Would you take extra guests to a holiday let?

Most of all our holidays in UK holiday cottages.
Would never over-occupy.
My son and partner wanted to join us on one holiday. Although ample room in cottage that slept 6,and only DH and myself as occupants, wouldn't enter my head to allow it.

I and Mr T are very grateful to those who let holiday homes in such beautiful places all over the country. We don’t like the hotel experience. It makes my blood boil that people think that obeying the rules, insurance, common decency etc doesn’t apply to them. A ‘friend’ invited us over to her holiday cottage a few years ago and we were astounded to find there were two more guests than the cottage allowed, and said ‘friend’ was very pleased with how she had organised the sleeping arrangements to accommodate everybody. I had one question, ‘Do you think the two extra should be staying here at all?’ She was miffed with me for months after!

The three people I know who have rented out holiday homes all stopped because of the bad behaviour of tenants.
One still allows friends to sat in her beautiful island cottage and expects a token amount towards fuel etc but this is certainly a timely reminder of how awful some people can be.
I stayed in an airbnb which was being sub-let. The people who claimed to own it and were hosting had no right to at all.

My DD cleans the holiday cottage near her for the owners and would notice instantly if anybody broke the rules.

No I boringly stick to the letter where rules are concerned
But I know someone who pushes boundaries all the time and has a much happier life than this worry wort

Our gite has 1 double and three single beds in three bedrooms, so we rent it at a cost for five. We can supply a sofa bed or inflatable mattress in the bedrooms and then charge for up to two extra persons. We have a booking form and contract where names plus ages of under 16s have to be declared. There is enough seating, cutlery and glasses etc for 7.

We are insured for seven and will not allow more. We once had a family, booked for 4 who turned up with a friend each for their teenagers. It's obvious from all our on line entries that we live next door, so pretty stupid! They did pay the extra.

Last year we had some really awful Parisians who booked for 5. Then he telephoned and asked if they could have their friends with 2 children could stay for one night, I said no as it was 9. He said they would only have 4 with them on that night. He cajoled and against my better judgement said yes as the children were quite small and he would have to pay extra to cover bed linen etc. He agreed but never sent back my revised contract. On arrival they totally refused to obey the very important pool rules for safety. They had all sorts of other ridiculous complaints and wanted to get their money back. The agents backed us totally and told me not to allow this other family. So i reneged on my agreement and told them it was over our insured number I was not having 8 people behaving badly at the pool. They were deeply unpleasant, the customer services even apologised that we had been put through this. But it was a not very nice 2 weeks.

Over 15 years we have had only about 5 really awful families, and have good reviews. Most families are delightful and we enjoy having them.

And no I would never accept unscheduled people and would send them away with no refund.

We own a small cottage we used to stay there when children were young. We never really get the chance to go now so its being sold.
We do rent a house for a weeks break in September but would never think of having other people there. It’s disrespectful and as it’s been said before insurance won’t be covered.

Exactly Monica- nothing wrong with that- stay with the limits of occupancy, and tell the owner/agency what your plans are re guests.

We went to a caravan site in Cornwall last June . As soon as site office closes each evening carloads of people turned up and crammed into the 2 caravans across the way .At least 8 cars blocking the site road we wondered where they all slept !

In our family we sometimes have holidays where other family members drop in for a couple of days, staying overnight. We always book accommodation for the maximum number likely to be in the house at any one time.

For our 50th wedding anniversary we hired a big house that slept 14 and people came and went all week. We never had more than 12 on any night and sometimes it was as few as eight. We did the same when DS got married.

Mind you I do pride myself on leaving the house in immaculate condition when we leave.

We own a holiday cottage in a fairly remote area. There are two bedrooms, both with double beds, but after the place was wrecked in the early days by a bunch of four young men, we made the decision to limit the numbers to two guests only. A couple of years ago we took a booking, and as usual my husband was there to greet the guests upon arrival. They got out of the car, and my husband showed them around the property, but as he went to walk away, he noticed movement in the car. Thinking it was a dog, which we don't allow, he queried it with the guests. It turned out that they had brought 2 teenagers with them, and had clearly told them to keep their heads down when they saw my husband, not realising that we actually live next door! They told us that as there are 2 double beds in the property that the boy and girl would just bunk in together. They were told in no uncertain terms, that while the cottage has 2 double beds, we only rent to TWO people, therefore they were in breach of contract, and couldn't stay. They came up with all sorts of excuses, but as we were using an agent at the time, we passed the phone to them to deal with it. They were told that they must vacate with immediate effect, and as they'd arrived late, (we're sure in the hope that there would be no one to see them), they not only lost the holiday that they had bought and paid for, but also had to pay for a hotel for the night for the four of them! I did feel a bit guilty, but as 4 people in the property would have voided our insurance, we weren't prepared to risk it, and let's face it, people who try to pull this sort of stunt are hardly likely to be the type to take care of the place, so we felt justified in sticking strictly to our Terms & Conditions. So OP, you might like to make sure your friend is aware that this could be what happens to them, if they decide to go ahead with this devious plan.

