Overoccupancy

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
User avatar
Ben McNevis
Posts: 846
Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Scotland (for) The Brave
Contact:

Overoccupancy

Post by Ben McNevis »

We've just arrived at the house which sleeps 10 to find a restaurant receipt for 13 covers on the floor and an airbed in the dustbin. I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but it's pretty elementary that the last guests were a bigger party than stated.

They left the house almost immaculate and were second-time guests and were generally nice. So we're surprised that nice folks will be so dishonest but not too upset because they seem otherwise respectful.

It just makes us wonder how often this happens. We are off-site owners. We don't have anything specific in our T&Cs except to say that guests are limited to those named on the booking form. Should we have something stronger? And, in a place where people will read it? I was thinking of adding a paragraph to my booking acknowledgement email. Any suggestions?
Last edited by Ben McNevis on Sat May 14, 2016 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Cheers, Ben
www . scotland-cottage.com www . scottish-cottage.com


Visiting Glenrothes? It's one of your Fife-a-day
GillianF
Posts: 826
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:06 pm
Location: Dordogne

Post by GillianF »

I think you have to examine how you feel about the over-occupancy. If it doesn't bother you then let it go. If you mind then you have to take steps to avoid it happening.

In this particular instance you can't prove it happened: the 13 people at dinner may not have slept at the house. If they did it may have only been one night and didn't really affect things too much.

If 13 people stayed tee for the period of the rental then obviously it has cost you money: more gas, more hot water, more loo flushing, more wear and tear etc. etc.

I would definitely put something in your Ts&Cs that the occupancy of the house is 10 people and the total number of people staying at any one time should never exceed that number etc. etc. Others here will have better/proper/formal wording they will share with you.

If it's part of your Ts&Cs and another group were to do as this group did and damage did result you would be covered to take appropriate, necessary action against them.
User avatar
kevsboredagain
Posts: 3207
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:32 am
Location: France
Contact:

Post by kevsboredagain »

We tell people it's due to insurance reasons. If there was a fire and not all the people got out, you would possibly be prosecuted in this unfair world where people always look for someone to blame.
kg1
Posts: 2347
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:23 pm

Post by kg1 »

kevsboredagain wrote:We tell people it's due to insurance reasons. If there was a fire and not all the people got out, you would possibly be prosecuted in this unfair world where people always look for someone to blame.
Clever - I will remember that one. Thanks :)
User avatar
Ben McNevis
Posts: 846
Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 10:07 am
Location: Scotland (for) The Brave
Contact:

Post by Ben McNevis »

Thanks, Kev. I'll use the insurance reason.

I think that a lot of the problem stems from guests thinking that it's only they who are affected by overoccupancy and I can well understand that they are happy to bring disposable air beds to save a few hundred pounds. Of course, we all know different. It's more wear and tear among other things.
Cheers, Ben
www . scotland-cottage.com www . scottish-cottage.com


Visiting Glenrothes? It's one of your Fife-a-day
salmoncottage
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 3:54 pm

Post by salmoncottage »

If any of the major tour operators or hotel chains caught anyone wilfully stashing camp beds and overoccupying their rooms they would be on the first plane home or would receive a bill for the difference, wouldnt they? So why do some guests imagine holiday lets are any different?
'Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside'
Hells Bells
Posts: 13173
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:42 am
Location: French Alps
Contact:

Post by Hells Bells »

We once went skiing in Canada, the family hotel suite with king bed, kitchen and twin beds turned out to be 2 small doubles. My teens were both 6ft at the time, and both male and not happy they had to share a very small bed. Complaints were made, but the only suggestion was that we went downtown and bought an airbed for the floor.
GillianF
Posts: 826
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:06 pm
Location: Dordogne

Post by GillianF »

We had a family stay some years ago. We advertise "sleep 6 plus cot". We expect the 7th 'person' to be a baby sleeping in a cot.

The family turned up and the 7th/baby was a three year old and was going to be sleeping with mum and dad in the double bed. They had been conservative with information on the booking form by not actually stating the age of the 'baby'. We weren't happy but bit the bullet.

They left a couple of days early in their fortnight to break the journey home and proudly told us that they make a habit of booking into a Campanile, Formula 1 type hotel on journeys. They book a sleeping 2 ground floor room on the grounds of 'disability' and then pile the kids in through the window after dark.
User avatar
AngloDutch
Posts: 727
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:25 pm
Location: Netherlands

Post by AngloDutch »

GillianF wrote:We had a family stay some years ago. We advertise "sleep 6 plus cot". We expect the 7th 'person' to be a baby sleeping in a cot.

The family turned up and the 7th/baby was a three year old and was going to be sleeping with mum and dad in the double bed. They had been conservative with information on the booking form by not actually stating the age of the 'baby'. We weren't happy but bit the bullet.

They left a couple of days early in their fortnight to break the journey home and proudly told us that they make a habit of booking into a Campanile, Formula 1 type hotel on journeys. They book a sleeping 2 ground floor room on the grounds of 'disability' and then pile the kids in through the window after dark.
Gillian, it's amazing as to the lengths that people go in order to push their family/group into holiday rentals and other properties which are really too small for them. What would they have done if you had said that they were over the maximum occupancy?

We are now wondering how many extra people have smuggled themselves into our holiday home without us knowing about it.

Last year we found out that around 20 people on one booking had stayed at our farmhouse (maximum capacity is 10 adults plus 4 children/babies). Every couple of days extra friends and family turned up who slept in the beds which had just been vacated by the others. They only received one set of laundry and towels from us, but I suppose that in order to save some money and maximize the usage of our holiday home, it didn't really bother them? :shock:
Dusty
Posts: 356
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:32 pm
Location: St Cernin de Labarde, Dordogne
Contact:

Post by Dusty »

We recently had an enquiry via Tripadvisor from someone looking for a location to celebrate her mothers 60 birthday. My suspicions were raised when she had asked for 7 nights through tripadvisor but actually only wanted 5. As she was looking to make an off peak booking we went along with her as any booking is better than none at all.
She also seemed very interested in an empty barn we have on our property that we use for storage etc. When I said that the barn was unused all she said was that it was a shame that lovely old buildings like that went unused.
Suspicions reached a higher level when she asked about the neighbours and whether they would mind the noise and people for the celebrations. When I asked exactly how many people she was expecting at this gathering she admitted that there could easily be 30 people if not more! The majority would be wanting to stay overnight. Our place takes a maximum of 12 people. I can't imagine what 30 people would do to fosse septiques etc!
Luckily we are on site owners, if we hadn't and had gone ahead with the booking then we may never have known what could have happened.
Joffan
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:29 am
Location: Prades, 66500

Post by Joffan »

I had an enquiry this morning for 10 adults, 6 children and 3 infants. The house is for 10 plus a baby!!!

They said they would bring travel cots, airbeds and some of the children would sleep with their parents.

We have plenty of crockery and cutlery etc for 19 but the table would be a squeeze. With all these people in one house it doesn't sound like much of a holiday to me!
Post Reply