Guests bringing more children than allowed - How can I stop this from happening?

[Rachel294]

Can't seem to find an answer to this. In one of my cottages the maximum amount of guests is 4 regardless of age- infant, toddler, child, adult etc.

I've just had a second booking for 2 adults, 2 children and an infant. My cottage is just not big enough for the paraphernalia that comes with this amount of kids. How can I stop this from happening?

[Brian2036]

@Rachel294 

This is a common problem. Some people have decided that infants don’t count as guests.

You should make it as clear as possible in house rules that EVERY human of ANY age is considered to be a guest and the total number of guests allowed is FOUR, NO EXCEPTIONS.

For people who have already booked, you can inform them that no more than four people will be admitted to the premises. If they show up with more than four the extra ones will have to stay somewhere else.

[Linda108]

I agree with @Brian2036 but I would walk a little more softly on the only 4 guests in this case.  I also support you adding more information in your rules about the number of guest.  You go into great detail about your dog policy and I suggest you are more forthcoming about your #of guests policy.  Also, you know the limits of your space, which is quite lovely, but the guest does not.  Like most professional pictures, there is an illusion of greater space.  Perhaps in your standard welcome message you can highlight that babies are people too and included in the guest count.  I find if I address issues in my welcome message that have caused problems for more than one guest, I am better able to meet guest needs and avoid being annoyed.

[Rachel294]

Thank you. I’m not mentioning it to the guests that are booked in. They’ve got seemingly good reviews. I’ve updated my house rules to make it clearer and a note in my description too. 
Thanks for your advice. 
(It seems that Airbnb’s policy on infants not counting as guests passed me by!)

[Pat271]

I’m pretty sure that I’ve had a few bookings of “4 + infant”, in which the infant was really not an infant, but an older child. What am I supposed to do, get the driver’s license of the infant to verify? That’s another problem with the “infants are not counted” policy.

[Brian2036]

@Pat271 

I guess you’re supposed to pretend you don’t notice.

Until they sue you because the kid fell off the kitchen counter where it had to sleep because you thoughtlessly neglected to provide a crib.