She's booked a cottage that sleeps 6, for 6 people. That's the end of it. That booking has been accepted, that's the contract.

Turning that contract on its head without any discussion or agreement and turning up with 9, or any other number (and extra furniture? ) will hopefully mean that they either won't be allowed access, or they will be found out and turned out. This is what's needed for people who have no respect and think that renting means doing exactly as they like

Insurance etc., would very likely be invalidated. The 'facilities' and extra use of hot water, electricity, wear and tear etc., would be strained and increased by the extra numbers, including the cleaning; and the owners - in any emergency - would otherwise have no knowledge of who was there legally and who were just random extras. Unlikely, even if they made it through the booked time, that they'd receive the return of their deposit!

I can't imagine treating even treating close family that badly but your friend possibly thinks that she is very clever. She's really not and for all the owners who bend over backwards and work hard to ensure that holiday guests have the best time, I'm afraid that my bet for them will be no holiday or a holiday cut short, a good chance of a lot of 'brown stuff hitting the air conditioning'...... and certainly no chance of any refund. Maybe not quite so clever.

I would not do this myself unless the owner had agreed to the inctease in numbers.. However whatever she does she needs to check the holiday let contract very carefully as she will have paid for the booking but it could be terminated by the owner for breach of contract if exceeding the maximum permitted number is discovered. if it is uncovered then she is very likely to have a huge problem finding alternative accommodation in the area for the excess never of guests or possibly for the whole family has to leave orbpay for the additional guests use of the facilities.

Demand for holiday accommodation is outstripping supply in many areas but that's no excuse for dishonesty.

No I wouldn't do it either, we recently rented a lovely cottage in Laugharne in Wales, for a week, absolutely perfect for two, and the owners definitely lived next door! I wouldn't want to flout such rules as to exceeding a limit that has been set, it's dishonest.

People do this with rental property too. When the single tenant moved out of my daughter's small flat she found he had his girlfriend and brother and partner living there to help with the rent. The bathroom was ruined, damp everywhere and heavy wear and tear.

No definitely not. It invalidates the insurance and also fire regulations.

No, I would not. We often book a house for 6 for just the two of us and some companies give you a discount A few times my dd and her husband have asked if they could come for the middle weekend, we always tell the company and lose the £50 discount although one lovely lady said it was alright as it was only for three nights.
I did work with people who declared their children younger than they were to get discounts and also smuggled a toddler regularly in the babies pram into day activities like zoos etc. They told us we were all mugs. Like others, we told her what we thought of her morals but she did not care. When they went abroad they always asked extra people to join them mid-week and always seemed to get away with it
I have been in cottages where we did not realise the owners were literally next door and also others where owners have turned up mid-week to make sure we were alright, maybe they were checking on us?

harrigran

My friend's family do this every time she goes on holiday, her sisters and their DHs rock up and enjoy the hospitality. She always books top end holiday lets and they think it is fair game to tag along.
It is not something I would ever do.

nothing wrong with that if they stick to the capacity booked and paid for.

Next door is let through Airbnb. Once the owner contacted me to ask if I’d happened to see how many people had stayed the weekend before.
I told her that I’d had to ask twice for the group of about 10 older teens to be quiet very late at night.
She said that the house was booked by a man and his daughter but the amount of mess they left behind made her suspicious.

My friend's family do this every time she goes on holiday, her sisters and their DHs rock up and enjoy the hospitality. She always books top end holiday lets and they think it is fair game to tag along.
It is not something I would ever do.

Definitely not, I wouldn' t even add one person.

Well, let's look on the bright side- the first time in a long time we are all agreed on this one

No! I would NEVER do that.

I wouldn't want to be on holiday with nine people anyway. The person who booked has what is in effect, a contract for the use of the property that week - by a specified number of persons!

This is wrong on all counts.

My youngest son and his friends have been to Glastonbury Festival for six years on the trot. Usually, my husband and I will rent a caravan for the week, and the youngsters will stay with us in the caravan on the first night, then one of us with drop them off at the festival site the next morning, have our week away, and pick them up on chucking out day. It was a four bedroomed caravan, and slept up to 10 so plenty of room.

Last time they went, we fancied a change from the usual caravan, so we rented a small two bedroomed cottage.

I emailed the owner asking if she would mind if they stayed with us overnight on the first night, and explained why. Her only reservation was that the cottage was very small and they'd not have much room, but she was ok with us going it. She asked if we minded if she didn't provide bed linen or towels for them. In fact, they all used their sleeping bags and it hadn't crossed our minds for them to need bed linen.

So yes, I have taken extra people, but would not do so without having the courtesy of checking with the owner first - and not for the entire duration of the rental.

This reminds me of when DH & I were much younger and we took our cat with us to a holiday let. Got found out by the owner and had to pay extra! Wouldn't dream of doing anything so stupid now.

She’s obviously not taken into account they could have door security and owners can see them arrive. It is wrong you pay for 6 so 6 it should be.
My DD owned and Airbnb in Australia it slept 4 and 14 turned up they were travelling surfers. The neighbour informed my DD, she gave them 24 hours notice to leave and warned other Airbnb’s in the area.