Marina Tenants Warned Not to Rent Boats as B&Bs

Byline: Ambrosia Brody

Marina Tenants Warned Not to Rent Boats as B&Bs

SAN DIEGO — Boat owners who are considering listing their vessels on “bed and breakfast” or “vacation rental” websites are warned not to follow through with those plans, as local marina managers are cracking down on those running such businesses from their slip.

“There are legitimate ones (boat B&Bs) — but these were not,” said Ken Guyer, marina manager at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.

“These boat owners thought they could rent out the boat, and let their paid guests experience all the amenities (of the adjacent Marriott Marquis),” Guyer said. It’s a little comical.”

Marina staff members caught wind of the unauthorized rentals when a couple of boat guests had trouble getting onto the docks. When asked why didn’t they have a key, the couple responded that were only renting the boat for a couple of nights.

“To make a long story short, the boat owner is no longer in the marina,” Guyer said.

Since then, marina staff members have been searching vacation rental and B&B websites, in search of additional rule breakers. During their search, they discovered another marina tenant who had listed his vessel on a rental site.

“I will give some people the benefit of the doubt,” Guyer said. “Maybe they didn’t know (it is a violation), so I am trying to get the world out. If you get caught, you will automatically be terminated from the marina.”

Some tenants were renting their boats for as much as $200 a night, Guyer said. The nightly fee included use of the Marriott Marquis pool, fitness center and other amenities that are only provided to marina tenants.

Guyer, who has been with the marina for seven years, said marina tenants are now being alerted that that once the staff determines a boat is being rented as a bed and breakfast, consequences will follow.

According to Guyer, the practice violates the marina’s master lease with the Port of San Diego. It could also be considered by the Coast Guard as use of a boat to accommodate “passengers for hire,” he said — and it is not allowed in marina tenants’ wharfage contract.

Allowing strangers into the marina is also a breach of security, and granting people access to the property and its amenities is illegal, he explained. Tenants’ wharfage contracts provide for immediate termination if a boat owner is determined to be renting out their vessel.

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