single one of them is 5 star but this list is just making me anxious!

Do you think "Lovely stay but I was a bit worried that following all the rules, that were only sent the day before arrival, might challenge us a bit" is too passive aggressive? <wink wink>

‘revolting’ jars of sauce 😅… each to their own.

Yes these are rental properties but the reality is in some cases they are also peoples’ homes, and though you may be the perfect renter, I’d wager the majority aren’t.