Renting A Cottage - What Maximum Occupancy Means

Do children count? Can I invite guests? Is it OK to bring tents and blow-up beds?

These are a few of the questions we are asked regularly and are often the issues that guests become confused about. So, I want to clear up a few things about occupancy and hope these answers go some way to explaining the reasons for limiting numbers at a cottage.

Rental insurance restrictions - All our cottages carry insurance that covers them for renting out their property. This is for your protection as well as theirs and you should never rent a cottage that does not have adequate insurance cover. These policies often have occupancy restrictions and exceeding the numbers could invalidate the cover which could have serious consequences should something occur during your stay.

Respecting the owner’s wishes - Renting a cottage is not the same as buying a room in a hotel or at a resort. You’re renting a privately owned residence, one that may be in use by the owners for much of the summer. They will decide how many people they wish to have staying and respecting that choice is part of the relationship of trust that should be in place when you begin your vacation.

Septic capacity - With a few exceptions, cottage waste (water & sewage) is handled by a septic system. This is designed to cope with a finite number of occupants and that means both adults and children. When I mention this to potential rental guests, I’m invariably told that their babies and small children are in diapers and therefore don’t create any impact on a septic system. Well, my experience may be in the dim and distant past, but I do recall bathing my children, washing their clothes, and changing their bedding quite frequently. It wasn’t until my boys reached their teenage years that they stopped using water!

Bed configuration - Owners of rental properties often provide very flexible accommodation in terms of the beds they provide. This means a good choice of how to sleep the family, it doesn’t indicate that you can pack more people into the same space. So when a cottage listing shows the maximum number accommodated is 6 people but there are sleeping spaces for 10, please don’t expect to bring an additional 4 people.

Day and overnight guests - I had a call a few days ago from a person who had booked a cottage, asking about the parking space available. She had asked some friends to come and stay with them for a few days during their vacation and explained ‘ we won’t be overcrowding the cottage because they are bringing their motorhome’. This raised quite a few issues, not least of which was the additional 6 people, over and above the maximum occupancy of the cottage. Day and overnight guests may be accepted, but this is at the discretion of the owner or agency and it is important to be honest and open about anyone you may have invited, or who may ‘drop in’.

Check rental agreements carefully - If you rent through an agency, you will be asked to fill in an application form declaring the number of people in your rental group, and the agreement you sign will probably limit you to those listed on that form. If you want to add more, have potential guests visiting you, all you need to do is let the agency know. Providing you don’t exceed the maximum occupancy, this should be fine. Just remember that the agreement you sign is a legal document and binds you to the occupancy limits defined on the form.

Overcrowding can be costly - Cottage communities are usually very close and supportive - neighbours watch out for each other and keep an eye on each other’s properties. If you decide to ignore the maximum occupancy for your rented cottage and invite additional people, the chances are that the owner or agency will be informed by a cottage neighbour, and this could result in additional charges or even eviction without refund.Failing to keep within the owner’s guidelines for occupancy could result in upsetting consequences. Please keep within the limits and have a great vacation.