Guest adult limit but inclusive to families

[Maureen488]

Hello all

I am reasonably new to all this and I was wondering (maybe it’s just me) but I am looking for a setting that lets you limit adult guests but also, does not discourage those with families and I can’t figure it out.

For instance our space is snug, one double bedroom, one bathroom with sofa bed in open plan kitchen/livingroom.
Now it can take 4 guests as in 2 adults with 2 kids sleeping in the living room on a sofa bed, but not 4 individual adults.
I have said on the listing that it could take 2 couples at a push and it’s a maximum of 2 family households, (but I think I am going to change that as  I did have my doubts initially as who really wants to share a snug flat with another couple??) So I am now thinking of changing that to make it 2 adults as I keep getting ‘requests to book’ from people who have not read my listing and want to book for 4 adult guests, as they are only looking at how many guests it accommodates overall. (And for 4 adult individuals it works out financially as a great deal, but because of its size, i don’t think its really suitable and it’s not what I want.)

But at the same time, I don’t want to list it as 2 guests as it could take a family. 

I just feel I want it 2 say 2 adults and 2 kids or 2 adults. 
Am  I missing a setting?? As I really don’t want to waste time on the phone to try and get Airbnb to remove the request to book each time when guest has  not read the listing, which I don’t think is my fault. Apart  from put it in bold in the very first line of my listing. 
Thanks

Maureen 

[Anonymous]

@Maureen488  Cool listing, I'm a big fan of interesting color contrasts.

Unfortunately there isn't a setting that distinguishes a child from an adult in the maximum guest count. So as long as your max is set to 4 guests, you will find yourself declining a lot of requests.

Looking at your flat's layout, though, if you don't mind the suggestion I think a family of 4 might not be your ideal target group. The dining table, for example, looks like it can only comfortably seat 3 people, and two children who are young enough to be comfortable sharing a sofa-bed with their siblings would feel rather hemmed-in by the lack of space to run around in. Not to mention the headache at cleaning time.

My suggestion would be to cap your guest count at 3, which in Airbnb terms could mean 3 adults, 1 adult and two kids, or 2 adults and 1 kid (don't forget, if you advertise as "suitable for children" Airbnb automatically excludes children under 2 from the guest count, so that's a whole other story). 

[Sarah977]

@Maureen488  I'd say simplify your hosting and market as a place for 2 guests. If they are a couple, they will use the bed, if they are just friends, one will use the sofa bed.

You will likely get guests asking about bringing their kids anyway, and in those cases, you can choose to allow 2 kids.

As you say, it's cozily small, and if you market it for families, you may get reviews saying it was cramped for 4 people.

I also love your decor. But to tell you the truth, it doesn't look particularly kid-proof. I can see kids grabbing those long puddling curtains with their sticky hands and playing around with them. Guests are often quite inattentive to what their kids are up to.

[Linda108]

@Maureen488   Both @Sarah977 and @Anonymous are bang on (as usual).  Keep it simple is usually best.  You could also avoid Instant Booking until you have a better idea as to who is attracted to your listing.

[Maureen488]

Thanks all for your input. 😃

I wasn’t liking instant book at all, so got rid of that option quite quickly.

I have amended my listing description to see if that helps. I will monitor it for now, but liking the idea to cap it at 3 @Anonymous 

thanks all

maureen