Guest showed up with 5 people and booked for 1 , should have paid for more than 2 guests,

[David-And-Barbara1]

was not sure what to do, when I told him , he said our add was deceiving. I reread it and everything looked good. I let him say for the 2 guest price.

 what should I have done.

[Emiel1]

@David-And-Barbara1 

You could have sent the guest a change request ("change" option on the reservation)

The listing is not deceiving, it clearly calculates extra fee for the 3rd,4th and 5th guest.

The guest should have made a reservation for 5 guests.

[David-And-Barbara1]

thank you

[Anonymous]

@David-And-Barbara1   Your listing is not deceptive - it's very thoroughly described. But the guest figured out that if he didn't pay the extra charge for his real group size, he'd have you cornered once he arrived. It's a despicable behavior, but really common. Very few hosts can countenance turning away a group at check-in, knowing it could cost them their whole payout, so they back down when put on the spot. It's the same mentality as "easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

You should have either refused entry to these guests altogether (especially if they were belligerent) or required them to accept a booking alteration and pay for all guests before you turned over the keys. You've lost most of your leverage if they're already occupying the space, but you can still insist on being present for check-out and post an honest review.

In the future, please approach every booking for 1 as a red flag. Solo travelers have no reason to book a 3-bedroom house, so in hindsight you should have asked this guest a lot more questions before accepting his request. And if you were using Instant Book, turn it off;  you need to be able to vet your guests more thoroughly, knowing that Airbnb won't have your back if a disaster strikes.

[David-And-Barbara1]

Thank you for your advice

[Laura2592]

@David-And-Barbara1 please leave an accurate review for this guest so that other hosts can make an informed decision about if they want 4 extra people in their space without compensation.

"So and so booked for 1 arrived with 5.  When asked, he blamed us for being deceptive which was not the case. Extra clean up was needed. House rules were not followed with regard to capacity (and anything else if there were other things he did not do.) Communication was not the best (it wasn't. He did not communicate about how many people he was bringing and then pushed back when you pointed out your rule.) We would not recommend this guest."

Then low stars in each category and "I would not host again" to keep him from rebooking with you or using instant book-- he can request to book in the future. He won't be able to see this. Wait until the last day to leave the review especially if he does not leave one for you right away. Both reviews don't go live until either 14 days or they are both published.