Guests want to add a guest during their stay

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
Sam V
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Guests want to add a guest during their stay

Post by Sam V »

I've got repeat guests totalling 6, our max occupancy, arriving the end of the month and I've just had an email if it's possible to add an extra guest for part of the holiday.

I used to advertise we could accommodate an extra guest on a z-bed (my manager has a couple available) and charge a nominal daily amount to cover the extra use, etc. but then decided I didn't want the extra hassle and the marks left against the wall where the bed goes!

I'm now worried if I say no if they'd sneak the extra in anyway. Or should I just say yes and charge the extra.
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SandyBeaches
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Post by SandyBeaches »

Tricky one - especially in the light of Bunny's experiences with over occupancy!

If they are good repeat guests I would be tempted to let them have the z-bed if it's not too much hassle for you and charge them. I think I would explain that you don't usually offer/advertise that option any more, but as they're repeat guests you'd be happy to do it.
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Post by Bunny »

SandyBeaches wrote:Tricky one - especially in the light of Bunny's experiences with over occupancy!

If they are good repeat guests I would be tempted to let them have the z-bed if it's not too much hassle for you and charge them. I think I would explain that you don't usually offer/advertise that option any more, but as they're repeat guests you'd be happy to do it.
+1

My experience (more than once) is that if guests can do it knowing I am on site then they are probably even more likely to do it if you are off site and oblivious, however these people have already proven their integrity in asking permission first IMO.

If you have done it in the past I would allow it, especially as they are repeat guests.. But do charge them a pro rata amount just for the nights used. You are then allowing it on your terms and most importantly of all, you won't be worrying and getting stressed and angry. In some ways our own peace of mind is more important than the worry of the extra hassle and the potential of a mark on the wall.

They'll be delighted that you have agreed to their special request which gives them a feel good factor before they have even arrived.

Good luck.
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Post by Joanna »

+1
As they're repeat guests I think you could be straight with them and explain that you stopped offering the Z bed option because sometimes it was causing damage to the walls. However, you could offer it to them at the usual nightly rate and would charge a Z-bed damage deposit, or, if you charge a damage deposit anyway then let them know that any repainting would have to come out of that.

I'm sure there's a friendly way of phrasing it that maybe would encourage them to be careful so you didn't get any damage this time. If they're regular repeats who are likely to want to come back in the future then they've got a bit of a vested interest in keeping on your good side. I think it could be worth the risk.
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Ditto all of the above. My maximum occupancy is four but I've had the odd regular guest who has brought a child taking it to five. It's not ideal, as the property is very small, but they know it's size, so if they want to cram in, then I can cope with that. I would never allow it apart from a trusted returning guest though.
Francois
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Post by Francois »

Sam V told "I used to advertise we could accommodate an extra guest on a z-bed"

Therefore, if the forthcoming guests got this information when they decided to book your accommodation, I think that you should accept and charge them with the extra-bed.

In future, do not advertise any more this possibility...

Regards,
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Bassman
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Post by Bassman »

Same as above and maybe explain about the marks and why you dont advertise this anymore, hopefully they will be careful when putting the bed up & down
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Post by Essar »

If you don't want to do it you could always use the fail safe: "my third-part liability insurance only covers n-persons, any extras would invalidate my cover for everyone".
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Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

in our first winter season, we advertised our apartment as suitable for up to 5. We only had one booking for 5 people, a family from UK, but they also complained about being cramped. They were right. I had only put the double and single sofa beds in there to make it more flexible, not to cram in the visitors, so reduced the maximum occupancy on their advice.
I received an enquiry from them a couple of years later, for 4 people. One son was at university and wasn't joining them. Days after receiving their deposit, they attempted to increase this to 5 people. I reminded them of their comments and told them that sadly I would be unable to accept a booking for 5. I returned their deposit, but I was then accused of being the innkeeper at Bethlehem turning away the Virgin Mary (he was a vicar). There was a thread on there somewhere.
PortugalGuy
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Post by PortugalGuy »

I normally refuse extra guests now
i stopped that extra beds on floors... the rooms are small and 3 persons one one room will make almost impossible to walk around
No extra guests, no kids, no animals

Must say it went very well this summer, no headaches except the spanish and portuguese people that try to scam you all the time
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

We normally offer the farmhouse for a maximum of 10 adults + 2 children (on Z beds) + 2 babies in cots (5 bedrooms). That is the maximum, as our main problem is getting anymore around the dining room table.

We know what you mean, Sam, about the marks on the wall. Our walls that have been marked are due for a new coat of paint this winter anyway but hopefully we can find a way to prevent this reoccurring next year.

Actually, we are getting some guests in today who have been playing a bit of a game with over-occupancy.

We received an email from the guests a week ago that they would be coming with a total of 12 adults, which is 2 more than our maximum.

They had included a list of guests showing that they (a couple) would be staying the whole week and that during the week various friends, family (their neighbours?) would be joining them for a few nights. This is of course the old game of people leaving and then new people arriving within the same week (one day we expect to get a booking for a week and 70 will turn up during the course of the week -10 at a time, staying each night...)

