Airbnb used to allow homes to have occupancy greater than 16, and guests to search for more than 16. During covid, they reduced it to 16, but never changed it back.
This creates a weird dichotomy where larger homes have to put "16+" in their occupancy and then list the true number in the description. I constantly get messages for people worried that they won't be allowed to book or stay because they have more than 16 guests but they can't put more than 16 guests into Airbnb's search and that the terms Airbnb sends them say their booking is for 16 guests.
Why has Airbnb kept it this way? It's extremely non user-friendly for both guests and hosts.