House rules for your holiday rental (with wording to copy)

Good house rules are short, specific and friendly. Guests follow rules that explain why, and they are more likely to follow them when they see them in the listing, in the welcome book and on a sign in the home.

Copy-paste house rules

• Smoking: "This is a non-smoking home, including the balcony. Thank you for keeping it fresh for the next guests."
• Parties: "No parties or events, please. We live in a residential building and our neighbours are part of the experience."
• Quiet hours: "Please keep noise down between 22:00 and 08:00, including on the balcony and in the stairwell."
• Guests: "Only the guests on the booking may stay overnight (maximum [4])."
• Pets: "Pets are not allowed." or "Well-behaved pets are welcome; please keep them off beds and sofas."
• Rubbish: "Please separate recycling (see the kitchen page) and take full bags to the street bins."
• Energy: "Please switch off air conditioning and heating when you go out and keep windows closed while it runs."
• Check-out: "Check-out is by [11:00]. Load the dishwasher, take out the rubbish and leave the keys [in the key box]."

Where to put them

Put the same rules in three places: your listing (so guests agree before booking), your welcome book, and a printed sign near the door. Consistency matters: if a rule is only in one place, guests will say they didn't see it.

Keep it to one page

Seven or eight rules is plenty. Anything longer reads like a contract and gets skipped. Put detailed instructions (appliances, recycling) in the welcome book instead.

Free: printable Wi-Fi, house-rules and check-out signs in 4 languages. Download them here.