Almost every holiday home has house rules. Yet they are often not read, or read and forgotten straight away. That is rarely down to unwilling guests. Usually the rules are too long, too vague or in the wrong place.
Good house rules protect your property, your neighbours and your reviews. They are short, specific and explained. In this article, you will see how to draw them up and where to show them, so that guests actually follow them.
Why most house rules do not work
Many owners write their rules after a bad experience. After every incident, another rule is added. After a few years, there is a list of twenty points, full of capital letters and bans. Guests skim over it.
A long list has another drawback. It gives the impression that you do not trust your guests. That sets the tone for the whole stay. Guests who feel welcome take more care of a property.
Three principles make the difference:
- Short. Stick to the rules that really matter. Seven or eight points are usually enough.
- Specific. Write "quiet outside from 10 pm" rather than "respect the neighbours".
- Explained. A rule with a reason is followed better. "No parties: the neighbours live close by and the municipality enforces strictly."
Noise and quiet hours
Noise is the biggest source of complaints from neighbours. Especially in flats on the coast and in terraced houses in town, you hear everything through the walls.
Make the rule concrete with a time and a place. For example: "From 10 pm, please keep the terrace and garden quiet. Indoors, keep the volume down." Add the reason why: the neighbours live there all year round.
Check with your municipality whether there are local rules on quiet hours or noise. Whatever they say is best copied word for word.
Parties and the maximum number of guests
The maximum number of guests belongs in every listing and in every set of house rules. That number is based on the number of sleeping places and on your insurance and fire safety certificate. So it is not a guideline, but a limit.
State clearly that visitors who are not in the booking are not allowed. Also state that parties and events are not permitted. Keep it businesslike. A sentence such as "This property is not suitable for parties" works better than a long warning.
Would you still like to allow a small celebration, such as a birthday dinner with the family? Then say so explicitly. That way guests know what is allowed, and they do not immediately feel under suspicion.
Pets and smoking
For pets and smoking, there is no right or wrong answer. What matters is that you make a clear choice and apply it the same way everywhere.
If you allow pets, state how many, which kind and which arrangements apply. For example: "One dog at most, not in the bedrooms and not on the sofa. We charge a fixed cleaning supplement." If you do not allow pets, say so in the listing too. Bear assistance dogs in mind: platforms have their own rules for these.
Smoking is simpler. Smoking indoors is banned in almost all holiday homes. Give guests an alternative: a spot outside with an ashtray. Without that spot, you will find cigarette ends in the flower boxes or on the neighbours' balcony.
Sorting rubbish: the hardest rule for foreign guests
Belgian waste sorting is confusing, even for Belgians. For guests from abroad, it is a mystery. Blue bags, bottle banks, general waste and organic waste: the rules differ per municipality and sometimes per street.
Make it as simple as possible. A few tips:
- Put clearly labelled bins in the kitchen, with pictograms and text in several languages.
- Explain on one page what goes in which bin, with photos.
- State when collection day is and where guests put the bags out.
- Explain where the nearest bottle bank is.
Preferably, do not ask guests to put the bags out themselves on a specific day. Ideally, let the cleaning team do that. That prevents fines from the municipality and bags left on the pavement for days.
Check-out: ask for little
Some owners give guests a long list of tasks on departure: hoovering, stripping beds, washing up, taking out the rubbish. Guests find that unreasonable, especially if they have also paid a cleaning fee. It often leads to a lower review.
Keep check-out to a minimum. Two or three tasks are enough:
- Put the dishes in the dishwasher and start it.
- Put the rubbish in the right bins.
- Close the windows, switch off the lights and pull the door shut behind you.
Everything else is the cleaning team's job. Guests who have little to do leave with a good feeling. You see that reflected in the reviews.
Where to show the house rules
A good rule only works if guests see it at the right moment. So show the house rules in three places.
In the listing. Platforms have a separate field for house rules. Fill it in completely. Guests who book have then formally accepted the rules. That helps if there is a dispute later.
In the confirmation message. After the booking, send a short message with the most important rules. Not the whole list, but the three or four points that matter most. Send them again a day before arrival, together with the practical information.
In the property. Leave a folder or a card in a visible place, for example on the kitchen table. Hang the rubbish rules by the bins and the quiet hours by the door to the terrace. A rule you see at the moment it applies is followed better.
Translate everything into your guests' languages. For most Belgian holiday homes, that means Dutch, French, English and often German too.
Help with guest communication
House rules work best when they reach the guest at the right moment and in the right language. YourDomi communicates with guests seven days a week in their own language and works with its own cleaning team that follows a fixed checklist and a photo check. Would you like to know how that would work for your property? Request a personal proposal.
