No parties or events allowed.

This is a big one. We’re not here to ruin anybody’s fun, but an Airbnb rental is not an appropriate location for a house party. Hosts need to make sure that their rentals remain party-free for a number of reasons.

First of all, parties and events usually come with a lot of noise. Whether it’s a bachelorette party or a birthday bash, parties hosted in Airbnbs will drive your neighbors crazy. 

Secondly, Airbnb parties can be a nuisance because of all the cleaning you need to do afterward. A large group of people celebrating can make a much bigger mess than a handful of guests. 

And lastly, parties raise the likelihood of your guests breaking your house rules by smoking inside, using illegal substances, or damaging your furniture.

No smoking allowed

There’s nothing worse than walking into your Airbnb rental once a guest leaves and being greeted by a strong smell of cigarette smoke. 

Unless you have a vacancy between stays, you may not be able to ventilate your property and leave it smelling fresh for the next guest.

What’s more, unruly smokers can damage your property by putting out their cigarettes in all kinds of places and leaving burn marks on your furniture.

Make sure your house rules clearly state that you don’t allow smoking inside your property. If you have a designated outside area where guests can smoke, ask them to throw cigarette butts into the trash can instead of on the ground.

No pets allowed

Banning pets from your Airbnb rental may seem like an obvious choice, but there’s actually more nuance to it. 

While a no-pets policy can protect you from unwanted smells, hair everywhere, barking at night, chewed-up carpets, and bite marks on your furniture, allowing pets can also be a unique selling point. 

These days, lots of owners take their pets along on their travels. If yours is one of the few properties on Airbnb that does allow pets, it could give you a competitive advantage. Plus, if you allow pets at your vacation rental, you can list it on niche websites like BringFido that specifically target guests who travel with pets.

It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons and decide if you want to welcome friendly critters to your property.

Suitable for toddlers and children under 12

As part of the 5 preset rules on Airbnb, you can mark your rental as suitable for children (2-12 years) and toddlers (under 2 years). In general, it’s a good idea to accept children as this will give you access to a larger pool of travelers, including families with kids.

However, if you do choose to welcome little ones, make sure that your home is well-equipped – for example, there’s a place to sleep for toddlers – and child-proofed to make it safe for youngsters.  

If you want to go the extra mile and turn your rental into a truly kid-friendly space, you can install gates for the stairs, cover the outlets and even leave some toys for the children to play with.

No unregistered guests allowed

Contrary to what you might think, most Airbnb guests need to be reminded that they’re not allowed to invite their own guests into the rental property. 

Unregistered guests can cause all kinds of trouble – for example, if they break something, you have no way of holding them accountable. In addition, some countries require Airbnb hosts to notify the local police of guests staying at their property – there’s no way for you to do that if you don’t have their names and other details.

To avoid such issues, add a line to your Airbnb house manual asking your guests to refrain from bringing friends or family whose names aren’t stated in the reservation.

Please don’t eat or drink in the bedroom

This is pretty straightforward but good to include nonetheless. Asking your guests not to eat or drink in the bedrooms could save you a lot of headaches. If you don’t want to deal with red wine stains on your white sheets, make sure your guests know they’re not allowed to consume food or beverages in bed.

Please respect the noise curfew

In most neighborhoods, the period between 9:00 pm and 7:00 am is quiet time. If you want to maintain a good relationship with your neighbors, ask your guests to respect the noise curfew and tone it down after 9:00 pm. Refer to the ‘No parties’ section at the beginning of this blog post for a home automation solution you can use to control noise levels.

Please turn off the AC when you go out

If you don’t want to end up with crazy utility bills at the end of the month, ask your guests to make sure they turn off the AC every time they go out. You can take extra precautions by installing a smart thermostat in your Airbnb – this will allow you to control the temperature at a distance. Google Nest and Honeywell smart thermostats are both good choices.

Please respect check-in and check-out times.

You can’t reiterate your check-in and check-out times enough. Even if the reservation clearly states that, for example, check-in is from 2:00 pm and check-out is until 10:00 am, some guests will ignore it and arrive early or leave late. The latter is especially annoying because it could mess with your cleaning schedule or leave you doing a rushed job. Besides highlighting your check-in and check-out times in your Airbnb house manual, we also recommend sending automated messages right before check-in and check-out to remind guests of the exact times.

Please take extra care of your keys. Lost keys incur a replacement fee.

It may seem like a no-brainer to you, but guests do need to be reminded to look after their keys if you want to avoid frantic phone calls and rescuing locked-out guests. 

The best way to make sure guests don’t lose their keys is by warning them that there’s a key replacement fee. The more specific you can be, the better: include the exact amount of the replacement fee (for example, $50) in your house rules.

Please take care of the furnishings. You have to pay for damages that exceed the security deposit

Just like with keys, it’s good to ask your guests to treat your furniture as if it were theirs. You can add an extra incentive by reminding them that thesecurity deposit does not cover damages beyond a certain amount. This subtle warning could prompt them to be just a little more careful.

Please don’t rearrange the furniture.

Sometimes, when guests feel a bit too much at home, they’ll start rearranging the furniture according to their preferences. While this is merely an annoyance, it’s good to let guests know that you’d rather they leave everything right where they found it. Otherwise, you’ll have to haul sofas and beds back to their original spots yourself, and you may find ugly scratches on your flooring.

Please do your dishes

This simple rule can save you some time cleaning – especially if you don’t have a dishwasher – and it helps set expectations for your guests. If you ask them to do their dishes, they’ll know that they’re responsible for keeping your place clean (at least to some degree).

However, if you don’t ask them to do any cleaning tasks and you charge a high Airbnb cleaning fee, you’re sending the message that you don’t expect them to do anything. Don’t be surprised if your guests behave accordingly – and make a mess!

Please take the trash out before you leave

It’s very common to ask your guests the courtesy of taking out the trash when they check out. You’ll find it especially helpful when you don’t have a same-day check-in and your housekeeping team doesn’t clean your rental immediately. Feel free to request this small favor regardless of how much you’re charging for your cleaning fee.

No illegal substances allowed on the premises

To avoid run-ins with the authorities, make sure your guests don’t even think about storing or consuming drugs or other illegal substances in the rental property.