What are good examples of Airbnb house rules?

The basics

House rules tell guests what you expect before they book. The best ones are one plain sentence each, about things that actually matter in your home: how many people can stay, noise, smoking, pets, parties, parking and trash.

On Airbnb, where the rules appear matters as much as what they say. Write them in your listing first, then repeat them elsewhere for convenience.

What Airbnb's policy says

Airbnb's Reasonable house rules and requests (opens in a new tab) policy applies to reservations booked on or after Nov 20, 2026. According to that page:

• Rules and requests must be disclosed in the designated section of the listing page at the time of booking.
• Hosts may not communicate new house rules or requests in other sections of the listing or after booking, including by message, signs in the home or in person.
• Rules must match the other information on your listing page.
• Hosts may not impose fines or other penalties on guests. If a community association or local government could fine the listing, you can give guests notice of that in the designated section of the listing.
• Hosts generally can't ask guests to do tasks that take significant effort or time, or that a cleaner would usually do. The page gives stripping the bed, taking trash offsite and washing and putting away dishes as examples.
• Hosts can't restrict access to features advertised in the listing.

The page also says guests must follow house rules and are encouraged to follow requests. Read the full policy before you edit your listing, because it has more detail and exceptions than fit here.

How to write a clear rule

1. One rule, one sentence. "No smoking or vaping indoors or out" beats a paragraph.
2. Be specific. Give times, numbers and places: "Quiet hours are 10 pm to 7 am."
3. Give a short reason when it helps. "So neighbors can rest" makes a rule feel fair.
4. Match the rest of the listing. Check-in times, guest count and parking should say the same thing everywhere.
5. Keep the list short. A few rules that matter are easier to follow than twenty.
6. Leave out penalties. No "fee" or "fine" language.

House rule examples

Swap in your own times, numbers and places.

The last example comes from Airbnb's own page, which says it considers local factors, such as animal-proof trash containers in bear country, when it looks at a rule.

What to leave out

• Fines, penalties or "you will be charged" wording
• Cleaning tasks such as stripping beds, washing and putting away dishes or taking trash offsite
• Rules that limit a feature your listing advertises, such as a pool or Wi-Fi
• Rules that contradict your listing, such as a different checkout time
• Anything you plan to announce only after booking

Where else to put the rules

Once the rules are in your listing, you can restate them for convenience. The house rules template gathers them into one guest message, and the house manual maker adds them to a printable manual. Neither should introduce a rule the guest has not already seen. For what else belongs in the manual, see what an Airbnb house manual should include.