Of course, we could just let them know that it's a maximum of 10 adults and no exceptions. But there's a reason that we want them to come with as many as possible (I will explain that in a minute).

You won't believe this, but these guests are staying for a week and we are not getting a penny or cent for their occupancy as they are 'prizewinners' from a tour operator which we signed up to at the end of last year. They have been literally forced upon us.

It appears our ticking of a box on the contract stating 'You agree to make your holiday rental available for marketing purposes. In return, you will be able to select a free week's stay in one of the properties featured on our site' was not what we thought it to be.
Our idea was that the agency would use a photo of our property in a brochure or email campaign, etc. We did not realize that they would just book someone into our property without even checking with us first.

This booking was made by the tour operator back at the beginning of April and we immediately tried to make a reservation for our own stay in one of their near 33,000 holiday rentals on their site.

We accepted that we wouldn't be able to make use of this offer during the high season but after several weeks of trying to arrange a stay during any available weekend or week of 2015 at a property in the Benelux, the west part of Germany or the UK, we were told that there were no properties available.
It seemed that all available weeks had been blocked already (this in April!) by their marketing department for their own use, and, from the 3,431 properties located in the countries that we had specified, only a handful were ever available to us in the first place!

Also, the tour operator has told us that their 'prize winners' are not to be charged for any extras such as cleaning and that they (the tour operator) will cover all additional costs.

So, now the reason for agreeing to the additional occupants, because we've decided to try and recoup as much as possible from this and will be charging the tour operator 12x linen costs, end of stay cleaning, energy costs and tourist tax. We won't be able to charge for their pet anymore as they have just emailed to let us know that it has died! We are hoping to then get some €265 out of the tour operator, which is less than a quarter of our all-in tariff for this week on HA.

But, apart from, as you can imagine, being extremely unhappy at having guests staying in our property for free (our weekly rate is currently €857 on the tour operator's site), we are not looking forward to these people arriving today as we have been bombarded by emails from them over the last week asking for example, what kind of coffee machine we have in the kitchen so they know what kind of coffee to bring (there is a supermarket 200m away!)
Plus they also refused to pay the security deposit when we requested that they transfer it to our bank account. We received an email from the tour operator saying that the guests had called their Marketing Manager and had said that it was a free holiday and that 'free' means 'free', so they weren't interested in paying any security deposit.

The tour operator actually asked us to consider waiving the deposit (!) but we said that we only do that when we receive a minimum of €1,000 as a rental amount and without paying it, the guests would not get access to the property. The guests have now reluctantly paid it.

We were thinking that maybe €200 was a lot of money for them, so have since googled the guests' contact number, looked up their address on Google street and looking at the kind of place they live, we wouldn't be surprised if this is the first time that they've ever been in a holiday home.

They better not be too demanding over the next 7 days, because I don't think that my normal patience will be extended.

We have a 2-year contract with the tour operator and this first year has been a complete disaster with not one single booking. We have though already told them that we no longer want to be part of their marketing activities for 2016!
Sam V
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Post by Sam V »

*falls off chair*
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Bunny
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Post by Bunny »

Sam V wrote:*falls off chair*
+1 :o :shock: :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

:o If the marketing terms were so unclear and you haven't had any real bookings from them, I would have absolutely refused the booking, unless the tour operator paid for it in full. But even then I wouldn't have been happy. I feel nervous for you! Hope it goes OK and they are respectful guests.
Sam V
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Post by Sam V »

Bunny wrote:
Sam V wrote:*falls off chair*
+1 :o :shock: :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

:o If the marketing terms were so unclear and you haven't had any real bookings from them, I would have absolutely refused the booking, unless the tour operator paid for it in full. But even then I wouldn't have been happy. I feel nervous for you! Hope it goes OK and they are respectful guests.
You've had zero bookings with them, how much is the annual subscription if any? Surely less than the loss of this free booking? I'd tell em to go f.... Sounds like they could be a scam for their own jolly parties. Who is this site?

Can't you have some unfortunate incident at the property and cancel?
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

No Bunny, this is not going to go well. They turned up almost 2 HOURS too early this afternoon just expecting to be let in to the farmhouse.

'You're a little early' I said to the husband. He just looked at me and said nothing.

The wife introduces herself and says 'Yes, our plans changed and we got here earlier than we thought' (meaning, we thought we would turn up when we like on the off chance that you would just hand us the keys).

'I just have to do a few necessary things and then we will be ready for you. Shall we say 4 p.m.?' I said.

Husband has an expression of 'what do you expect me to do for 2 hours?' He then asks if he can use the loo.

So, I let him into the property to use the loo and then his wife tells me that all the bike reservations that we have made for them need to be brought forward one day. Also, they were thinking of renting for the rest of the group as well, she said. Ah, a chance to make a little bit more on top of the €265, I thought.

Now where is the husband? Found him wandering around in the farmhouse. After almost pushing him back out of the door and telling them to park in front of the sheds in the back and not to leave the car blocking the drive so that my OH would be able to get the car in, I told them that the sooner I was finished, the sooner they could come into the property.

Depending on the behaviour of guests towards us,we have often let people in earlier if the farmhouse is ready. But I am not letting these people in before the church clock strikes 4! :twisted:
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