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House rules are a common document in apartments, holiday homes, and other rental properties, regardless of whether they are rented out for shorter or longer stays. They let the guest know what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do in the property and its immediate surroundings.
Contents
- Is the house rules document legally required?
- What should be written in the house rules?
- What if guests do not follow the house rules?
- Where should you place and publish the house rules?
- In which languages should the house rules be written?
Is the house rules document legally required?
According to the Hospitality and Catering Act, house rules are a legal obligation for hospitality providers renting out accommodation as sole proprietors or companies, but they are not legally required for private accommodation providers, that is, private individuals providing accommodation services in a household.
Even so, it is advisable to have them in your properties and shared areas, because they clearly inform guests about what they may and may not do, how they are expected to behave, and what consequences may follow if they do not respect the house rules.
What should be written in the house rules?
There are no exact rules about what should or should not be written in the house rules, but it is important that the rules are applicable to your property. For example, you would not include pool-use rules if you do not have a pool.
The rules can be summarized as follows:
- what kind of behavior you expect from your guests;
- what they are allowed and not allowed to do;
- what possible consequences may follow if the rules are not respected.
The house rules usually include the following sections:
1. General rules
In this part, you state the general rules relating to your property and its surroundings, guest behavior, and what may happen in case of non-compliance with the house rules.
2. Noise and neighbors
Parties with loud music until the early hours are very common, especially among younger guests. In this part of the house rules, you define during which time period loud parties are not allowed, whether they are allowed at all, and what consequence guests may expect if they do not respect that rule.
3. Visitors
Will you allow visitors in your property, prohibit them entirely, or make exceptions in certain situations? This part should be communicated clearly to guests.
It often happens that a group of guests is split between several apartments or holiday homes nearby for sleeping arrangements, but they intend to spend the day together in one property. For you, this may mean that in the event of an inspection you have more people in the property than the permitted number, and possibly unregistered persons as well, which increases the risk of problems and fines.
To avoid this, you may clearly communicate that visitors are not allowed.
On the other hand, if guests want to invite friends over for coffee or organize dinner with guests from a neighboring property, and they have informed you in advance and the gathering lasts only a few hours, you may allow such a visit.
There are also situations in which friends or relatives might come to visit your guests for a few days. You may allow this if the guests inform you in advance and ask for permission, if the total number of people does not exceed the allowed capacity of the property, and with mandatory registration of the additional guests for the actual number of days they stay with you.
4. Parties
This section is closely related to the previous two. You may clearly define what is and is not allowed and under which conditions certain things are tolerated.
5. Vehicle parking
For properties located in residential buildings where each apartment has its own parking space, it is important to inform guests that they may park only in the parking space belonging to the property they rented.
If the property does not have its own parking space, it is important to state where guests may park, and especially where they may not.
6. Waste disposal
If your property is located in a multi-residential building, it is important to tell guests which waste containers they may and may not use. It is also useful to state the rules relating to shared indoor and outdoor spaces.
7. Safety
To protect your property, as well as the guests’ belongings inside it, remind them to close windows, shutters, and blinds and lock the doors when leaving the property. If you have an alarm, be sure to remind them to activate it when leaving.
Also remind them to turn off the lights, switch off electrical appliances, and turn off the water, both for energy saving and for safety reasons.
8. Protection of property
If you notice that guests take towels, blankets, or pillows out of the property, whether into the garden or to the beach, clearly state in the house rules that this is not allowed and what measure you may take if you notice that guests have not respected this rule.
If you accept pets, clearly define where they may and may not stay, for example on the bed, sofa, bedding, or in the pool.
If smoking is allowed, clearly state where it is allowed and where it is not, and invite guests to behave responsibly, for example by not leaving cigarette butts behind, not throwing them over the balcony, taking care to avoid fire hazards, and not smoking in bedrooms.
9. Guest registration
Although it is understood that you will register your guests, it may seem unusual to them when you ask for their identity documents. While it is good to communicate this before arrival, it is also useful to mention it in the house rules, along with a short note about what may happen if guests refuse to provide their documents for inspection.
What if guests do not follow the house rules?
The house rules contain your rules of behavior in the property and its immediate surroundings. Their purpose is to protect your property, your belongings, and your neighborhood. If someone does not respect the house rules, you decide whether to apply certain measures and to what extent.
- If, upon arrival, you informed the guests about your house rules and they still did not respect them, for example by being loud until the early morning and prompting complaints from neighbors or other guests, we suggest that you first warn them in writing and ask them to respect the house rules and other residents. Often, just one reminder or warning is enough.
- If guests ignore the warning and continue to break the rules, before taking more serious measures you may visit them in person and ask them to behave in accordance with the property rules, with a note that repeated violations may lead to more serious consequences.
- If they continue to repeatedly break the rules, disturb the peace of the neighborhood, bother neighbors or other guests, damage property, and similar, you decide which more serious measures you will take. Some possible options may include calling the police, asking the guests to leave the property, or retaining the security deposit. This is unpleasant for everyone and should truly be the last option, but your property is your source of income, and often your home as well, so in exceptional cases take all necessary steps to protect it.
Where should you place and publish the house rules?
Although, as a private accommodation provider, you are not required to have house rules in the property, it is still a good idea for them to be displayed in a visible place in every property. You can place them in a frame, on a wall, or on a board where other important documents are displayed, such as information on how to submit complaints and the price list.
Besides the property itself, it is also good to publish the house rules on your property’s website as well as in listings on booking platforms. It is important that guests already know, at the time of booking, which rules of conduct they are agreeing to.
In which languages should the house rules be written?
Since you work with guests from different parts of the world, it is important that the house rules are written in at least one foreign language, and it is also good for them to be available in Croatian.
If you decide to translate the house rules into several foreign languages, choose those spoken by the guests who most often stay with you. In most Croatian destinations, these are often Germans, Austrians, and Italians. Therefore, in addition to English as a widely understood language, you may translate the house rules into Italian and German as well.
Although the house rules cannot fully protect you from problems that guests may intentionally or unintentionally cause, if you have them in the property and on your communication channels, you can always refer back to them.
Even in the case of greater damage, when responsibility is determined through official channels, the house rules can be helpful because they clearly define the behavior you expect from your guests.
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