How to prevent & deal with unauthorised guests in your holiday home
What to do if guests bring too many people to your holiday apartment
June 2025
There are some common problems that every holiday rental landlord must face at some point in their career. Top of the list? Unauthorised visitors. When guests bring too many people to your holiday home, it can lead to property damage, insurance issues and disturbances that upset the neighbours. Here are the best ways to prevent unauthorised visitors and what to do if someone breaks the rules.
Unauthorised guests in your holiday home: what you need to know
There are three common types of undeclared guests that you may have to deal with when you rent out your holiday home. They are:
- Guests’ children. Many guests don’t include their kids in the booking numbers, perhaps assuming that they don’t really count. However, if your insurance policy has a strict limit on guest numbers, kids can cause problems.
- Guests’ friends who are staying nearby. Maybe the guests invite them over for lunch or dinner. This is more likely if you have some attractive facilities, like a swimming pool or barbecue area. They may just stay for a couple of hours, or they might decide to crash overnight. Again, they can cause problems if there are insurance issues.
- Party guests. This is a true nightmare scenario for any landlord. There have been many horror stories over the years about irresponsible gangs of guests inviting dozens of friends, who then trash the holiday rental.
Easygoing landlords may think that the first two categories don’t present many problems. It’s true that a couple of visitors coming over for lunch may not be as devastating as a full-scale party – but you should still enforce limits if you’re concerned about the number of people in your accommodation. When you first advertise your holiday home on a holiday rental portal, it’s important to think about the maximum number of guests.
As well as the potential for problems with insurance, unwanted visitors can be a real nuisance in your holiday home for the following reasons:
- They lead to increased wear and tear on your furniture and equipment. When you set prices for your holiday home, you probably take some wear and tear into account. If every guest brings visitors over for lunch, then things will get broken and damaged more quickly than you have anticipated.
- They can cause problems for the neighbours. Naturally, a group of six will usually make more noise than a group of two. As a holiday rental landlord, you’re probably keen to retain good relationships with those living nearby.
- Unless they are extremely conscientious, they probably won’t read your house rules. That means your guests may break them. That could lead to dangerous behaviour around the pool, moving the furniture around, or using items within the home inappropriately.
How to prevent guests from receiving visitors in your Airbnb or holiday home
Luckily, there are a number of ways to stop guests from turning your holiday home into a party house. Here are some of the most effective:
1. Put the maximum number of people in the accommodation in your terms and conditions
When you advertise your holiday home, make it clear in your house rules that you will only permit a set number of guests. Write this explicitly in the listing on your holiday rental website, and repeat it in emails to guests.
You can do this politely; perhaps you can add a clause like “If you wish to invite anyone onto the premises during the stay, please contact me first.” Make it clear that you’re talking about visitors coming by day, not just overnight guests. You may wish to permit daytime guests. In this case, be sure to write down how long visitors can stay in the flat before they must leave.
It’s also essential that you make it clear that parties are forbidden. It may seem like common sense – but it still needs to be written down.
2. Add the guests’ names to the rental agreement
Before you write up the tenancy agreement, ask the lead guest for the full names of everyone who will be staying. This is a good way to ensure that guests won’t try to sneak their children in undeclared.
3. Charge a security deposit
A security deposit is one of the most important weapons in a holiday rental landlord’s arsenal. When your guest agrees to pay the deposit, send them a list of terms and conditions. These should clearly outline how long visitors can stay and make it absolutely explicit that parties are not allowed. If guests break this agreement, then they will lose money – a good way of deterring them from misbehaving.
4. Install a smart doorbell
Nowadays, more and more properties have smart doorbells. If you install one, you can keep track of who, exactly, is entering your property and how long they are staying.
Just be aware that smart doorbells can be quite divisive. Some guests will appreciate the added security they bring; others may see them as the landlord breaching their privacy.
5. Ask someone else to help
If you get on well with the neighbours around your property, you can ask them to keep an eye out for any unwanted guests. When you first start renting out your holiday apartment, go around to the neighbours to introduce yourself. Give them a way of contacting you in case guests have unauthorised visitors. Some neighbours may be overenthusiastic about contacting you, but that’s the price you’ll have to pay for a harmonious relationship. You may also have a local property manager who can do this for you.
What to do when a guest brings unauthorised visitors to your holiday rental
While these measures should stop guests from bringing unwanted visitors, some may slip through the net. When that happens, it’s important that you remain calm. Remind guests of the agreement that they signed, and give them a certain amount of time to remove their visitors from the property. Tell them that if the visitors are not gone by your deadline, they will be charged as extra guests.
In these situations, guests may raise a dispute with your holiday rental platform. As such, you should report the incident yourself as soon as possible. Make sure to provide proof. For example, if you use a smart doorbell, then you have perfect evidence illustrating what has happened; otherwise, you may need to provide photos.
Do not throw the guests out of your property. There have been some court cases in the past where guests successfully sued landlords for this; if you force the guests off your property, you may open yourself up for liability.
That being said, if guests are hosting a party, you may want to call the police – or a neighbour might even do it for you. You can remove the unauthorised guests, but not those who are named on the rental contract. Keep in mind that, in the case of a party, some illegal activities may have taken place in your holiday home. This is a matter strictly for the police.
Stay calm throughout and record proceedings if necessary. The more evidence you have to support your side, the more likely you’ll see a favourable outcome from the dispute.