Hello fellow sitters!
How does everyone feel about the housesitters having guests over during their sit? Do you allow it? How about allowing them to have a guest stay over night?
As long as it’s discussed prior to sit. No surprises allowed.
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You will only know by asking.
All home hosts are different. For some, extra guests are a definite no. For others, it’s no problem at all.
My Mother in Law lives in Greece and comes to visit us, and joins us on our sits at least once a year. We have no problem finding home hosts who are happy with this arrangement.
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Hi @Flik! welcome to the forum!
This topic has been discussed many times on the forum! You can access previous posts using the spyglass + key words, you’ll find some extra answers there. 
Some titles as an example:
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It doesn’t matter what anyone here thinks about it - it is up to each individual host and their comfort level. If this is something that is important to you, make sure to bring it up either in your application, or in the pre-confirmation video/phone call/messages to ensure that you and the HO are on the same page about it 
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As a sitter, it’s always something I dread asking but on numerous occasions haven’t had to - the homeowners have openly said we can have visitors. We’ve done local sits at Thanksgiving and Christmas when homeowners said we could have our out of town family visit and stay with us and it was really special. Our youngest son proposed to his now lovely wife on the Christmas sit! As a sitter, it’s very much appreciated, especially if it’s a sit in a city/town where you have family and/or friends and it’s a longer sit.
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I don’t mind guest personally. I don’t want kids over since they might accidentally cause damage. It just depends on boundaries and if everything was discussed prior. If it wasn’t discussed, you should definitely let them know
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Welcome to forum, @Flik !
So far I have only done sits up to approx. two weeks. I would think length of stay could impact the attitude towards possible guests. If someone take care of your pets and home for months it could be esier to allow guests.
Ofc one could most times meet guests at a café or restaurant or do something together - visit a museum, go for a hike or :other:
As a sitter I think I would prefer that if I had guests as such that they didn’t sleep in the home, due to the extra responsibility and the extra work involved - given that a hotel or other accommodation was available in the area. I guess that could differ with the guest and their habits and how well I knew them in that regard. I am very mindful as a sitter taking care of the home and it would probably annoy me if a guest of mine was less careful than I am, which they could easily be. 
I haven’t so far had guests as such, but on some occassions I have in my application asked to bring one or two of my adult children. I can imagine some might have declined my application for that reason, while one host thought it was good for the care of the pets and encouraged it, while another host just allowed it because it would be nice for us to be together.
Hosts decline for all sorts of reasons, just as I as a sitter refrain from applying for a lot of things or withdraw after a videocall if I am no longer interested. So it is just one factor of many in deciding whether it is a good match.
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Hosts differ. I’ve had some who volunteered, unasked, to let me have guests.
One sit was in a resort-like community and the host said I could have a friend stay if I wanted. I didn’t, and later the host invited me to repeat sit.
Knowing my father-in-law lived a few hours away from the host’s home, they invited me to bring my husband (we live across the country) and to invite my FIL to sit with us over Christmas and New Year’s. We had holiday plans at home, though.
The hosts were among the most hospitable I’ve had — went above and beyond on every front. Their sit was easy, with the gentlest, sweetest dog. And I was their first THS sitter.
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It is very nice when the pet owners offer. They often do when it’s a long sit or a rural sit. I don’t usually take up the offer but it’s nice to be offered and it shows that there is a lot of trust there.
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I’m glad this came up. It has been bothering me that for two potential sitters I interviewed very recently, they both sprang this on me after we talked. Both wanted to have someone come stay.
This annoys me, because the sitters themselves have been vetted or background checked by the site, but their potential guests have NOT.
If you want to have a guest, you really ought to state that up front. And it should be someone that the site has also vetted and approved.
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Thanks for your input. I had forgotten it was a rule on THS. I had tried to search the subject in my phone app but didn’t get a result.
I’m personally not comfortable with it, and a potential sitter had said they wanted a guest to stay over.
I do not believe there is an option to vet anyone else. Even my husband, who is listed through THS, was not vetted. This subject should be presented in listing/application. If not then, it should be discussed when you have a getting to know each other chat, before invitation/acceptance. Communication is crucial.
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Just to be clear as you seem to think all sitters and their partners are ‘vetted’ by THS?
Only US sitters have backround checks. ( I have no idea what these entail)
In all other countries the main sitter on the profile has an ID check - the secondary sitter has no checks at all.
There is currently a new system where the secondary sitter can get an ID check, but that is in its infancy and only very few sitters are included in the beta test,
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If there is a possibility that I might like the opportunity to have guests, I will ask the HO in our video call. A request for overnight guests will depend on the accommodation available.
When I asked my (fairly local to home) New Year HO if I could have guests, the reply was absolutely I must have a dinner party (my intention had, until then, been coffee & cake!) as they didn’t want me to be alone for New Years Eve. I had a lovely evening with my 4 guests.
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Probably the best time to bring it up is during the video call not after you’ve confirmed as that’s unfair to the host and you can clearly decline. If a sitter wants to travel with say a daughter/mother/partner etc for the whole sit then that should be in the initial application. As @Colin says, we’ve only been ID checked (& have reviews/references) as the main sitter. HOs have no background or ID checks so there’s a risk that side for sitters. The whole thing comes down as ever to trust and clear comms on both sides so it’s a happy match. #unwantedsurprises
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