COVID restrictions and refunds

[Lisa6767]

Hi all just asking for advice.
My friend booked a house in south Fremantle for a gals weekend away this Friday - Monday. 12 of us are going and the property sleeps 12. 

As we know the government restrictions are changing as of midnight tonight and to comply with the “no more than 10 people in a house / gathering” rule 2 of us are now having to find alternative accommodation. Trying to just do the right thing. 

We contact the host to see if we could have re partial refund to cover cost since we can not utilise the house to the full capacity. Only asking for what it would have cost for 2 people and a the host has declined.  Can anyone recommend steps to take from here? I did ready the COVID policy and looks like refunds should be given is having to comply with local

government legislation.

any advice would be good. 

[Sarah977]

@Lisa6767  You should not be expecting any price adjustment simply because the maximum guest count for the place is 12 and you will only be 10.

Did the host charge an extra guest fee for guests over a base amount or is it a whole house fee no matter how many guests? 

Hosts are not responsible for travel interruptions or changing restrictions. That's what  travel insurance is for. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Lisa6767 If you paid an extra guest fee then there is an argument that the host should refund this for 2 guests. Other than that then I think the host is right to refuse any reduction in their rates.

[Anonymous]

@Lisa6767  You can change the number of registered guests from 12 to 10 by following the instructions here: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/913/changing-a-reservation-for-a-place-to-stay

If the host's fee structure has an additional per-guest charge, this process will automatically adjust the price of the stay accordingly. Otherwise, there is no reason to expect a price reduction.